I woke up early at 2.30am after only 4 hours of fitful sleep and anxiously checked my hand. It was still painful and swollen, but at least it was no worse that last night. I couldn't get back to sleep so I took 2 more pain killers and lay awake waiting for the alarm to go off. At 5am I was finally ready to leave, and gently tried to grip the handlebars. It seemed OK, if still very uncomfortable, so I decided to take it easy for the first few hours. Dawn was breaking as I reached Edinburgh and proceeded out to the bridge by way of the dreadful Sustrans cycle-route.
By the time I reached Perth I was starting to feel tired, which I put down to lack of sleep, but as I carried on I realised this was no ordinary tiredness. I was literally falling asleep as I rode, and was only able to continue by following the white line on the left of the carriageway like some kind of robot.
Another phone call to Mark and we decided that the pain killers were making me dangerously drowsy. He remembered that I haven't had caffeine for years and suggested I find some as soon as possible. I took a short detour into Pitlochry and went into the bike shop. I explained my problem and one of the staff took pity on me and donated some energy gells with added caffeine (free!). Not wanting to take any chances I also bought some sports drink with dangerously high levels of caffeine, which I drank straight away before heading north on the A9.
Slowly, and without realising it, I regained my energy and was soon speeding through the wonderful scenery of the highlands. The sun came out and was bouncing off the snow-capped mountains in the distance. The wind was from the south-east again and I was bombing along at speeds up to 30mph for mile after mile - so different from my snail's pace of that morning!
The road swept west, then back east again, and by 5pm I had reached my destination of Carrbridge, a beautiful small town nestled in a forested area a few miles north of Aviemore. I was made welcome by Shona at the Pine Ridge B&B (www.pineridgecarrbridge.com), who went out of her way to prepare some food I had bought from the local shop, augmented by some home cooking. In the evening I chatted with Shona and her husband Alan about my trip so far, and about their golfing, sailing and other sporting interests. Pine Lodge was by far the nicest B&B I had stayed at that week, if not ever! Many thanks to both of them.
A long soak in the bath and an early night. The caffeine was wearing off and I was ready for a long sleep!
STATS:
Depart: 5am
Arrive: 5pm
Distance: 145 miles
Ride time: 10.11
Av. speed: 14.1 mph
Temp: 12 - 18c
Wind: 8 - 12 mph ESE (side/following)
Total distance so far: 735
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