I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

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After eating our own weight in frozen lasagna we settled down to watch the Tour Dr France highlights on TV.  Obviously there is no comparison between what they do and what we are doing but they are still young......and if they keep pushing they might one day reach our level.

We shared the lounge with a chatty Glasweigen couple whose knowledge of geography beyond Scotland's borders could best be described as hazy.  They had heard of Folkstone, Reading, Basildon and Poole but had no idea where any of them were.  Mention of other places just drew blank looks.   After a couple of hours of trying to explain that London wasn't as far south as Cornwall we gave up and went to bed.

Today was, again, mostly dry.  This is the longest dry spell since records began and Nicola Sturgeon has declared a public holiday to celebrate.  Apart from being dry the weather is pretty poor...cool, overcast and blustery.  Most cyclists refuse to acknowledge the scientific possibility of a tail wind but we had one all day and I was very glad of it as my legs are very  sore.  We did 20 miles along the banks of Loch Ness before climbing over to to the Cromerty Firth via Beuly.  This is of significance because Beuly marks the point at which we join the NC500.  For the next 500 miles I'm gonna be avoiding motorcycles and Dutch camper vans.

We have diverted of the route for a night in Tain, an unremarkable town that made a fortune off the back of the oil industry but is now hurting badly.  We are in the Royal Tain Hotel which was probably once the jewel in the high street but is now a bit shabby.  Our room is large and has a bath and a large packet of shortbread so no complaints from us!

Tomorrow we start to work out way up the east coast.


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