I had stayed for the night at the Dornoch Firth caravan
site, and had spent much of the evening in the laundry room using a dryer as a
makeshift office for the power that was available! During that night a Swedish couple had come
up to see me Katharina and Cornel, they were in a tent opposite me and noticed
my tent was open and it was starting to rain so they wanted to let me know,
that is the sort of generosity that you find with tourers!
In the morning I used the laundry room again to sort myself
out before I left and they came in to see me and wish me well and we took a
goodbye photo together! I headed out of the caravan park and came to a dead end
so had to turn round as I had gone down the wrong road for a hundred meters.
Almost immediately I was turning right onto the Dornoch
Firth Bridge which was opened by the Queen Mother on August 27th 1991. The views from the bridge gave me a great
start to the day and despite severe weather warnings I was feeling very positive,
although at the back of my mind I was thinking about the climbs out of Helmdale
and Berisdale which I had read about as being fairly vicious.
It was wet and windy but I was already thinking about John O’Groats
and wondering if the weather would be kind enough to put the mileage in and make
it there. I had decided to get closer to
the coast as there was a through road available so I made my way into the
village at Embo where I grabbed a coffee and some pictures of the Marketplace
with a stone cross where market trading used to take place. I took a photo of the local church and
noticed a chemist so I had my prescription filled there at the same time and
popped into the high street for some replacement headphones as mine had died.
I pushed on and along the coast of loch Fleet there is a
sandbank that runs in the middle and I could see it dotted with rocks, as I
cycled closer I thought I saw one move and thought my eyes were playing
tricks. As I closed in I realised there were about 40 or so
seals strewn out along the sandbank and I pulled over to watch for a while and
photograph them, with the zoom on full I could make them out fairly clearly. I had already seen one seal bobbing his head up at Abadour bay but to see so many was a fantastic experience for me!
As I was watching cars began to pull up as people also
noticed and, a gentleman pointed out there were two grey herons I could see
them but didn’t bother to photograph. He had explained to me as a young child he had seen a heron attempt to eat an eel that it had pecked to death and but tried to swallow the wrong way and had to regurgitate to take the other way. I related my own horror story of catching one while fishing with my brother when I was about 11 and having it wrap around my arm so that I took the but of a heavy knife and bludgeoned it until it stopped and then lopped it's head off, I didn't try and swallow it however, I took it home and cooked it in milk! I decided to move on as the solitary moment was lost so I pedalled off at a conveninent pause.
I was rewarded a little further on I saw a solitary heron sitting on a rock and I stopped to photograph it; it must have spotted me looking at it because as soon as I had my camera ready it launched itself into flight. I put the zoom on full and pointed where I thought it would fly into view, I was very lucky as got two shots of it!
I was rewarded a little further on I saw a solitary heron sitting on a rock and I stopped to photograph it; it must have spotted me looking at it because as soon as I had my camera ready it launched itself into flight. I put the zoom on full and pointed where I thought it would fly into view, I was very lucky as got two shots of it!
Towards the end of Loch Fleet I
saw a lone walker that looked like where’s Wally in the distance. When I got closer it was a young girl, she
looked about 15 (she was in fact 22), she flagged me down and asked where the
nearest village was (she had a French accent but good English), I told her
about 8 miles. I could see her face
droop a little so I asked her if she had water and she said yes then I asked
her is he had enough food and here answer was less committed. I had stocked up on food so had plenty on
board, I asked her if she would like some food as I had lots and she nodded
enthusiastically.
She asked if I had some “Cheddar” amazingly I was carrying a bag of Cathedral City
grate cheddar for my baguette! So I tore
half a baguette and poured it full of Cheddar!
She was very happy and began munching away as soon as I handed it to
her. She told me she had worked but didn’t
know what to do with her life so she was on this trip to work out what she
should do! We took photos together and she
reminded me of La La!
She gave me a hug before we left and I left her a card with
my number and instructions to call if she got into trouble! She asked to visit in Birmingham and I agreed
and maybe will meet her again, she was like a tiny little stick in the wind
with her pack almost as big as her, so I am sure when she finds her directions
she will be determined enough to succeed!
I needed the loo so pulled over to the side to see a mini
nature reserve announcing there were otters, there was no one about so I made
my way to the edge of a small drop onto water and there were two otters playing
with each other, I was transfixed until realised that my camera was on the bike
so dashed to get it, but by the time I returned they were gone, I was very disappointed
but glad had seen them.
I passed over a bridge and took some photos of a river
running through greenery below and continued along passing various places such
as Golspie, Brora until I approached Helmdale which I had read about as having
a horrible climb, and had caused many a cyclist to get off their bike and push. I met the climb and sank into a low gear and
relaxed my body focussing only on the rhythm of my pedals, to be hones in the
gear I was in I didn’t find it too strenuous but maintaining balance on a
loaded bike at slow speed with a side wind was an acquired skill!
After the climb out I had an amazing downhill and clocked
well over 40 MPH which made a change from the grinding climb. I pushed on and came to Berisdale which had
another long steep 13 degree climb, before I started I pulled over to the side
to fill up with water where I met a very old lady walking a small elderly corgi
that bounded up to me for a stroke or so I thought, instead it went straight to
my front wheel and began to pee at the side of the bike, the old lady didn’t
bat an eyelid. It wasn’t touching my
bike so I said nothing and simply asked if she knew where I could get some
water she told me a convoluted route that apparently led to some standby taps,
she then asked me if I was going up the hill on “that bike” I said yes and she
just laughed!!!
I decided to ignore the directions from the grey-haired old
lady and her incontinent dog, instead I knocked at a door and found it was a Jewellery
shop, http://www.patbat.com/ the artist
was Patricia Nehmen from Germany. Her
work was very expensive from the price tags, however I have to say I found her work fascinating and
very sinister, she asked me what I thought and I said that her work was
beautiful especially a deep red necklace with a kind of twisted red glass horn
that reminded me of blood and sacrificial rituals. I also told her that I found her work very
dark and sinister, she agreed and said yes there is a very sinister element but
that she was a nice person so they balanced each other. We both said a cheery goodbye and she wished
me luck
I began my ascent out of Berisdale which announced itself as
a 13 degrees and twisty, I carried on climbing and eventually emerged at the
top where a man got out of a break down truck and told me I had lost him
£5.00???? He said he and his co-worker
had seen me far back earlier in the day and when they passed me at the bottom
of the hill had made a bet that I couldn’t make it up without stopping and
pushing. I laughed at the insult as his
friend had more faith in me than he did, he shook my hand and asked to lift the
bike which he took two attempts to do.
He said that his friend was a cyclist and had said to him that my pace
was very even and steady so he knew I would make it.
It was strange that his friend never got out to say hi but stayed
across the road in the truck. I laughed
again at the bet and carried on.
Shortly after a group of cyclists flew past me on unladen bikes and ultra-smooth
Lycra, later on I spotted a café and as I got off they were outside and two of
them came to greet me. They were
likewise amazed that I had travelled up on a heavy bike and began to dissect the
bike – noticing the surly forks and brooks saddle.
They asked where this bike had been built and I told them in
my shed! I went inside and ordered a
deserved coffee, they motioned me to come over and join them, they were led by
an older guy who had a sort of experienced reverence from his companions, he
had done the end to end before and was now guiding his friends. They were also headed for wick and for a
brief moment I was envious of their unladen steeds.
They asked me when I had set out for my end to end and were
surprised and impressed when I described my trip but the older leader seemed
very off towards me. They described a
friend who had given in that day from a poorly stomach, I may have been out of
turn when I said he should have sucked it up and carried on because he was only
a day away from finishing. One of them
had said would you have carried on?? I
took that as a sort of challenge and let my ego get the better of me, I
explained that on my Joggle I had been knocked off my bike on day 3 and had to
cycle to the hospital 30 miles away where I had damaged the tendons in my wrist
and partially torn the sheath on my Achilles tendon and then cycled the last
800 with a metal wrist brace and a strapped up Achilles and happy pills to help
with the pain (I had flashbacks to my happy gear, the only one that didn’t make
me want to scream in pain).
Inside I thought to myself I am
glad you’re not my friends, if I had a friend who was ill I would have carried
him till the end or just not finished, when you are in a team either you all
finish or none of you finish, for me if you don’t all pass the line you have
failed anyhow, so short of dying you do what it takes to get you and your team
across the line… I guess was kind of peeved at the thought of him being left
behind – ok I admit it I was actually very annoyed as I imagined him on his own
back wherever even more miserable with his friends who had gone on without
him. There’s an old joke which says: “A
true friend is not the one who bails you out of Jail, it is the one who is sat
next to you saying, Bugger how did we get into this”.
My position justified the conversation turned a little lighter
and they began to poke fun at the last guy in as they said he was no better on
the hills than I was with my heavy bike, he was the newest to cycling and could
see he was a little embarrassed. I left
quickly with their best wishes, I simply said I will see you very soon as you
pass me!
They did indeed soon pass me and one of them shouted you’re
a bloody machine when he passed which was a great compliment for number one and
two pistons which were firing very nicely!
A little while later their “slower” friend passed me and
shouted good luck, I could see he was focussed on keeping up and not getting
the pleasure out of it that he could, I
shouted at him “ride your own ride” and “*&^%&*^ them do it in your own
time your way”. He stopped his bike and
looked back and shouted “thankyou” his face was beaming and he had indeed
slowed his pace a little, good for him I thought, follow your own rhythm.
Note: later I found that a grey van I had seen following at
various points was in fact theirs with their girlfriends who were readying
meals and putting up tents for them at the end of the day… Each to their own but for me that is just not
a true adventure, you may as well stay at home and sit on a turbo trainer.
I learned a few things today:
- The top of the hill is never where you think it is so be prepared to keep going
- There is always a bigger hill than the last
- That I already knew the first two but the brain has a tendency to fool you into forgetting them for self-survival.
I pushed on the final 20 or so miles to wick, I didn’t
realise it was so big and immediately saw a LIDL sign, I thought I was in
heaven!! I stocked up on food for the evening
and continued on eventually I pulled into a camping site, which was not exactly
on my top list but I wanted a shower. It
was £11.00, they had no Wi-Fi, nowhere to charge your devices, and not a bench
in site, the only saving grace was the showers!
The tent next to me housed a cunningly hidden Brazilian, I
heard his accent and greeted him in Portuguese “Boa Tarde”, he smiled and we
conversed in my stilted Portuguese and English.
His name was Jose and he was going to Findhorn as part of his ecological
research, the video below is one of his.
I quickly got my tent up and I cooked myself some fresh
chicken breast in a Tikka Masala sauce with some rice and vegetables. I couldn’t eat it all and I had to throw the
rest away something I hate
doing. I met up with Jose again and I
told him I was heading for the Weatherspoon’s in town so that I could get some Wi-Fi
and charge some things up. He took this
as an invite and we agreed to go together after we had showered (separately not
together) Brazilians are friendly but I am not that friendly!!!!
I called Rosana and Jose conversed with her talking about
the weather etc... After we had showered
we headed down the river where I took a few photos of Wick at night and then we
made our way through the town centre, at almost every corner there were groups
of kids hanging around looking like they had nothing to do but cause trouble,
of course I had misjudged them, I asked two or three groups which way the Weatherspoon’s
was and each one responded with a smile and an eagerness to help, I chided
myself for my own stupid prejudices as they were all very nice and polite!
The pub was absolutely packed but we managed to share a
table with two other men, I had asked them because they had a plug socket. It was the county fair, and they explained we
had just missed the pipe band which I was very disappointed about as it would
have made a nice end to the day.
It seemed like there was a 3 to 1 ratio of women to men in
the pub and true to our islands tradition, despite the weather the girls were
all dressed in as little as possible and high heels. Jose was steadily getting merry and eyeing
up every girl he could whilst giving me a running commentary between the girls
and his work. He pointed out a very tall
girl with long legs and blonde hair and exclaimed she was his dream but he had
lost his golden years!
Suddenly an arm came around my shoulder and a young lad had
attached himself to me, apparently a relative of one of the men at the table
and very very drunk. By elbow brushed
against him and he was all wet at the front, I prayed it was from a spilled
pint. My face must have carried a
warning as he looked at me as I spun round, apologised and staggered off.
Jose D’augustino was steadily getting merrier when we
finished for the night and headed back to the campsite. Fortunately I remembered the way and we
walked along the river with Jose expounding some of his theories through the
alcohol so I was left to guide us and similarly engage in a philosophical look
at his ideas of a higher connection between plants and the whole ecosystem.
I helped him back to the tent where got into mine and
drifted off to sleep, I turned my alarm off as had decided to have an easy day
tomorrow.
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