Day 14: Dingwall to Altnaharra (59.05 miles)

We start the next day with an excellent breakfast (which for me includes the revelation of why you should make porridge with salt), and leave Dingwall by following the shoreline of the Cromarty Firth as far as Alness. From there, we take the B road across the peninsula. It’s on this road that I really start to enjoy the cycling again – the road is reasonably challenging, with a decent amount of climbing, while the scenery is just gorgeous, and by the time we start to descend down the peninsula, the views over the Dornoch Firth in front of us are just spectacular.

The landscape today is less mountainous – the peaks are still high, but are less dense, which leaves you with a sense of scale and isolation that the roads around Loch Ness didn’t convey.

We reach the town of Bonar Bridge, and decide to stop for lunch early, being uncertain of what there would be on the road ahead. We find a great tea room which serves fantastic lime cheesecake, and end up talking to a couple next to us, who turn out to be from Kidlington. It feels odd to be sat in North Scotland talking about Oxford, but the realisation that our journey is coming to an end makes it enjoyable. They’re also nice enough to give us some money towards our fundraising efforts.
From Bonar Bridge we head towards Lairg, and this afternoon is the first time we really start to have a problem with midges and other insects in Scotland. Stopping cycling is now a question of endurance, and when I turn round to check behind me, I can see a cloud of insects following. After Lairg the road becomes a single track with passing places, which feels odd as it’s designated as an A road. We see very few travellers, and the sense of isolation and desolation is overwhelming, but exhilarating too.

The road starts to undulate as we head towards our destination of Altnaharra, and the weather suddenly seems uncertain – black clouds cluster round the peaks and pass across the blue sky, before disappearing again. Finally as we’re about five miles from Altnaharra it starts to rain. We pick up the pace and push on, spurred on by the weather and the prospect of a warm shower and hot tea. A combination of rain, sun cream, and clouds of insects mean we arrive in a state of supreme disgustingness:

We find our B&B for the night and are hurried in by Mandy, our enthusiastic hostess, just before the rain breaks, and I sit in the conservatory, drinking tea, and marvelling at how quickly the clouds engulf the area:


An hour and half later the sky is blue again.

Altnaharra is barely a village, but our hosts are extremely welcoming, make us dinner, offer us the use of their internet connection and playstation. In a day for meeting ex-Oxfordians, it turns out Mandy originally worked in Oxford before moving to Altnaharra. We’re pointed in the direction of Altnaharra’s hotel for a pint, and wander over at about half past eight (having been told they often close early for the night if no-one’s in there). After ten minutes, we manage to locate a barman, and have a pint while Al teaches me darts games. The bar wall never knew what hit it. Our talk is now of finishing the ride, and John O’Groats. Despite the disappointment of the ride overall, today has been a really enjoyable day’s cycling, and we’re looking forward to the next day, and seeing what the Northernmost point of Scotland looks like, even if we anticipate a low-key entrance into John O’Groats. It doesn’t feel like the achievement it should do, but being in such a tiny place, so far North, and in such a dramatic setting, leaves us with some sense of excitement.

On our penultimate day, we’ve now cycled 784.05 miles.