Day 13

Thursday, June 22
Fort William to Evanton
127km

If its not one thing, then its another.  Wind and rain out.  Bugs and dirt roads in. Tired legs out.  Sore back in.

It was raining again when we woke up, and still raining as we left camp.  However, the biggest annoyances were the midges: tiny little biting bugs that leave little red dots on your skin.  There were swarms of them at breakfast this morning.  Almost as bad as the mosquiots of Gravel River.

My legs felt strong again today after a poor performance yesterday., and I had no trouble keeping up with Roe.  My back did feel slightly off though.  I figured that I might have strained it yesterday while I struggled up the hills with weak legs.

There were nice views of Ben Nevis (lhighest peak in Great Britain) as we left the camp site, and more great scenery as we rode along Loch Arkaig.

Then our route took us on 10km of bumpy gravel path.  Roe was not impressed.  Some of the sections were pretty steep, and tough to climb and decend on loose gravel.  We did alright though.  Slow and steady.  My bike did slip once, but I managed not to crash it.

Next was a canal tow path, which was also loose gravel.  Roe was further unimpressed.  Our skinny little road tires don't feel very secure on gravel.

We stopped for lunch in Fort Augustus; a touristy little village on the shores of Loch Ness.  Having never been to Scotland, I had never been to Loch Ness.  It wasn't any different from the other Lochs we'd seen.  If anything, it was less scenic, with fewer tall mountains surrounding it.  I took some photos of Loch Ness when we past Urquhart Castle.  Don't think I got any of Nessie...but we'll have to check them closely when I get home.

At our lunch stop, I tweaked my back as I lifted my bike onto the curb.  It had felt a bit off all morning, and now there was a sharp, stabbing pain when I walked around.  It actually wasn't bad when I was hunched over on my bike, so I didn't have much trouble with the rest of the ride, but it is still bothering me when I stand and walk around.  Hopefully a good sleep will sort it out.  There was a 16% climb for 1 km near then end of today's ride which I managed, so I don't think I'll have any trouble making it to the end.  Fingers crossed.