Invernahaven to Beauly via Inverness

Bob, a neighbour at the campsite, although on his motorbike on this tour, is also a bikepacker and had useful information about gear for camping and cycling. He was brought up in Dumfries and it took a while before he started to lapse into his old accent.

Today’s route followed mainly NCR 7 then NCR 1 to the centre of Inverness and the A862 to Beauly. Unusually, there were no stops at eateries but the carried food went down well and provided rest periods.

The stop in Inverness was to visit a cousin for a wide-ranging chat and to benefit from her cooking, which continues to impress.

The weather today was very mixed, including pleasant afternoon and evening sunshine but earlier with some rain and low cloud obscuring Cairngorm summits and a chilly breeze over the Slochd pass near its summit at 1200 feet. The north wind made the cycling more difficult, and the total distance of 73 miles including 3200 feet of ascent was tiring. Tiredness probably contributed to the galling loss of a bag of electrical gear.