There was actually a slight initial diversion into Perth, as Martin's son Jamie needed his increasingly lavish lifestyle (see day 12 blog and Jamie's degree result) funding and we needed to go to Barclays Bank for Martin to transfer funds (Martin's trying to look at it as an investment). With this successfully done, we set off around 10am following the cycle route which first took us to the west of the city, before turning north. Unfortunately, the morning became increasingly frustrating as a couple of the minor roads on our route were completely closed for resurfacing and they resulted in detours which added around 13 miles to our journey - with the climbing we needed to do to get to Newtonmore, that's just what we didn't need.
We eventually got back on the route, which meant that for most of the day we were following the old A9 and the related cycle track. An early photo opportunity arrived in Bankfoot, which we couldn't resist (the question is - who is the one who is livid?):
We cycled through some lovely scenery, stopping for lunch at a cafe in Pitlochry, where we were approached by Don from Wigan who told us he had had surgery for bowel cancer about 8 years ago and he kindly made a donation.
After Pitlochry we then started the very long ascent to Drumochter summit and, with this prospect in mind and the best part of 40 miles to go, only about 30 minutes from Pitlochry the heavens opened and we had a torrential downpour - by a long way the heaviest rain of the trip to date. It looked as if it was set for the afternoon, but fortunately it eased within the hour so we were able to gradually dry out as we battled on (apt description in my case!) to tackle the long ascent - cue appropriate photos:
Eventually, we reached Drumochter summit and to celebrate even the sun came out to celebrate:
Our biggest concern by this time was whether it not we would reach Newtonmore before the hotel opposite Newtonmore Hostel, where we were staying, stopped serving food. From Drumochter summit we had approaching 20 miles still to do, but at least overall it would be downhill (apart from the uphill bits!). As has often been the case we made good time late in the day and reached the Newtonmore Hostel where we were staying with just enough time to dump our kit and dash over to The Glen Hotel (highly recommended) for a really good bar meal. I had intended being alcohol free that evening (a concept alien to Martin), but after the rain, the long climb and what turned out to be 87 miles for the day (remember the estimate - 70 miles?) a modicum of wine was consumed and very good it was too.
We retired to our accommodation with the comforting knowledge that the next day's route was estimated to be only 50 miles which was likely to be fairly accurate (?). Plus, we would be losing altitude on the way to the next stop in Inverness. Allied to a weather forecast of glorious sunshine for the next day, it sounds almost too good. To find out if that is the case, read the next "thrilling" instalment to find out and to see if we've cracked four figures (952 miles so far)!
