Day 32, 18th June 2011, Stornoway (Harris) to Tain
We caught the 7.00am ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool and were on the road around 10.30. The ferry services to the Hebrides work very well and are cheap. The fares for the two of us and our bikes, for the nearly three-hour trip was just 15 pounds.
This was a hard day. There was a strong wind blowing right in our faces and a lot of steep uphill climbing. We rode to Ledmore, which is the junction of the road going to the north coast and one to the west. We had decided a few days ago that we would go no further north, but then reconsidered, and decided to leave the decision until we got to Ledmore.
We stopped at a café down the road and after discussing the road and getting advice from the proprietors, decided to continue to the east. We thought that if our solid southerly tail wind had continued we might have taken advantage of it, but the riding to the north was hard, through the sort of dramatic country we had been riding through for the last few days on the Hebrides.
We followed the valley of the Oykel River to the Dornoch Firth, a ride that would have been a delight on a nice day, but was compromised by the hard wind.
So, we rode from coast to coast after a late start, on a windy day, over the hills, 103km to the town of Tain. Tain, by the way, is by far the prettiest Scottish town we have seen so far.
We rode into the town on a street where there were a host of B&Bs, selected the one with a WiFi sign out the front and checked in. 55 pounds, and they are doing our washing, which is a first, and another free service not offered by Travelodge or Ibis.
I have had to make up this map as the datalogger failed again. Pity really, as it is difficult to show the hills.
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