Wed 4th August

This is the first blog entry since we left Andy’s house at 10:30a.m. on Sunday. We’d planned to be more frequent bloggers but poor signal at our chosen stopping places put paid to that idea.
We’re all well. No problems, and making good progress.
We spent Sunday night camping near Aviemore. The drive there was easy. We all took turns and only had one brief jam just South of the Forth Bridge. Weather was fairly bleak – with many heavy downpours the further North we went.
We made good progress to John O’Groats on Monday stopping briefly in Wick for last minute provisions and access to a FREE cashpoint!
We got there at 11:00a.m. and after some bike fettling and photo opportunities, tthe ride proper got underway at noon.
Monday night was spent camping at Bettyhill, and dinner was a novel Curry con Carne sans ongion (our only onion was not up to Simon’s exacting standards, and the shop had copious amounts of curry powder – but no chilli!)
We met with a couple of very enthusiastic but hopelessly ill prepared young lads – Gary and Richard – who had various technical issues, and also no idea of the route. But that’s a story for another day.
Good progress was made on Tuesday – we camped at Dingwall, right beside Ross county’s football ground. The locals are still very proud of their team making it to last season’s Scottish Cup Final.
Yesterday was my 35th birthday, and to celebrate we whooped it up at ‘The Mallard’ with fish and chips or lasagne.
And so to today. Heavy overnight rain ddampened spirits, but by the time we had breakfasted it was all but gone.
The infamous hill at Drumnadrochit was conquered and the plan is to camp somewhere south of Fort William.

Thanks to everyone who has ddonated to our chosen charity. If you’re reading this and feeling guilty ‘cos you haven’t flexed your plastic yet…. Well there’s no time like the present!