Day 10 Invergarry to Bonar Bridge

When I started todays ride and was thinking what I'd post (you think a lot on a bike - some things I remember to post, others I forget and others I miss owing to the fact I'm typing it all in on a phone). Oh yes, what I considered posting this morning included statements like 'this is hell', 'why am I doing this', ' my knees hurt', 'F ing wind' etc. I found the first 20 miles bloody hard work. Until the last 10 miles, the wind was constantly in my face. During the ride along Loch Ness the wind was also cold. Since I had nothing in my legs, pedalling was an effort, I was tired and soon I was cold as well. It was only when I reached Urquhart Castle and the water stop at Drumnadrochit that I got going. Good job since the route from Drumnadrochit was the first and most significant climb of the day along the A833 through Glen Convinth towards Beauly. Even with a headwind the downhill was great. Lunch was after Dingwall near Alness on the B817. This involved another climb plus the constant headwind. Since my legs were now 'working', lunch and water stops were more grab and go with little hanging around. This meant I passed a number of fellow end to enders.The final climb was up to Struie on the B9176. Finally a tail wind at the end of the climb. The first all day. During this final climb I meet another cyclist going to Cape Wrath. He is planning on doing the Audax LEL in July with his wife on a tandem. Today was just a fun ride for him! Not sure when this post will appear since a poor signal. Also unable to access webmail to send todays photos. Sorry. Penultimate day tomorrow. Bonar Bridge to Betty Hill. Bye for now. Fingers crossed that my legs hold out.

Comment from Bob: anyone not realising the effort Anton's been putting in can see from this post that even Ironman himself is finding it tough. He's on the penultimate day today and riding through very exposed countryside - there'll be NO hiding place from the wind nor from the rain. Here is a picture showing it on a good day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28015608@N06/page7/
Come on Anton, nearly there!