Tain - Inverness - Aviemore - Dalwhinnie 94 miles, 6hrs 50 mins in the saddle.

A day of great contrast with a fantastic start in perfect conditions - sunny and no wind at all. Great countryside on the way to Inverness with glorious views - good for the soul and no real hills to climb. Excellent relaxed cycling but a bit slower than the day before as it took us a while to get warmed up.

Past Inverness it got interesting with a head wind getting up and eight long (15-25 minutes) climbs before we reached Aviemore for lunch - 64 miles and 4 hours in.

After Aviemore the wind really started to blow and the last 20 miles were very unpleasant with very strong head winds and...then it started to rain! Second day we have got wet at the end. The last 10 miles seemed to go on forever particularly as we got very slow in the headwind. Great, friendly B&B though.

Forecast tomorrow is for rain (yippee) and easterly winds (yippee) - not sure if we will make the 100 miles to Edinburgh.

Route tomorrow is Pitlochry - Perth - Kinloss - Dunbarton - over Forth Bridge to Edinburgh.

Let us hope the legs work after today. One fifth of the distance gone already!