Day 3
June 13th - Scourie to Ullapool

If I had to pick one word to describe today it would have to be 'hills'. That's not a bad thing in a way because whenever I got to the top of a hill I got a view that was well worth the effort. After seeing a rather dodgy weather forecast on the morning news I went down for breakfast and met a young german couple who were hiking from pub to pub ! I tried not to think of that 'Dont mention the war' episode of Fawlty Towers but it wasn't easy.
I left the b&b at about 9.30 and made my way down to the shop in town to get some supplies. A group of veteran cars pulled up and I got talking to a couple in a beautiful silver Bugatti. Apparently the whole group was on a Lands End to John O'Groats trip and had been travelling for 8 days.
I then made my way out of town and was amazed to see a huge mobile phone transmitter at the top of the hill no more than 1/2 a mile from Scourie. How can a town with such a big transmitter not get a phone signal ? Anyway I didn't have time to think about it as I was soon plodding up the first hill. Just before I reached Kylesku I came across a road sign saying "Viewpoint 1/4 mile". I thought there had to be something worth seeing there and I wasn't wrong, it was the best view of the trip so far. I could see for miles, there were mountains, lakes and everything looked stunning in the sunshine. I took plenty of photos and even a few video clips because the view was too wide to fit in one shot. When I left I made my way down into Kylesku and stopped at a pub there for a coffee and a bacon roll. I then had to struggle up the steepest hill so far and I wasn't helped by a dutch caravanner stopping a few hundred yards ahead of me and then photographing me as I turned purple. I had visions of him showing the pictures to his friends back home and saying "Look at zis stupid english man trying to get up zis big hill on his little bicycle".
I am not sure if it was a dodgy bacon roll or that hill but a couple of miles later I wasn't feeling too good. I had a bad stomachache and was really struggling to keep going. The sun was out and it was really hot so I found a patch of grass near the beautiful Loch Assynt and decided to lie down for a quick sunbathe / rest. After a few minutes I felt myself nodding off and decided that wasn't a good idea so I set off again and eventually made it to the Elphin tea rooms a few miles on. I felt better after a cup of coffee and having listened to the tea room owner describe in great detail all the hills that lay ahead of me I set off again. All the views along this road were superb but were nothing compared to what greeted me 5 miles from Ullapool. The view of the bay around Isle Martin is just something else. With the sun out and bouncing off the water it was far and away the best sight of the 3 days so far. When I eventually dragged myself away it was hill after hill again right into Ullapool which is the biggest town I've been to up here (but that's not saying much).
I don't know how it happened but I ended up in a vegetarian B&B so I am half expecting lentil soup for breakfast. This evening I went into town and decided to be adventurous and try haggis. I've never had it before and it wasn't bad at all. I only did 45 miles today but given the hills I'm not too disappointed with that. So far so good, I'm definitely getting fitter, the bike was problem free again, my knee felt a lot better and my suntan is coming along nicely. I've just seen the weather forecast and it's good for Scotland and lousy for Devon (chuckle chuckle !). Tomorrow Gairloch, right on the west coast which is 56 miles away looks like a good target.

The Routemap

The Speed (in blue) and the Elevation (in Green). That Kylesku hill was at 23km !