Friday, June 10, 2011
PHOTOS TO FOLLOW; INTERNET TOO SLOW!!!!
I set off from Dufftown full of enthusiasm ‘cos I knew there was a lot of “down” for the first few miles. I soared off down the road under a bright sun and screeched to a halt 30 seconds later. It was Baltic! I put on the trackies and jersey and tried again. Better. I was on the Whisky Trail and it smelled great. First sign was the Speyside Cooperage with its mountains of barrels and little barrel houses in the grounds. Then Glenfiddich, Glen Grant, the Macallan, Glenlivet, Cardhu, Dallas Dhu. And of course, the River Spey, which provides the water. The roads got smaller until I turned right from Knockando and headed over a bleak muir. I felt pathetic, weak as a kitten, because it was so hard to pedal and not steep but it was deceptively steep and it took a very long time to come back down to Forres. I hadn’t seen the sea since the Camel Estuary but in Forres, dinghies could be seen in people’s gardens; the sea was close again.
After Forres, I decided to take the A96, a busy, fast road, just to crunch some miles quickly. It was 25 miles to Inverness and I really went for it with gritted teeth, literally. Sometimes there was a narrow, hard shoulder, or “cycle path” as I liked to think of it. But when it ran out I just had to take my place on the road and hold it. The traffic was really well behaved with just the odd camper van coming a bit close. After nine miles, Les caught up with me at Nairn and we had a wee chat about the evening. After 15 miles I had a wee lie down in a bus shelter then after 25 miles I was on the Kessock Bridge having a chat with a cyclist who is starting the end to end next month with some friends. He’s doing it in 11 days. Swot.
Anyway, I exceeded my intended mileage and finished early so it was a good day. Hope your’s was too.
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