We’ve managed day one! We’d made the decision not too push it to hard for the first couple of days, sticking to 30 miles per day, but we couldn’t make the hills any flatter!
Leaving the caravan just before 10 we stopped off at Two Lochs radio to record an interview which was broadcast this evening, you can listen to us being interviewed. Then after a quick drop in at the Tourist Information Office we were straight into our first climb, up out of Gairloch. Then it was a nice easy six miles to our first stop, at one of our favourite cafe’s, The Bridge Cottage Cafe, for a bit of cake and a coffee!
After that the ride started in earnest, we had 23 miles of riding to do before we finished at Maggie’s Tearoom for lunch. Clear blue skies overhead as we climbed up past Inverewe Gardens and out to Aultbea, along to Gruinard Bay, which has views across to an island made famous for the experiments with anthrax carried out there in 1942 and only relatively recently was decontaminated.
The climb out of Gruinard Bay was tough, almost two miles of continuous climbing, but the long descent down to Maggie’s made it all worthwhile, with speeds of 40mph down the hill, as did the bacon panini when we got there.
Enjoy the photos!
Ride Stats
Route Day One – Gairloch to Camusnagaul via Poolewe and Aultbea
Distance: 29.48 miles, Average: 10.73 mph, Ascent: 2254 ft