We do the last few meters from the Crask to the top of the road then it's a long downhill to Altnahara. We pass 2 cyclists beginning the long grind up and i am thankful to not be going that way.
Turning right at Altnahara we take the Strathnaver road to Bettyhill. We heard it had been resurfaced recently and sections of it are nice and smooth. The summit of Ben Klibreck is in the cloud but there are plenty of things to look at. The caravan club has a site here and folk are sitting in waiting for a breeze to shoo the midges away.
The road is very quiet apart from a low loader which passes us for the third time. I have a feeling the driver is dropping off items he has collected in Tain or Lairg for friends.
There is a lot of deciduous woodland on this side, south of the crask it is mainly conifers.
We join the main road and 2 miles later we are in Bettyhill. One more hill to ascend before lunch in the cafe at the Tourist Info at the bottom on the far side. There is a large map on the wall as you go in to the cafe which makes it easy to see how hilly the afternoon cycle will be. Not too bad it seems. After soup and a toastie i am ready to go. The waitresx kindly fills a water bottle for me and i drop a tablet in to keep essential elementz topped up.
Starting off its uphill with no warm up so its nice and slow to get the legs gokng again. Half an hour later a stop iz required and i take off my cycling glasses ho txke a picture. I put ghem on a wall and think ' better not leave them there ax you mkght fofget them'. Immediately I think No how coujld i do that i will see them next to my bike. 10 mins later we are a mile down the road and I realise i have left them on the wall. Doh! How can you do that I ask myself. I turn around to get them and Julian laughs.
These are my second pair of the trip, the first fell off and broke after i had hung them on the barbag at a stop. I vowed then to always put them in the barbag to avoid leaving or bresking them. Ah well lesson learned, again.
Spot the glasses.
Glasses retrieved i was lucky it was a flat ride and not a big hill liike the one we were about to meet. What a great run down it was, over a mile and not a pedal pushed. Great.
It is not long before we are ready for another scone and cuppa. The Inn at Strathy appears on cue so in we go and shelter from the drizzly rain that has been on and off today.
One more hill and its down the other side to Reay. I check the shop for snacky biscuits but sadly none, i take 2 banana's though and we devour them straightaway.
We turn off onto a quiet road here, a back road to Thurso as recommended by Sustrans. Pity nobody told the locals. It is the local racetrack with few corners and long straights. Everyone of the locals should be made to cycle this and feel the draught as their neighbours pass at 60 or more. One of the worst roads.
The other question that pops into my head is this, why are the Sustrans road signs so small.?Why are they not the same size as other roadsigns? If they were, perhaps it would remind drivers of the other road users around. A good bit of the Bettyhill to Thurso road is A road and not a single warning sign of cyclists.
60 miles done, our penultimate day is over. We check in to the private hostel which is ok but a bit rundown from its onetime 4* Tourist board rating. Only a 2 or 1 now from me. The warden is helpful and shows us where to park our cycles then our room and the kitchen/common room. It is warm and has character. Free wifi and even a pc to use which is more than some B&B's these days.
We go to the hotel next door for food and catch a bit of the Spanish Dutch world cup game. It seems perhaps the chef is also watching it as i have to return my meal, not hot in the middle. The next Lasagne arrives piping hot with a complimentary drink and an apologetic barman. It was very tasty.
We return to the common room and have our last 2 games of cribbage. Its 1 each but England win the tournament by 3 games. Well done Julian, i'll be back!.
Once again I dont need any rocking. Our 'roomy ' is a strange person, trying to get to Skye and constant questions so while Julian is patient with him i turn over and drift off. I did find out the bus times and where the bus stop was for him but he seems troubled that you cant get a bus from Thurso to Portree. I dont think he can picture a map and realise he is over 100 miles too far north.
Night night.
Todays mileage, 60 for Julian, 62 for me.
Total now 1221
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