There and Back:

After such an exciting week that had been so tough yet satisfying today was always going to be a sad one given it was our last. Equally sadly we had rain forecast and as we cycled out of town with waterproofs on we were thinking that we were going to be arriving in Inverness in the same conditions we had left the town 8 days previous and hoping it wouldnt bring the same consequences ie a slide down the road!

We decided to take the scenic route back and not just head in on the A9, so set off across country planning to take the Nigg to Cromarty ferry, but not really sure what it entailed although we did know it was tiny, taking just 2 cars, plus we hoped a couple of bikes.

The views across the fields were fantastic as we rolled through relatively quiet roads and unspoilt countryside. This area between Tain and Nigg has some beautiful views, houses, roads and lots of space. We eventually arrived at the ferry terminal. Fantastic!

The ferry was only restarted a couple of years ago, the old jetty from when the ferry was clearly a much bigger affair still very much in evidence.

The fery runs every 30 mins, so having arrived 20 mins early we decided to opt for a rest in the open air rather than use the enclosed bus shelter on offer for adverse conditions and take in the views.

It was with huge excitement we watched the ferry approach, no chain just skillful manoeuvring to dock at the embarkation ramp. The driver of the single car on-board managed to reverse off, (which seems to be the only qay once you have driven on), up the ramp, do a Uturn and drive away past the various oil and energy plants located along the shoreline and serving the multiple oil platforms located in Cromarty Firth.

The best thing about this ferry is the views of the oil platforms as you make the crossing. The whole experience is massively unique and it is a real privilege to vist somewhere that is part of the shipping forecast first hand!

Having made the crossing on the “Renfrew Rose” (which has clearly seen some action), and its humour filled crew of 2 who are great fun, we had a quick coffee in the new coffee shack that has sprung up in the last 2 months at the Cromarty ferry port whilst for amusement, watching a german minibus negotiate its way on and thinking, “they have no idea what they are going to have to do to get off”. We then headed out of town, again opting for rural roads where possible and leaving the A9 till the last possible moment, which if you follow the number one cycle path is about 3 miles before the hugely impressive Kessock bridge, linking North Kessock to Inverness. Being slightly sensible and not wishing to be part of 4 lanes of thundering traffic, we took the pedestrian walkway with its protective barrier, arriving on the Inverness side just by the picturesque Caledonian Thistle ground, another picture opportunity!

From there it was a relatively simple cycle into town, where we did what anyone who had completed the 500 would do, ie scrubbed up and headed to the bar where our great friends Jo and Mike who live relatively close by, were able to join us for what was a very fine, if slightly excessive evening.

It was only after we were home and reviewed the entire 8.5 days we realised what an epic and wonderful trip thw North Coaat 500 is and was. The countryside is truly inspirational and we met some wonderful people along the way, plus you get to think about nothing else. A real break from the day to day…..

Today was always going to be long, 112k to be precise from door to door, straight down the A9.

What makes this pleasant is the fact that the sea is in view for the majority of the day. Even when the road moves away from the coast it is rarely separated by more than a few fields. This is a day to get the miles done and just keep moving. Our plan was to stop every 10 miles to stretch, have a few jellybeans, some water and then head on.

Although busy, the A9 is perfectly safe providing you keep going, hold your road and pay attention to the surface which is frequently pitted, given the number of articulated trucks tanking up and down between key destinations. There are some great views to he had out to see and some fine buildings along the way.

Lunch was at the very good Thyme and Plaice in Helmsdale,about half way down the route and town with a great river and again a place where the new has popped up driven by the opportunities of the Northcoast 500 and the old has previously closed due to the previous lack of demand.

The toughest part of this day is just before lunch where there is a succession of three hills back to back lasting between threequarters and one mile each. 10% up, 13% down x 3,- clearly you start “up” else you would finish subterranean!

Despite the mileage, this was a day we finished at a decent time heading into Tain around 4.30. It was a difficult decision to make as the Glenmorangie distillery is on the right as you turn into the town…… However, for the sake of the following half days riding and the fact we had no space to carry anything in our paniers we turned left and headed to our hotel for food, rest and of course a chance to sample one or two of the large selection of whiskies on offer!

Today we headed from Melvich to Wick via Thurso (the main purpose here being to have coffee and buy a picnic lunch) and then onto John O’Groats to get the legendary picture and eat said meal.

Throughout the ride the hills slowly reduced in height although the road itself was like an endlessly straight strip of tarmac. It was a beautiful clear and increasingly sunny day and the beaches loooked inviting with clear water and clean white sand. Dunnit beach was the most busy of the beaches with great views and plenty of activity. Further along the north coast spectacular views out to Hoy and Orkney were to be had. All of which were just a little bit special!

Moving further along the coast we encountered ancient churches with commonwealth war graves contained within their grounds and further still an ancient castle and viewpoint. Sure the sun made it look great but this is a beautiful coastline, breathtaking in its own right albeit very different from the mountains we had left behind.

We arrived at John O’Groats to find it was home to a car rally, so we decided to let them get on with it whilst we found ourselves a beautiful sunny spot to have lunch. Infact it got so warm and sunny that for the first time in too many days we risked taking off our neoprene overshoes to allow our bike shoes to dry out! A very relaxing lunch sitting outside people watching and wondering, – all of which there is plenty to do!

After lunch it was time to muscle our way through the cars to get the obligatory photo and then it was off down the coast to Wick, our overnight stop. This was the first time we had headed south and very much marked the start of the home run.

We arrived at Seaview Guest House and met June, our fantastic Geordie hostess who has lived in Wick for the last 15 years and who knows everyone and everything, including where to eat, what to see and how many sets of twins exist in Wick, – answer 14! It has to he said that our June tells some wickedly amusing stories too, just ask her about her Christmas lights, the boat at sea and Wick airport!

Tomorrow, our penultimate day, sees 107k down the A9, so after taking in the views and a tour of the town, it was time for bed.

This is a magnificent rolling route, with some serious ups and great downs. Fabulous views and one of the best pieces of coastline ever AND no rain!

Today was a real pleasure to ride, the wind was behind us so we made decent time to Tongue our chosen lunchspot being the Brass Tap; which has a Snug Bar downstairs, good service very reasonable food and solid WiFi, (becoming increasingly important and increasingly hard to find!)

One incident stands out in the endleas flows of ups and downs…….as we were approaching one particular summit just before lunch we looked up and saw what looked like a cardboard cut out of a large cow on the hillside. In fact it looked remarkably like the famous black Jarez bull you often see on mountains sides in Spain. It was only when it slowly turned its head towards us and moo’d loudly to its family on the opposite side of the road to get them to join the family group we realised it was for real!

After Tongue the landscape changes gradually and becomes less rugged although the road remains mainly single track with passing places.

The North Coast here is the domain of the boy racer and with the national speed limit in place unleas otherwise stipulated there was no stopping them. But then on the other hand it was Saturday night and what else were you going to do close to home?.

The hotel in Melvich was one of the first buildings we arrived at in the town, plus had bike storage. Good food, decent rooms and plenty of heating to dry out any wet kit remaining from the previous day……plus a fine array of whiskies…..a really good ride after the yesterdays drenching. Happy cyclists!

Today was a day of extreme rain, extreme pain and it was only upon reflection (post 2 small Jura whiskies). balanced by the overall gain!

It started at 5 am when we were woken by the sound of heavy rain beating down upon the skylight window. That effectively set the standard for the day! At breakfast the sky was dark grey and the rain still beat down relentlessly, number one peoblem….Secondly whilst conversing at breakfast with two other females, we found out they were also doing the 500 but over 3 weeks ie with a day off in each location. All was ok until they told us they came from Lancashire and Kendal respectively, “lovely” we said, and where are you from they said, “Windsor” we said, – “Oh, Posh” they said…. Only if you are the queen we thought with a silent grrrr…My “get out of jail card” was telling them Myra was from Scotland….. They weren’t overly impressed, even when I tell them I was born in the SE of our capital city. However, my grrr could be harnessed later for motivation!

The 3rd of the” bad things come in threes”, was us taking what we thought the correct route out of town, ie the opposite to that which we came in. My excuse was lashing rain on the Garmin GPS was preventing me seeing what was actualy going on, plus the lack of any form of decent caffeine at breakfast and perhaps a leaa good meal than we were expecting meant that I wasnt fully functioning.

After 3 miles of a big up and too many downs when our brakes just weren’t working well in such extreme wet conditions, there was a light bulb moment. ” Is the sea really meant to be in our right I said ?! This prompted a relatively impressive emergency stop from Myra, who got off her bike, hopped into a phone box by the beach we were cycling along for shelter, checked out our positioning on the map on her phone and let out a loud huff. “CAROL we are going the wrong way!” “Oh really” I said in a casual, wet-through kind of way….Without another word we both turned around and headed back, by which time the water was running through waterproofs, bike tops and thermals as we headed back to and through Lochinver without another word, to find the right road to take us to Kylesku via the highly recommended coast route where we planned to have coffee.

The remainder of the morning was extremely grim, even in our books of grim conditions to do sport in. It was more than extremely wet, it was predominantly a single track road, the mist prevented any form of decent view, plua there were some extremely short, sharp gradients (some 1 in 10) and a cold wind. All the above combined to ensure we reached our 11.30 coffee stop 2 hours late at 1.30. Its fair to say we had little appreciation of the countryside we had cycled through and took zero pictures before arriving for our coffee/lunch break which was in a smart restaurant that was kind enough to let us in and then to not complain when we used their facilities to change into our remaining dey clothes, thereby ensuring we enjoyed lunch and were at least warm for the afternoons ride to Durness.

Post lunch, weather and temperaments improved with great views en route to Durness. The last roll down to the town is beautiful with a long gradual descent made even better on the day by the presence of sun. Moods were good as found our very lovely and somewhat special B & B, Aiden House. The house itself is beautiful (being constructed relatively recently of Scottish pine), as are the wonderful panoramic views it offers of the coast. Bedroom and bathroom were extremely comfortable and gave us a chance to get warm and dry out. Although late in arriving, we were delighted to have survived what had been a day of brutal cycling and Durness really is a very special place, making it all worthwhile.

Pub and food were a high priority but only after we had consumed the “emergency” Jura miniature we had picked up in Ullapool.

On balance, given conditions on the day, this was in many ways harder than our big climb of day 2. It wasn’t just a “dig deep” day, it was a kind of “turn yourself inside out” day where you are motivated by the concept of being considered “posh” whilat knowing you are doing the 500 in less time than some.

Alls well that ends well. Great evening food and the best nights sleep to date.

Having left Mrs Ross’s very fine establishment after a beautifully prepared breakfast, we set off on our morning trip to Ullapool, our lunch destination. The road was initally flat, just as the sun was initially out (!), However nothing lasts for ever, or even for a few minutes in the north of Scotland and no sooner had we passed the snow gates and started our 7 mile ascent to the summit than the weather began to close in. Fuelled by good cooking we persevered and hit the summit just as the horizontal rain was making its presence felt. We determined that the only thing to do was embrace the situation and take some photos!

However, its fair to say we didn’t embrace the situation quite as much as the Porshe driver we saw heading to the summit with roof down, a leather interior and windscreen wipers flat out….Draw your own conclusions! After much mirth (at his expense) and merriment at being wet again and after a 2 mile slog across the summit we started our descent, and of course, the sun came out. The views into Ullapool were fantastic as we cycled along the side of the Loch towards lunch.

Short sharp inclines and fabulous views up and down the loch were the nature of the last half hour before lunch. It was very impressive to see the height we had gained and subsequently lost, both offering more great photo opportunities before we arrived at a rather cool lunch stop facing the harbour in Ullapool, The Frigate Cafe offering very good food and “more than” good coffee was much needed. Interestingly it also seemed to be the destination of choice for a large group of French Hells Angels who seemed to have a penchant for traditional English baking and ginger beer!

After a break that passed all to quickly we headed off in the direction of Lochinver. If the mornings 20 miles had been relatively challenging the 40 miles that followed were brutal, although we were forwarned by a very rosy cheeked old lady who suddenly appeared, like an apparition, at the bottom of the first hill out of Ullapool. ” Its a wee bit hilly out there” she said wisely, then she bent down behind the wall she had just appeared from. “Yes” we said, – no other response really.. I changed down gear, my chain dropped off and the lady dissappeared!

The ride out to Lochinver is beautiful, The ups were doable with some digging in and the downs delightful. Best of all were the views looking back towards the hills and mountains sureounding Ullapool.

The road out to Lochinver is deceptively long and the last 12 miles heading towards the town are populated by some beautiful ruins alongside the loch which we stopped to check out, followed by an endlessly undulating tarmac strip.

You got to the top of each hill thinking surely we must be here, sadly not….. Just as we were nearing the end of our energy levels we found ourselves descending into Lochinver and a beautiful harbour full of sunshine to greet us. Time for a beverage. Now there is a thought that would perk up thw moat tieed of cyclist!

When we left Torridon morning we were thinking that an “A” road, rather than the coast road would offer some relief from the endless ups and downs. Rookie error! In fact “A” road means “a” road, literally with passing places. However the terrain was gently indulating, the scenery fantastic and the legs needed bedding in so who was complaining?! The 60 mile ride felt like it was going to be relatively pain free after the previous experience, so much ao that we felt we had time to stop for a cheeky coffee at the whistle-stop cafe. Very rinky dinky both outside and inside, with local artworks, storming coffee and a very fine array of cake, some of which was purchased for “laters”! Ie post the next random intense gradient, – like we needed an excuse to eat cake! The would-be “A” road wound theough valleys, past locks forever undulating but with some fabulous views. Frequently B&B ( bleak and barren), but interspersed with beautiful lochs to which photos do little justice.

Lunch in Gairloch was perfect, great service and fine cycle fayre in a cafe at the bottom of a fast decline with more great views over the loch although with rain coming in views were becoming blurry…..The big issue with consistently eating at the bottom of a “down” is that after feeding you are always subjected to an “up” and up it was! The gradient was severe enough to prompt a brief rest half way up just to ensure lunch remained in. Not that it had been excessive by any means. Bagel, cake, fizzy drink to drive hyperactivity and a coffee to make sure. From thereonin the relatively easy undulations of the morning gave way to more extreme versions of the same and as the day progressed, these became more exaggerated with steeper and longer slopes as our legs became more and more tired and our destination (too small to be shown on the GPS), seemed to be at the end of a loch which were now battling to get down given the strength of the headwind. Eventually we found the little hamlet that is Camusnag and despite not having an address, Mrs Ross B&B was clearly signed. Time for a peoper cup of tea!

Todays route can only be described as Epic, A route that so deserves the capital “E” in that sentence. It is very much divided into 2 sections. The morning up to Bealachna Ba and on to Applecross for lunch, then the rest if the route on to Torridon.

The sun was shining as we left Lochcarron (worthy of a photo or two), we checked our bikes over again after yesterdays mishaps, relubricated the chains which looked like they had been dragged through the dirt that they had and headed off along the Loch. It was literally 5 mins down the road before the road branched off to the right and up. Up being the theme of the day from 9.40 until midday when we got to the summit. Initially the gradients were reasonable, long sweeping bends and curves wandering ever upwards… And upwards…and upwards. We started in sun, but having wound our way up to the legendary sign so often seen in blogs associated with this route and found a Spaniard also on a “there and back” but by motorbike to take a photo. He informed us he had 2 tow ropes should we need them, not sure where he was heading with that one!

We went for the obligatory photo (gracias) but not the tow!

Heading on up we crossed the snow gates, the rain came down and we started to focus on the summit – if only we could see it through the mist and fog!

There are 3 key issues associated with the main drag up the mountain aside apart from the obvious! Cars on a single track road with passing places rarely give way to cyclists even when the latter are hanging off the bars driving up a silly gradient, the gusting 30 mph wind made it near impossible to get back on safely once you had been forced to get off and the road surface clearly battered by winter, rattled the bike and rider heading up or down.

Regardless we got there. It was every bit as tough as we envisaged for all the reasons identified and retrospectively, so it should be given the aura of the climb. The summit was wild but worth it, however not a place to linger given conditions. Photo taken we headed down the far side beginning what is a tricky descent into Applecross. We were much relieved to be heading down after what had been a very challenging morning. The viewpoint on the summit had not quite lives up to its name given conditions, but the first part of the day was done and we were heading into sunshine ☀. Time for lunch!

The afternoon ride from Applcross to Torridon proved equally challenging. So much for a nice cruise around the coast! Beautiful scenery but my, were there some hills within the hills. The plus side is that occasionally the road became two way rather than single track with passing places. However by the time it got to surprise hill number 19 and yet again a driver decided to drive towards us as we pushed towards him and a gap in the rocks, the only thing to do was to take the moral high ground and instruct the errant driver to wait, – which he duely did! Cyclist 1, driver 0! It was later that afternoon after many photo opportunities acroas the loch we eventually arrived at the Torridon inn, which fortunately was at the bottom of a hill. A great place built for the outdoor enthusiast with great food, excellent service and some fine chalet rooms designed for drying kit and sleeping well, with the added plus point of a free Tunnocks, ( caramel wafers)! We felt supper was well earned given that the ascent in the afternoon was slightly more than that if the morning ie in excess of 5000 feet in total. A challenging day, but a sense of achievement!

Today is best summarised by views, neoprene and a small tumble. We started off well with a great breakfast in the very fine Artysans café in Inverness. (artysans.org.uk) after which it was time to hit the high road but not before mother nature had thought that having brought kit for all weathers we should try it out! Once we had departed Inverness we found ourselves on the main A862 heading to Beauly. Great views were peeping out at us through an ever lowering cloud base, however the air was markedly cleaner and clearer and we were on our bikes. All was going swimmingly (sometimes almost literally) until we encountered a railway crossing. “Cyclists dismount” I called to Myra, spotting a roadsign. However I made that all too frequent mature decision when you think, “but not us surely”, and having decided railway tracks should be approached when rowing a bow wave ie at 90 degrees, despite the fact that the tracks themselves were at a 45 degree angle to the road, end result a sideways survey of the road surface not just for me, but Myra too, although admittedly at a slightly more sensible pace! Pride, skin and slight body damage ensued, however lunch was calling and 17 miles still waited to be pedalled and there is always ibuprofen! Lunch was a welcome warm up and a small dry out at the Ledgowan Hotel ( with some fine stags on the walls watching us with beady eyes as we dripped into the front door), before heading on towards our destination. Great views opened up during the afternoon on the magnificent road leading to Lochcarron. We arrived at the B&B (Pathend), which boasted rather splendid views of the Loch, just as the clouds cleared. The room was fantastic, our waterproofs which did the best they could against the elements were kindly being dried for us in front if the Aga and an early supper called. Ideally, washed down with a wee local dram ( for medicinal purposes) of course! More later. Picture below best sums up day 1: Shiny (wet), Happy, People.