Day 2 - 25th May

Helmsdale - Inverness (73 miles)

I got chatting to the owner of the Bannockburn Inn in Helmsdale last night as she kindly agreed to do me a plate of chips and cheese with a ham toastie despite it being long gone 10pm. They are keen Macmillan supporters and have an interesting approach. Whenever anyone looses at pool they have to put 50p minimum in the Macmillan pot before they have a cigarette and another game of pool. Apparently its very successful. A kind of insurance policy I guess.

Today was another long day punctuated by emotional highs and lows. When my legs were aching and the hail was lashing into my face I felt a deep despair and was close to getting the train to Inverness. Thankfully there were moments on quiet and flat country roads in the sunshine when I felt like I could cycle forever. That probably comes as no surprise but I was struck by the extremes of the emotional rollercoaster and the speed of the ride. I'm sure these highs and lows are familiar to anyone who partakes in endurance sports but as someone who doesn't they were quite challenging.

The picture is of the Moray Firth that was my companion for the first half of the day.

Loch Fleet and Cromarty Firth are much more gentle than some of yesterdays landscapes. Much of the area (and particularly the Black Isle) are very fertile and so there is a patchwork landscape comparable to the rolling hills of the south of England but combined with the beauty of the the lochs and firths.

Tomorrow I head for the highlands with a distillary around every corner! Good job really because there is a distinct lack of real ale (or anything that resembles it) up here.