Monday 22 June 2009: Fort William to Dingwall

Woke at 4:40. There'd been some rain in the night but not much. Packed up and off by 5:30. Got onto the A830 then turned off onto the B8004. I could have taken the cycle track beside the Caledonian Canal but thought the road would be a better start to the day. A narrow road which went up and down quite a bit (certainly more than the track by the canal would have done). It was fairly warm but cloudy and a mist clinging to the mountains to quite a low level. I'd still not seen Ben Nevis (despite nearly every other building especially the bed and breakfasts being called 'Ben Nevis View').

At Gairlochy I continued on the B8005 signposted "The Great Glen Way". At Clunes I turned off onto a forest track. I'd not seen a soul since the A830. The road had not gained much height but it had gone up and down like a fiddler's elbow.

A sign to Laggan was accompanied by a dire warning from the Scottish Rights of Way Society that I was entering 'remote, sparsely-populated, potentially dangerous mountain country'. Seemed a bit OTT but I guess it isn't always like it is on a fine June day!

There were a lot of midges about! It was ok while I was moving but as soon as I stopped there was a cloud around my head; my snood came in handy. The forest track was okay: gravel, some potholes and a few small boulders but easy to ride. Suddenly came across a large stag in the track right in front of me. He stood and stared. By the time I'd got my camera out he was off. He stopped and looked back 50 yards away and I managed to photograph a speck between the trees. Magnificent beast.

Rather than continuing along the cycle track (78) I turned right towards Laggan locks. There was a largish boat going through the lock. A booming voice informed passengers and everyone else within several miles: "-- -- it's 8 a.m., good morning". It said that several times.

Instead of going back to the cycle track I took the tow path on the southeast side of the loch. Soon it deviated away from the canal (so perhaps it wasn't a tow path!). It was singletrack, alternately muddy and rocky and then a section criss crossed with tree roots. I stayed with it (no choice except going back, which I’m a bit averse to) until it went close to the A82, which I joined.

It was very quiet again (eight thirtyish) but not deserted like yesterday. Stopped at a tiny shop to supplement breakfast stuff; not much on offer so ended up with a yoghurt, an apple and chocolate covered fruitcake.

Decided I'd stop at 40K for breakfast. Tried one spot that had too many midges.

The road was still quiet but with occasional busy patches, but nowhere decent to stop. I crossed the swing bridge at the Bridge of Oich, and half a mile later saw a large cafe beside the road - thought beans on toast would go down a treat. Door was open but place was completely deserted. I called out, still no one, so I left. Then a guy came out and called me back in. He switched on the Muzak (the usual well-known Bonnie Scotland tunes) and took my order. Beans on toast hit the spot. As I left he said "Best of luck, it's a long way to John O'Groats". How did he know? Is it the only place cyclists go around here?

My average speed was even slower than usual. I'd been going quite well along the roads but the forest tracks had slowed me quite a bit, especially the last section.

After the cafe it was a good fast run on the A82. I went straight through Fort Augustus (missed a good photo of the multi-rise locks but couldn't be bothered to go back). I was now going alongside Loch Ness.

I stopped on the road to have my second breakfast (malt loaf, cheese, yoghurt and chocolate covered fruitcake, which turned out to be a bit moorish). After that I kept stopping to take photos and admire the view.

At Drumnadrochit, I turned onto the A833, which was a steep uphill for the next 3km. It went up about 220m in all with two very steep sections each signed 15%. It was hard but I was going well. At the top it was generally gently downhill to Beauly, then up to the Muir of Ord and down to Dingwall. I was going really well and felt good. 

I went straight to the campsite; very friendly place, quite small but good facilities and only a 5 minute walk to town. I put up the tent, showered and then into town, which turned out to be a nice little place.

Spoke to Boots about the prescription. Rang Haworth surgery, they agreed to send prescription and I arranged to pick it up when I returned to Dingwall. So, I was now committed to cycling at least as far as Inverness on the journey back home.

Bought some stuff for breakfast tomorrow at Tesco's and then I went for a beer at a hotel advertising "cask ales". There were three hand pumps on the bar from the Isle of Skye Brewery. My mouth was watering as I ordered. "It's all off, be on tomorrow". Had a Guinness.

Headed back to campsite. On the way was a car park with loads of rabbits - why would they hang arround on a gravel car park? Sorteds everything out before going back to town for a meal. I'd seen an Indian restaurant on the high street but decided to look around first. Found another Indian restaurant -- a swish modern looking one. Excellent meal (£35 including tip).

Back at the campsite another cyclist was camped right next to my tent. He just had a tarp and a bivi bag. He was doing LEJOG on a fixed 61 inch gear "too low because of the downhills". He intended to finish tomorrow which would be his 10th day. Impressive. Very minimalist; his bike plus luggage weighed 16 kilograms not much more than my bike. The tarp and bivi bag weighed 750g; and his state-of-the-art cooker was a lightweight jet boil. Made my load look ridiculous (and he clearly thought so!). His only problem seemed to be a bruised bottom from all the bouncing going downhill. Said I'd be leaving at 5:30 tomorrow and hoped I wouldn't disturb him. He said he'd wake soon after that but wouldn't leave until 7:30 after a couple of cups of tea.

I repacked both bags because the bike had become more top-heavy with the growing load in the string bag on top of the rack. Looked a lot tidier.

Campsite: Dingwall Camping And Caravanning Club Site, Jubilee Park Road, Dingwall £5.87. Very good friendly site, good facilities. Good location, close to town.

Statistics
Distance 116.59 km (72.4 miles)
Time 7hours: 11 minutes: 09 seconds
Average Speed 16.2 km/hour
Maximum Speed 52.4 km/hour
Distance from Lands End 1388.7 km
Total Time cycling 88:16