At breakfast I chatted to a guy who was visiting the area. He was supplying consumables to the fish farm operators all over the north of Scotland (there were quite a few farms set up on Loch Shin).

After a large breakfast (and stopping off at a local shop to buy food for the trip) I set off on the A839 in good weather. It was good to ride the bike without having to carry luggage.

After nine miles, without seeing any other traffic, I arrived at Rosehall and joined the A837. At the junction there is a war memorial. At Invercassley I found the track leading up Glen Cassley without seeing another vehicle or person. It was as if I was alone in the world.

The conditions were perfect; there was no wind and it was dry and fairly warm.

It was a gentle incline for most of the way to the end of the track at Duchally Lodge ten miles from the A837. To the north I could see patches of snow on a mountain that I identified as Ben More Assynt (3273 ft). I didn’t know it at the time but I would later climb half way up that mountain in my

search for a route over to Loch Shin.

I stopped for a bite to eat and a drink of water beneath the impressive looking Invercassley Castle. There was a road leading up to the castle and I could see a car parked nearby but I saw no other indication of habitation.

To the north the road followed the river meandering into the distance. This photograph shows the view to the south.

As the bottom of the Glen became wider the river meandered much more and I saw a number of isolated pools where the river had changed course.

Further upstream the river became much faster-flowing with many rocks brought down from the higher slopes of Ben More Assynt.

I saw a few isolated farms with clothing on the washing lines but I saw no other indication that anyone was around.

After ten miles I came to Duchally Lodge and was faced with a locked gate and a sign saying "No Access". I thought about climbing over the gate until I heard dogs barking. I decided to stay put and have a bite to eat.

The map I had showed a dotted line, just over the river from where I was, that ended somewhere on the slopes of Ben More Assynt. I went back a few yards along the river and found a small wire footbridge. I crossed it easily and on the other side I found an overgrown trail

following the west bank of the river.

The path became quite rough, wet and steep as it climbed up the slopes of the mountain. I had put slick tyres on my mountain bike and they weren’t much use in this rough terrain. Suddenly I came to a large diameter pipeline (about five feet) crossing the trail in front of me. There was a fairly good quality track at the side of the pipe going up the hill to the west and down the hill to the east in the direction of Loch Shin. I went east and soon cycled down to a small loch where the pipe terminated.

There was a small hydro plant and a bridge across the loch. I was surprised to find a proper road that didn’t appear on the map. It was built and maintained by the NSHEB and was not for public use. I felt a little guilty using it and half expected someone to appear and tell me off but I continued on.

The road climbed steeply over the hills to the east of Glen Cassley reaching a height of over 1500 feet then dropped down to Loch Shin.

After the road crossed the narrow northern extremity of Loch Shin I came across a vehicle barrier. There was room for me to pass so I continued on to the single track A838. At the junction, near Corriekinloch, there were three or four houses and I came across the first person I had seen since leaving Lairg. We waved to each other but I continued on towards Lairg.

I was now heading south and to the west all the way to Lairg (19 miles to the south) I could see the hills that formed the eastern flank of Glen Cassley. I stopped for a bite to eat at the lochside. I had a sandwich and a pear that I had bought in Lairg. It’s amazing that as I write this nearly four years after the event, I can still remember what I had to eat on Tuesday 23 April 1996.

It started to rain and it became very heavy as I proceeded south. There was little traffic and the road was an easy cycle but it was very wet and cold. I arrived back at the hotel after cycling 52.52 miles. Although it was only 1520 hours there was plenty of hot water and I had a great shower.

After a good dinner I chatted to another guest who was walking from Dunnet Head (the northern-most point of mainland Britain) to Lizard Point (the southern-most point). He was a retired soldier who had led a very active life. His wife had recently died and he was looking for a challenge to keep him occupied. He told me that he left Dunnet Head last week and stayed at The Commercial in Halkirk where he was put up free of charge. In the next three or four days he walked to Loch Choire Lodge where the gamekeeper put him up for the night. On this day he had walked about 21 miles to Lairg in poor weather. He didn’t have a map for the next stage of his walk so I gave him one of mine. About six months later it was returned to me in the mail saying "John, many thanks for your kind loan, Joe Durey". I wonder if he still plays tennis.

The lady who served us dinner and drinks in the evening kindly dried my tracksuit top. I went to bed feeling relaxed after more than a few beers and malt whiskies.

I noted that Lairg didn’t have a cash machine.

I arrived at the Tongue Hotel at 1400 hours after cycling a fairly easy 39.63 miles (in spite of the weather).

There was only one single room available at the hotel at the special price of £25 per night (when I stopped here the previous August it was £28).

Thursday 25

I left Tongue at 0910. It was cloudy and windy with drizzle but fairly mild.

It was a fairly easy cycle to Coldbackie beneath the distinct Cnoc an Fhreiceadain (1007 feet). I noted that the name of this hill is similar to the hill overlooking Dounreay, Cnoc Freiceadain, and the one close to Halkirk, Beinn Freiceadain next to Ben Dorrery.

The beach below Coldbackie is my favourite in Britain. It has everything that I like. If it were on the south coast it would be packed with amusement arcades and a lift down from the roadside to the beach.

The road was quite difficult to Armadale with many steep climbs and descents and a strong headwind. It took me one hour to reach Bettyhill but by the time I reached Armadale the weather improved.

There were substantial roadworks between Armadale and Melvich. The single-track road was being upgraded.

When I arrived at Melvich I decided to stop at the Melvich Hotel and have tea and sandwiches. The fire was blazing in the lounge bar and I was reluctant to leave but when I did I found that the wind had changed direction and it was now behind me.

The last hill of the journey from Melvich was easy with the tail wind. At the lay-by overlooking Reay I took this photograph. My colleagues at Dounreay were all hard at work while I was enjoying myself.

At Isauld I took the Shebster road and had a relatively easy cycle all the way to Halkirk.

At Shebster I took the back road passed Broubster and Calder and the only traffic I saw was in the form of sheep.

This final photograph shows the approach to Ben Dorrery on the road from Shebster.

The cloud became thicker and it started to rain as I approached Halkirk.

One thing I noticed on the journey was the lack of evidence of spring growth, yet when I arrived in Halkirk, many of the gardens had colourful displays.

I arrived in Halkirk after cycling 49.86 miles on the day and 233.8 miles for the trip.