Day Three - Melvich to Scourie
I slept rather well again last night, it's reassuring to know that this high end sleeping kit is worth it. Still not sure what to do with my arms though mind. The options seem to be to either have my arms in the sleeping bag (I usually spread out a bit), or keep my jumper on. Neither seems ideal to me. Still, it didn't interupt my sleep as such so perhaps I shouldn't care.
This time when breaking camp it occurred to me to leave the tent sat there once I'd taken all the pegs and poles out so it could dry a bit. I have done this on previous cycle tours but I think it took a few nights for it to come back to me. Will and Ben (no idea which was which within about 30 seconds of learning their names of course) managed to leave a whole thirty minutes before me. Well done to them. They also appear to be sharing a tent which is about the same size as mine. Hope they're not sick of each other by the end of it. I guess that assumes they're just friends, but that was the impression I got at any rate.
I could have left a bit sooner but I decided to finally actually read my Kindle. I did have some serious sci-fi book I'd found out about online to read but I decided I'd go a bit more light hearted and start Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It didn't take long for me to start enjoying it, which was great. It's been a while since I've done any reading so hopefully I'll finish it. I think I probably will.
I managed to set off at 9AM on the dot thankfully. Before I set off I did realise that the shop I was going to buy my lunch at in Tongue was shut as it was a Sunday. Just as well I did find this out before setting off, as there was a little shop a bit earlier in Bettyhill.
Before I got to the store in Bettyhill I caught up with Will and Ben. Given the flat pedals they were riding with I got the impression they weren't hugely experienced cyclists - that being the case more power to them for taking up such a challenge. I stayed with them for a while but they were clearly slower on the climbs (despite me having more luggage, such as the laptop I'm typing this on). Despite their apparent inexperience they were still faster than me on the descents. I think I was a bit nervous about a sudden crosswind. It wasn't massively windy but the roads were quite exposed. They got ahead of me on one descent and then pulled in at a food trailer. An attempt to get rid of me? Perhaps I'm being paranoid...probably! Anyway I told them I was going to keep going. Given my ability to climb the hills faster I wasn't too keen on slowing down (he says with a daily average speed between 10 and 11mph).
There I bought a frozen chicken curry that didn't even have any rice (£6!) but at least the box made it look to be pretty high end...for a frozen ready meal. I also bought a pretty anemic looking chicken, sweetcorn and bacon sandwich, yoghurt, some mint chocolates, and finally some strawberries. Turns out I really like mint chocolate on cycle tours. On my last trip I had strawberries too - very luxurious. Oh and some orange juice I think. Again, at time of writing this is now yesterday, so I'm trying my best to recall what happened! Once I got to Tongue I thought I'd check that the shop was closed just in case. It was, which was somewhat of a shame as I was contemplating adding to my sandwich. There was a public toilet though, which I happily used. I also filled up a spare empty plastic bottle with tap water, just in case. Whether it was potable I had no idea but I could at least use it for washing up if necessary.
The bridge across from Tongue was picturesque...so I took some pictures. Top quality writing there people, hold on to your hats. Plenty of others seemed to have the same idea, unsurprisingly.
After crossing the bridge it was a long drag up to the top of the next hill. Once I got there it turned out there was a car park along with a scenic walk. A couple turned up with a camper van (D on the licence plate, so I assumed Denmark...duh, Deutschland). They were doing a trip around all of Great Britain pretty much. First Ireland, now Scotland and eventually England. I didn't ask their names. I thought setting up my chair at the start of the walk to eat my lunch was wise. Well, finally the midges (wee little beasties as some might call them) had finally appeared. So I spent the time to set up my chair and then dutifully ate my lunch walking around to avoid the midges instead. Fortunately I had my head net thing from my last Scottish trip, so that was used while putting away the chair and bike back together. I actually tried wearing it while riding too, which was a unique experience to say the least.
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After this the riding was pretty uneventful really. Plenty of nice views still but I don't recall much going on really. Ah, looking at the photos I can recall a bit better what happened! After passing through Hope, there was a rather steep descent in to the area surrounding Loch Eriboll.
As you can see, the weather was still rather...dull, but the saving grace was that at least it was dry. There's not much to say about the next hour or so of riding...lots of pleasant scenery but that's about all that happened.
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I got to Durness at about 4PM which I was pleased with, which had taken me to 55 miles. The sun had now came out which always lifts my spirits - even if it was already dry and warm enough with the clouds. I was considering whether to ride some more and get up the next big hill. Mentioned this to mum at which point she said "depends whether you want to smash it or not". Well, with this sort of appropriate language and the sun I couldn't help it. No camping in Durness for me. I thought I'd looked up where the wild camp spot was on the other side of the next hill, but it turned out I'd got that wrong. Not great. Before I got to the hill I came across 5 guys I think coming the other way who were planning on camping in Durness. I could have socialised with them had I stayed there. Such is life. Going up the hill was stunning though.
Fantastic views to my left and the gradient itself was pleasantly shallow - and the sun was still out. I'm not sure what I prefer really when it comes to nice views like that - a descent or a climb. Descending tends to require more concerntration, whereas on a climb I'm usually happy to have any sort of distraction, which includes looking at stunning vistas. There was even a water fountain half way up, which was useful. I wasn't 100% confident it was safe to drink from but after I'd used it to fill up a couple in a motorhome turned up who said they had already used it once which was reassuring.
The following two photos were taken after the peak of the climb.
So after I'd looked for my wild camp spot for a while I started to wonder what was going on. I then looked on What3Words again and it was nowhere to be found. Nor could I see anywhere from the road that looked great for wild camping. Uhoh. In the end I kept on riding and got to the campsite in Scourie, who mercifully still had their reception open. I think I got there just after 7PM - my latest finish yet.
I set up my tent as fast as possible and then got to cooking. Buttered chicken curry followed by strawberries and...can't remember. Well it was filling anyway. I then after a failed attempt to see if I could go in the local pub/hotel (residents only) sat in the wash room while reading my book. I did want to write some more of this journal but I couldn't get any internet. In hindsight I could have just typed it out in notepad as I'm doing now. Instead I read more of Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy. I then decided before bed I'd chance it and see if I could charge my USB battery over night. It could of course have been stolen, but I think I hid it pretty well. Tune in tomorrow to find out if Tom has lost his means of charging his laptop, along with his biggest USB battery bank!
Today's ride: 82 miles (132 km)
Total: 208 miles (335 km)
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