The Not-So-NC500 - DAY 5

WORD OF THE DAY

Detour (noun) a deviation from a direct course – i.e. a longer way round to the same destination.

(Lairg >) Bonar Bridge > Castletown 
Emma's Strava Effort

Woke up and made up over a tin of beans and a bacon sarnie (I’m usually a veggie, but I ate bacon twice on this trip – cuff me). Packed up the bikes and headed for the train station – the location of which we had checked the night before and seemed to be on the right, out of town. Instead, Hamish took us left into town towards a sign he said he had seen the day before. Ten minutes later we found the sign... pointing to exactly where we had come from and in the direction I said it was. We fell out again. We sprinted towards the train station, up a bloody hill, my bike stuck in the highest gear (mentally, I’m cursing Hamish. Actually, it was more verbally), but make it with a few minutes to spare. In Bonar Bridge it's a short bike to a great little bike shop – Heaven Bikes – connected to the town Post Office. The bike man scooped up my Orbea and told me he would ring when he was done.

The only café in town didn’t open until 11 so we bought a second breakfast and the day’s snacks from the Spar and hunkered down in a draughty and uncomfortable bus stop, just as the heavens opened. The bike man soon emerged from his shop and pootled up and down the street on my bike to test out his handiwork – he was a big guy and as he pedalled his knees knocked the handlebars, making us both laugh for the first time in the last 16 hours.

He handed the bike back to me equipped with a new gear cable and casing and we were off by 10.15am. Just as we were heading off, the group of guys who had done their best to help us the night before turned up at the bike shop to see to a buckled wheel and I cheerily announced, “I’m all fixed!!!” They cheered us on as we rolled into the distance, heading North.

We took a back route back towards Lairg right past The Falls of Shin, famed for being one of the best places in Scotland for viewing salmon. But I couldn’t really enjoy myself as my gear indexing was completely out, and with all the gear tuning pitstops it took us two hours to cover the 10 miles to Lairg. It was past 12 when we made it back to where we had set off from that morning. I had a bit of a moment. We still had 85 miles to go - that alone would be 15/20 miles longer than my longest ride to date. It felt daunting. Hamish kindly suggested just jumping on a train to Thurso or somewhere en route. I really did consider it, but this long day had been the one I was looking forward to most. So he propped up his bike, gave me a chocolate bar to suck on and knuckled down to sorting my gears out in a layby. Then we pushed on. The great thing about cycling is that you can’t be melancholy for long, especially when you have a boosting tailwind.

We made good time, helped by a 30-mile downhill section stretching from The Crask Inn on the A836 all the way to Bettyhill on the coast. This whole section tumbled down the plush green valley of the River Naver. Reaching Bettyhill at 4pm, we stopped for a quick coffee and a high-five – we had reached the North coast! With 35 miles still to go and with a much more undulating coastal road ahead of us, we ploughed on. There were some punchy climbs and about 10 miles out, I really hit a wall. We hadn’t had a proper lunch and I felt weak, hopping off my bike for a nature wee, I sat on the verge, rousing myself for the last push. Hamish dragged me along and we reached Greenland House at around 7pm. Not bad going considering how the day had started out.

We were welcomed into the Airbnb by the lovely owner, Lynn, who was more than ready for a chit-chat. We weren’t. Dreaming of lying our bags down and hopping in a nice warm shower we tried our best to have polite conversation. Lynn asked where we had come from that day. We told her. “I’ve had people stay here who have done the NC500 route in less than five days,” said Lynn. Well, bully for them!

She offered us a shot of local Dunnet Bay whisky, which we greedily guzzled down. Eventually, we were shown to our room and swiftly ordered a big fat dinner from the only takeaway open – an Indian. Lush. With a few beers from the shop down the road, we melted into the bed to watch a movie... unsuccessfully. We were snoring within minutes.

Thanks for coming exploring with me!
Have you got time for a little more? Click here for the Not-So-NC500 - Day 6

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