Once we managed to prise the Low family from their sauna cabin-like accommodation, we departed from the Spean Bridge Hotel which is famous for its connection to the Commando units of the UK Army in the 2nd World War.
With the snow capped views of Ben Nevis behind us we started the gentle climb out of Spean Bridge.
Despite the heavy rain Gareth was still smiling. A wet and rapid cycle to Fort Augustus followed by hot drinks and cakes set the group up for their next surprise challenge. The option of a flat route via the A82 was shunned in favour of the more demanding and scenic route on the eastern side of Loch Ness, it turned out to be a monster climb resulting in over 1400ft of climbing in 4 miles.
It was fortunate that the 6 LeJogers were not aware of this in advance as this could have resulted in the first mutiny of the trip!!
Having completed the hard graft of the climb, the views and long downhill ride back along the shores of Loch Ness made for easy riding on quiet roads to Foyers where we stopped to refuel and have a short but steep walk to the impressive falls.
With the rain behind us we pushed on along the shores of Loch Ness towards the sun drenched northern loch side village of Dores where we had a great lunch (we will definitely be back – see later Blog).
Following lunch we set of for our next overnight stop in Inverness. The journey started well with a quiet run into the town but the final leg of the trip saw us do battle with heavy traffic particularly the large lorries who did their best to end our trip prematurely.
However, we arrived safely at Beverley and Malcolm’s friends Julie and Nigel’s house who kindly opened their house to the 6 Lejogers who promptly filled the washing machine with several days of smelly washing.
Prior to a delicious meal provided by Julie.....
the LeJogers indulged in an impromptu beer tasting session.
Stop Press – Pete’s Beer Tasting
Sue and Craig’s friend Malcolm, from Uphall near Livingston, kindly donated 3 beers for the 6 LeJogers to try. We conducted our own beer tasting session in Julie’s kitchen in Inverness.
All of Malcolm’s beers were much appreciated and enjoyed by the Lejogers, he had cleverly given us three very different brews to try.
First, we tasted an Arran blonde beer which was a beautifully rounded beer. This is no token blonde beer for the lager drinkers but has its own distinctive character and was particularly appreciated by Beverley.
Next we tried a beer from Innes and Gunn. This beer is aged in Oak casks and has lovely vanilla and toffee tones. Fran and Louise really enjoyed this beer and Louise is considering giving up her usual tipple of Malibu and Coke in favour of Innes and Gunn.
Finally we tried Glencoe, this is an Oatmalt stout reminiscent of Samuel Smith’s Nourishing Strong Stout. This was Pete’s Pint of the day. He particularly liked the chocolate dry flavour. It’s a stout so full of flavour you feel you could chew it.
Cheers Malcolm!
Average speed 12.5mph
Time in saddle 4hrs 58mins
Pete's pint: Glencoe (kindly donated by Malcolm & Beth McDonald)
Rider of the day - Gareth for smiling in the face of horizontal rain
