June 7, 2005
To Portree
Another great day. I had a restless night (too much after dinner coffee and tea), waking throughout the night, and often enough To see that it doesn't get fully dark at any point now.
I awoke at 6 to overcast skies, and went off on my own to cycle the steep mile downhill to the harbor to see the Cuillans under different conditions. on the way I was treated to a lovely sight - three red deer in the middle of the road ahead, evenly arrayed and all with their heads cocked in my direction. I was very glad to have taken the effort to do this, for the range had quite a different feel from the waterfront and under a layer of clouds. It was well worth the painful climb back uphill to the lodge.
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Over and after breakfast we enjoyed a prolonged visit with the innkeeper (Leslie?) - a delightful, entertaining and surprisingly worldly person. She's done extensive traveling, and startled us by her familiarity with Portland, Salem, and Capitol Hill in Seattle. She shared an interesting story of watching 9-11 on the telly here at the inn with her Arab and American guests.
The ride back to Broadford was blissful as we were blown down the road by a strong west wind. Remarkable luck to have a strong tailwind on both directions along this road.
The 15 miles from Broadford to Sligachan was much less enjoyable, on the main north-south highway - more traffic than we wished for, no shoulder, and occasional roaring headwinds. We stopped for lunch at the Sligachan Hotel and enjoyed conversing with a German cycletourist, picking up his thoughts on cycling in northern Europe.
From Sligachan we left the highway and veered west along a minor road to the coast, and then straight east again along a deserted single track all the way to Portree. This final ten miles was a fantastic ride, blasted eastward by a fierce wind through barren, exposed, treeless landscape, scattering sheep off the road as we sailed along. It felt like we were floating on the roof of the world.
The Rosedale Hotel in Portree, our home for the next 3 nights, has a lovely waterfront location but is otherwise a bit disappointing and overpriced. We ate dinner on the first night in their award winning dining room, but after 55 miles on the road we needed heartier fare than the spare gourmet dishes offered us.
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3 years ago
My shot is a bit more zoomed-in.
3 years ago
Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 658 miles (1,059 km)
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