Day 9: Fort William to Tain

Distance: 170.1km
Total: 1536.3km
Time: 6hrs 44mins
Average: 25.2kph
Maximum: 64.9kph

This was an awesome day of riding: after two days with the wind against me I finally had it pushing me along today. Sped out of Fort William up along the Great Glen to Loch Ness. I made some monster checks but all I saw were rocks sticking out of the water. I cut away from Loch Ness at Drumnadrochit to take a short cut past Inverness. There was a steep climb out of Milton, but once up in the glen it was fine and I continued with good pace down to Muir of Ord.

I joined the A9 for the final 30km up to Tain, where I saw the first sign to John o'Groats: 104 miles to go. The last hour was fantastic with what had become a very strong wind behind me I cruised into Tain at well over 35kph, regularly pushing 45kph on the flat.

As there were no youth hostels around I had booked a bed and breakfast on the outskirts of town (not that Tain is a particularly big place anyway, so outskirt is probably not the best word).It was so good to sleep in my own room, without anyone else snoring around me or coming into the dorm at three in the morning. I stayed at the Morangie B&B, found the place to be very plush and although expensive compared to a hostel, excellent value I felt at £35 for what I got.

In contrast to my accomodation, I found the local pub food to be pretty lacking and the service even worse. Oh well, can't have everything.

Nonetheless a great ride and a good setup for the final day.