If yesterday’s approach into Inverness was somewhat underwhelming from a scenery perspective, today more than made up for it. Wow. Just wow.

We kicked off by heading out of the town on the south bank of the river to Loch Ness, along the B862. Many JOGLErs opt to follow the A82 all the way down the great glen to Oban – some 120 miles of narrow, winding, 60-mile-an-hour roads populated by large numbers of logging lorries, tourist buses and gawping sightseers who spend more time trying to spot the elusive Nessie than they do concentrating on the road ahead. No thanks. The whole point of detouring to Inverness was to get to the south side of the loch, from where you can take the much-quieter – and infinitely more beautiful – General Wade’s military road all the way to Fort Augustus.

It’s a no-brainer, right? Well, there is a catch – in fact, the only monster we saw all day was the beast of a hill stretching out before us as we approached Foyers alongside the shore of the loch. It’s the main reason people avoid this route – a 1194-foot ascent isn’t easy at the best of times, let alone on fully loaded touring bikes – but, after a quick pit stop to use the camping stove Geoff’s sister Rachel bought for us to make a brew (thanks Rachel!), we began the long climb up. It was a slog, but sustained by the scenery and the 500-calorie flapjacks we’d each consumed with our cups of tea, we made it to the top where all that effort paid off. The views are stunning. And the way down on the other side is exhilarating, to say the least!

At the bottom we lunched at the picturesque Fort Augustus, before following the Caledonian Canal down to Bridge of Oich. It was nice to be on the flat again, and the gravel surface and countless potholes were a small price to pay for keeping off the A82. We did have to jump on for a couple of miles to get down from there to Laggan Locks, but it was bearable.

Now came the toughest part of the day. Again, to avoid the busy A road, we opted to take the forest track on the northern shore of Loch Lochy (I’m not making this shit up, it really is called that) at Kilfinnan. This was great at first – the stony path appealed to the MTBer in us all – but as the path carried on (and on, and on) the novelty soon started to wear off. 10 miles off-road on these bikes was probably about five miles too far.

As much as anything else we were concerned about the bikes themselves – all that bouncing up and down probably isn’t good for them, plus the grit and sand would play havoc with the componentry if not cleaned out. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before we experienced our first mechanical issue of the tour: one of the bolts securing Bailey’s panniers to the bike jiggled loose and got lost. Fortunately I had some spares with me (see Ginny, all those hours of research poring over other people’s kit lists paid off after all!) and was able to fix it, but it was a timely reminder of how dependent we are on the bikes and the need to look after them properly. Time for some cycle TLC before heading out tomorrow morning, I think!

The real positive about the forest track, however, was the stunning views it afforded across the loch to Ben Nevis. Those bumps and jumps were worth it for those alone. I’d never really appreciated before how huge Nevis is, and definitely have a new-found respect for all my friends who’ve climbed it. Great effort, one and all!

We finally rolled into Fort Bill (just as the rain started) at about 7pm, via the beautiful B-road from Clunes – a long but massively enjoyable day in the saddle. Some more haggling saw us ensconced in a great little B&B overlooking the loch, then all that remained was time for burger, beer and bed. Tired, but feeling good. Night all!