On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I undertook a 100km cycle trip around the Black Isle in Easter Ross with Kate. The route was mostly on quiet country roads, some of which formed part of NCN 1. We started at Inverness train station and our route on the first day took us over the Kessock Bridge, past the Tore roundabout and along the north part of the Black Isle through Culbokie (with great views of the Cromarty Firth and Ben Wyvis) to finish in Cromarty where we camped. On the second day our route took us back along the southern part of the Black Isle, past the high point of the Eathie Hill transmitter, through the Tore roundabout again and then back along the Beauly Firth coast, to return to Inverness via the Kessock Bridge again.
It was probably the longest bike trip I’ve ever done, but wasn’t too physically challenging as the roads were good and although there were some hills on the second day’s route, they weren’t too difficult. What did make the trip a bit of an endurance test was the weather which was mostly awful, with heavy rain at several points in the journey. I had purchased a set of expensive Ortlieb bike panniers for the trip and I’m glad I did as they kept my kit dry.
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