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Day 10 - Kielder Forest to Swindon

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Monday 31/05/2021 ---------------------------------------- Slept well after a long day of riding down from Nairn. Kielder Forest was nice and Bellingham was a pretty village to go for a walk and a pint. Such long days here, seemingly never gets dark. We woke to another warm and sunny day, packed slowly and started the long journey home down the M1. The ride out of Bellingham was fun and some of the dead straight Roman roads were fun with their blind crests! Hadrian's Wall was nearby, but we didn't have time for it this time  so we jumped on the A1 / M1 and just ate-up the 330 or so miles home, stopping a few times for fuel / food and backside recovery. After the coldness and wetness at the start of the trip, dare I say it, it was almost too warm riding home and at times I struggled to keep my eyes open!   All very uneventful, but over out headsets we discussed some of the great things we had experienced, the sights we had seen and the great people that we had met. The extreme w
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Day 9 - Nairn to Kielder Forest

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Sunday 30/05/2021 ---------------------------------------- Had a brilliant sleep in Nairn after BBQ food and beers. We watched the boring Champions League final (Chelsea won so Konrad was happy) and then crashed out for the night. Very misty morning so things didn't look too promising. We had a porridge breakfast, packed and headed-off through the Cairngorms and onto the ski road that goes past Balmoral and Braemar. What a nice surprise. Fantastic biking road - 100's of bikers out. The weather cleared fast as we went through pine forests, snow-capped peaks and fast flowing rivers. Can't believe we just took at A9 through all of this last time when today's road matched the best we had done up until now. Just before Balmoral we stopped for a break and some snacks in the most idyllic fly fishing spot. We lay on the grass and relaxed in the sun after a great run. To our surprise, the road down to Perth continued to be a superb ride with stunning views - what a country! We m
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Day 8 - Durness to John o'Groats to Nairn

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Saturday 29/05/2021 ---------------------------------------- Slept great at Durness after a long day of riding and taking in the views. It was nice to make use of the cooking kit after dragging it around with us all this way. This morning's weather was glorious when we got up - no wind and lovely sunshine from the outset. After a bacon buttie and coffee breakfast we shot off a mile down the road to check-out Smoo Caves quickly. We had a long day so couldn't hang around though, but we wanted Konrad to check them out. The road across the top looked soo much better than the last time we did it in the wind and rain. A pleasure to ride and take in our final views of the beautiful mountains and coastline here. Before we knew it we were in Thurso where we tanked-up before the last little run into John o'Groats. We bumped into Nathan there who kindly took a photo of us next to the famous signpost. We did it. Swindon to Land's End to John o'Groats on the smaller
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Day 7 - Applecross to Durness

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Friday 28/05/2021 ---------------------------------------- Lost my comprehensive post again! Blogger is crap! Had a great night in Applecross. Fish and chips followed by beers watching the sun set on the waters from the Applecross Inn. Walking home we saw lots of wild deer (very visible at 10.30pm as it doesn't get dark quickly up this way) and after a hit chocolate, we slept soundly in our pods. This morning we were late on the road, but we passed Sylvie and Wendy and gave them a wave. Enjoyed seeing Torridon again - lovely spot. We stopped many times today to take in the views and grab a photo. We stopped for brunch in Gairloch - wonderful. Sat on a bench, in the sun watching the bay whilst we ate our food. We rode the picturesque roads on to Ullapool where we bumped into Richard and Nathan. We enjoyed a coffee and ice-cream in the sun before hitting the road and stopping at Ardvreck Castle where we had a proper walk around and got some good photos. We also stopped at
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Day 6 - Glendaruel to Applecross

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Thursday 27/05/2021 ---------------------------------------- Lost my comprehensive post... Brilliant day, too tired to write it all again. Poor Internet here but an amazing day.  Kyle of Butetown viewpoint  Green Welly Stop Glencoe via back roads Fort William McDonald's lunch in the sun Ben Nevins view Awesome speedy ride to Dornie passing Alan on his way to Skye- 81 and still trucking. Highlander Castle Piper playing Polish National Anthem  Brilliant road to Dornie Spectacular Belach-na-ba mountain pass Lovely evening in Applecross  Mileage: 1341 Beers: 33 + 3 bottles of white + 1 red Fines: 0 Bribes: 0 Ass pain: 5/10 Mechanical issues: 0 Accidents: 1 (me running into Konrad) Wetness: 0/10 Coldness: 1/10 Birthday's: 2 (Krysia and Barry) 
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