Today we rode from Ballater to Inverness. Its 74 miles with 5,300 feet of climbing over the Cairgorms. Last time I rode Lejog we were unable to ride this day because storm Oscar brought 40-50 mph winds, freezing temperatures and heavy rain. This was the day I really needed to ride, and I did.
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| Before the hair |
There's a hairy start to the route. About seven miles in there's a 20% grade sign. Most of us got off and walked - it's less that half a mile. Then the grade moderates to 12% - 15%. I could get the pedal over the top but I was quite wobbly and, with traffic passing, I decided to walk that part too. After a little longer the grade dropped below 10% and I felt comfortable riding again up to the ski center in Lecht where we found the first brew stop.
The weather forecast had been ominous, with cold rain predicted at the top of the climb and a gnarly descent to follow. The idea of a fast descent with frozen hands on slick roads was not appealing. Fortunately it was wrong and it was dry and about 50F at the top so that was good. In fact I enjoyed the descent very much - we certainly deserved it.
Nevertheless, the rain did arrive for the second half of the day. It was very heavy so I'm really glad it was delayed. If it had hit before the descent, that would have been bad. After lunch it was either raining, was just about to rain, or had just finished raining.
I came up with a new motto for Scotland: "Welcome to Scotland, here's a towel"
The descent and final section into Inverness was on a busy road which got Michele lost and on the wrong side of the road somehow. I waited ten minutes for her and got a bit worried but she showed up eventually. Accommodation at Charden Villa was pretty average. We walked around Inverness for a bit and I showed Michele her first Marks and Spencer. She tried trifle for the first time.
We went for a drink at the Ardgarry pub on the corner and I tried Balvenie whisky which was my absolute favorite. It's $60 a bottle in the USA - I might try to get one.
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