Departing the Betty Hill Hotel after a delicious bowl of porridge we set off to follow the scenic route to Bonar Bridge, within 3km we took a hasty left-hander and unbeknownst to us headed off into the Sottish highland wilds. "Turn back, turn back" Reuben cried but his pleading fell on deaf ears as Anne-Marie insisted on forging on. The gently rolling country road gave way to a lumpy dirt track, cattle gates and mounds of cow shit would not deter us. Sheep bounded ahead of us and many sand traps threatened to up end our weighty steads (Anne-Marie did take a face plant on hitting a particularly deep patch of soft sand but skillfully she managed to miss the minefield of sheep poo). After 7 miles of bush bashing we rejoined the glorious sealed road and continued on our happy way.
We stopped for lunch at the Crask Inn a unique pub lost in the middle of the Scottish Highland moors. Mr Peabody served us the only thing on the menu, Pea and Ham soup and fresh home made bread with a good pot of tea. Of the 50 or so cyclists we passed going in the other direction today we met the eldest over our lunch, averaging 85 years old this group of three stalwarts have nearly finished their 1200km trek from lands end.
The ride ended with a peaceful downhill past the Falls of Shin and pretty Carbisdale Castle into Bonar Bridge.
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| The GoPro captures one of the gates on the sheep track |
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| And Anne-Marie bumping along on a smoother section. |
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| The highlands are drier here than up in the moorlands |
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| Grumpy at the Falls of Shin, we didn't see any salmon jumping today. |
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