I had an early night last night, going to bed before 10pm. When I woke at 6:30am I could have slept for another 8 hours! Breakfast was at 7:30 so I stocked up on cereal, porridge, scrambled eggs, toast, yoghurt, juice and coffee. A hearty breakfast and one I would require considering the effort I would need to put in for the rest of the day.
As I cycled up the hill from my hotel (the first of many in the next five hours) I spotted the first sign I had seen for John O'Groats. The journey was actually going to come to an end today!
The road followed the coast line and went up and down for mile after mile. None of the hills were particularly steep but at this stage of the trip they were sapping. I had to tell myself several times that I would not have to face any more after today. This might sound negative but it's only been a minor part of what's been an amazing journey. I've learnt as much about what my body is capable of going through on this trip as I have through marathon training.
12 miles after I start and I pass through the seaside village of Bettyhill. There appears to be a shop that's open 8 days a week! Either it's a deliberate error or they work on a totally different time scale around these parts.
The hills were making my progress slow and it felt like forever before I finally reached my lunch stop in the small town of Thurso (4 oatcakes and some dried apricots - meh!).
The sign out of Thurso said John O'Groats was 20 miles away. The hills disappeared only to allow a strong easterly wind to hit me in the face. Talk about taking with one hand and giving with the other!
All I could think about was trying to get to the end. As much as I wanted to reflect on how far I had cycled over the last twelve days I couldn't because all my energy was directed into cycling into this infernal gale (it probably wasn't a gale but you tell that to my legs!).
Eventually, after what seemed like an age the road signs started counting down; 15 miles, 9 miles, 7 miles, 6 miles, 1 mile and finally, the most magical sign of all, 1/4 mile. I turned left and coasted down to the car park dotted with souvenir shops and cafes that signalled the end of this whole trip. They have a signpost like the one at Land's End that shows the distance between the two points. There was a man there who charged £10 to take a photo that they send to you later. I asked him if I could give him £10 to just take a snap with my iPhone but he said that wasn't how it worked. Odd. I walked a little bit back down the path and asked a couple of bikers to take my photo with the signpost in the background which they duly obliged (and saved me a tenner, result!). I should have checked my hair first (check out my yellow jersey, a nod to Bradley Wiggins but is actually a London A-Z map).
The end of my journey? No. I now had to get to my hotel 20 miles away. There were no taxis about. There was a bus stop but I suspected they wouldn't take bicycles. There was only one choice, cycle it. Again into a headwind it took me another two hours to get to Wick. A shower, a pint and some food and I'm finally able to reflect on what I've achieved.
If you've been following this blog then thank you. I wrote it as much as a diary for myself as I did as a chance to pass on the experience to others who are either interested in doing this journey for themselves or just took an interest in why I should be doing this in the first place.
For those who sent me good wishes on here or on Facebook, thank you. They really helped.
Would I do this again? Maybe not in the same way. I've ticked off solo, unsupported. And I'd certainly alter the route; there are so many amazing things to see and places to go it would be silly to do it exactly the same way again. In all probability I won't do it again as I'm not sure the chance would arise again. It's not necessarily a once in a lifetime thing but for me it probably was.
My bike behaved impeccably. Not one thing went wrong. No chain snaps or punctures. I didn't even need to pump up the tyres once! A good service and fitting the right tyres shortly before starting were good moves.
Finally, I'd like to thank El. If it wasn't for her agreeing to let me do such a hair brained scheme then I'd not be able to share my experience on this blog.
I'll update the blog later to iron out imperfections that you can't really do on an iPhone. I'll also add route maps to each day and provide a list of the accommodation that I used.
Until next time! Or maybe not.
Day 12 route:
View Day 12 in a larger map
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:High St,Wick,United Kingdom
Many, many congratulations - totally brilliant achievement!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rory, it was a brilliant experience.
DeleteI stopped at the splendid wee shop in Bettyhill - with special gratitude for their generously excessive opening hours - I was buying Immodium. After headwinds all the way, the weather turned kind and I had a super following breeze all the way to JoG. And now relax!
ReplyDeleteWell done! Fantastic!!
ReplyDeleteLike Rory's trip a couple of years back, I found it all very inspirational.
I'd love to do an epic trip along these lines ... but they're too time-consuming so I may have to wait until the kids leave home and I retire. Until then it's marathons and triathlons.