Day 9 of the Ride

Two things broke today. Firstly, the weather which was grey, cold and wet from the moment I woke up. Spent extra time faffing around at the b&b, probably didn't want to go out in it, left at 9am. There were showers all day, you would just start to get warm when the rain would start again, a couple of hail storms were particularly nasty. Peeling frozen fingers off the handle bars is not something you would expect to do in late May. Met up with a group of 10 riders from Essex on a 15 day end to end. Rode with them for half an hour but had to leave them as they were too slow. Visited the commando memorial at Spean Bridge which was very emotional. There is something about this ride that really exposes emotions. Shortly afterwards saw some riders at a cafe with Help for Heroes tops, I pulled in, unzipped my rain cape and said 'snap'. Turned out they were a group of 6 squaddies from the gunners plus a commando all doing the end to end from north to south. Their support driver was an Everton fan. Took a coffee break with them and then continued north. Next stop was sitting on the ground at a petrol station with Dave, a young Edinburgh guy on an old bike, no training, no plan, fuelled on Coca Cola and chocolate, very laid back. You seem to form an immediate bond with other enders, part of a shared emotional experience. What else broke today? After the last 2 days of feeling invincible on the bike, ready to ride all day I developed a problem just over my right knee. Not sure what it is but know I can't put full power through my right leg without causing pain. Had to slow up and take it very easy up the hills, riding up them with one and a half legs. The combination of the weather and my leg made for a difficult day. I expected this to be a physical challenge but it is also mentally and emotionally challenging. Arrived at Bonar Bridge at 7.30pm, cold, wet, tired and sore. By the time I got cleaned up it was about 8.30 so I headed to the Bridge Hotel for a meal and a drink. Turned out I was 10 minutes too late to order and they would not feed me. They said there was nowhere else in the village to eat either. Looked like it was a Ginsters from Spar, turned out that closed at 8. Went back to the b&b to find out where else I could go. She rang around and a hotel at the other end of the village agreed to stay open if I was ok with soup & a sandwich. The place looked nothing special but the couple who ran it were absolutely brilliant. The beef sandwich was local beef slow roasted for 18 hours in their Raeburn. The soup was leek & potato, equally delicious. They saved the day for me. Total today 116miles, 15.0 average, 5160ft climbing, 7hr 42 riding. One day to go, I'm going to be there tomorrow after another 110 to 120 miles.