The windy pitch worked as it kept it midge free. The rain didn’t arrive overnight but started as I was packing up. The tent was battered with torrential rain. I put on my full waterproofs but as I wheeled the bike towards the road the rain eased. A steady climb took me to another deep valley. A very steep descent was followed by an even steeper climb. It was far too steep to ride and even pushing the bike up was difficult. I had this problem a few times and some stretches seemed steeper than Hardknott Pass in Cumbria. Eventually I caught sight of the Kylesku Bridge but I still had a lot of steep road to negotiate before getting there. Eventually I reached the junction with the main A894 and turned left. The village of Kylesku was signposted off to the right but the main route over the bridge was straight on.

Kylesku Bridge

Before the bridge was completed in 1984 the village was the only route to take as that is where the ferry was. Over the bridge was a lay bye and a memorial to servicemen of the world war 2 who trained in these waters with the X-craft submarines.
The monument was erected on 10th April 1993 honouring the men of the XIIth Submarine Flotilla who had manned the midget submarines (X-craft). Much of the training of the crews of these craft was done in the waters around Kylesku. It was here that the crews were trained for the midget submarine attack on the German battleship Tirpitz which was then based in the Altenfjord, Norway.

The squally weather continued and I set off up the long climb above the sea loch. The terrain was now generally steady climbs and descents until I reached Scourie. Through the village was a loch and I cycled easily along the loch side in the rain. A very steep climb followed and I had to push the bike up. Once I’d gained altitude the terrain eased again and I had a good ride to Laxford Bridge where the sun came out briefly.

Laxford Bridge

Over the bridge a lot of road works were being carried out to widen the road. But being Saturday there was nobody there. I had a long steady climbs ahead then the longest on the final climb towards Durness. I was fortunate that the wind was behind me but the rain was also falling heavily. All rivers I could see were in spate and many waterfalls gushing down. This area must also be the motor home capital as they were the majority of vehicles on the road. A long steady descent took me down to the Kyle of Durness where sandy beaches were on my left as I completed the final miles into Durness.

Kyle of Durness

I stopped at the village store and went in. I didn’t see anything I fancied so didn’t buy anything. I noticed the gas canisters were £1.40 which is considerably cheaper than at home where I paid £1.75 for my last batch. There were some sunny spells as I battled along the coast road with strong side winds. I reached Loch Eriboll and had a severe headwind as I battled my way along. I decided to find somewhere to camp after I’d reached 50 miles. At Laid there was a river passing under the road and a large empty house on the right surrounded with a wall and trees. I wheeled by bike up the slope and round the back of the wall where I could pitch the tent and also had easy access to the river to get water. It was still very windy as I put the tent up and I hadn’t been in it long before the rain started again. At least I had a signal for my phone, though no FM for the radio. Just long wave was receivable.

Kyle of Durness +bike