Page 23 of A Summer of New Beginnings
Her destination for the end of her first day was a little place called Lochcarron in Wester Ross. Considering she was starting on the right-hand side of thecountry and aiming to be way across theotherside by the end of the day, she wondered if she’d even survive day one. It was daunting to say the least.
The road took her out of Inverness towards Contin with a slight diversion to avoid heavy traffic on the main trunk road. Once she was away from the city fumes she began to enjoy the scenery a little more. Surrounded by trees, with a small lochon her left and the sun shining down on her, Zara began to relax again. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be so bad after all? Within half an hour she had to make a stop. Her bottom was numb and her back ached.
She climbed off the bike and glared at it. ‘So, my silver nemesis, you’re trying to kill me, are you? You dickhead. It’s been… what, thirty-five minutes and I havearsecallouses. How is that evenpossible?’ She huffed as she held the inanimate object with as few fingers as possible, staring at it with disdain. ‘I don’t want to be here. And I certainly don’t want to be here ridingyou.’ Realising she was already on the verge of insanity, she glanced round the lay-by. No one else was there, thankfully. Then her attention turned to the loch before her and her breath caught. She took out herphone to snap some images – purely for business purposes, she insisted to herself; it wasn’t that she actually liked the place.
The loch’s surface was still and smooth like a mirror and the mountains opposite appeared to dip down into the loch as an upside-down version of themselves. It really was quite spectacular. She had expected to see murky brown watery depths but instead the shade was asimply darker version of the sky overhead.Okay, so it’s pretty. I’ll admit that much. But it’s not Egypt.
Back on the bike she had now nicknamedSilver Dickhead, she cycled along the shore of the Black Water with its pretty single-storey houses and village post office; then onward still. The roads were fairly flat, which made cycling less stressful, and the scant vehicles that passed by werecourteous enough. Before she knew it, she was greeted with another stunning loch. She had heard that there were lots of them in Scotland and of course she’d seen them on the map, but hadn’t quite grasped how frequently she would skirt them in reality.
Another stop was necessary… purely for photos… it was nothing to do with Silver Dickhead trying to cut her in half –well, the piece would be uselesswithout accompanying images, wouldn’t it?As she travelled she memorised the pretty places and the array of vivid colours. Sights and smells became fixed in her mind so that when she stopped she could type up a few notes on her tablet. She was grateful that Josh had recommended buying a solar gadget charger as she was sure she’d make good use of it.
Josh…She sighed.I wonder if he’s with Katie…
Buzzards circled overhead and she found herself smiling as she watched them catching thermals. When she reached the next village she was tired but not exhausted. She found a quiet spot beside yet another body of water and ate her lunch and massaged her sore extremities surrounded by nothing but the gentle swoosh of the breeze and the birdsong overhead.
Once she’d refuelled herself, she droppeda quick text to her friends and family to assure them that all was well so far, but with very little signal it took a while to send. She was in no great rush and mounted the Silver Dickhead once more.
*
Lochcarron was stunning with its view of the distant mountains and a wonderful, peaceful tranquillity. The journey, including various loo breaks, drink stops and photo opportunities, had takenaround seven hours. Longer than she had originally anticipated, but she had taken it steady, knowing very well that this was a very new experience and she shouldn’t push herself too hard on the first day. But a real sense of achievement settled over her as she rode into the little campsite that would be her home for the night.
Thankfully the tent pitched easily and, before she knew it, she wassitting by it on a comfy little foldaway pad, overlooking the calm loch, eating another sandwich and watching the sky over the mountainous backdrop go from light blue to pink to orange and then to navy blue.
The little pinpricks of light overhead twinkled and as she stargazed she thought about home. What would her family be doing now? And what would Marco and Shelley be doing without her thereto referee their conversations?
At around eleven, when she could fight her tiredness no more, she climbed into the canvas enclosure, removed her boots and slipped, fully clothed, into her sleeping bag.
