North West Passage revisited...........

Last nights meal was everything and more than expected. The cuisine by El Duracell was the finest Chilli Con Carne ever cooked in the long history of Carbisdale Castle. It has to be said, he was ably assisted by Curlie from India, who we picked up just outside Inverness and was visiting the North of Scotland for her first time. Rarely has so much Chilli been consumed by so few in such a short space of time. Carbing up had commenced.

The dawn broke, day 1 had arrived. As a top up for the mammoth day ahead, we drilled into the porridge topped up with bacon slices in croissants. The Wingman was confident we would not be likely to suffer from the swine flu in such a healthy area. We followed the single track route through Strath Oykell crossing the baillie bridge with the water well below the 6ft flood warning. Curlie posed for photos as the Wingman set up the composition at the bridge crossing.

First coffee and scone stop was The Oykell Bridge Hotel. A warm and cheery welcome awaited the intrepid adventurers who had enjoyed a supportive tail wind. The Duracell was heard at one point to question whether the beast we were scaling was actually a hill. Definitely been reading too many of the epic tales of The Ironman!

It was a short 18 mile hop to the An Teallach nr Elphin. A hostelry that had once rescued The Fit One, The Duracell, and the Bigman on a previous North West Passage adventure when the weather had turned ferocious and previous lodges had turned us away at the door. We were due to repay, by enjoying the full bhuna of Scottish fayre. A carb building Venison Madras was the order of the day for Bigman and the Duracell. Wingman opted for a less demanding Tiger Prawns in recognition of the choice The Fit One would have chosen had he been with us.

As if written in the script, the weather closed in, the wind changed from East to West, and the Wingman ( experienced in such meterological matters) advised we were in for a bad afternoon. It was indeed the North West Passage re-visited. Manfully we completed the climbs and enjoyed some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, the clouds providing an atmospheric canvas to an awesome landscape.

The drop down into Ullapool was a welcome sight at the end of Day 1. Almost 60 miles completed, re-hydration was essential and we made our way to The Seaforth for just this purpose. The An Teallach clearly was the choice of Champions. You cannot visit Ullapool without sampling the locally imported Icelandic Haddock from The Chippie. We sat overlooking Loch Broom watching the sun go down without a ripple in the loch, the weather having calmed down since we dismouted our bikes.

The met office forecast for tomorrow is extreme wind with gusts of up to 65mph. I am left wondering how they found out about lunch.