Day 11 Tain 82 Miles

Breakfast was at 8am today. The food itself was v good but it was chaotic as people struggled to remember what they’d pre-ordered the night before or their room name for the host to double check. Fatigue was clearly starting to set in!!

We set off at a leisurely 9.30am which was fine as today was a shorter ride  - a mere 65 miles! The only sting in the tail was the 15% gradient hill which we’d have to climb after our first coffee stop of the morning. 

Max has been getting progressively more weary each day and he’s quite keen for someone to take his place on the Tandem for the last day - no takers so far though!! One of our fellow cyclists greets us every morning as "Superman and Superwoman" - I’ve no idea why but we’re struggling to live up to the title!!

After the coffee stop at a lovely roadside deli we braced to face our toughest climb yet. No sooner had we turned the corner when we saw the 15% gradient sign!! We had to dig really deep, we took it steady and we made it to the top in second place. There were a few more climbs later on but none as tough as this one. Some of the descents have been awesome and the wide (and relatively traffic free) roads mean I’ve been more able to "relax" and enjoy the thrill! 

Next we stopped for lunch at a really nice farm shop cafe about 45 miles in. With only 20 miles left to go we were confident of an early finish and a chance to relax. We made it to the finish point just after 4pm only to discover there’d been a mix up with the accomodation - two places with the same name meant the wrong one had been booked. We were staying out of town and had to get a taxi to get there. On the drive over the taxi driver managed to sow the seeds of fear in my mind about tomorrow’s challenge! 

After a hearty dinner (we’ve all carbed up nicely) everyone’s opted for an early night as we’ve a 7.30am start in the morning. It’s an 85 mile ride tomorrow with several tough climbs and less favourable weather. It’s going to be a challenging day but I guess anything less than that for our final day probably wouldn’t seem right! 

Team effort