Day 11: Drumochter Pass

We left the lovely Craigatin House Hotel fortified by Scottish porridge with whiskey and cream - highly recommended. A cold cloudy day with patches of sun but no rain. The route 56 miles - roughly 28 miles climb to Drumochter Summit and 28 miles descent to Aviemore.We followed the old A9 through Killiecrankie and Blair Atholl. The climb steady easier than I thought. The old A9 is mostly an excellent cycle path lower than the fast dual carriageway.  We followed the river passing a spectacular waterfall finally reaching Drumochter Summit. Here the road-works widening the New A9 closed the cycle-path for 1 mile and we had to brave the A9 contra-flow. (a week ago I would have been really scared.) Then began the glorious descent. We stopped at Dalwhinnie for a snack then continue the down-hill ride. The down-hill not steep but constant continued and we clocked up the miles. I kept expecting the downhill to run out but on it continued. We decided that we had earned this - the climb of this morning and long days logged of hard rides. Eventually we arrived In Aviemore at an unbelievable 4.30p.m. - unheard of in our journey so far. We even had time to poke about the bike shop opposite the B&B. Usually shops are shut when we roll into town. We put the time to good use buying Martin new waterproof trousers - his cheap Tesco ones have proved to be not at all waterproof - The weather forcast 3 days of rain. We are hoping that buying new waterproofs = sunny days. Not all convinced

Hmmm the Highlands - clues in the name!

Loch Insh

Citius, Altius, Fortius - how apt!

                                                                                                                                    Julia