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…
As Katherine says, reflections on the whole experience in due course. Today was a short but cold and wet day but that didn’t bother us much as we counted down the miles. The hills are gone, it’s pretty flat up in the top corner of Scotland!
ReplyDeleteIt’s going to take a couple of days to get back home. Inverness tomorrow on the one train there is from Wick on Sunday, better not miss it. It takes over 4 hours!! Monday we pick up the van, the tandem and some kit we left at the bike hire place and drive back home. Haven’t driven this route for best part of 40 years, be interested to see how the new roads are. We will go past some of the places we stopped on the trip eg Aviemore, Pitlochry, Glasgow and others. What it took us 15 days to cycle we should be able to drive in a few hours, weather permitting. “Put the kettle on …. “ as they say in Lancashire.
Wow! Just so great that you did it. Completely impressed and might have shed a happy tear just thinking how excited and proud you both must be feeling right now. Thanks for sharing it all with us through this blog. Loved every minute of it but especially the sheep. ❤️🤗🎉🍻🤩
ReplyDeleteSo excited that after all the time and the prep (and the odd challenge) that we made it! It will definitely be a top lifetime memory!
DeleteCongratulations! Such a wonderful adventure! Happy for both of you and loved reading about it!
ReplyDeleteAmazing trip! I can only imagine how you felt at that last sign...that's a feeling the two of you will be able to re-live forever. Cant wait to hear in person all the bits that didnt make it into the daily blog. And a 4.8% oatmeal stout as a finisher...absolutely perfect!
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