Day 10

Tongue to John o' Groats

Distance: 69.98

Average: 12.9

Maximum: 35.8

Duration: 5:01:23

Cumulative: 1,043.51

My room mates for the night (Ian and Robert, I think!) were doing a round trip of Scotland in a buggy. They were raising money for farmers with cancer or something. One of them was a recovering cancer sufferer and I felt quite pleased to be in their company for a while.

The Buggy

The "madder" one of the two volunteered to rub some cream on my oversized ankle! I'm always a bit suspicious of men who carry cream but I didn't want to offend so I acquiesced! I became very worried when this guy started grinning manically, rubbing his hands with glee and muttering something about "an Englishman in his power"! What had I let myself in for? However, I have to say, for a farmer from north of the border he had very gentle hands!

I was in no particular hurry this morning! A mere 65 miles or so! What's the rush! My daughter was meeting me at John o Groat's. She'd stayed in Perth, some 200 miles away, the previous evening and I didn't expect her to be at John o Groat's before 2 anyway. She'd only recently passed her driving test and I didn't want to rush her.

Tongue Youth Hostel

I saddled up and was away. I wasn't in a hurry for another reason. I didn't really want this journey to be over. I was looking forward to meeting my daughter and I was looking forward to the ensuing week we had planned in Scotland but I knew the moment I crossed the line at John o Groat's it would all be over! All the months of planning, the anticipation, the training, would be over the very moment I dismounted and strangely, instead of seeing it as the achievement it was, in some ways it was going to be a disappointment. A bit of an anticlimax I suppose. Anyway, I couldn't actually cycle any slower, it's not in my nature, so I just decided to stop a little more and enjoy the views! And what views. There is some stunning coastline between Tongue and John o' Groats. A lot of today was just as I hoped it would be, a bit wild and rugged with plenty of glimpses of jagged shoreline. It was certainly very hilly! Like a big dipper or a Stegosaurus’s back! It even rained quite a lot which on reflection was quite fitting. This was the north of Scotland at the end of an epic journey! I didn't want any of that namby pamby sunshine. I needed rain, thunder lightening, and hill after monstrous hill! Well, I didn't really but you have to try and put a positive slant on it, don't you? I mean, I can't control the weather but I wasn’t going to moan about it either! (Next time I plan a trip like this, believe me, I'll make sure I do it in the Mediterranean!)

Coast at Bettyhill

I stopped just after Thurso for a bite to eat and very shortly after continuing the van driven by the daughter of a LEJoGer from the youth hostel the previous night passed me! I reckoned that meant that the cyclists were just in front of me or close on my tail! I didn't want the ignominy of been passed at the final hurdle (why, I don't really know!) so I pedalled for all I was worth for the last 10 or so miles and arrived elated at John o Groat's. So much for a leisurely cycle but a fast finish was a fitting finale to this journey.

Fantastic! I did it! I wasn’t sure what I felt or indeed how I was supposed to feel! A mixture of pride and indifference! Proud to have done it for sure but what next?

John O'Groats

When I arrived at the signposts there was a guy there who had walked it in 52 days - he'd cycled it 10 years ago and there was another guy who had cycled it in 18 days. Dan! Amazingly he lived in Horsforth, Leeds. 1 mile from my house in Cookridge. His kids went to the same school as mine and he used to live in the street next to me in Cookridge! His wife was on her way up to meet him and when comparing our various messages it appeared that his wife and my daughter must have been travelling up from Perth at the same time! In fact they arrived 10 minutes apart! Small world!

An Undignified End to a Trustworthy Companion!

Anyway, that is that! Job done! 1,043.51 miles in 10 days and a few bob to three charities! Fab!