And it’s the very last day! Thurso to John O’Groats, 21 miles, a whopping 775 feet of climbing. We’ll be reflecting on the whole experience over the next few days, but in a nutshell it’s been one of the hardest and best experiences of both our lives.
We’re having a leisurely get up and breakfast at a decadent 8:00. There’s a lot of sore muscles (that has never stopped on the whole trip) and bruised bits (a recent development) this morning. Didn’t do any laundry last night - more decadence! Going to be a headwind from the east, but 10-15mph - that will be a VERY nice change from yesterday! Cold, 47 / 8 degrees and rainy.
We left Thurso in the cold, grey and rainy mid morning and pedalled uphill out of town. Had to go over a narrow bridge first, over the river, dodging people as we went. The day’s route was mainly long, long, slow climbs. It looked like Roman roads, straight for miles into the distance, but Steve tells me the Romans didn’t come this far north (and why would you if you were an Italian?). Mainly open fields, a few farms, lots of cows and many sheep along a single lane road with passing places for cars and us to get by. I managed to stay on the bike today. Very cold and wet out there, so glad we put all those clothes on!
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| Cows by the sea. Fences were all lined with these big flagstones |
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| Dressed the part today! |
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| Long straight slow climb roads today |
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| A sheep picture for Madge |
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| Although as soon as they noticed us, they all ran away |
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| Empty and quiet |
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| Castletown’s tiny harbour, the seas in this area are supposed to be treacherous |
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| The flagstones used to be made here in Castletown, but now many houses are empty |
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| Wonderful beaches along here |
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| Farm of the day |
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| Quick stop, too cold to linger! |
Steve counted down the miles as we went, woohoo’s from the back after each announcement. Finally, finally, finally, after almost 1200 miles, we dropped into John O’Groats! Had our picture taken at the sign to commemorate the completion of this trip!
After the photo shoot, we went to cafe there for heat and food - seafood chowder, just the ticket! After that, headed back up the hill to the Seaview Hotel to drop off the bikes, have a restorative beverage and get our taxi. I fondly said goodbye to my solo bike 😂 as we headed off to Wick.
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| John O’Groats |
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| The harbour at John O’Groats, there’s a ferry from here during the summer season |
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| Beer picture for Brian - Steve’s celebratory pint, Oatmeal Stout |
There will be a proper reflection once we’ve calmed down a bit, but after all the adventures, the gorgeous scenery, the long and winding roads, we’ve made it - we cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats! Think we’ll be having a little celebration tonight!
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| Wick, by the river |
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| They may have thought we’d be bothered in an empty room by ourselves, but I love it when Steve reserves the whole restaurant for just us! |
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| The beginning of the end of tour celebration |
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| Best fish n’ chips he’s ever had |
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| Orkney scallops |
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| Walk back by the river |
It was a good day today and so exciting to get to the end of the tour. There were a few times along the way when I thought we wouldn’t make it (Cornwall heat wave, when the tandem broke, and the day of winds), but so glad we pushed on and did it! It’s been a long time coming as Steve said at 60 he wanted to do this trip. We would have missed so much if we’d given up and gone home…
