Day 10 - Dunbarton to Fort William

Today started out cloudy and dull as we left behind the delights of Dunbarton. We continued to follow yesterday's cycle path up to Loch lomond avoiding all the traffic. The seemingly dreary weather actually provided perfect conditions for cycling, cool but not wet and at last a relief from the wind.

The path took us through a field of fresh cow pats which Molly failed to navigate around and sprayed all over Charlie. We stopped briefly just at the south of the loch to use some of the most complicated public loos I've ever come across. About 20 minutes later,after a near miss with the cleaning cycle and much confusion, we set off round the Loch. The traffic free path continued, although it didn't take long for the tandem and myself to give up on the path and head for the smoother surfacing of the road. After a stonking 20 mph stint along the A82 we arrived at Tarbet for the first stop with the van. Before long the others rolled up and we all tucked into our first round of snacks. With only 25 miles on the clock we had to set off pretty sharpish.  The route continued along the road, although unfortunately the smooth surface was no more. The road continued around the loch for a few more miles before starting our first climb of the day. We climbed steadily to Crianlarich where we had a mini descent before completing the climb to our lunch stop. A small lunch was consumed as we all knew there was more climbing ahead of us.

The afternoon climbing gave way to fantastic views finishing up at Rannoch Moor, at 1142 ft above sea level.  The views just got better and better, by far the most amazing cycling I've ever done. The top was a bit windy so we didn't hang around too long before starting the long descent through Glen Coe. The headwind meant we didn't pick up any fantastic speeds, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable ride nonetheless. We stopped at glen coe visitor centre for some coffees then pushed on for the final 20 miles. I was a bit nervous of the last section as the adrenalin of the hills wore off and thought it might be a long slog to the end. However we got a really great pace on and were in fort William in no time.

Myself, molly and jesse did a quick booze run, listening to some fantastic fifties swing on the way, and came back to a delicous curry.  Longest day over, and only 3 more to go. Dingwall here we come.