September 1, 2021
Day Six- Gruinard Bay to Torridon
Another chilled out day riding.
Spoke to Sian some more as I ate my breakfast nearby the beach. Can't remember what we spoke about, other than that she's had friends ask her if they can join her on her adventures and she's plainly told them no - I admire the honsty. I like the idea of cycling with others on these holidays but it definitely has its compromises. Being a free agent has lots of appeal. Before she left I gave her the address of the waterfall I visited and the previous day and the link to this blog. Hopefully she'll visit when it's visibile in its entirity!
Also spoke to my camp neighbour, Phil, as we were both breaking camp. He had a tent that looked similar to mine but was of a different brand, and had a big porch. He mentioned that it was one of the most sturdy tents he's had, and it also fits in to a very small bag. All very appealing until I looked it up to learn it costs over £1,000 I think, and not only that, weighs about 4kg. No thank you! Probably a good option for a couple cycling for months on end. Phil also spoke about pro cycling and didn't think Pogačar is clean, and thought it was sad that Froome has lost form since his big crash. Also commented on Geraint Thomas crashing so regularly. He does seem to struggle to keep his rubber down!
I ended up setting off at 10:30, rather late. I did manage to write some of this journal before setting off though at least.
Pleasant coastal views for the first few miles, quite a few hills but they weren't steep hills at least. Up until this point the route I was following had tried to send me on some dodgy off-road sections. This time it had me shortcutting past a small descent and the following hill. Perhaps I should have actually gone with its suggestion.
Ended up stopping to take a photo of the view, and the couple with the German campervan happened to stop there too. Finally got their names and a photo, they were going to Pollock that day, far beyond my plans, so decided to get their names (Andy and Svea) and a photo as we weren't going to have any more chance encounters.
After this, there were more steady climbs albeit with a few steep sections.
Had a pleasant descent in to Gairloch, where I spent far too long pottering about between a farm shop and McColls convenience. Ended up spending £80 on a insulated jacket so there was a better chance I'd stay warm outside after the sun goes down. More weight, woohoo! I'm wearing it as I type this, three days later. Stuffed it in to one of my front pannier bags minutes after purchase. Not a very classy start to its life, but then it's not like it's a suit! Also bought my lunch and supplies for the evening meal.
Had my lunch very late at about 14:40, I wasn't running out of energy though at that point though really so it wasn't an issue. The car park I stopped in to eat had its view of the munroe obscured by trees, but it was a pleasant enough place to eat all the same. No bench so got my chair out of course.
Enjoyable descent from where I'd eaten my lunch. Long straights through woods. Also took a couple of photos of a pony I spotted. I have a couple of friends who are horse fans.
After a brief stop to buy some snacks and chopped tomatoes for the fajitas I was cooking that evening (no chopped tomatoes, oh no!), it was time to turn right on to a single track road again. Soon after this (and my garmin trying to send me on another off-road route) I was treating to stunning vistas to both my left and right. I was tempted to wild camp finally but the campsite served as a good way to push myself to get the mileage in. Took photos of passing cyclists coming the other way, who seemed pleased with it, giving me thumbs up and the like.
Got to the campsite, turns out it was free but there's an honesty box...so...not free for anyone with ethics? Hmm. There was a chap there who appeared to be alone, so got chatting to him. He was called Tom too! Go figure. He was from Yorkshire though (being a Lancashire man myself) but I won't hold that against him. Quite chatty which was nice, although he was still there when I was trying to cook, which was a bit frustrating, but then the midges were so determined to ruin my meal that making conversation with Tom probably helped me distract myself from the annoying midges. They were so annoying that they even saw fit to land in my fajita filling. Great! Extra protein I guess, I wasn't going hungry that night on their account. Tom had lost his midge net on the first day of his trip (He was hiking), poor guy! Hope he managed to get one before his trip was over.
After washing up from cooking (and presumably discarding of tens of dead midges) I got back to my tent and Tom had gone to bed (I assume anyway). Understandable given the midges had tried their best getting to him. I stayed up a bit longer, went for a walk to take photos of the loch after the sun had set. Was surprised to see so much street lighting (I was in Torridon, by the way). This was the only night I was to have no mobile signal (emergencies only) so I couldn't help but see if the community centre for example had free wifi. Nope. Oh well. Once I got back, went to bed soon after. It had got rather windy at this point - no idea whether that had blown the midges away of course , it's rather difficult to see them after dusk.
Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 360 miles (579 km)
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