Thursday September 24th

Today's 75 mile ride took us from Ballater to Inverness.  There's little doubt that today was one of the hardest days Michelle and I have ever experienced on our bikes.  We left our wonderful bed and breakfast at 9:00 am and was escorted out of town but our new friend David on his Penny Farling.  David owns a sports marketing company that was running a charity 100 mile bike ride this weekend.

So we started out and the first 10 miles were mild rolling hills through the countryside.  After 10 miles we started up and continued up for the next 8 miles.  These 8 miles were the steepest Michelle and I have ever experienced......steeper than Tuscony and steeper than the climbs in Majorca.  My garmin showed grades of 20% in some of the steepest sections.  I was able to do the climb without stopping and my Wonder Woman riding partner arrived at the summit a short time after I arrived.  After this Hugh climb we were still over 50 miles from tonight's home.  Ozzie, one of our leaders said the ride to Inverness was mostly flat......wrong!  Still more climbs but not as bad as this mornings ascents.

At about mile 30 we started to experience incredible head winds......I'd estimate gusts of well over 30 mph.  These lasted the balance of the ride..... Ugly!  There were some incredible down hills today where we reached speeds in excess of 40mph but the strong winds made these speeds feel uncomfortable.

Michelle pulled me in for the last 15 miles, my legs and other parts of my body were shot.  I continue to be amazed at the power Michelle generates on flats and mild grades....she smokes me!  We limped into Inverness around 4:30, took a shower and found a place to do our laundry.  We'll be clean for the final 2 days of the ride.  Here are some pictures from today's ride.  Enjoy!

Best,

M&M