Day 12 - Fort William to Inverness

We awoke today for the first time to rain! Almost forgot what it was like after the last  two weeks of wall to wall sun. And let me tell you, it was wet. Like I was going to tell you different :-)  The thing with the wet stuff is it gets everywhere when you cycle in it. A friend of mine advised not to bother with mudguards. If it's going to rain you will get wet as mudguards wont stop the wet stuff falling from the sky. Obvious really. So, why do they sell em?

A work colleague said I should have some Eggs Benedict for breakfast when I got the chance. So I did, but it was terrible. It didn't take long for the waitress to ask how the food was. So, I told her, in a polite customer feedback kind of way. We were eager to get away so I was going to eat it anyway. "How about some coffee to go?" she asked. "Not easy on a bike, but thanks anyway, I just wanted to give you some feedback". I was more than happy to leave it at that but they would not leave it alone. We did a negotiation dance till they insisted on a refund to treat ourselves on our journey. Very kind, but really they didn't need to. Thanks Wetherspoon!

We prepared for our ride for the day with our rain gear, it's not much but protects your top and feet. And off we went calling at a Tesco Express for a few trip essentials. On a damp morning in Fort William we could not help notice the incredible stench of fish. Like really strong. A quick exit from the town put us on the right road to Inverness which would take us past Loch Ness.

It was hard going today but mainly because we are tired and perhaps the dodgy breakfast didn't help. As the miles rolled by we began to ride out of the wet weather into more warm and humid conditions. The wet weather gear had to come off before we got wetter on the inside than we were on the outside. Can this weather ever make it easy?

We dropped in at a small cafe along the route for quite bite to eat and to discuss which route we would take past Loch Ness. There are two ways to go being the north or south side. The north side is the low road with lots of little hills and traffic. The south side is the high road with an early steep climb of over 1000ft and with far less traffic. Following a cup of tea and with a chat to the cafe owners we selected the low road to the north. Partly due to the low cloud cover.

The remainder of the journey was uneventful. The sun caught us up soon after lunch making the journey more difficult once again and we also saw many of the cyclists we originally saw in Cornwall as the  choice of roads become limited at this point. Holly has found her rhythm in cycling. She loves the small hilly routes, not too steep in the hills rather than the long flat or constantly climbing. Her speed for the afternoon was excellent in place she was leaving me behind.

In a Travelodge once again, our last one for this trip. It's very near a 24 hour Tesco so a perfect opportunity to top up with snacks for the next couple of days. On returning to the Travelodge after our shopping trip the receptionist handed us some cash from her to add to our donations for Kangaroos. It was very touching of her. Thank you, that was very kind.

Finally, my lovely wife Tracey has managed to book a flight to Inverness on Saturday morning and will now collect our van from the airport and bring it up to John O'Groats! How fantastic is that. Really looking forward to our last day for more than one reason. Can't wait now.