Day 11 - Tongue (92 kms) - "Oh the inhumanity of it all"!

They say that even through the eye of a needle Scottish scenery looks pretty "speccy" and today was a chance to prove that theory as through fogged up and rain splattered glasses we took in a fogged up and rain splattered landscape where the grey colored buildings were perfectly camoflauged !

This day was tough as it gets and had Monika thinking she'd signed up for the "Tour D'Hell" by days end !

We knew our sunny weather had left us as we departed our lovely hosts at Dunnet Head. Mick the owner, in a dry Lancashire accent, said to us we departed " son the forecast is for rain and then some heavy stuff, but you should at least have the wind helping you" !.

Mick was part right as the rain started as soon as we jumped on the bikes and the cold winds while not directly behind us were at least not in our faces ... yet !

After 25 kms we passed the decommissioned nuclear power station at Dunreay and gave passing thought to asking the caretaking staff to power up so we could stand round the fire to get warm !

The rain by this time was soaking through our clothes and had me thinking I was experiencing some form of hypothermic delirium after I swore I saw the same group of 4 cyclists pass us that I'd seen an hour before - the fact that one of them was wearing shorts really made me think I was hallucinating !

With the hills to come we pulled in for a much needed break giving us a chance to spill water all over the pub floor and at the same time take on board a lifesaving bowl of sweet potato, parsnip and carrot soup - delicious !

Putting our gear back on after lunch was akin to rolling around in your bed after you'd just wet it (.. woops too much information) , damned uncomfortable.

We'd left the pub smiling talking to a pair of cyclists heading in the opposite direction they suggesting they would now have a tail wind - we thought we knew better until we hopped on our bikes and found that we were in fact now riding into a ferocious headwind and it was to stay like that for 45 bloody more Kms !

With the icy winds winds, rain and the never ending hills on our 2nd leg i decided to stay just far enough in front of Monika a) so i could encourage her  b ) so I could avoid being skewered by her bike multi tool !

Km after painstaking km went by with our speed barely topping 5 km /hr ! With our hostel accommodation only open till 8pm we were in real danger of not making it !

At the slow speed I was able to examine my surroundings in minute detail - single lane roads cutting through wild bracken and heather filled landscape with brooding Mtns (some with snow) behind them .. oh and did I tell you about the damned wind !

To cut a long story short, after 9 hours in the saddle and just short of15,000 curses from Monika, we made Tongue just shy of 7pm with the wind still as strong as it had been  since lunch time !

Our accommodation at Tongue in the beautifully situated youth hostel was ideal in that the warm rooms allowed us to put our wet gear out to dry and the shop sold frozen meal dishes - ideal as both of us had barely enough energy to eat let alone ride the 2 kms back to the towns pub !