August 28, 2021
Day Two - Dornoch to Melvich
Mundane riding on the A9 followed by spectacular views inland.
Ah, proper sleep. I actually got some rest last night, which was very pleasing. One of my recent purchases since my last cycling trip was a 100% goose down sleeping bag, reduced from £420 I think to £320...so I should hope I got a good night's sleep. I think I set the alarm (yes, I have an alarm when I'm on holiday) to snooze after it went off the first time...well by the time I'd even contemplated snoozing I was wide awake. A good thing really I suppose as it meant I'd be breaking camp sooner. Given that 65 miles riding in a day is good going, I thought it'd be wise to see where I'd end up if I cycled about 60 miles.
What do you know...another campsite! I'm certainly planning on wild camping but if there's a campsite pretty much bang on where I think I'll end up after a day's cycling...well, I may as well make use of it. Unless of course it's exorbitantly expensive. I ended up booking a spot, and didn't have to pay in advance too which was nice. Incentive to put the miles in but I didn't have to get there to avoid wasting money. £15, which isn't too bad. I'll tell you what I think of said campsite at the end. Phwoar, there's something to draw you in. How now you can possibly click away to look at your photos of your relative's new kittens until you've read the whole thing! I sometimes wonder whether my style of writing is a bit obnoxious. Well at least I'm trying (some might say I'm very trying but I digress).
Breaking camp went rather well, I decided I would stay in my casual attire and then change in to my cycling kit just before I was about to leave at about 9AM. Then went to fill my water bottles aaand...oh. The tap was barely dribbling. So I ended up leaving at 9:10 instead. Still, pretty good.
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The road out of Dornoch was peaceful and had appealing views. Once I got to the coast, which the quiet road followed, I could see some seals lounging about in the distance too. Might be the first time I've seen seals, not sure. Took a photo with my phone's telephoto lens...not very big on the picture. Tried my compact camera (which I've used so little so far I'm wondering whether it was worth bringing or even buying) and it zoomed in pretty much the same amount. Well they're not artistic photos but at least you can make out that they're seals, I hope at any rate.
Shortly after spotting the seals (only because a couple had parked up and were looking at them through binnoculars) it was time to rejoin the A9...yuck. In fairness it wasn't quite as bad as it had been the day before, so that was a positive. Plenty more pleasant coastal views while I listened to...I think it was first my favourite (and only) gaming podcast, EasyAllies, followed by No such thing as a Fish (Qi "elves" talking about random facts they encounter as part of their job), followed by an episode of BBC World service's CrowdScience on whether people in centuries/millenia past slept as well as most (or at least some) of us do in modern times. Well I should hope that most sleep better than I did on the "sleeper" train. I think the only thing I blame the sleeper train itself for is having a pretty anemic mattress, my main issue was all the bumping around, and that's more a comment on the rail network than the train itself.
I was planning on stopping in Brora to get the day's snacks and lunch, however I went past a Nisa convenience shop in Golspie and despite the extra marginal weight figured I'd go for buying it all there instead. The real hills started after Brora anyway so it didn't really make any difference.
Passed through Golspie after my trip to the shop, then eventually through Brora, and then at the bottom of a descent, there's the turning to go inland at Lothbeg. Good job I realised that was it myself as my Garmin warned me probably a bit too late. Immediately upon turning on to this road the climbing started. The very first section of ascent was so steep it felt a bit like the driveway to where my step-mother and father live. I had the gearing right as I went up it at least. By this point I'd switched from podcasts to music (6 Music, of course, downloaded). Music's probably a better option for climbing hills.
The views on this road were spectacular. The main issue however was that often the road surface was so crappy it was wise to spend as much time looking at the road as possible. It was a single track road where often your options are potholes on either side of the centre, or the gravel in the centre. Still, the lack of traffic for the most part and the panoramas that are a large part of why I enjoy these trips made it worth it.
There was a brief section of climbing on this road, then it got flat for a while to such an extent I almost forgot I had a big climb coming up. Then the climb reared its ugly head again. It was not actually that steep, the main challenge was picking my line. Just as I was approaching the summit of the climb at about 12:10PM, I saw someone had stopped and unloaded a load of kit. I at first thought she was a walker but it had turned out she was cycling too. She started the conversation too which was nice. I was sorely tempted to ask if she'd be up for me eating my lunch with her, however it was barely past noon and I was planning on eating my lunch at the 40 mile mark so I only had 20~ miles left after having eaten. It's one of the highlights of these trips to socialise with people who have embarked on a similar adventure, so I was definitely questioning whether I should have been so rigid in my plans. We had a nice chat and she suggested we follow each other on Strava...excellent! She entered her name on my phone so I didn't actually catch her name at the time, and I didn't tell her mine - well she'll know now she's got a new Strava follower! Hello Cynthia if you're reading.
Getting to the top of the climb was a relief, I was even pleased to discover that the descent on the other side had for the most part a higher quality road surface. There was a brief moment of mild panic on a gravely/pothole-y section when I essentially realised A: Given the conditions I was going faster than I'd like and B: If I braked right there and then to the degree I would like to, I'd probably lose control of the bike anyway given the loose nature of the road. Instead I gently feathered the brakes, preserving the limited traction I had. Felt like that sensation of "I'm going too fast" lasted about ten seconds. That part of today's riding wasn't particularly fun...I suppose the lesson from it is pay more attention to the road surface and the speed I'm going. I don't think (or at least I hope) that the rest of the roads I'll be on will be better quality than that.
I haven't mentioned the weather yet have I. Pretty much all of the previous day, and at the start of today, the sun was shining. Sunshine in Scotland, some people don't believe you when you tell them.
After the main climb which I mentioned earlier, there was a few remaining short bumps before what appeared to be a long descent. I was planning on finishing off all the climbing for the day and then eating my lunch. That is until I went over a cattle grid, and it didn't feel much like "tyre-on-metal", more "metal-on-metal". I stopped, used the rather unscientific "press my finger in to it" method of ascertaining whether I had a flat. Well it wasn't super soft, but it didn't feel as hard as it ought to be (Ooh Matron). I'm supposed to be stopping for lunch in under 10 miles though I thought. I don't want to stop twice. I was so close to getting to 40 miles but it got to the point where even mild potholes gave me that "metal-on-metal" sensation so in the end I gave up and stopped at about 39. The horror, I know.
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It's a situation like this where bringing your own chair comes in to its own. I didn't set up my table however, let's not get too carried away. I did briefly consider fixing the flat first, but then concluded that 1:30PM is plenty late enough to be eating lunch, best not to go any later. I had a ham and salad bagguete bought from that Nisa shop, orange juice, and a granola and yoghurt pot. Turns out I really like granola and yoghurt pots on cycle holidays. They just seem so refreshing somehow. It was probably designed to be breakfast but I had it as my dessert. Well, most of it- managed to spill some of it when taking the lid off. Licked it off my hand and the lid. Didn't lick the part that went on my shoe, that would have been a bit extreme!
Now, on to the flat tyre. I say flat, it still wasn't actually flat, something was clearly wrong though. I took the inner tube out, pumped it up again a bit. I think my ear must have done 3-4 laps around the tube until I actually heard the hissing. I was glad that I had the confidence from experience to know that the air must have been leaking somewhere else I might have given it a much briefer examination and then had a truly flat tyre a few miles later. Looked at the tyre where the air was coming out of the tube...no thorns or anything. Must have been a pinch flat on that rough road. Stands to reason with all the luggage. I've decided to give tube patches a second chance, so rather than put in a new tube I put on a dry patch (Halfords own brand, classy).
Throughout this break (which I think ended up lasting about an hour), I was assuming Cynthia would reappear, at which point I was going to suggest we ride together for a bit. She didn't reappear though, oh well. Hope her journey went well today. She's been doing LEJOG, and tomorrow will be her last ride. She's been fortunate with the weather, as I had been thus far. This is my sixth cycle trip and so far I've only had one with what I'd consider truly bad weather for several days.
The rest of the riding for the day went pretty well, I did feel like my spirits dropped a bit when the sun went in. There was a slow drag uphill as the clouds made everything look a bit less colourful...still the views were still something to remember. Big vistas.
Once I got to the top of the climb it looked like I was going to get an almost alpine descent on the other side, but I think I had misinterpreted my Garmin's elevation chart. I was just following a river to the coast, so the assistance provided was more like a slight tailwind.
Got to the campsite (NC500 Touring Park, or something like that) in Melvich. It seemed rather well presented. Funded by the EU. Go figure. As I booked in the reception staff asked if I wanted book a place to eat in their restaurant. Yes please! I'd arrived at 5:40 and my reservation was for an hour later, so I'd have to hurry up getting the sleeping arrangements set up. Oh, the inside of my tent is damp, that's annoying. In the end I didn't set up most of my sleeping kit, just chucked my bags in the tent and had my shower. Even then I was still late to my reservation by a couple of minutes, disaster! I didn't get put on the naughty step, fortunately.
The food was rather expensive, nachos for starter at £7 and a burger and chips for £14. It did all taste really good though and it was clear some effort had been put in to the prep/design of the dishes, along with the ingredients. The sauce for the nachos was tasty, and the chips were very crunchy...the burger was flavoursome too. I probably shouldn't become a food writer.
After I'd finished eating I had a chat with a woman, Pat, who had arrived on her eBike. 60 miles cycled today which was pretty good going for her she said, although she's known her battery to give up before the 60 mile mark so I guess she managed it pretty well on this ride.
I also had a chat with two cyclists who had turned up as a pair. Turned out they were riding JOGLE (John 'o Groats to Lands End) and this was their first day. I asked how long they thought it would take - "Well two weeks is how long we have booked off". Ah yes, I can relate to that!
After getting my bedding set up I then decided to go to the bar to write some more of this journal. One of the staff was interested in what I was up to though so I didn't get much written. Kendal she was called, we ended up talking about horoscopes (I hid the extent to which I think they're complete claptrap, but I got the impression she probably realised it was nonsense too), along with my plans for my trip. Turned out she'd got her job after doing a similar trip in her car and visiting the bar, and they offered her a job. Wonder how that came about. Did she just randomly say she was looking for work? I suppose I'll never know. I did get a bit of the journal written, but gave up...so I'm writing the remainder of this the next evening.
Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 126 miles (203 km)
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