If yesterday was the longest ride of the tour, today was definitely the hardest, involving a fair distance of 48 miles but also the biggest mountain climb to the third highest road in Scotland. Luke was not looking forward to it as we loaded our bikes in the loch-side gardens of Ratagan Youth Hostel. However, the ride would be easier on this tour than on any previous tour because we were starting at Ratagan rather than Raasay.

Our first task was to ride around Loch Duich, which after eight miles brought us past Eilean Donan Castle on the far side, built on a small tidal island from the early thirteenth century. There was a bit of a climb to Achmore, then we were rewarded with great views along Loch Carron, another enormous loch where we had to ride the full length on one side and then halfway back along the other side. It was along the final stretch of this journey that we got a particularly unpleasant spell of heavy, cold rain, when Julian was heard to say "This is the worst tour ever!".

We soon arrived at the village of Lochcarron where we were able to take shelter from the rain while raiding the village stores for as many snacks as we could carry for the impending climb.

Another short climb and descent brought us to Tornapress by 4pm, 35.2 miles from Ratagan and the start of the longest climb of the tour, to Bealach na Ba, the Pass of the Cattle. Tornapress was 6m above sea level, but when we had finished the climb we would be at 626m above sea level, the third highest road in Scotland.

At the bottom the temperature was quite warm and reasonable, with good visibility and no rain, but as we climbed the long hill in stages the fog descended and the temperature dropped. By the time we finally reached the top (probably by around 7.30) there was rain and it was very cold, but everyone did feel a sense of relief and achievement at having reached the top. Dominic in particular was very chirpy at the top, having overcome a stomach ache at the bottom - his only problem now was that he was freezing cold and wanted to get on with the long descent. Michael took a short video and then we pressed on.

After the climb came the descent, a 620m descent in fact, which is not easy when you are freezing cold - it was actually hard putting on the brakes for the many hairpin bends on the way down. We were also up against the clock, as we had arranged to have hot meals at the Applecross Campsite at the bottom, but last orders were 8.30. A few went past the campsite to the bottom of the hill and had to climb back up again, but when we finally arrived we were very grateful for the excellent food that was on offer. We had to wait a long time for our orders to be delivered, and it was not especially warm under the plastic greenhouse awning of the restaurant, but none of that mattered, we were just so grateful for hot food after such a difficult day. The desserts were particularly generous and well worth waiting for.

When we finally left the campsite we had just a couple of miles to ride through the remote coastal village of Applecross to Camustiel, where Mrs Gillies provided us with bed and breakfast in her house by the sea. We stayed with her on our last visit to the area in 1993. We were extremely grateful to settle in for hot showers and a long and well-deserved night's sleep. Gavin in particular was feeling quite sorry for himself with sore knees, a sore behind and general exhaustion, so he was soon asleep in his comfortable double bed.

(No notes have yet been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

We had a wonderfully peaceful and relaxing night at Mrs Gillies house in Camustiel, and as this was our rest day of the tour we were in no particular hurry to leave. Mrs Gillies laid on an excellent breakfast, and when we had finished sharing stories of our last visit in 1993 we eventually set off rather late.

Gavin's knees were very painful this morning, possibly a result of running down Ben Nevis a few days ago, and undoubtedly made worse by the high mileages and long climbs. As we rode back through Applecross we all hoped they would sort themselves out as the day went on. We stocked up with lunch and supper from the village shop.

Until 1976 the only way to access Applecross was over the mountain road we had taken yesterday, and since that road becomes impassable during the winter months the whole village was cut off for many months of the year. The coast road changed all that, although it's a very long detour compared to the mountain road and so the village is still one of the most remote in Scotland. Children from Applecross have to go to school at Plockton, and since it would be way too far to travel every day, they board at Plockton during the week and return home at weekends. As we looked at the sign commemorating the opening of the coastal road we could really appreciate what a difference the road made to Applecross when it was opened.

Riding along the coast road we saw a number of ruins, abandoned houses from long ago. There was several of these in evidence when we reached Lonbain, although there were signs that some were being sold and rebuilt at last. We had lunch in the area, trying to imagine how difficult it must have been to live here all those years ago when the only access was over the mountain.

Gavin's knees were unfortunately becoming more and more painful as the ride went on, and several people were taking it in turns to push him along when there were uphill sections. Soon after Eilean Mor Island, however, he was so slow that Michael sent the rest of the group on, as there seemed little point in making everyone late at the hostel. So Gavin and Michael cruised along at a leisurely pace, stopping to take video clips of the unique scenery of the Applecross peninsula. We could have wished the road wasn't quite so hilly near the end, but we eventually reached Torridon by effectively walking up all the hills.

Torridon is a very modern hostel with unusual architecture that reminded Michael of Totnes school. The kitchen was large and well equipped and we had an enjoyable evening preparing and eating our meals. Michael made some enquiries about a doctor for Gavin, which seemed an unlikely prospect given that the total population of Torridon was probably 10 people, but surprisingly we found there would be a doctor available in the morning. Gavin was keen to complete the tour properly so decided to see the doctor for some treatment.

(No notes have yet been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

We slept fairly well at Torridon, but Gavin's knees were still sore this morning, so after breakfast Michael and Gavin went down to the Torridon medical centre (looked like a room on the side of the community centre) to see a doctor while the rest of the group rode on to Gairloch.

[Gavin will say what happened at the surgery]

The others now had a good lead on us so we didn't expect to see them until Gairloch. Gavin and Michael rode on slowly through spells of rain, with Michael giving Gavin a push up some of the hills. Our route took us into Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve, which was rather bleak and barren but evidently home to some important wildlife. There was a good downhill section to Kinlochewe, where we were able to buy lunch.

A few miles along the valley we came across the Beinn Eighe Visitor Centre. Gavin needed an excuse to rest his knees so we took a look around, even though it hadn't changed much since the last time Michael went there in 1993. There was an interested 3D model of the reserve, however, which showed the surrounding mountains towering either side of our road.

We continued riding along the relatively flat route along the side of Loch Maree, then on the downhill section that followed the River Kerry we stopped at the Kerry Falls HEP Station, since Gavin has an interest in power generation and HEP in particular. And he needed another rest for his knees of course. Only one of the three turbines was working today judging by the fact that water was only coming out of one of the exits. We peered in the windows but couldn't see a lot, so we went around the other side and saw one of the turbines through that window. But then an engineer arrived to do some maintenance, saw that we were interested and offered to give us a guided tour inside! That was very fortunate, so we spent twenty minutes looking around and asking questions. Fascinating!

The last few miles were mainly downhill, and when we finally arrived at Carn Dearg Youth Hostel, Gairoch, the others were already showered and cooking their meals. Gavin and Michael finally sat down for their meal quite late, but it was well worth waiting for.

(No notes have yet been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

We had cloudy skies once again as we prepared to leave Carn Dearg hostel after breakfast. As we had a private boat booked for later we set off as early as we could, buying lunch from Gairloch before heading north through Poolewe.

Conditions were almost dry, with occasional spells of the lightest drizzle that didn't really make us wet. Dominic had a slight problem when his pedal fell off on one of the climbs, but Michael managed to fix that for him.

We found a great viewpoint just beyond Tournaig - the Inverewe Viewpoint - 11.4 miles into the ride, which offered good views to Loch Ewe and the Isle of Ewe. Everyone was feeling fit and in good spirits, so Michael took a video clip.

After another climb we reached Gruinard Bay. The island in the bay, Gruinard Island, was used for Anthrax testing in 1942 and remained contaminated for many years, so there were warning signs all around the island warning people not to land there. It was finally decontaminated in 1990 and the warning signs removed.

Next stop was 3.00pm at the Little Loch Broom Viewpoint, 25.8 miles from Carn Dearg. Gavin decided his knees were better now so he had tried riding up the hill from Gruinard, but now he was paying the price for doing that. From the viewpoint we could see the route we were taking over the hill on the far side which represented a huge short-cut to Ullapool compared with the main road alternative. But it would involved some climbing.

We all enjoyed the downhill to Dundonnell, but the track to Eilean Darach Lodge was a little muddy, and the footbridge of the Dundonnell River was, well, interesting. We then had a tough climb over the peninsula followed by a track descent to the Alltnaharrie Inn on the side of Loch Broom. It is possible we took a wrong turning near the bottom, as the track became rather boggy and overgrown, but ultimately we reached the Inn somewhere around 5pm.

There is no ferry across Loch Broom to Ullapool, but the Alltnaharrie Inn own their own boat, Mother Goose, for bringing customers over and back, since all their custom comes from Ullapool. Michael had telephoned in advance and arranged for them to ferry us across with our bikes. It was a tight squeeze to get all six of us on board with our bikes, but it certainly made for an interesting experience. We were taken across at a reasonable speed, and when we disembarked on the far side we were right next to Ullapool Youth Hostel, on Shore Street.

Ullapool is one of the finest youth hostels we stayed at, being modern and comfortable with a good kitchen and a great location overlooking Loch Broom. After showers we bought our food from the nearby shops and cooked fine meals to conclude a good day of cycling.

(No notes have yet been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

Heavy rain when we woke up in our comfortable upstairs dorm made everyone want to stay in bed, feeling sure we were in for a miserable day, but by the time we had finished breakfast, loaded the bikes and settled down on the wall opposite the hostel to admire the busy goings on around Ullapool, the sky was blue and things looked much more promising. A friendly cat, that Michael named Manky, kept us entertained.

As this was the last town before Lochinver, we stocked up with a few provisions for lunch at he local supermarket and then cracked on, following the signs that said simply "The North".

We followed the main road as far as Drumrunie, then turned left towards the imposing mountain called Stac Pollaidh. By the time we reached the end of Loch Lurgainn, some were quite hungry, so we stopped there for lunch. This turned out to be rather a bad decision, however, as within minutes swarms of midges descended on us and made the time quite unpleasant. Still, the scenery was as remote and beautiful as we had expected of the far north of Scotland.

A Badnagyle we turned right which took us north towards Lochinver on a road that has been named The Mad Little Road to Wester Ross. It is so called because it twists left and right, up and down to avoid the myriad small lochs and hills in the rocky terrain. There is no scenery quite like this in the UK, and whilst it was hard going at times it was definitely worth the effort, especially when we reached the beautiful, unspoiled Enard Bay where sheep grazed peacefully on the foreshore. This surely was one of the highlights of the tour.

After a few more hilly miles we reached Inverkirkaig where a steep driveway brought us up to Achins Bookshop and Coffee Shop. This not only provided welcome rest and refreshments, as it has done on previous tours, but also entertainment when some children outside found some grass snakes disappearing into a hole in the ground. Julian managed to pick one up and watched with fascination as it coiled itself up into knots in his hand.

Halfway down the descent to Lochinver we stopped, as usual on these tours, to take a quick look at Lochinver Primary School. This is unusually located on a piece of land that juts towards the centre of Loch Culag, which means the school is almost totally surrounded by the loch. It's a great location for a school, although parents and children do have to walk halfway up the long hill to get to it every morning.

At Lochinver we had a choice of two stops to buy food for our evening meals and breakfasts, then rode up the hill and turned left onto the lane that leads to Achmelvich, just a few more miles from Lochinver. After passing Loch Roe, which is a saltwater loch, we were soon at Achmelvich Youth Hostel, which surely boasts the best location of any of the hostels on our tour. It is just a few minutes walk from Achmelvich Beach, which itself is probably one of the finest silver sand beaches in the UK. The weather was a bit cloudy, but it was dry and not too cold, so we made the most of the daylight by having fun on the beach before showers and food.

After playing with the frisbees, some of us went in for a dip, as we have done on all our previous Scotland tours, but today the ones who went in noticed quite a number of jellyfish. We had never seen them here before but weren't too concerned, until one stung Gavin and another stung Dominic! Both lads were in a lot of pain, although Gavin seemed to be suffering the most. We asked the warden and he took us down to see the local doctor in Lochinver. He prescribed something for them, but judging by the pain they were in all night long, it didn't seem to do much.

(No notes have yet been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

Gavin did not sleep well last night - the doctor's drugs didn't really make a lot of difference to the pain he was getting from his jellyfish sting. Dominic didn't sleep too well either, although he seemed to be in less pain than Gavin. For the rest of us it was a bit like sleeping in a hospital ward. This morning, however, both were feeling better and were ready to crack on with the ride without the need for buses or taxis.

First off we followed the Achmelvich road back to the main road and then detoured back down to Lochinver stores to get lunch, as there were few places to buy it on today's ride. We then followed the main road for nearly 40 miles, from the Highlands of the West coast to the lowlands of the East coast. It was easy to notice the gradual replacement of the mountains with heathland as we rode. The weather was not great, with spells of rain on and off, but we had got used to that by now so it wasn't really a problem.

After climbing for the first half of the ride, the second half was all downhill, bringing us to the turnoff that would take us to Carbisdale Castle. Soon we could see the towers amidst the distant woodland, and it wasn't long before we were entering the impressive gates and riding up the long driveway.

Carbisdale Castle must be the most impressive hostel in all of Scotland. It was built in the 1920s and then gifted to SYHA. It has been mistreated over the years by various wardens, for example one who brought his car into the library for a service and stained the wooden floor with oil, but it is still mostly intact with its statues and works of art. It really does feel like a castle.

We had hoped to be put in the Spook Room again, but sadly another group was in there, so we had another room further down the corridor. It still took two and a half flights of stairs to reach it though.

After showers, Gavin took the camcorder on a tour of the castle, following a hidden staircase down from the other end of our corridor, through many doors and hallways, eventually leading us out of a concealed panel in the wooden staircase. The rooms were magnificent, offering great views to Bonar Bridge. When we got to the library, all the fine books had been removed and either sold or put into storage, but it had been completely redecorated and was an enjoyable place to sit and talk. We also discovered another hidden panel at the bottom of the main staircase that led to the games room.

Going down further from the ground floor we found the multiple kitchens, being used by the many people who were self-catering, but tonight we were making the most of a luxury hostel and having the provided evening meals. This was in the main panelled dining room, and was very tasty.

When the time came to get to sleep, Michael kept true to form and told everyone a ghost story, loosely based on the reputed haunting of the Spook Room in the hostel by an old nurse who used to look after the children in the nursery but died before her time.

(No notes have yet been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

We woke up in a real castle this morning to yet another cloudy day, but having breakfast provided was a nice treat, even if it was nearly three flights of stairs and three corridors away from our dorm. We had plenty of time today, as we only had to ride 41 miles by 7pm, so we made the most of our final hours in the hostel until it closed at 10am. Gavin took some good video shots in the courtyard as we were thinking about leaving.

Our route took us though Culrain to Ardgay where we stocked up with items for lunch for our final day of cycling, then off the main road on the quieter shortcut through Struie Hill Viewpoint, from where we could just make out the castle jutting out of the distant woodlands. We had lunch somewhere near the top of the hill, then after a long downhill we joined the main road near Ardullie, which gave us great views of the Cromarty Firth. Here, as we have seen on previous tours, we were treated to the spectacle of a number of seals lazing around on rocks or swimming through the seawater, and we caught several on video.

We followed the main A9 over the Cromarty Bridge and over the Black Isle, which was rather busy, then as we were enjoying the downhill to Inverness we saw a strange sight coming out of a side road at North Kessock - a recumbent tandem, being ridden by a husband and wife. They were happy to talk to us on camera for some time, explaining that the bike wasn't any faster than a traditional tandem, in fact it was a bit slower because of the extra rolling resistance between the four wheels and the road and the extra wind resistance from the front end, but it was more comfortable! It was interesting to talk to them, and we watched them ride off onto the main road on their way to Inverness.

We followed soon afterwards, crossing the remarkable and very modern-looking Kessock Bridge and making our way to Inverness Station.

As expected we were in plenty of time to catch our Sleeper train to London: it was due to leave at 8.30 but would be available for boarding from 7.30. We made use of the time to buy some good hot food from the takeaway shops near the station, then loaded our bikes onto the train and settled in for a good night's sleep. We didn't bother with the dining carriage because tables had to be reserved and prices were high - and they didn't seem too keen for us to take up a table for just a coffee and a cake. We were pretty tired though, so after some good chats about our adventures on the tour we settled down for another reasonable night's sleep on the move. AS before, Julian and Dominic were on seats, and Andrew disembarked in the middle of the night.

(No notes have yet been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)

Alarms were set to make sure Andrew got off his train somewhere around 6am near Rugby, and that he remembered to take his bike, then we tried to get a bit more sleep. As usual, however, we were woken before 7am with our complimentary breakfasts, which consisted of either tea, coffee or orange juice and a croissant. It's actually very enjoyable to have breakfast in bed whilst speeding through the countryside in a train.

Our sleeper train arrived at London Euston at around 0752, and as we had to be off the train by 08:00 we had already got dressed and packed by the time it arrived. The sun was shining brightly in London - we wished it had been this sunny in Scotland for the last few days!

We had to take the underground again back to Paddington station fairly quickly, then catch the 09:45 train back to Devon. We were all quite tired of course, but enjoyed the journey down.

We got back to Newton Abbot at 12:48 where parents were waiting to meet us. We had enjoyed a memorable tour and some great adventures despite the weather being less good than we might have hoped. We had lots of happy memories at the end of today when we gratefully settled into our own beds for the best night's sleep we had experienced for weeks.

(No notes have yet been found for today's ride, so this report was written from memory in 2021. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)