It was one of those lovely early mornings you sometimes get in the UK. The sunlight was streaming through the windows, the birds were singing and a gentle breeze wafted through the trees. As I took this all in my semi awake state I noted the odd element out .. H standing on the porch peeing from height to save himself a 10 step walk to our external bathroom !
At great danger of getting swept away by the early morning hordes of Midges we said a quick goodbye to our fabulous b&b hosts Mary and Dave who'd looked after us so royally over our the past 2 days. Dave (Goulder) is an amazing character, a former train fireman, certified dry wall expert, rock climber, classical guitar playing songwriter, builder, motorcycle aficionado and a good beer and whiskey drinker.
With H feeling refreshed our 18km largely downhill ride to Bonar Bridge was a peach. Here we headed for one of the UKs most unique bike stores, the local post office !
While we took tea at the nearby cafe the bike shop / post office owner worked alternatively on serving PO customers and working on Kev's bike which had been suffering some recent gear slippages.
About 5 cups of tea later Kev returned to find his bike repaired with his hanger and gear cables being the established culprits. Thankfully for Kev the quick check also revealed that he'd worn through his rear tyre after only 1300 kms on tour - obviously way too many full Scottish breakfasts !
Leaving Bonar Bridge we climbed steeply inland over Struie hill before descending through isolated areas of forestry commission replants.
While I stopped to check the map at one point H came flying past with an obvious smile on his face after all our recent climbing efforts - the smile lasted until I caught up with him a couple of kms down the road to explain to him that he'd just cycled past our accommodation.
Luckily though we had a couple of hours to kill so we continued cycling into busy Alness where we stocked up on microwaveable dinners before climbing back 5+kms to find our b&b
After the last 2 nights our b&b this time was a spacious delight. Friendly hosts, lovely setting eat all you want muffins and fruit a definite winner for both Kev and self.
With London experiencing 27c for Wimbledon there's some chance the sun is at last coming our way !
Sent from my iPad
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