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Awoken this morning by the sound of bleating sheep, which makes a change. The wind had dropped and it was a very still morning. The terrain has changed and gone are the major ascents and descents of yesterday evening. The road to Thurso passes the Dounreay reactor which has been, and continues to be a major employer in this remote area. It is not long before you can see the Orkney Isles, the weather allowing you magnificent views over the Pentland Firth. I got to the Fishermen’s Mission at Scrabster and received a wonderfully warm welcome from the Superintendent, Peter Dade, and also Willie Dougan who was over from the Orkney Islands. It seems a long time ago when we at the Newlyn Mission.
I then set off on the last leg, through Thurso for the final 22 miles to John O’Groats. Not far out of Thurso I was joined by John, a 71 year old local who only took up cycling aged 52 and regularly competes in time trials and thinks nothing of cycling 100+ miles for a day’s ride. He was wonderful company and the riding was easy over comparatively flat roads. John O’Groats soon came into view and I eventually arrived at 12.25.
Oh a wonderful welcome from Ian and Christine. What would I have done without them. A glass of wine was soon enjoyed before we said goodbye to John and we went off for the obligatory photo. However even my welcome was not as noisy as a team of RAF lads who as they arrived had two Tornados do a high speed low level pass right over our heads. Or was this something the back up team had organised?
Physically I felt fine. No aches and pains.
Thankfully I had not one puncture the whole trip. Indeed I did not put any air into the tyres.
We certainly had a few challenges, not least the floods, but in many ways all the planning came off.
We set off back for the long drive South at about 2pm and passed three young men who had just set off. They were following the coast road via Wick, and although it may be less in miles I would not have missed the Lairg to Tongue route for anything.
Statistics
Mileage 39.4
Time in saddle 3 hours 12 mins 37 secs
Fastest Speed 31.6mph
Average speed 12.2mph
Cumulative mileage 1196.8 miles.
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