It had been a challenging day in the hills for North Coast 500 Day 6 and North Coast 500 Day 7 promised more. That … and, of course, the obligatory strong winds.

We left Achmelvich Beach Youth Hostel and began by taking one quick last look at Achmelvich Beach.

Then we headed back on the road we had arrived on.

Before rejoining the B869, and another section of the ‘Wee Mad Road’.

Into the hills, we went, cycling by Loch Poll Buidhe and Maiden Loch.

We cycled through Clashnessie village.

Then briefly met up with Nicholl and Steven (our support vehicle!) a little further on at Clashnessie Bay.

From Clachnessie Bay we cycled inland for a while, passing Loch an Bruthaich and Loch Eileanach.

Further on the B869 passes over Oldanay River, which in turn flows into Loch an Leobaig.

Continuing on our cycle route, we then cycled past Loch Drumbeg on our way to the village of Drumbeg.

When reaching Drumbeg we once again returned to the coast. The viewpoint gave some wonderful views out over the Irish Sea (although that isn’t Ireland in the distance!)

Nearby, we stopped off at Candle Shop & Secret Tea Garden at Assynt Aromas, which provided an enjoyable little lunch.

After lunch, we headed up the next hill.

We cycled past Loch Nedd. It was starting to rain now.

Thankfully, this time the rain didn’t last too long. However, the wind, already quite strong continued to strengthen.

After dropping into the valley above, and then crossing Allt Ardbhair we cycled up a short little stonker of a rise. It was possibly the sharpest climb we would experience on the whole tour!

Once we had regained our breath we continued on, cycling past Loch a Chairn Bhain and Loch Unapool.

We joined the A894 and cycled past our final loch of the day – Loch Glean Dubh.

When I stated earlier we had cycled up the steepest hill of the tour and passed the final loch it wasn’t quite true. The entrance to Kylesku Lodges, where we were staying, takes you past Lochan Dubh, and the rise up to the lodges was a sharp little climb, as shown in the photo below.

This evening we would be staying in a lodge …

Having arrived mid-afternoon we got changed and then popped over the road to the Kylesku Hotel in Kylesku village.

At under 25 miles, this was a short day of cycling. That said, it had been yet another lumpy challenging ride. As always, it is the wonderful scenery that makes it worthwhile.

You can view our North Coast 500 Day 7 route from Achmelvich through Drumbeg to Kylesku below:

Tomorrow we cycle to Tongue on our longest day of cycling.