I started somewhat late. Heading West on the NCN 1, I was passed by a great number of Ride the North cyclists, many of whom offered greetings which I was morally obliged to respond to. Getting bored with “Morning” I started changing it up with “Bonjour”, “Buenos dias”, “G’day” and “Howdy.” ;-) I asked a volunteer how many cyclists there were in the event. The answer was upwards of nine hundred.
I stopped in Elgin to visit the ruined cathedral, complete with Scotland’s only octagonal chapter house. This took time, but it did get me out of the stream of cyclists.
It began to rain in earnest a little short of Kinloss. I stopped for lunch at a café at East Grange. It kept raining for the rest of the day. At Nairn, I left the NCN 1 for B9091, which was a simpler and more direct route. It became the B9006. I observed that the number could be flipped and still read the same.
I made Inverness where I had to navigate a new college or university campus whose signs were mostly in Gaelic, mostly to be annoying I suspect. I found the large SYHA hostel and checked into my dorm. I was soon joined by two young Indians and a Belorussian.
After a shower, I headed into Inverness to find the Blackfriars Pub has closed. Very disappointing.
Tomorrow, I catch a train to Wick. The choice is pretty much a choice over Thurso so I can say that I have been to one extreme point of the British rail system.
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