When I left The Atlnaharra Hotel it was trying to rain, very overcast and quite cold. Altnaharra holds the record for the lowest temperature recorded in Britain at -27 degrees centigrade and it can be not much more than 4 degrees in the height of summer as was the case today. I was convinced that I was going to get soaked and also that the day’s ride was going to be tough – the guide book suggested so.

The section up to Tongue was actually very enjoyable – the rain came to nothing and The Flow Country as this area is known,  was  a desolate stretch of grass, bracken and heather on solid peat with large areas of steely grey water everywhere. The route was travelling northwards at this point so the wind wasn’t a problem and I made very good progress to Tongue. Helen was waiting there and we had a coffee in the local Post Office which also acts as a café.  There were plenty of indications of a close community life as the lady on the counter took the money from the elderly customer’s purse (she was about my age) and put the change back in and then another elderly male customer with a pony tail and jaunty bonnet helped her down the road with her shopping.

After Tongue the road turns to the east and the very strong wind was coming from the east. This combined with the fact that the road along the top coast is like a roller coaster which rises to 150 metres and then falls to zero repeatedly, made this the cycle ride from hell. The views over the sea were striking if you could get your head away from the front wheel. For hour after hour I battled up hills into a gale force wind uttering obscenities like a Tourette’s sufferer. I even had to pedal downhill to stop the wind blowing me back up. Lorries and cars that came too close (and there were plenty) got a jolly good shouting at as well.

The North Coast 500 route has been very well marketed and every other car or motor bike had a foreign registration and camper vans were in abundance. I stopped at Bettyhill for lunch with Helen at which point I still had about 32 miles to go and as I struggled up hills at about 4 mph watching the mileage on the GPS barely moving, I didn’t feel very happy. I’m not making a great job of pretending that this was fun but this was really the first day that had been quite such a challenge. I did eventually close in on Thurso and the warmth of the hotel – it was very cold in the biting wind and showery rain.

The distance covered was 62 miles with 4,000 feet of climbing into a 20mph wind. Only 20 miles to go tomorrow and the adventure is over.