Day 12

Durmnadrochit to Helmsdale.

84 Miles.

What a difference a day makes! As expected it was raining when we got up, and in anticipation of a long day in the saddle we set off early, with only a bowl of cereals to keep us going, this time we were a way by 7.40. On the advise of the the landlord we took the route over the mountain, which was shorter, and more picturesque. Well the first 3 miles were hard, for a 3/4 of a mile the climb was 15% assent. By the time we got to the top and cycled on a little further we were wet, very wet, and cold, very cold. After about 15 miles we took a slight detour, well a slight navigational error to be honest.

The plan was to cycle to Tain, about 50 Miles distance from the start, however after about 30 Miles we decided that we had to stop and get a warm drink, we stopped in Muir de Ouig where we stopped in the first cafe we came to. Three great things happened in the cafe, first we were given the tea by the lady in the canteen we must of looked so sad and looked like drowned rats. The next amazing thing was we meet a man called Ian Bremmer! Ian Bremmer is the man who organised the 42 hour trip by a team from Lands End to John o' groats. He is very well known in the cycling world, he also gave us 20 pounds to the charities we were supporting, thirdly we got warm. After this we cycled on, still in the pouring rain but feeling stronger, but with out our full breakfast, 50 miles was too much, so we ended up stopping again at about 40 miles in Milton. This is interesting as when we did Shap it was 50 km mainly in the rain, and yet we still managed the distance, yet today we struggled, are we getting tired and weaker, or just a bad day? After our lunch break we started in the rain again. Again the next 25 Miles went quite well through Boara and a long the coast, and with about 15 Miles the rain eventually stopped, and with 5 miles to go the faintest rays of sun came through.

We arrived in Helmsdale at about 4.00pm the bridge Hotel a marvelous hotel who's owner kindly gave us the rooms free of charge, even on the eve of the highland games. Once we arrived there was no drinks in the garden, just showers, and warm clothes. Now we are in the pub with warming drinks, maybe a little less complacent than we were last night, but now we only have 62 Miles to go, but will tomorrow be easy or hard, what will the last day offer up? For us doing the Lejog, this trip is just like life, you do not know what tomorrow will bring, but for us be it success or failure we know that tomorrow is the last day for us, what ever happens we must make it count.

Mileage : 84 Miles

Time : 5 hours 40 mins

Total : 901 Miles

Beer of the day: Cairngorm Ale

Overnight : The Bridge Hotel