Bridge 7 - Cromarty

18th January 2013

The Cromarty Bridge crosses, guess what? - the Cromarty Firth.  It's not so easy to get to on a bike because the cycle route goes north another way.  That was one obstacle in my cold bike ride across the Black Isle.  I wanted to go to Dingwall but across this bridge.  I, sensibly, opted for the cycle route rather than the A9 dual carriageway but the bike lane on that route was covered in snow and ice, which was the main obstacle all afternoon.  So for a few miles I did have to cycle on the main road, but it wasn't the A9 - yet.  I took a lovely link road across to the A9 and that was a glorious ride with views of the Cromarty Firth and all the hills around.  There was then no option but the A9 - at least it was a freewheel ride down to the bridge.  Crossing the bridge itself was tricky as I had to be on the rickety pavement, while bits of debris were thrown at me by the speeding traffic.  At least the snow flurry had not developed into proper snow.

Ah well - safely over and I had a lovely ride into Dingwall along the sea.  After a welcome cup of hot tea at the Station tea room in Dingwall, the nice owner told me how I could get to the Inverness train platform without humping my bike across the footbridge.  By now I was very tired after the cold and scary ride from Inverness so I was very grateful for that insider tip, as well as for the tea and chat.