LEJOG day 16 (Peter)

“Thunderstorms and heavy rain” said the Met Office last night. We woke in trepidation to see just a few grey clouds and a very little drizzle, which quickly faded and gave way later to a balmy day.

Martin and Peter shared their B/B with a German couple. His claim to fame, this morning at least, was that he’s the bass drummer in a bagpipe band near Heidelberg! Hence an annual visit to Scotland. This band is apparently far from unique to Germany. Such goings on might almost induce belief in the EU.

Had one of our easiest cycling days. Quiet, flat or downhill roads and a little wind behind. We stopped for coffee at the Carr Bridge hotel, and to remember David Band. David was a frequent skier in the Cairn Gorms way back when, and used to do damage in the bar of the hotel in the evenings. Martin remembers a particular New Year’s Eve when things got very out of hand.

Our tourmeister, Stewart, had fixed on Moy, about 12 mls from Inverness, as a good stopping place for a late lunch. Unfortunately the village contained but 3 cottages and a post box......

We dined out on a warm sunlit evening on the banks of the Ness river, during which Peter's cellphone called with an automated msg from the Environment Agency of a potential flood risk in Oxford. What is going on with our weather?

Onto the Black Isle tomorrow and thence, via a short ferry ride from Cromarty, back to the A9, the main drag North.