TTT= 5.5
Disaster strikes! If you thought our efforts up until now were heroic, read on!
Longest day today, meant to be around 120 miles although the B&B owner in Inverness (the first hero of the day) helped us cut out 20 miles by showing us a more direct (but slightly hillier) route.
Of course this meant not following the Garmin route, and we are useless without a computer, so we spent a fun hour in Inverness doing U-turns.
Emily was in a world of trouble with her strained Achilles and was wincing and yelping with every turn of the pedals, so continuously getting lost wasn't her favourite game.
Ollie, in the second act of heroism of the day, took most of the weight from Em's panniers to take the pressure off her tendon.
This still didn't stop Emily taking a nasty fall on the A9 on some sharp gravel - broken and exhausted, she was such a forlorn sight at the side of the road that 2 different motorists stopped and asked if we needed a lift anywhere! It took a lot of effort to decline!
We had a fast journey through some very remote countryside towards Bettyhill - fast because we couldn't stop for fear of being eaten alive by midgies! Attempting to eat a club sandwich while hurtling down a single track road at 30mph was pretty exciting!
We stopped briefly at Shin Falls to watch the Atlantic salmon leaping for their little lives - ahh.
And now for the disaster. 10 miles from Bettyhill, just after passing "The Remotest Hotel in Britain" (don't get me started on the grammar), Emily's rear gear cable snapped. Ollie attempted to mend it but we couldn't bear the midgies and it had started to rain (of course), so we found a nearby village hall to shelter in, turned on the disco lights, and pondered on our dire situation. The nearest bike shop is 40 miles away in Thurso and it's already 6.30pm. Ollie steps up again and offers to ride Emily's bike the last 10 miles, stuck in top gear, up some very big hills. So, riding each others' bikes we finally arrived in Bettyhill at 8pm, with all our injuries now beyond repair but thankfully 5 minutes before last orders for dinner at the only place in 'town' that does food.
No idea how we're going to get to JoG tomorrow, but we're going to do everything in our power to finish this!!
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Location:Thurso,United Kingdom
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