Greetings from Inverness

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What a fantastic day. The manager promised to be up and about at 06:00 to let us out of the Bridge of Orchy Hotel, this gave us slight cause for concern as Graham spent the previous evening winding him up as he kept getting our order wrong in the restaurant. We thought he may have developed a pathological need to get his own back. Thankfully he turned up, all be it a bit grumpy.

Our route took us through the highlands to Fort William. The beginning of the ride was cold and misty, majestic red deer with those amazing antlers appeared to observe our progress from time to time. As the mist cleared the vast and timeless mountains came into view, peaks still crowned with snow.

Then there was the bit that made all those freezing January mornings of training seem utterly worth while. It was the long descent from Ranoch moor down through Glencoe. The early morning sun was burning the mist off the tops of the mountains as we swept down into vastness of the empty green glen.

Fort William provided an excellent breakfast, a large supply of drugs for the mounting number of aches and pains and a robust bollocking from a Police woman for cycling in a pedestrian precinct.

The A82 is the road that takes you through the Great Glen and along past the lochs. We had a late lunch on the shores of Loch Ness and then back on the road going against a strong wind which was pretty taxing. Arrived at Inverness at about 6. Maple Court is an excellent hotel however we are a little concerned about security so we have all the bikes stacked in the bathroom.

As I finish this e-mail Graham is making a noise strangled pig combined with a fog horn and Chris is measuring up the shower to see if his mattress will fit. Night all.....

Last leg tomorrow!!