Short day today. Started a little later at 08:45 and was happy to find that the wind was again behind me, quite strongly, as I headed North by North West up towards the Great Glen.
The first stretch alongside Loch Linnhe was quick and dry with the scenery continuing to be fantastic. I decided not to hang around in Fort William so went through and out towards Mallaig. Joined a queue of traffic in a 15 minute wait to cross the Caledonian Canal whilst a seemingly endless stream of slow moving boats crossed. Once across I turned onto the B8004 singletrack road heading back towards the Glen. Along this road the view back to the Ben Nevis, even with the top covered in cloud, was irresistible.
The first stretch alongside Loch Linnhe was quick and dry with the scenery continuing to be fantastic. I decided not to hang around in Fort William so went through and out towards Mallaig. Joined a queue of traffic in a 15 minute wait to cross the Caledonian Canal whilst a seemingly endless stream of slow moving boats crossed. Once across I turned onto the B8004 singletrack road heading back towards the Glen. Along this road the view back to the Ben Nevis, even with the top covered in cloud, was irresistible.
Ben Nevis still in cloud ...
Looking up the Great Glen from the lovely B8004 ...
Once reaching Gairlochy I stuck by my decision to take the main road through the Glen, rather than risk trying to ride the Forest cycle Track. This meant a little and suprisingly tough stretch up towards Spean Bridge. For some reason, possibly through my limited brain power being addled by fatigue, I was avoiding using the bottom chainring as the indexing ( which allows you to flick a lever once to change gear ) was out and causing the chain to hop off just when most inconvenient - due to the bike being relatively new and the cables stretching. This meant I was trying to get up some unexpectedly steep hills in too high a gear, which was plain silly. Good job it was a short day.
Turning back to the North on the A82, after a pleasant Cheese & Onion sarnie, the wind once again lent a helping hand. However, it also blew a dirty great rain cloud up the road to follow me. I was doubly glad now that I could make relatively swift progress as the traffic on was fairly busy, and riding in the pouring rain with Caravans, Coaches and Lorries hurtling past is fairly low in the fun stakes.
I was pleased to reach the Bridge of Oich where the Great Glen cycle route moves from the Forest to a well surfaced path alongside the Caledonian Canal. This was an excellent way to unwind a little and take in the yet again stunning scenery, helped by the rain clearing up. The path led all the way to Fort Augustus and I got to the B&B just in time to catch the proprietor before he headed back off to his shop for the afternoon.
Bridge of Oich ..
Cycle track alongside the Caledonian Canal ..
As I'd arrived early afternoon there was time to have a decent wander around the town. Fort Augustus was entertaining that weekend as a part of the Highland 2007 festival, so it was pretty busy. Unfortunately the music festival was slightly out of budget, so I settled for a tasty Venison Burger enjoyed with a pint of water - graciously provided by the friendly landlord.
Looking up Loch Ness from Fort Augustus ..
Stats for the day:
mileage 48.7
total to date 966.3
packup 1
Ben Nevis covered in cloud 1
Cheers,
Mat
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