LEJOG Day 16 - Lairg to Strathy Bay

Today was a mixed day - the ride away from Lairg was quite easy with a gradual uphill gradient as we went deeper into the Scottish Highlands. The scenery was fantastic with clumps of mountains in every direction. The rocks in Scotland are the oldest in the UK and amongst the oldest in the world. The mountains we see today are merely the stumps of much bigger mountain ranges that have been ground down by multiple ice ages - it makes one bloke on a pushbike seem very insignificant in comparison. Whilst I was pondering on this and other thoughts I realised that the quiet narrow road with passing places I remembered from 16 years ago was actually quite busy - there were several lorries and vans associated with a wind farm being constructed about 12 mile further north, as well as quite a few camper vans and groups of motorcyclists! It wasn’t much of a problem for me but it gave Jan a few problems, none of which fazed her. We met up for a tea break at The Crask Inn and a mere 10 miles later met up for lunch at Altnahara (yes, I had soup and sandwiches again - oh, and a pint of cider!). Next we used a B road up Strathnaver. This was wonderful, quiet and very scenic although I noticed the wind getting stronger and shifting to the east as the afternoon progressed. By the time I climbed into Bettyhill and turned east the wind was very noticeable and blowing at about 15mph. As I changed my map sheets one got caught in a gust and flew off down the road! Leaving my bike on the verge I had to run back down part of the hill I’d just struggled up before I managed to retrieve it! The next ten miles were pretty unpleasant - although the sun was still shining, the combination of two long, steep hill climbs through very barren countryside, straight into a wind that wanted to push me backwards was energy sapping. I coped by having a couple of drink and energy bar stops, concentrating on details on the maps, trying to find the smoothest line on the pretty rough road surface and thinking about what to write on tonight’s blog. Meantime Jan had sent me details of how to find tonight’s stop. Finally at about 17:30 I rolled up at Strathy Bay Pods where we are staying. Perched over Strathy Bay with a magnificent view of its extensive sandiness, it has central heating, hot and cold water, Wi-Fi and cooking facilities - it looks like we’re in for a comfortable night! Don’t forget to post your guesses for my total Lands End to John O’Groats mileage and also what you think the Yellow Car Boom! total will be. The closing time for your entries will be midday tomorrow (Wednesday 8th June). With the winners announced later that evening (subject to me finishing tomorrow!!). Todays stats: Distance: 55.89 miles Avg speed: 10.2 mph Max speed: 31.3 mph Climbing: 2775 feet Accumulated distance: 941 miles Yellow Car Boom! Total: 124