on to Invergarry

having had a soaking yesterday, there was a certain worry about the weather that we were going to experience today.  a full English breakfast, cereal and toast, and then off to get the bags down for the 8am start.  I had a bit of a minor panic as my bike seemed to have been moved along with the others to another room in the hotel and was hidden in a corner - thanks to Devon Knight for pointing it out to me!  A bit of oil on the chain, air in the tyres, a quick photo in front of the archway next to the hotel, and away we went. 

there was a 13% climb to go over, but this in reality was only a small climb, and soon we were making good progress, heading over to the next loch (loch awe) on the A819.  there were some terrific views once we were over the gentle climb before us, and we stopped to take one or two photos of the castle that was perched down by the loch.  Quick progress was made onto the A85, and soon we were heading towards the first water stop at Connel.  The road was pretty quick, and the traffic was quite well behaved for us (not the same story for one of the party who had a narrow miss with a van, followed by a heated altercation!), and once in Connel we had excellent views of the surrounding hills and the waters of Loch Etive running quickly down towards the sea. 

we had a good break here, taking in the scenery, and getting some food down us, ready for the next 35 miles to take us to the lunch stop.  Tim came in and recounted his van story.  Allan came in at about the same time and handed his bike to Stuart to have a look at the gears.  then the main pack appeared, and we were off and heading over the bridge on the A828.  I took a turn at the front pulling along Ben, Hunter and Blackburn Andy.  I must confess that I wasnt feeling strong today, and it took some doing to keep a good pace..  we passed the seal sanctuary, and kept on going for what felt like a long time, following the signs for Fort William.

the weather was fantastic, and so clear that we had excellent views of Ben Nevis, and of course stopped for the obligatory photo stop or two.  A few more miles down the road and we stopped at Onich for a fantastic lunch down by Loch Linnhe.  The DA guys made a cracking lunch - soup, pasta, sandwiches, etc.. great work!  we loaded up again with food, and got ready to hit the road again.  we went a few miles up the road and dropped into Fort William to get some new glasses for Ben, as his other ones had snapped earlier in the day, and were only held together by tape.  new glasses acquired and we headed out from Fort William.  we then encountered some real strangeness as we were repeatedly honked at by various car/cab drivers on the road, all telling us to use the cycle path.  This is fine, but bearing in mind that we had been cycling on roads like this for the majority of the trip without needing to use a cycle path, we had to wonder why, especially as it ran out after only a mile or so...oh well... 

a quick kick out for Spean Bridge, and a gentle climb up for the commando memorial and some awesome views again - weather was superb, and very clear.  we passed Loch Lochy to our left, and then crossed over a bridge over Loch Oich, then passing this on the right on the drag to Invergarry.  we made it to the hostel quite early, but then we bagged the first room for the four of us with an 'en suite' shower and toilet - both of which are pretty much in the room!  A quick shower and change of clothes and we were down at the local pub after a quick walk over the open fields.  we could hear some of the RAF Tornado fighter bombers coming in low over head, and indeed caught a quick glimpse of one from the pub - brave chaps. 

back to the hostel for a 7pm supper and early to bed.  We've been told there is a climb after the first water stop tomorrow which is as tough as anything we've been up on Dartmoor, but i'm pretty confident this wont cause any issues.  we are around 787 miles into the trip with two days of 85 mile and one of 32, including the excursion to Dunnet Head.  the weather looks good for tomorrow, but rain on friday and overcast on Saturday.  onwards and upwards!