Total mileage: 50
Terrain: Long shallow climbs and downhills with a very pleasant warm, sunny afternoon

We bloody well did it!

After a pretty awful night at the Bettyhill camping ground, with all the local drunks and their kids making one hell of a noise, none of us were that sprightly the following morning.  We only had a short distance to cycle today but the terrain was quite arduous and not too exciting.

The morning was cold and so we wrapped up as heavy clouds circled above us.  None of us we particularly talkative even though we were were at the zenith of our ride.  First stop of the day was in some tiny town for a comfort stop.  The cold wind was chilling our moral and we all donned another layer.  I had hoped that our final day on the bikes would be more pleasant.

The land began to flatted out as we passed Bighouse.  There was an inlet that took us a mile or so inland but overall, nothing particularly taxing.  The spledour of the previous days Highland ride was all but gone.  The land had fewer features but was very so slightly more urdan, although this is perhaps not the correct way to describe such wilderness.

As we pushed on throgh Raey, the golf course was a welcome expanse of green with the backdrop of the Scottish north coast.  The only other point of interest was the bizzare power station we passed.  The focal point was a hugh white sphere that looked as though it had been plucked straight from a Star Trek episode.

We stopped briefly in Thurso for some provisions and a couple of bottles of Cava.  Rather than push on to Wick, we decided to camp at John O’Groats as this seemed the most fitting end point to our cross country endeavour.

Upon leaving Thurso, the road was occasionally adorned with a sign post denoting the distance to John O’Gorats, as in the photo above.  The last twenty miles flew by.  All three of us were utterly transfixed on completing the task.  We were fortunate enough to have a marked change in the weather, which had us stripped down as the heat rose.  Before long, we were hammering along at a healthy 18mph, only moments away from he end.

We eventually rocked up at John O’Groats as it clung to the last remnants of sunshine.  All behind us was shrouded in cloud.  However, the sun shone on us for the rest of the day whilst we had our photograph taken under the sign post and set up camp in the field next door.  We all got pretty hammered on the Cava immediately after calling all our friends and families to inform them that we had made it to the end point successfully.  Loads of people congratulated us including a rather large contingent of motorcyclists.

We had a hearty meal in the evening and watched the beautiful sunset over the North Sea.  So, what’s our next challenge then guys?