Last leg

An impressive sunset after our last evening on Skye and a good meal at the Red Sky restaurant in Breakish. Very calming after experiencing the busy road south from Sligahan today. Our hosts say the speed of the traffic is a problem that local residents want to address. A road designed for speed but with no provision for pedestrians or cyclists has replaced the previous single lane with passing places as the sole route though the southern half of the island and there is no other road. 

This has however been the only negative point I could make about our travels (and maybe the lack of cake in Harris on a Monday).

We completed the last leg today after leaving Ron and Pam's B&B at Upper Breakish. Donned waterproofs before setting off, and just as well we did as we arrived at Clan Donald Castle tea rooms after 15 miles of cycling in the rain. My waterproofs were really effective except I forgot to tuck my shirt in which acted as wick, but Jon's definately need re-proofing! 

We got our last ferry, from Armadale to Mallaig, as the skies cleared, and will catch the train tomorrow to Glasgow and then to Birmingham.

We have clocked 273 miles since arriving in Barra 8 days ago but the 30-40 miles per day has allowed us to see a lot of the islands, sit on beaches and enjoy the surroundings. We've been incredibly fortunate with the weather and the wind direction. We spoke to cyclists who battled up South Uist into a southerly wind two days before us whereas we had the wind behind us pretty much all the way. 

The accommodation we stayed in has all been good but isn't plentiful on the outer isles and much was already booked up when Jon stared enquiring in February. Will start planning the Inner Hebrides tour in good time.

Superb trip, leg muscles are aching and feeling a bit weary, and in fact at 5.10pm at the last B&B, Jon's resting his eyes......