CYCLING DAY 25 Inverness – Tain 35.83 miles 13.6.2011

Today has been the worst of all cycling days. What should have been one of the best –as it had been recommended to us back in 2004 – turned out to be a day of relentless rain, merciless car drivers, who even when we were on a cycle path, splashed us with more water, but... we also came across great kindness.
From Tain the train to Inverness. We then started off for just a short while on the A9 to get out of Inverness, we then turned to the NCN no.1 past Drumsmittal, Killen and on to Cromarty to use the Cromarty-Nigg Ferry. This is part of the North Sea Cycle Route and would have been absolutely fantastic. On the ferry, It was very choppy and it felt like an Atlantic crossing. They take 2 cars and quite number of cyclists/footpassengers and once on the ferry the cars are then turned round on a turntable. A Dutchman and his wife were quite shaken when this happened...never seen anything like it! Just before we went on the ferry we had soup lunch in a very welcoming place, who took all our wet gear and dried it as far as time allowed in the kitchen near the stove! We find folk very kind here in Scotland, so that made our day, although we soon were drenched again. Never mind....it’s all part of this run. From the other side of Cromarty we took the Nigg Road, via Arabella then a short while on the A9 to Tain. Hope the weather is kind tomorrow. If all goes well to plan, then Friday is going to be J.O.G. day! We are a bit limited and governed by trains. We could easily cycle the rest in 2 days but that makes a mess of the rail plans.