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.

Bridge 6 - Kessock

Friday 18th January 2013

The Kessock Bridge goes across the Moray Firth from Inverness.  I arrived at Inverness by train and put on thermals and lots of layers and set off in search of the bridge.  In spite of the sub-zero temperature, I was quickly overheated and had to shed several layers - there's nothing like cycling up a hill to warm you up.  It was quite hard to find the bridge and I got over-involved in several roundabouts.  Met another cyclist who pointed me in the right direction but I still got onto a dual carriageway by accident.  However, no harm done and I made it to the bridge, as you can see.  I had a lovely cycle across and then I was on the Black Isle.  It's a lovely place and I must come back here on a day when the temperature is above 10 Celcius.  There is a brewery to explore - for starters.  The roads are a bit manic, but where are they any different?  My planned bridge in Istanbul will make the A9 look very tame,