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The curse of the midge is felt particularly keenly in Glencoe and I’m told that the warm and humid weather has made it one of the worst years on record for the biting menace. The Youth Hostel has a siege mentality, which means that there is strictly no opening of windows. This in turn creates an uncomfortably warm and stuffy air in the building and especially in the smaller dorms. I was therefore in no mood to hang around when I woke up this morning and was on the road before 0800.
I made my way around the coast toward Fort William, but after only 10 miles or so I succumbed to some excellent roadside advertising and found myself in a little cafe eating an uncommonly good bacon roll.
Once in Fort William I stocked up on lunch essentials at the supermarket as my route today was remote enough that cafe and pub stops were far from guaranteed to coincide with my appetite. I left Fort William just as the ‘Harry Potter’ train was leaving for Mallaig with its 500 tourists on board. As I cycled out of the town the smell of the steam train lingered in the air; if I was a generation older I would probably have felt nostalgic!
I made my way up to Loch Ness, where I opted to head along the much quieter southern route. The road on this side of the Loch has recently been widened and resurfaced and consequently it is excellent for cycling. The only drawback was the 350 metre climb, which was very hard work with tired legs. The view from the top was spectacular enough to attract bus loads of tourists, but despite being a little on the busy side it was still a great spot for lunch.
Having struggled on the climb, I enjoyed the descent, which went on for almost 10 miles. At the bottom the road followed the Loch side so I took the opportunity to do a little Nessie hunting. No joy until the statue at the Dores Inn, which I took as a sign that it was time to stop for a drink.
The run into Inverness was a little hillier than my legs were ready for, but nonetheless I soon arrived at the relatively new and very large Youth Hostel. Now time to find some dinner.
Tomorrow – Crask Inn.