I was up early, coffee, porridge, packed and away by 9:00. It’s worth pointing out the mini trangia and the camping cafeteria are two of the greatest camping inventions of all time. 

Had a really nice ride through the park and over the River Ness to get into the town centre, all the dog walkers have incredibly well trained sheepdogs. I got a bit lost in the town, and my phone (my main source of city centre navigation) kept crashing.

After a few false starts I finally got onto the right route to which involved a big climb to Culloden, this went through the site of The Battle of Culloden (1745), which sounds like a fairly (or rather, unfairly) brutal affair, and past some bronze age Cairns, the standing stones were particularly impressive.

Then the route plunged down to the river with good views of a railway viaduct, only for a massive climb back up to the railway level.

The was the story of the morning really, just following the railway. While the railway took steady gradients with bridges and cuttings, the small roads (the cycleways) were very “up and down”. Quite a few groups were coming the other way – I sort of assume that everyone is doing the “End to end” but most likely they are just out for a quiet ride. I got a bite to eat at the Tomatin Country Stores, it needed a second glance to find it as it didn’t live up to the big bill boards promising everything, and there was a very plain house with a couple of posters on it. It had what I needed!

The route periodically rejoined a path alongside the A9, and this was the case for the Slochd summit which included the railway line.

Over the top and into the Cairngorms National park, on the original route of General Wade’s Military Road. The route must have been generally down but didn’t really feel like it!

I headed towards Aviemore, stopping for a coffee in The Carrbridge Hotel. The cycle route carried on into Boat of Garten and then onto Coylumbridge. I had planned to go to Aviemore and camp at Coylumbridge which must have messed the route planner up as it wanted to send me down the main road. It was still early and I decided against stopping too soon and pushed on to Newtonmore, following the river Spey. There were shops in Newtonmore and found the campsite further down the road. A site full of caravans, and really basic facilities, they were alright but the un-plastered blockwork toilets/laundry looked dim, but you can’t complain for £5. The big plus was that it did have a tumble drier, so I got all my washing was done. The drier had a coin operated meter, with two electrical sockets so charging of the power packs could begin on the second socket. I cooked a good chicken curry and rice on the mini trangia – just forgot to buy poppadums, despite them being the main reason for doing a curry. Had to eat in the tent as the drizzle continued (as it had a lot of the day).