Total mileage: 45
Terrain: Very tough day with sustained hill climbing and strong headwinds

Today was awesome in so many ways. Firstly, the weather was magnificent, with wall to wall sunshine. Considering it was the north of Scotland, the temperature was comfortably in the twenties, probably the warmest day we had whilst cycling in Scotland. Then there was the landscape, which was superb. Best of all, there was very little traffic on the road, so it meant conditions were perfect for cyclists.

Very close to Inchnadamph on the shores of Loch Assynt is Ardvreck Castle and some other ruins. We stopped here whilst I ran off to grab from shots. I was so caught up in the moment that I forgot the time. Before long, the Mary had decided to head off and take the day at her own pace as I was taking so long. This opened up the day to a different type of cycling. Instead of working in a pack as we had done for most of the journey, we were working as separate units. Pete hung back to tell me that Mary had gone off ahead, so we cycled in tandem initially.

The hills started getting gradually more serious, especially as we turned right up the A894. The climb was intense in the heat. In the absence of Mary, we did the typical boy approach to any challenge and started to try and cycle up the hills at full speed. This was a mistake as I ended up consuming a lot of my water on the 2 mile climb, which was not great as I and only done about 8 miles so far.

After a period of climbing, we made it to the top of the first climb. In front of us was one of the finest roads I have ever seen. It snaked down and around the hill side, way off into the distance. Mountains abutted the road, with an occasional loch. The weather was spot on making this perhaps the most perfect piece of cycling on the whole trip.

As there was so much beautiful scenery for me to photograph, I kept stopping to take shots. Pete eventually headed off ahead as I was taking my time. This gave me the opportunity to thrown on some tunes as there was little traffic to fear.

The cycling was amazing, truly epic. Occasionally, I had to negotiate the road with coaches or motor homes heading in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, the narrow roads meant that passing was perilous, especially when the drivers in the most part tended to continue driving along the centre of the road. On one occasion, I had to swerve off the road to avoid being hit by a bus, hurtling along without any regard.

The only other fly in the ointment was the wind. The climbs were steep and definitely the toughest of the trip but at least the hill off shelter from the wind. Most cyclists will admit one of the benefits of a hill is the decent on the other side. I felt slightly robbed of this perk by the fact that the relentless southerly wind. The wind was fierce and depleted any momentum I managed to gather whilst climbing the hills. So, in effect, one had to cycle just as hard to decent as one did ascending.

We all hooked up just before lunch in Scourie. Shovelling down large mouthfuls of energy foods, we all felt better as the tired muscles were replenished with rest. Again, we separated on the way north but by the Kyle of Durness, we reformed and cycled the remaining 5 miles. Although today was one of the shortest days of the ride, it was perhaps one of the most challenging. Durness is a small outpost of a town, at the North West end of Scotland. The guesthouse was empty when we arrived but the co-habitants were all congenial. The small local shop had some fresh vegetables Pete used to cook with, always a pleasure after a hard day in the saddle. The day would have been perfect had it not been for four smelly, half-pissed, snoring Frenchmen…