Epic May ride day

We so happened to have train tickets with bikes to Inverness, and accommodation at the Inverness Youth Hostel (which is by far the best we have been in Scotland!). The original plan A was to do a long cycle in the North as we had a full week off, but then we needed to be back on Monday, so the original plan 2 was to cycle all the way to Edinburgh in 1 day and finally nail the 300k, but then the weather was supposed to be good, so I though, what if we have a 2 day cycle instead, and so the plan changed to a massive 170km day cycle on Saturday, from Inverness to Kinloch Rannoch, and then cycle back home (neither thought that if we did survive day 1 we would cycle all the way home...), and so it all unfolded.

 

Sat 03 May -  Inverness to Kinloch Rannoch, 170km and 2400m (in only 13 hours!!!)

We reached Inverness at 9.30pm on Friday evening. It was a short ride to the Youth Hostel but my face when I realised I forgot the mound of the back light...elastic band will do and one more reason to push on the next day! The YH is so well organised, a card to open everything (including the bike shed!) a cosy and warm en suite room just for us, and we got the ok to use the kitchen early for breakfast. We were both so stressed for this trip and finally we both slept like log!

Pleasant journey on the train, but packed with bikes!

We woke up at 6am, went down to prepare breakfast, sorted ourselves out, and just when we were about to leave it started raining, and Paul found out his front wheel was flat...great start! 

Off we went along the NCN 78 by Loch Ness, it was 54k to Fort Augustus on quiet roads that at that time were deserted. The first 20k were kind of flat, then there was this big climb then was never ending, but the views from the top were quite rewarding and the descent to Fort Augustus very fast! We got there at 10am, and, being the only place with things we would see all day, we stopped at the shop and got 2 delicious vegan raspberry croissants (really, in the Highlands??) and a cappuccino. We were both freezing, couldn't feel our feet, and something warm went down wonder. We filled in the bottles and off we went fro the "challenging" part of the day...the infamous Corrieyairack Pass!

On top of the climb, finally!

and the descent starts yuhuu!

This would be the 4th time we went up this pass, the 2nd from Fort Augustus, and it never get easier (we thought it would take us 2 hours to reach the bothy at the other side but it took 3...). The going was slow, and there was more hike a bike than I remembered, but at least we warmed up a bit, we didn't get rained on too much, being steep we were gaining elevation fast, and it was probably the first time that we could actually see the views as we gained elevation (no spring up there, like never).

There was no time to linger on the top (aka the death zone), so we started the 5k descent. We knew we had to push the bikes down the zig zag bits, but surprisingly I managed to cycle most of the bit after, which I remember I couldn't before. Either the gravel got better, I got better, or more likely was the power of desperation (it was 1pm, we only had 70k done and 100k to go...). Anyway, after the mess of tourists and people we found in Edinburgh when cycling to the train station, this desolate and lonely landscapes felt like heaven and I felt so privileged to be able to be there again. As we approached the bothy, around the same spot when 5 years ago Paul got the phone call confirming we sold the flat, today he found an anlter (which I have been looking for for years!). That's definitely his lucky spot.

It was the first time that we found the bothy opened, and since outside it was still cold and with the occasional shower, and being 1.30pm, we had 1/2 of our sandwich there. It always feels special to be inside a bothy, it's a place of magic and mysteries, you can almost feel the presence of all the different people, in different circumstances, who stopped there for shelter and made it their home for a night.

The anlter!!

 

The next 10k on tarmac were as fast as a lightening, then we got back on gravel on the track that would take us to Loch Laggan, a bit rough at times but as long as we moved forward it was all good. We also saw 2 red squirrels, a herd of deer (probably from where the antler is from), and an eagle, not bad for wildlife spotting!

Paul had to stop a few times to pump up the tyre. We (= he) dind't know if it was a slow puncture, or maybe the sealing on the rim, or the valve? But there was no time for troubleshooting so pumping it up every now and then was a pain in the ass but really the only way until it held...

We crossed the big road and got on the Northern bank of the Loch. From here it was all known territory all the way down along the Loch. We were making up some time, but the thought of how long we still had to cover was at times a bit daunting. Still, it was a pleasure to be out there and have it all to ourselves. We stopped at 3pm half way through the loch for the second half of the sandwich. I definitely started to feel the tiredness (it was 8h on the go by then, normally we would have been home!), but then there was no other way but forward. 

We kept going on a gravel road that would eventually take us to the start of the Currour estate road, which is like the best route I've ever cycled, for quality of gravel and the views, you can't make up a place like that!

At 5pm we reached Currour, and the train station cafe was packed full of people! Our hopes to get some hot food there (the wind was so cold that we were back freezing again, there were so many tents around and I'm so glad we didn't stay there!) were gone, either you pre ordered or good bye... At least we filled in our bottles, Paul got 3 small packs of crisps for only £5, and we sat outside, me eating my jam bagel and oatcakes, Paul with his crisps. We were at km 130, 40 more to go at it was 5.30pm. But the morale was good, the sun would occasionally show itself, and I was just so glad to leave that mass of people behind and get some peace again!

Loch Ossian, so many good memories there

 

We got on the Road to the Isles, which is not exactly champagne gravel, but we knew it was only 16km of it and the views were breathtaking to say the least. We pushed the bikes up the climb, then it was a cruising along pushed by the wind, which surprisingly had been tail wind all day. So far... We stopped a few times for pictures, pump the tire, and just look around. We met nobody up there and felt in heaven.

Nice spot to pump up a tyre :)

As we started the agonisingly slow and rocky descent (my hands were sooo sore!), we could see Schiehallion in the horizon, against a blue sky, so distinctive and magnetic in its presence and look that it was difficult to look somewhere else. 

It was 7pm by the time we reached the tarmac and what a relief, we only had 20k left along Roch Rannoch, and with the evening light, the quiet (no cars!!!, they were all already parked by the loch camping and eating, and a lot of them, so glad we got there late!), it was a pleasure to ride despite the exhaustion. It was a very fast last 20k and finally at 7.50pm we reached the super fancy Dunalastair Hotel in Kinloch Rannoch, what a great way to end the day!

We were both very spaced out, no idea where we were, who we were, and if we were hungry or not.

Needless to say we both slept sound in the royal bed, and the surprise in the morning is that we were not even too ruined. No saddle soar no pains (probably thanks to the stretching we did the night before). We had a great breakfast, and while smoking I had the great idea of cycling to Blair Atholl so we could go to the Mill café and get one of their delicious pastries. So we did, but there were no pastries booooo. We then got to Pitlochry and got the train back home from there. We could definitely have cycled to Perth, and possibly back home too, but then the weather is supposed to be good the next week, and warmer, and we are hoping to spend a few more days hiking on the Cape Wrath trail and need time to organise a bit. I still can't believe that we managed to cover that distance on Gunvald and Thorhildur, and that we are not even that ruined. Paul said after that I should be ok for our upcoming trip to the Alps, let's hope so! 

British are weird! :)