Day 12 Glencoe to Inverness

What a difference some sunshine makes !

We were compensated for a very chilly morning in Glencoe by cloudless skies for the the whole of today's 85 mile journey to Inverness.

Sun on our backs lightened everyone's mood and spurred us on to make extremely good progress through the first hour of the morning to Fort William - the journey punctuated by a number of photo stops to try and capture the stunning scenery.

From Fort William we headed on to Fort Agustus stopping at the Commando memorial above Spean Bridge where we met up with some of the Royal Navy LeJoggers and were afforded a clear view of Ben Nevis and it's surrounding hills.

Lunch break at Fort Agustus after 49 miles to refuel and refresh our legs in order to take on "General Wade's Military Road"  - allegedly the longest and hardest climb of the whole route. Quick stop halfway up for Gareth to remove his legging to avoid overheating / exploding and another photo opportunity at a picturesque Loch before we topped out the 1200ft climb and enjoyed an undulating ride across the magnificent countryside.

Dumb and Dumber moment of the day when stopping for a natural break Nick slipped into a muddy ditch at the side of the road much to his chargrin

10 miles from Inverness we came out over a ridge and had a great view of Loch Ness - no monster to be seen but picture postcard vistas in abundance - completed the last miles at a canter eager to get to our B&B ready to prepare for another day in the saddle tomorrow.

We both agreed that this was by far the best day's cycling of the tour so far and hope the weather will continue to be kind for the rest of the trip