Day 37: New friends - Of Kasbahs and Kilts - CycleBlaze

July 21, 2015

Day 37: New friends

Hmmm? Someone jumped into my picture again, and this time on purpose, he won't deny it. AND he looks a little deranged if you want my opinion!
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Believe it or not we had sun for a most of the day, and it only rained a few times. It wasn't bliss but it was close enough.

Now we are north of Inverness and decidedly in The North. It feels bizarre being so far north, but also kind of cool. The scenery was great and we had tail winds most of the day.

About 10 miles from Bonar Bridge, in a remote section near the top of a pass, we ran into some friends. Well, not friends that we knew but friends that we NOW know.

Vikki and Russell are walking from the south of England to John 'O Groats, the northern tip. They were ambling along on the road and we stopped to chew the fat and the next thing you know we were exchanging e-mail addresses.

"We will be in Wick July 26th," they said.

"Us too!" And then we discovered that they will be in the same train south as me. I won't be on the same train as Steph and Leo which is a story I will get to another time. But that is okay now because Vikki, Russell and I can chew the fat while rolling south.

I don't envy them in their walking though. Aside from the fact that walking is a little slow paced for me, I would go insane with the midges.

"Yeah, they are pretty bad,"Vikki said. "Especially when we wild camp. One night they were so bad we didn't even cook and just got in our tent."

Did I mention that Scotland has midges?

I hate midges. They are just like the No-See-Ums in Utah and swarm. We experienced them once in Wales, and a misc times after that, and Steph seems highly allergic to them. Her face was covered with bites and she is all itchy. Mostly, though we can keep moving on a bike. At walking pace you are more vulnerable to them...

...But, I digress.

The point is sometimes you just connect with people. I can't explain why.

We ended up, as I said, at Bonar Bridge and camped in the town park by the river. It was a pretty little place and it was real windy, which kept the midges away.

Tomorrow, if all goes well, we will be at the North Sea! WOO-HOOO!

A war memorial at Dingwall
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I just thought this was kinda pretty.
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That's good stuff.
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Damn phone lines ruined another picture!
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Baaaaaaah
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Drive in church? That sounds like something you would find in America not Scotland?
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The Bonar Bridge bridge
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Free campsite in the park. Not bad, eh?
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War memorial at Bonar Bridge
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Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 1,522 miles (2,449 km)

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