Road Ride:Sunday May 17th - Bonar Bridge -leadmore AFTERMATH

[Jamiedyer]

A brilliant day was had by all.
Brian on his 193? Roadster
Andy on his retro but stylish and sleek cyclo crosser
Nigel on his very smart Hirame
Myself on my LHT
A bit more of a write up to come tomorrow when I'm more awake.
Just to say it was a mixture of all weathers and a monster headwind on the way out, with sun, rain, some light hail or sleet maybe, it was certainly cold enough. Ledmore, then lunch at the hotel and then onto the run back in better conditions.
I had a great ride, just on 101klms and for those not there they missed a good one, so we will do another in the area at some stage.

Some pics, more to come tomorrow

 

[firedfromthecircus]

Looks great Jamie.
Looking forward to reading more about it.

 

[RobMac]

Re:

Jamie you never mentioned that you have to have a beard to get on this run :mrgreen:

 

[Yorkie]

A quick thank you to Jamie, Brian and Andy for a great day's ride and for being so welcoming and such good company. I had a blast! Here's to the next one!

 

[epicyclo]

A couple more pics.

It was a great day, a bit windy. Unfortunately I rode a very upright 1930s bike so I got the full benefit of the wind. The return was much better though because what worked against me in one direction helped on the way back.

The sun came out several times, and we were in danger of getting a trifle warm. Fortunately this was averted by some convenient refreshing Scottish sleet showers.

Sheltering at Rosehall.







The middle of nowhere.

 

[firedfromthecircus]

The sun came out several times, and we were in danger of getting a trifle warm. Fortunately this was averted by some convenient refreshing Scottish sleet showers.

 

[RobMac]

Re: Re:

Jamie you never mentioned that you have to have a beard to get on this run :mrgreen:

Jamie wheres the beard gone??????? :shock:

 

[epicyclo]

Re: Re:

Jamie you never mentioned that you have to have a beard to get on this run :mrgreen:

Jamie wheres the beard gone??????? :shock:

Did I mention the wind?

The answer my friend is ....

 

[Jamiedyer]

Yep, it was a strong wind
It was the best of times , it was the worst of times............................................ no, not that big a write up

It was good to meet and ride with Nigel from Inverness. Now we have another member not too far away and hopefully we will meet up for a mountain bike ride down that way soon. It was also good to catch up with Andy as its been a while. Brian was his usual good humoured self, despite the force of the headwind that greeted him on the 1930's roadster.
While we rolled out around 10 after waiting to see if anyone else showed. It was the right thing to do, not because we actually thought some one would show. The forecast had looked pretty bleak for most of the week.
It didn't let us down either as we started in overcast, cold, conditions with a few spots of rain and it was basically on and off all day. We were really lucky with the rain, with one or two exceptions, as we either seemed to just get a few spots at the start or the end of a shower. We got a bit damp here and there but othwerwise it was fine and some sections were really claer and sunny. The main difference I felt between this and the fortnight before was that it was really chilly. I had on a merino long sleeve, a thin short sleeve jersey and a snug rain jacket and while I was warm, as soon as you took it off it was quite cool. So it would go on for the rain and then back off for the climbs etc. We had a big downpour just at the Lairg turnoff at Rosehall and it was heavy and cold. We sheltered in the forestry shelter in Brians pic above. Glad it was there as theres not too many places to shelter out that way.
Anyway I think everyone gets the idea and I think the pictures say it far better than I can, suffice to say that it was a good ride and everyone enjoyed it. Its beautiful scenery and always looks a bit different each time due to the conditions etc.
Thanks to the Andy and Nigel for coming along and to Brian for coming along to the ride and the recce. Not that we need an excuse to go riding
Anither ride up this way I was thinking of a two day ride out to Farrad Head/Cape Wrath from Durness end of summer. Also a Road run in autumn on the tourers etc to Lochinver. Basically these are runs I am looking at doing and would be more than happy to have some company

Jamie

 

[gmac123]

Well done Northmen, a good job done!

What's the big hill, Ben Kilbreck??