Thursday 28th July 2022, 101.20km, 1,045m

The day started with one of the longest climbs of the trip. 7.6km long climbing 404m with a max gradient of 12%; it was hard but not that hard. My fear of climbs is possibly behind me.

The group slowly came back together at the top of the climb, each person being cheered in by the rest. We hung around at the top for a while and when Mike rolled in he had a flat tyre. I had bottles of sealant in my day bag so could help sort it out but it meant the group had left by the time I got riding again. I figured this was a good chance to have some fun and try to chase back on.

Riding close to flat out through the twisting country lanes was exhilarating. Corners swept by and I started to pick off some of the other riders but never saw the lead group until I came across them stopped at a viewing point.

The afternoon brought a diversion to get over the Kessock Bridge and a small incident when one of the other riders rode into me and we both crashed. No real damage done to either me or the bike. Phew!

After the afternoon brew stop I decided to stretch my legs again and pushed hard for a few kms; I needed to clear the adrenaline after the crash and get in front of other riders for a while. I was a bit surprised to see that Stefan, Martin, Jasmine & Vicky had all gone with me!

Martin was soon back on the front though as we made our way to Invergordon.

It feels like we’re closing in on the finish now. Pretty much everyone had a drink and sat outside in the late afternoon sunshine.