69 miles ridden – 5300 feet climbed – temperature 9C.

Today was a hard day. It was quite cool anyway and on the hill tops with drizzle and a headwind it felt quite cold but with the amount of climbing we were doing we all worked up a sweat under our protective clothing.

There were 2 big climbs, the first straight out of Ullapool. As we had done it the day before we knew what to expect. I’m not actually sure that always helps – sometimes it’s easier not knowing what is around the corner at the top of the long hill you are climbing. The second climb looked worse on the day sheet but was actually shorter with a long sweeping descent to our lunch stop. At the foot of the climb was Ardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt:

And afterwards the sweeping descent:

Lunch was at 32 miles and the afternoon’s 36 miles to Durness started with great promise. Yes there were still plenty of ups and downs but it wasn’t raining and the headwind was manageable. The scenery was stunning:

Then after we passed through Scourie and enjoyed a lovely tailwind section along a loch, we turned into the headwind and hit a 12% hill. I haven’t spoken to anyone who was not in pain after that.

Our second tea stop was soon after that and with us sheltered from the wind by the van we were blissfully unaware of how the wind was picking up. After a short climb the full force of the wind hit. I was struggling in 1st gear to pedal down the other side and as we climbed gently up and over the moor the weather closed in and it started to rain. Lovely!

I aimed at the small speck of bright light in the distance hoping that was Durness.

It sort of was and when we finally arrived the weather was clearing. In addition to its beaches, Durness is famous for Smoo Cave with its waterfall.

It was a hard days cycling and we were all drained by the end but a very nice meal at the Smoo Cave Hotel combined with the prospect of clear blue skies and sunshine tomorrow (at least) meant it finished as a good day.