This year’s epic tour of Scotland began with the 11:50 train from Newton Abbot to London via Bath. We were travelling to Scotland on the overnight sleeper from London and had booked an early train up because we had been told the bikes would be leaving three hours earlier than the sleeper, on a special courier. They subsequently found room for the bikes on the sleeper train, so now we had some time on our hands to enjoy some of the London sights.

Both Jude and Dillan prefer countryside and wildlife to the bustle of city life, so we rode to Regent’s Park and enjoyed drinks and cakes outside the Boathouse Café: Dillan enjoyed a quarter-slice a watermelon and Jude’s Lavender Cake was apparently nicer than it sounds! The weather was quite warm so we stumped up the £21 required for a half hour pedal boat session on the lake - Michael let the boys do all the pedalling though.

Next stop was the tiny Pizza Hut in Baker Street where Jude naughtily sent a photo to his Mum of Dillan with two pizzas and suggested he was having both of them to himself – he refused to retract it, saying his Mum would know it was a joke, but I’m not at all sure she did.

A short ride of a mile and a half brought us to Euston station for around 7pm, and after a wait of about an hour and a half we were finally allowed to board the sleeper train. Sadly the introduction of new trains had been delayed until the autumn so we had the same old cramped berths that we had in 2010, but we had everything we needed and it was a bit of an adventure.

Everyone got a good night’s sleep except Michael, who was woken up at 4am to move the bikes. The very long train from London splits into three sections at Edinburgh, each going to a different destination, and the guard’s van for our Fort William section could not be taken all the way from London. So Michael volunteered to get up and move all three bikes singlehandedly from one end of the train to the other so that the others didn’t have to get up.

Complimentary breakfast on the sleeper train these days consists only of a hot or cold drink - the croissant is now a chargeable extra. We got some great views of Rannoch Moor from our bunk beds, but the spells of rain did not look too promising for our planned assault of Ben Nevis later.

The light rain was still in evidence as we disembarked at Fort William at 10am. As we still hadn’t had any proper breakfast, the café at Nevis Sport seemed liked a great idea for a first port of call. It turned out to be excellent, on the upper floor of a modern pyramid-shaped glass building, with large portions of food and drink available for much less than we usually pay in Devon. Dillan had such a large plate of beans on toast for £2.50 that he couldn’t eat it all!

The jolly proprietor of the Nevis Bakery supplied us with a range of hot pizzas, pasties and pies for our Ben Nevis adventure and assured us we would like them so much we would be back for more tomorrow morning. Fully stocked with provisions we rode the few miles up to Glen Nevis youth hostel, which this year had been fully booked when we were looking for accommodation. It looked very different from the last time we visited in 2010, so we called in to chat with the warden. The hostel had just completed a £2 million refurbishment that included new cladding outside and the replacement of large dingy dorms with smaller, modern, light and airy rooms and a fabulous kitchen and reception. The warden kindly gave us a full tour – it really felt like a brand new hostel and we were quite disappointed that we had been unable to stay there.

We left our bikes in the bike shed and set off at 12:50 over the footbridge opposite the hostel that leads to the easy path up the mountain. There was still some light rain around and the top half of the mountain was shrouded in thick cloud so we didn’t think we’d be going too far up. By the time we arrived at the lake the mist was so thick that we couldn’t see any sign of it even though it was only a hundred metres away. We continued on a little way, expecting to turn back within thirty minutes, but then, as Michael filmed, the cloud lifted and the lake gradually became visible. Suddenly the summit seemed a possibility, and both lads were very keen, so on we pressed.

We were amused to see that virtually everyone we passed on the way up was kitted out with expensive boots, Gore-Tex coats, backpacks and walking poles while we were just wearing our cycling gear. We imagined them calling in to Nevis Sport, saying they wanted to climb the easy path up the highest mountain in the UK and being sold equipment more appropriate for an expedition up Mount Everest. Having said that, Michael would have put on his walking shoes rather than his cycling trainers if he had realised we were going to the top, but we certainly didn’t need walking poles.

The cloud was still lifting and conditions were remarkably hot for the time of year, so we were wearing just shorts and t-shirts as we neared the top, and our pace was slower in an attempt to stay cool. There was still snow lying in places on the mountain despite the warm weather. We finally arrived 3¾ hours after we set out from the hostel, a great achievement for everyone and only the second time in our club’s history that weather conditions allowed us to go all the way. The summit itself was up in the clouds but we could see everything we needed to see, including the refuge for people stuck on the mountain in bad weather and the triangulation marker on the peak, which of course Dillan had to stand on.

The return journey took 2¾ hours. We thought we had left at about the latest time to be sure of getting back before dark, but we were passing people going up even as we neared the bottom. We were told later that it never gets totally dark in the summer, but even so it’s probably not a great idea to be walking back down at 1am.

As we neared the bottom everyone had sore leg muscles but Michael was paying the price for wearing soft trainers - every step was painful. It was a great relief when we finally reached the hostel. Our walk had been 4.3 miles each way with a total climb of 1314m. Congratulations to everyone on a great achievement.

Michael wanted a coffee and a cake at the hostel but they only sold coffee and the other cafes we had seen earlier were closed. We ended up getting some food from Tesco and then going to the Pier Head Takeaway in Fort William for hot pizza, which we ate inside. There was then a 1.4 mile ride to Alltonside Guest House where we were very, very grateful for hot showers and a good night’s sleep.

We had a nice breakfast at the B&B, with plenty of good food available, although nothing cooked, as we had expected. There were a group of Gaelic speakers at the other end of the room, and we couldn’t help wondering whether they were talking about us.

We had a TV in our room, which made a pleasant change, so we had Operation Ouch playing while we were packing, since it happened to be on. We needed this leisurely start after last night: our legs still felt sore, but we thought we would be OK for cycling.

After some photos at the front, we left at around 10.10, ordered some more vege slices from the Nevis Bakery, looked at several coffee shops all over the town and eventually ended up at Costa at 10.36, which was actually one of the best cafes in the town. We left at 11.03 to collect our slices from the bakery, then set off on a delightful, scenic Google shortcut through Corpach. This took us over the new footbridge over the River Lochy, near Old Inverlochy Castle, then along part of the Great Glen Way which follows the Caledonian Canal.

Once we had joined the main road it was flat and easy going all the way to Glenfinnan, along the loch side. We arrived there at 12.55 after covering 19 miles from the B&B and took our lunch up the hill to the new viewpoint for the viaduct. The whole place had been changed somewhat since our 2000 visit, to satisfy the many Harry Potter tourists, with HP merchandise on sale in the shop, a rail track route and the viewpoint. We certainly got a nice view of the viaduct, but our club had seen it long before it was used in Harry Potter, when the only way to see it properly was from partway up the hill to Mallaig. The weather was perfect over lunch, so we enjoyed great views to the monument and Loch Shiel, and we weren’t too bothered by the large number of visitors all around us. We did take a look in the shop, but we didn’t really have time to buy anything.

We left at 1.56 for the second part of the day’s ride, which would be longer and hillier than the first part. We stopped at the Western end of Loch Eilt and walked down to the side of the loch. This was the place where we stopped on the 1986 tour, when some of our members swam across to the nearby island as a kind of challenge. It was a lovely spot, made all the more exceptional when a steam train passed along the far side of the loch.

We stopped at the Lochailort Inn in the hope of a coffee, but they only did filter coffee and had no cakes, so they were a complete waste of time. We did spot a red deer in the garden of the adjacent house though, and Michael managed to catch him on video.

The rain set in now, so we pressed on to Arisaig. A massive new road had been built in recent years with EU money, and there was even a cycle path along the side, but there were hardly any cars on it and no cyclists except ourselves, so we did wonder if it had been money well spent. We had to detour off the new main road now to get to Arisaig. The cafes were closed, as we had been informed by Google, but the shop was open, so we bought some refreshments, which included a PRO Yorkie bar for Dillan, which was an extortionate price.

This was the location of an unfortunate incident on our 1996 tour, when a New Age Traveller managed to steal Michael’s tour bag when he left it for a few seconds in the telephone box. The bag contained his wallet together with all the train and ferry tickets for the remainder of the tour. He took some photos of the place, including the telephone box, which he didn’t really have time to take in 1996.

We wanted a coffee and a chance to get out of the rain, so we went to the Arisaig Hotel. This place did serve real espresso coffees, but once again they didn’t have any food, and to make matters worse they wouldn’t allow us to eat our own food with the coffees. Still, it was shelter from the rain and a welcome rest, so we made the best of the situation.

Pressing on again we had the option of the new main road, or the “coastal alternative route”, the old road which passes Garramore. There used to be a Youth Hostel there, and on many tours, we visited the nearby sand dunes for dune jumping during the evening. It was only ten minutes longer to go that way and we almost did it, but the rain did dampen our enthusiasm for any additional climbing, and the weather wasn’t conducive to dune jumping even if we had felt like doing it, so we took the new main road which was relatively easy.

We arrived at Mallaig at 6.07 just as the next steam train was preparing to leave the station. We soon found our B&B, Bank House, but the landlady wasn’t in, so we went to the Co-op to get a few things, and by the time we returned to Bank House she was back. We had a twin room with a mirror, built-in cupboards and nice views. She had provided an air mattress that we could put on the floor for the third person, and since space was limited, we thought we would put that up later.

After we had all showered, we went out to find a place to eat, but everything seemed to be very expensive. In the end, Jude decided to eat Co-op food back at the B&B while Dillan and Michael went to the West Highland Hotel for a meal – for some reason he wanted a good meal tonight. Michael had stilton soup and Dillan had a vege burger. It was very good restaurant, and we were entertained during the meal by a family on a table behind Dillan who spent the evening eating a massive trayful of seafood, piled high, which we believe cost them £75!

Back at the B&B we had a video chat with Jude’s mum, then put up the air bed and tried to sleep well. One of the windows did not open however, and the other only opened a little, so Michael slept next to that window and slept very well once the noise outside had died down.

There was a lot of noise coming in through our window from the town last night until maybe 1.30am, apparently related to the Mallaig Maritime Day celebrations. We all slept OK once it went quiet, including Jude on the air mattress.

After an acceptable breakfast we prepared to set off at around 10.20, taking a few photos and videos before we left. Our ferry to the Isle of Skye wasn’t due to leave until 11.00, but no cafes were open because it was a Sunday, so after getting some provisions from the Co-op we went to the ferry terminal, bought our tickets and boarded the ferry early.

The ferry was enormous, loading up several coaches as well as many cars. We were able to buy coffees on the ferry and we took some videos and photos on the deck up to the time the ferry departed, but it was a bit wet outside and Dillan was feeling a bit ill for some reason, so we didn’t spend a lot of time up there. Neither Dillan nor Jude were particularly keen to explore the ferry, so we sat in the observation lounge.

When we arrived at Armadale on the Isle of Skye and the coaches had disembarked, we set off towards Sleat in the rain and soon passed the Gaelic school located there by the sea. We weren’t expecting to find anywhere for refreshments along this remote stretch of the island, as there had been nothing available last time we visited, but suddenly, as we approached Isleornsay, we noticed signs to a new Community Hub building called An Crubh, which had only been open for a year. We went up to investigate and were stunned to find a modern community hall and, most importantly from our point of view, a cosy, open plan café that served top quality espresso coffees and an excellent range of cakes. We made the most of the opportunity to get out of the rain for 45 minutes, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The coffee was so good that Michael took a photo of the coffee brand, St Vincent Roast from Thomson’s.

When we left, the rain had been slowing and was now very light, so we sped off to make good progress while conditions were more favourable. We took a “cycle path” that was close to the road from near Kinloch, which proved interesting as there were thousands of what looked like Christmas Trees on either side for several miles. There were a few biting flying insects as well, so we didn’t hang around.

We had thought about going to Broadford for lunch, but when we reached the junction with the main road at Skulamus and checked Google there didn’t appear to be much there that would be open today, no cafes at all, so possibly just the supermarket. So, we turned right and rode directly to Kyleakin, following the scenic route through Upper Breakish to avoid a section of the main road. The final section of main road was actually flat all the way, so it was an easy route.

Years ago, the only way to cross back to the mainland was to use the Kleakin-Kyle ferry, but since 1995 the ferry has been replaced by a bridge. Initially there was a toll charge to cross, but the bridge was bought by the Scottish Government in 2004 and has been free to cross since then. The bridge doesn’t cross where the ferry used to cross: the first hop crossed to a small island that was previously deserted apart from wildlife, then the second hop reaches the mainland at Kyle of Lochalsh. It was dull and cloudy today, but we still got some good views from the bridge at 2.50.

The first large building we saw in Kyle was a large Co-op, so we bought some provisions and, since they unusually had a coffee machine, shared a coffee in the foyer. We then continued down to the town and checked out Hector’s Bothy, which offered drinks and hot snacks. Since the prices were quite reasonable and no food would be provided at the B&B tonight, we had a good late lunch / early evening meal there at around 4.30.

We set off for the final part of our journey, following the twisty coastal road through Duirinish to Plockton. It was wonderfully unspoiled country in these parts, with Loch Carron visible in the distance, so we took a view video clips along the way.

We arrived in Plockton at around 5.45. The first building we saw here was Plockton High School, which has weekly boarding facilities for the many students who live too far away in these remote parts to return home every day. It was closed today, as the students were on summer holidays.

At Plockton Harbour we took some photos and videos in an attempt to capture the tranquillity and beauty of this peaceful village. The information board told us of the dolphins that can be seen in the loch, and Dillan felt somewhat cheated that no dolphins were jumping for us today. We called into the nearby Visitor Centre and left our details in the Visitor Book, when went to the shop on the corner. The shop owner was blind and would come to the door when the bell was rung. He served us all with ice creams.

On previous tours, Michael had never ridden further than the harbour, as visiting Plockton had only ever been a scenic detour on the way to Applecross. Today, however, we rode all the way along Harbour Street and then up to 2 Frithard Road. We arrived at our B&B at 6.27, and it turned out to be a very comfortable and welcoming property. We had a choice of two rooms or one room, and we chose one room as it was cheaper, around £90 for all three of us. The room was delightful and modern, with an attic window, an ensuite shower and very comfortable beds.

After showers we went out for a walk to find the post office, which on our 1984 tour was just a small, wooden shed. The shed had now been replaced – with a slightly larger wooden hut! While we were having some fun in the new playpark, some visitors came along who used to live in the village, and they told us the playpark land used to be reserved for the school.

We then walked down to Plockton Main Pier. It was perfectly peaceful here, with only the sound of some oystercatchers breaking the silence. Michael caught some of them on video, so he could confirm their identity when we got home.

We returned to our room at the B&B and settled down to watch the penultimate episode of Poldark Season 4 on BBC1, a series we have all been following with great interest. It felt quite luxurious having a TV in our room again on a cycle tour. Even Jude enjoyed the programme.

We slept pretty well in our cosy room, although with the skylight open, a little rain came in during the night.

A good breakfast was provided for us downstairs along with another friendly couple who were staying at Hill View with another couple, nice breakfast and nice lady. The man was a security expert, and they were both interested in our travels.

We set off at around 10.12 to embark on the tiring day we had been “looking forward to” since the start of the tour. There was no café in Plockton, so we just cycled all morning along the southern edge of Loch Carron. It was a cloudy day, but the scenery was delightful. We stopped for a view to the Loch near Craig where there were pictures of various animals and birds attached to the fence posts which mark the boundary of the Craig Highland Farm. We also stopped at the Loch Carron Viewpoint after a short climb, from where we could see all the way down to the head of the loch.

Dillan had identified what he felt would be a good café ahead, so after a long stretch of downhill riding we stopped at the Carron Restaurant at the head of the loch at 12.05. It turned out to be a cracker, with excellent value food and drinks and tasty meals, so we spent an hour there and felt well rested afterwards.

Next stop, after following the road around the head of the loch and partway along the far side, was Lochcarron stores, where we stocked up with plenty of food and drink for the big climb ahead. We would have liked to stop for a final coffee at Tornapress, the base of the big climb at, as there is a new café there now, but it was closed today so instead we stopped at the Waterside Café in Lochcarron. Unfortunately, they didn’t sell “proper coffees”, and the coffees they did sell were very small and very expensive, so we just bought a single coffee to share and sat on the picnic tables opposite to enjoy the fabulous views across Loch Carron.

We had some good views of the Applecross Peninsula as we approached from Ardarroch, and of the Applecross Pass road that we would soon have to climb. When we arrived at Tornapress at 3.15, the start of the big climb, we were greeted by the large signs warning of the steep gradients and hairpin bends and advising Learner Drivers not to use the road. This was the third highest road in mainland Britain, so it would be an interesting challenge.

We started the six-mile climb at 3.21 and, as it was a tiring climb, we stopped at various points for photos, videos and snacks. The weather had improved significantly now, with good spells of sunshine, so we got some fabulous views back to Loch Kishorn and Plockton Harbour. The road became quite steep in the section leading up to the hairpins, with 20% gradients, but when we stopped to video them, we noticed a small herd of red deer in the valley below, grazing peacefully in the remote solitude of this unique environment.

We stopped for photos and videos on the final hairpin at 5.30, our last chance to look back down the valley we had just climbed. It was much colder up here as we ascended into the low cloud, but we pressed on and reached the top at 5.45, a height of 625m above sea level. The pass is known as Bealach na Ba, or Pass of the Cattle, and we all felt the sense of achievement when we arrived. The cloud had lifted sufficiently to allow us to see many miles in all directions, westwards to the Isles of Raasay and Skye, South-west to the Isle of Scalpay and Skye, and south-east back to Loch Carron and Plockton, so it really was a special moment.

What goes up must go down again, and we needed to put on gloves and warm clothing for the long descent to Applecross. We didn’t stop until we reached the bottom, and the descent was great fun – we were going so fast that Google Maps thought we were on motorcycles! We passed a forest of rotting tree trunks along the way, which must once have been alive and vibrant with living trees, so we weren’t sure what happened there. No doubt it will be replanted soon.

The remote village of Applecross lies on the coast at the bottom of the hill. When we arrived at 6.23, we noticed that the old Post Office had now been converted to The Junction café, and as we were frozen to the bone, we didn’t take long to decide that we should go in. We were so grateful to find somewhere warm and welcoming. After using the hand driers to thaw out our fingers we bought tasty, hot coffees, and then shared two hot vegetable pizzas between the three of us. We found out later that the previous owner who ran the building as a Post Office had stolen money and then returned to England. The new owners had certainly created a super, modern café, and we were very happy to stay there for a full hour, even though the Youth Hostel was less than a mile away. We needed milk for the hostel and no shops were open at this time of the evening, so we bought some milk from the café in three takeaway cups, taped over the top, to take to the hostel. It was a bit tricky carrying them on the bikes though!

The new Youth Hostel, Hartfield House, was along the coast and up a long private drive, hidden from view from the road. We were really impressed with it, as it had lovely spacious rooms and a fabulous kitchen. There was free milk in the fridge for all hostellers to use, so we didn’t need to bring milk as it turned out. Showers were downstairs, three showers side by side sharing a common floor and drain. They did flood a bit, but the showers were excellent.

We went outside for a walk around the hostel at 10pm. This was surely wild nature at its very best, with towering mountains behind the hostel and a river running nearby. We took several photos in the descending darkness, had fun on the adventure playground and just contemplated how fortunate we were to be here in this lovely place.

We all slept very well in our comfortable room.

Applecross Youth Hostel was indeed a lovely place to stay, so it was no surprise that we all slept very well. We prepared our own breakfast of cereal with plenty of toast and marmalade in the spacious self-catering kitchen, and after doing a video tour of the hostel we were ready to leave soon after 10am on a generally sunny morning.

The first item on our agenda for the day was to return to The Junction café for morning coffee and cake, after which we rode through Applecross to the village shop at Camustiel, near Camusterrach, which was bustling with activity. An old woman was complaining to the shopkeeper because he was closing early on Saturday for family reasons, so he had to explain he had had no time off in years and was now going to put his family first. The village shop still seems to be a pillar of the community, yet Tesco do deliver to the village, which made us wonder why people were quite so concerned about the shop closing early. I asked the shopkeeper if he knew of a Mrs McRae, one of the locals who put us up for our tour in 1984. A woman behind me pointed to a man behind her and said she was his mother! I mentioned how we used to stay with her, and had a photo of her outside her house, to which she replied that Mrs McRae was always a one for socialising! There was a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere in the shop, and Dillan came away feeling it was the nicest place he had visited on the tour.

We rode back to Applecross, taking photos and videos of the remote landscape and seascape along the way. We bought sandwiches from the takeaway van opposite the Inn, but they only took cash, and since Jude had only brought his debit card for some reason, we had to help him out with the purchase.

We finally set off for our journey to Torridon at around 11.55. By now the weather was lovely, very hot and sunny, which made a nice change from the weather we had on previous days, although perhaps it was a little too warm. Until 1976 the only access to Applecross was via the Pass of the Cattle we had ridden yesterday, which meant the village was cut off during the winter months. We stopped briefly to look at the plaque commemorating the opening of the new coast road by Princess Margaret, which opened up this remote community somewhat. It’s still too far for children to go to Plockton High School every day, so all the children have to board there during the week.

We followed the “new” coast road towards Lonbain. On our tours in the 1980s we had noticed several ruined houses near the sea, where property owners had abandoned their homes before the new road had been built. Today, most of those old ruins had been renovated and converted into nice, modern homes. We finally found a few ruins near Kalnakill, just beyond Lonbain, so we stopped there for lunch overlooking the coast. We wondered what it would be like to live in such a remote place in the winter, even with modernised houses.

After a good lunch we pressed on along the coast road, and just before Cuaig we came across a few highland cows in the road. They were gradually joined by a trickle of additional cows that never seemed to stop, so we soon had quite a herd of cattle and calves, which made for some lovely photos and videos. A passing cyclist worried Dillan by saying that the Highland cows can be “unpredictable”, so when Michael got quite close to one of the younger cows a little later, already boasting substantial horns, Dillan panicked and told Michael to get away quickly as it was way too risky. Michael took the advice to an extent and kept at what he felt was a safe distance, taking some nice close-up photos.

The road veered south-east at Fearnmore to follow Loch Torridon and Loch Shieldaig inland. Here, the sheltered waters were being used for fish farms and the scenery was just fabulous in the sunshine, although it was getting very hot by now. The road was also getting very twisty and hilly, which Jude found most annoying – he seemed to hate the road despite the lovely scenery. There was not a single café or shop along the entire route from Applecross, so we headed for Shieldaig where we eventually arrived at 4.23.

We quickly found the delightful coffee shop there, Nanny’s, that we knew would be open, and the staff were waiting to serve us. It was a very welcome refreshment stop, and we enjoyed our food and drink on the table outside with fabulous views across Loch Shieldaig.

While visiting the nearby Shieldaig Stores to buy provisions for the night, we met a cycle tourist outside who said he had done sixty miles today, but he then proceeded to light up a cigarette! He was a recent recruit to cycle touring, but we guessed it was good to see people getting into the sport. He was planning to camp nearby.

The last eight miles or so to Torridon was tiring, but we finally reached the hostel at around 6.30. It had been repainted and renovated since our last visit, with new kitchen facilities. ‘Em’ welcomed us at reception, and after a long walk we eventually found our way to our five-bed room, which we had to ourselves. Our nearby shower room only had a single shower in it, and there was a notice up warning that the hot water had gone offline earlier that month and would not be on again until early August, so could we please use water sparingly. Well, we didn’t seem to have any shortage of hot water, but the shortage of showers was a bit of a problem. Michael looked around for another washroom, and soon found one around the back that had three showers, so then all was fine.

We cooked beans and cheese on toast tonight, then had yoghurts and fruit. We wanted to watch some TV this evening, but the various common rooms and hallway areas were busy with other hostellers, and the hostel Wi-Fi signal didn’t reach as far as our room. So, Michael set up his mobile hotspot for the tablet and we watched an hour-long documentary about toilet paper in our room, which used up a large part of his phone’s data allowance!

We slept OK in our quiet room.

After a good night’s sleep in our private room at the back of the hostel, we set about preparing breakfast in the large self-catering kitchen. We had used the last of our bread last night with the baked beans, so now I had none left for breakfast. Michael asked Rufus, the lad at reception, if we could have or buy a slice of bread, but he said they had none, which seemed rather strange. Later, however, we saw plenty of bread being put out for those buying hostel breakfasts, and there was plenty taken away again at the end of the breakfast period! Meanwhile, Michael had to make do with two bowls of cereal to make up for the lack of bread.

We left at 10.18 and started by riding the 0.7 miles in the wrong direction for a visit to Torridon Stores and Café. We found Em serving in the café, the person who had served us last night at the hostel reception – this was her second job apparently. We told her about Rufus refusing to sell us bread when we needed it, and she agreed the bread should have been sold to us. She also wanted to confirm the address of our CTC website, as Mat, the hostel warden, wanted to see our videos from previous visits to see how the hostel had changed over the years. We enjoyed a very nice coffee and cake in the cosy café.

Conditions were dry as we left at 10.56 and started our 32-mile ride to Gairloch. It would have been a much shorter ride if we could have ridden through the Beinn Eighe mountain range, but as is usual in Scotland, our road had to take the long way around. There was a slight climb for the first few miles, which took us up to the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve sign. We stopped there for some video and photo shots, as we have often done on previous tours to the area, including a timed photo with all of us in the shot.

The guy we saw last night at Shieldaig passed us on the way up, then after a gentle downhill to Kinlochewe we found him eating food at the new Whistle Stop café at 12.08. We stopped there for coffee, and since it seemed a fairly decent place with a good range of food, we then bought some food there as well – Dillan immediately went for the soup and was not disappointed. It was 12.57 when we left, and after buying a few more items for lunch from the local shop we set off again.

Next stop was the Beinn Eighe Visitor Centre, another regular stop from previous tours and just a mile or so from Kinlochewe. It had been updated since the last time we were there, but it was still not particularly interesting, although it did show us pictures of the local wildlife, which included wildcats. The road was flat and easy as we followed the shore of Loch Maree, and weather was now quite warm.

Jude was understandably hungry by 2.10, so we stopped for lunch by the roadside opposite Letterewe Pier near Talladale, with good views across Loch Maree. To pass the time we decided we couldn’t leave until we had seen three Volvos, which took a while as there were very few cars passing on the road. The third Volvo passed as I was taking a short video clip, so we were able to leave at 2.39.

The weather turned slightly damp for a while, and when we came to the downhill stretch, we swapped bikes to keep ourselves amused. We stopped to look at the Kerry Falls HEP station, powered by water piped down from the small loch we had passed on the way down. We have stopped there on previous tours, once being given a guided tour inside the facility by an engineer who happened to be on site, but today we noticed the huge pipe running near the side of the road that brins the water down for the turbines. The turbines were switched off today, presumably because of the drought.

Our next stop was at a tree overhanging the River Kerry at Kerrysdale, scene of hilarious rope-swing mishaps on our 1993 tour (highlights in today’s video). The tree was still there, and there was a different rope waiting to be used, but the overhang had become somewhat overgrown, so Jude had to abandon his plans to show us his epic rope tricks.

Leaving at 4.00 we rode the final four miles to Gairloch. We wanted a café stop, so we tried the café at Gairloch Harbour, but everything there was closed for some reason. We continued on towards the centre of the town, but we didn’t find a café until we arrived at our B&B for the night, Mountain Lodge, which turned out to have a café as well as beds. We bought coffees there, but it was all artisan coffee, and the coffee we had tasted a bit funny. The cakes were good though.

Ashleigh checked us in, and Jude had a 4-poster bed in his own private room, which was rather nice for him. We all showered, then went out to get food. First, we walked to Crumbs, a takeaway bakery. It had closed some time earlier, but the woman was still inside and kindly agreed to sell us a large potato, cheese and onion pie that was in the window. We walked along the sea front and eventually reached the Spar, where we bought a few provisions.

We really wanted hot food, and they didn’t have any at the Spar, so we returned to the Beachcomber Fish and Chips shop via the footpath. When we asked whether the chips would be properly vegetarian, they said they usually fry all the chips in the same oil as the fish, but as they were not busy at the moment, they kindly agreed to prepare us a special batch of chips in fresh oil. They also heated up our savoury pie from Crumbs, and we took our meal outside to the seats overlooking the sea. The chips were extra-large, and it all made for a tasty meal.

Back at Mountain Lodge we watched an episode of Jamie Johnson on the tablet, then went to bed for a fairly good night’s sleep.

We slept well at the Mountain Lodge Guest House in Gairloch. We had provided our breakfast orders last night, so we made our way downstairs at the agreed time of 9am and collected our prepared breakfast trays. The only problem was that there was hardly anywhere to sit that was out of the sun, and we were not allowed into the conservatory, which was closed off as it was too hot. We eventually managed to find one table in the shade, but it was warm outside and even warmer in the dining room. Dillan had porridge, while Jude and Michael had muesli that was very nice followed by toasted bagels with jam and marmalade that we both liked very much. Jude thought it was his best breakfast of the tour. Even the artisan coffee was nice this morning.

We got away at around 10.25 and rode up to the big Spar on the corner, where Michael wanted to get sandwiches to supplement the remainder of the potato and cheese pie. At first glance, the sandwich shelf appeared to be full of chicken sandwiches, but after careful inspection he managed to find some vegetarian sandwiches tucked away out of sight behind a row of chicken sandwiches, although they only had white bread options for vegetarians, which seemed a bit perverse. He then had to queue a while to be served, as the bloke was really slow.

We set off again at 10.36 following the A-road up and down to Poolewe on a very hot morning. We were in need of cool drinks at Poolewe, so we checked out the café: the cold drinks were very pricey for drinking in, so we just asked for tap waters and bought one Appletise which Dillan and Michael shared. We didn’t feel like coffees because of the heat, and anyway they only did filter coffee in the café, which we wouldn’t have enjoyed so much.

After a quick visit to the nearby shop, we set off again at 11.33 in even greater heat, following the coast road through Tornaig to Drumchork which offered fabulous views across Loch Ewe to the Isle of Ewe in the midday sunshine. When we met the coast again at Laide, Gruinard Bay, we searched in vain for some shade to eat lunch, but there wasn’t a tree anywhere until we reached Second Coast, and even then, it was just a handful of trees by the roadside offering partial shade. We made the most of it though, as there was no guarantee we would find anything better in this barren region, so we settled down for lunch on the narrow grassy verge at 12.46. While we were there, two camper vans passed by in opposite directions and managed to hit each other’s wing mirrors with an almighty bang, leaving broken mirror and plastic in the road. One of the drivers stopped for a moment, thought about whether to go back and then just drove off. We moved the pieces to the verge for them.

We had plenty of time for our 5.45 appointment with the harbourmaster at Alltnaharrie, so after setting off again at 1.14 we rode at a leisurely pace. We stopped briefly at Little Gruinard beach, which seemed like the perfect beach for Jude to enjoy, but then Dillan wasn’t interested in exploring it so we decided to press on towards Alltnaharrie so we wouldn’t have to rush. Michael was keeping the harbourmaster informed of our progress by text and estimated we would be there a good deal earlier than 5.45.

At 2.23 we arrived at the viewpoint near Badcaul, used in the film “Shell”, that overlooks Little Loch Broom. After taking some photos and video of the excellent views we continued along the road, which took us down to Loch level over the course of a few miles. By the time we reached the bottom, Dillan was tired, and we were all hot and in need of cold drinks, so we called into the Dundonnell Hotel at 3.17 for half an hour. They wanted £3 for a pint of blackcurrant and soda that would normally cost £1 or less, saying they did not have soda on tap! This was a ridiculous price for what is essential blackcurrant squash, so we bought a blackcurrant and lemonade for the same price and shared it between us.

From Dundonnell it took an hour and a half to cover the 7.8 miles to Alltnaharrie. The route involved a long climb and then a steep, rough track descent, but the main problem was that conditions were very hot, so we had to stop to cool off every time we found a shady tree. There were swarms of nasty, biting flies following us as well, which was very unpleasant. It was gratifying to reach the loch at the top and to see Loch Broom and Ullapool opening up ahead of us. The large ferry to Stornoway, due to depart at 5.30, could be seen moored at Ullapool as we descended to the old Alltnaharrie Inn.

We arrived at the private jetty at Alltnaharrie at around 5.20, expecting to have to wait until 5.45 when the ferry would have left, but we had noticed the Launch heading across Loch Broom in our direction as we descended the track, and the harbourmaster’s assistant was waiting for us when we arrived. He loaded our bikes and sped off immediately, arriving at Ullapool just as the enormous ferry was leaving. It was an exhilarating and cooling crossing that we all very much enjoyed.

We looked back at the large house that used to be the Alltnaharrie Inn on previous tours: it’s now a private house, with no ferry service, hence the need to make arrangements with the harbourmaster.

Ullapool Youth Hostel was literally on the other side of the road from the jetty, on Shore Street, but it had sadly been fully booked so we would be staying in a B&B. There would be no kitchen at the B&B though, and no evening meal available, so we called into the hostel and explained our predicament. The friendly warden said we could use the self-catering kitchen over the next hour, which was very generous of him.

So, we went to Tesco at 5.49, bought various ready meals, fruit and ice cream, and returned to the hostel immediately to cook it. The kitchen was almost empty at this time, so we had a very enjoyable mealtime which went a long way towards making up for being unable to stay at the hostel. We had some spare ice cream, and a family with two lads on a nearby table were very happy to accept it.

Tenterden, our B&B, happened to be just a few doors along Shore Street from the hostel, and not outside the town as Michael had previously thought. When we arrived at 6.20, we were greeted by a woman watching us from the balcony overlooking her very bushy garden: she had been observing the unusual activity of the Launch heading over to Alltnaharrie, which just goes to show that the locals are well aware of the usual pattern of activity on the Loch.

Dillan and Michael had a twin room on the ground floor, while Jude was upstairs in a single room full of old books. The twin room was old fashioned and quaint: the brass door handle came off whenever it was used, but the room was very cosy and comfortable.

When we had showered, we went for a walk up to Tesco and back around the coast road, taking some good photos with the Nikon camera that captured the delightful late evening sunset and moon over the Loch. It was a lovely place to be, and we wanted to make the most of our penultimate night in the Scottish Highlands.

We slept very well in our comfortable beds at Tenterden.

Breakfast at the Tenterden Guest House, Ullapool, was interesting to say the least. It was served by an elderly gentleman in an open hallway upstairs, near Jude’s room. Everything was slightly unusual: coffee came in a very old coffee pot that leaked, and cereals came in old, small cereal jars with wire lid clips that were hard to open, with each jar containing only just enough cereal for a single bowlful. Still, the toast was nice! We were joined at the table by two people from Fife who seemed chatty at first, but after a while they seemed to want to finish the conversation, so we left.

We packed our things, took a few video clips and photos, then left at 10.12. First stop was Tesco where we bought lunch and snacks together with some chilled coffees at Jude’s suggestion. We drank the coffees outside the store in the morning sunshine.

We set off for the day’s ride at 10.40, with 35 fairly hilly miles ahead of us. This was the hottest day of the tour so far, and we was always looking for ways to keep cool. The main road, signposted just “North”, was remarkably quiet for an A-road, but once we had passed the village of Ardmair the scenery was barren and remote. Jude took his time going down the hills but caught up again on the climbs. Michael kept thinking of the difficulties Gavin had climbing the hills on the tour in 2000 with his damaged knees.

We turned off the main road at Drumrunie at around 12.00 and took some photos of the impressive Stac Pollaidh mountain that lay ahead of us. This stretch of road held many unforgettable memories for Michael from previous tours. He told Dillan and Jude how he got food poisoning after eating some Scottish Jam at this very point on the 1986 tour and then couldn’t face eating strawberry jam for over a year. He told of the 1990 tour when a group actually climbed to the top of Stac Pollaidh, which took around two hours. And he told them how the torrential rain came in on Ash’s tour in 2010 and the only shelter was a clump of almost leafless trees that provided no protection from the rain at all. Today the weather was fine, so we took our time to enjoy the scenery, stopping for video clips and photos and taking a look at the steep path up to Stac Pollaidh, which today looked like it would be hot, tiring and infested with biting insects.

We took the right turn for Lochinver at Badagyle Cottage and stopped immediately for lunch as it was 1.08. We were just past halfway on the ride, which made us all feel really good – riding had been difficult in the heat, but we were making good progress. We settled down on a soft grassy patch near the road for lunch, but were immediately attacked by swarms of midges, so we had no choice but to return to the road and just keep walking up and down while eating, trying to lose them. They would not leave us alone though, and I managed to record an amusing video clip of Jude’s reaction to pesky midges. We really should have brought some midge repellent. We set off again at 1.32, glad to get moving and to have the chance of finally leaving the midges behind.

This road is fondly named the “Mad Little Road to Wester Ross”, mainly because it twists and turns through the remote Highland scenery for its entire length. Unlike previous years, when the twists and turns on the map made it hard to estimate the distance, we had accurate mileage readouts today, so we knew exactly how far we had to ride. The first downhill, just after the lunch stop, gave us a chance to cool down and left us all feeling much better, but we got hot again on every climb. Stopping for photos and videos along the way gave us further opportunities to keep cool. We passed the place on the approach to Enard Bay where one of our members lost consciousness on the 1986 tour and rode into a cliff face, but Michael didn’t notice it even though he was looking out for it.

We had been getting mileage readouts to our planned coffee stop, Achins Bookshop near Inverkirkaig, and it was 2.46 when we finally arrived, grateful for the opportunity of a well-earned rest. We were all just very thirsty from the heat, so we didn’t end up buying anything to eat: we had glasses of water first, then coffees, although sadly they weren’t able to make lattes. The woman serving in the café was chatty and was laughing to see us using the camcorder in her humble establishment. She said the place is up for sale.

We set off again at 3.30 for the final section of the Mad Little Road to Lochinver, stopping briefly to see the Primary School which, whilst set in the middle of a loch, is annoyingly up a long hill from the town. Arriving in Lochinver at 4pm we turned left at the bottom and tried out the café by the harbour. It was actually a café in some kind of hostel, and it was very comfortable, with nice coffees and even tastier tray bakes. Everything was very expensive though, with the traybakes costing £3.25, so Dillan and Michael shared one between them. It was a very enjoyable stop.

Next, we went to the Spar for 4.24 where we bought supper and breakfast – Dillan and Michael bought cheese, baked beans and mushrooms. Leaving at 4.43 we then rode the final half hour to Achmelvich Beach Youth Hostel, trying to get to the hostel as early as possible so we could enjoy the beach before the rain showers came along. For some reason, however, Michael’s right ankle was beginning to hurt on this stretch, so he was slower than usual. Little did he know that it would get worse and last for weeks!

We arrived at the hostel at 5.15, but the female warden was dealing with a group of three hostellers in front of us and was in no hurry at all, taking as much time as she possibly could. Even when she had finished checking them in and saw us waiting, she still decided to take the people on a guided tour of the facilities rather than serve us. We were sure she was making the hostellers feel very welcome, but she delayed us by 15 minutes, time we would have preferred to spend on the beach. We had a family room with five beds, so we left our luggage there and hurried down to the beach.

The weather was quite cloudy but warm and reasonably bright, and the beach was quite busy as usual. There are a string of similar beaches extending northwest along the coast, each boasting the same silver sand that is found at Achmelvich. It was a beautiful location. We walked over the hill to the next beach, scrambled down to it, then walked to the far end as there was a small group of people at the near end. Michael wanted to at least get his feet wet in the icy waters, but he had to work hard to get Dillan to go in at all – he had heard the story of how Gavin was stung by a jellyfish on the 2000 tour and was in agony all night, and there were many dead jellyfish on the beach today! Eventually he got his feet wet, although I’m not sure he enjoyed it. Jude did not go in.

We dried our feet, took a quick look at the next small beach and then headed back to the hostel, with rain starting before we reached it. Michael’s ankle was now really sore and clearly getting worse, not better.

Jude used the old shower, and Michael used the new one, which was so powerful and well-featured that he gave it a high score of 9 out of 10. Dillan wasn’t aware of the differences however and nipped into the old shower as soon as Jude came out, so he missed out on the best shower of the tour. We then cooked our beans, mushrooms, cheese and eggs with some good teamwork and enjoyed a tasty cheap meal in the cosy hostel kitchen.

Sunset was approaching when we had finished, and Michael persuaded Dillan to return to the beach at 9.30. Jude did not want to come initially, but he changed his mind and followed us down. This turned out to be the best part of the day for the beach and we were rewarded with a lovely rich sunset. It was just a wonderful place to be, so we took many photos and videos to capture the scene. Michael was so happy that Dillan and Jude had been able experience some of the unparalleled joy of Achmelvich.

We got back to hostel at 10pm and headed for bed almost immediately. Our en-suite toilet would not flush, but we still used it in the night to avoid a long walk outside. Additionally, the room ventilation was not great, so we had to open the curtains, but we slept OK after our very tiring day.

We had heard some rain outside overnight, which didn’t bode too well for the coming day. We made our breakfast of cereal and toast in the cosy hostel kitchen, then packed our things and watched the hostel chickens scratching around in the grass until we were ready to leave at 10.10.

There was some light rain as we left, and the weather forecast according to the printed sheet pinned up on the hostel noticeboard hadn’t appeared to be very good, but we couldn’t get a more up-to-date forecast as there was no mobile signal at Achmelvich and there was no Wi-Fi at the hostel, even though the warden had an internet connection. So, we cycled the four miles to Lochinver with the intention of making more informed decisions when we arrived.

Michael’s ankle had clearly made no recovery overnight, so it was a painful journey for him. By the time we arrived at Lochinver he knew he would not be able to cycle the planned 54 miles today, so we went into the “Coffee Shop, Pie Shop & Riverside Bistro” restaurant at 10.46, otherwise known as the Lochinver Larder, to contemplate the situation.

When we were ordering our coffees, we were somewhat shocked to see that they wanted £3.25 for each one. I asked how large they were, and she indicated a height that seemed quite large. When they arrived, however, the coffees were in what looked like modified wine glasses, the bottom third being just a glass stem, so in fact the coffees were tiny – very nice, but nowhere near large enough to be charging £3.25 – so we felt somewhat ripped off. The tray bakes were also around £3.25 – stupidly high pricing, but at least they were a good size.

We found a nice place to sit by the window, established that we now had mobile signals and checked the weather forecast on the internet: there would be showers all day, some thundery. Dillan and Jude did not want to ride in the rain, and they also did not want to split the group (since Michael would be unable to cycle). There was a bus, the North Bus, that left Lochinver at 12.42 and would take us right over to Lairg near the East coast, so we decided to make use of it.

We went back to the Spar to buy a few provisions for lunch, then wandered over to the harbour area and waited by the bus stop there at 12.07. After twenty minutes we realised we needed to wait at the main bus stop near the church, so we went there for 12.28.

The bus arrived a few minutes late. It turned out to be a minibus towing a cycle trailer! There were only two people on the bus when it arrived, and they both got off, so we had it all to ourselves for the first part of the journey. The guy strapped the bikes onto the trailer, then we paid in cash, £6 per bike and £7.70 per person, although there were probably some discounts as the total came to around £41. We set off at around 12.52.

He had to make a stop at Ullapool on the way, so after following our intended route as far as Ledmore, he then took us all the way back to where we had been yesterday morning. He picked up several more people at Ullapool, some of whom had bikes, then drove like a crazy man all the way to Lairg! Having re-joined our intended route at Ledmore again, we drove past the Altnacealgach Inn that we would have been depending on for refreshments if we had been riding. Unbelievably, it was being renovated again, so it was closed.

A spell of heavy rain started soon after Altnacealgach and continued for around an hour. That particular stretch of road is very remote with no shelter or places to stop, so we were very relieved we had decided not to cycle. The Indian boy on the seat in front of us, who had boarded at Ullapool with his family, was sick during this period, leaving the whole van smelling bad for the remainder of the journey. Dillan was not at all surprised the boy had been sick, given the speed of the driving, and said he would have been sick too if he was younger!

We were dropped at Lairg station at 3.12, just in time to see the 3.13 Bonar Bridge train arrive and leave before we had chance to unload our bikes. We therefore unpacked at leisure, and were pleased to note that the rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to return again. We could have waited another hour for the next train, but the ride to Bonar Bridge was only nine miles and all downhill, so we decided to cycle.

We followed the route recommended by Google Maps, which took us through a kind of nature reserve path near the station and across a pedestrian suspension bridge over the River Shin. From there we took a lovely, quiet, wooded B-road that followed the river downstream for several miles, providing some superb scenery. It’s just as well it was downhill, as Michael’s ankle was hurting quite badly again whenever he tried to pedal.

After crossing the Shin Bridge at Invershin we got some great views across the valley to Carbisdale Castle, the enormous building that was our favourite Youth Hostel in the world until it closed in 2011. This was the first tour where we were unable to stay there, but Michael at least had many happy memories of visits on previous tours. There had been subsidence that required millions of pounds to be spent, and the SYHA simply couldn’t afford it. We were pleased to see it still standing though, and hoped the new owners were getting as much pleasure from it as the 1.5 million hostellers who stayed there since it first opened.

We arrived in Bonar Bridge, location of our B&B, at around 4.45 and headed straight for the café that was listed as being open until 5.00. We quickly discovered that it had closed early, for reasons best known to the proprietor, and the whole village was dead except for the Spar.

We rode the short distance along Dornoch Road to Kyle House, our B&B for the night. The female owner saw us parking up outside and came out to enquire if we were lost, then wondered if we were looking for a place to stay. Michael said we were staying with her tonight, she said she didn’t know anything about that, but she had space anyway! After checking her records, she saw Michael’s emailed notes and then gradually remembered something about it. She also now remembered the conversation about her buying vegetarian sausages for our breakfast, but she had marked that down for the wrong date, earlier in the month. Oh well, we were just lucky that she had spare rooms!

Jude had a small room to himself while Dillan and Michael had a large twin room. It was a lovely big house, full of delightful furniture and ornaments, and the lady was very friendly. She showed Michael where to put the bikes later, and how to get the garage key from the greenhouse in the large gardens at the back of the property. But we needed a café, and the nearest was in Ardgay, so we set off at 5.15 or so in search of coffee.

The place that was open was the Ardgay Stores and Highland Café, just over a mile from our B&B and open until 7pm. We arrived at 5.23 and bought very good coffees for £2.50 each and very good traybakes for £1.89. The café was inside the shop, and the shop was actually very interesting, selling many unusual items that we had never seen anywhere else.

Leaving at 6.35 we rode back to the Spar in Bonar Bridge. We had to spend at least £5 to be able to get cashback, so we bought some reduced strawberries, but their machine cleverly charged full price for them, so we had to tell them to correct that.

Back at the B&B we all showered, then we settled in the large twin room to watch two programmes on the tablet. First we watched Mission Impossible Season 4 Episode 7: Submarine, to prepare Jude and Dillan for the new Mission Impossible film, Fallout. Then we watched Jamie Johnson part 2, since they really enjoyed Part 1 at Gairloch. We got to sleep around 10.30 and slept very well with the window wide open despite the duvets being rather large and hot.