While North Coast Day 5 had been a wet one, amazingly North Coast 500 Day 6 began dry. We were going to cycle from Ullapool to Achmelvich.

First things first though … unlock the bikes. For that, you needed a key, and unfortunately, we couldn’t find it. In the end, we had to cut the lock and then buy another!

Finally, we were able to leave Ullapool Youth Hostel. We had another hilly day ahead of us.

However, we hadn’t got far when Neil’s gear cable snapped. Thankfully, we had a spare.

Following the A835 we we cycled past Ardmair Beach.

Then alongside Loch Canaird.

We then cycled away from the coast and climbed into the hills.

After 10 miles we turned off the A835 and joined the ‘Wee Mad Road’.

We waited for Nicholl in our support vehicle, Steven, to arrive. However, for some reason, she had missed the turning point. So, we were on our own.

Fortunately for us, while it was a single-track road, there were far fewer vehicles than if we had stayed on the main road.

And the scenery, as we cycled alongside Loch Lurgainn, was great.

Following on from Loch Lurgainn, the track next followed the edge of Loch Bad a’ Ghaill.

At the village of Badnagyle at the end of the loch, we turned off the shore road and headed up the hill.

Up in the hills was Black Loch.

And Loch Buine Moire (and plenty of others too!).

We then dropped down to the shoreline of Loch An Eisg-brachaidh.

Then cycled alongside Elder’s Pool for a short while.

Working our way around the coastline we reached the village of Inverkaig.

Followed by cycling up and over a few more hills … and enjoying the views.

Until we reached Lochinver. Here we took an afternoon break at An Cala Cafe and Bunkhouse.

Before we left Lochinver we visited Lochinver Larder and picked up some pies for our evening meal. Apparently, the pies sold here are something of a local highlight.

Following the A837 out of Lochinver, we then joined the B869. This took us alongside Loch Roe.

Then eventually Achmelvich Beach Youth Hostel.

The hostel is somewhat off the beaten track and is rudimentary (to say the least!) with outside facilities for the blokes. At least the females in the group were able to enjoy the luxury facilities inside their annexe.

What Achmelvich does have … is a fabulous beach. We visited this on our way over to the nearby caravan site which also happened to have a fish and chips hut. These went nicely with our Lochinver Larder pies for our evening meal!

At just under 36 miles, this might have been one of our shorter cycling days and it was dry. However, the climbing and the wind still made this a challenging day. That said, while every day has presented us with wonderful views, today might just have topped the lot!

You can view our route Ullapool through Lochinver to Achmelvich below:

Tomorrow we are off to Kylesku.