Final posting from the intrepid team. Full account with more pictures and some video clips on their blog at http://lejogaug2011.blogspot.com/
Day 10: Tongue to John O'Groats
Mileage: 74
Cycling time: 4hr 32m
Total mileage: 955
Total cycling time: 64 hours 15 mins 50 seconds
Mileage: 74
Cycling time: 4hr 32m
Total mileage: 955
Total cycling time: 64 hours 15 mins 50 seconds
After 10 days of considerable highs (and a few lows!) we finally rolled in to John O'Groats at 4pm today where we toasted our endeavours in the sunshine with a bottle of champers and a wee dram of Dalwhinnie (thanks girls!).
However there was no easy ride in to JOG as we endured a very hilly first couple of hours, although the coastline scenery almost made up for the pain of taking on yet another hill! However our filling of scrambled egg and smoked salmon from breakfast kept us going (although Richard needed a push out from the traps – see video below) while the undoubted highlight of the morning was the awesome view from Bettyhill which overlooked fabulous Torrisdale Bay.
After finally finding somewhere for a coffee we pressed on towards Thurso where the hills finally subsided, and as the Orkneys came into view we knew we were closing in fast on our final destination and spirits raised. After meeting the girls for lunch in 'Le' Bistro in Thurso we had the final run in along the coast although at this point the wind decided to change direction right into our faces which meant we were made to work hard right to the end.
Just before John O'Groats we took a small detour to mainland Britain's most northerly point, Dunnet Head, which gave fantastic views towards the Orkneys and was well worth the small diversion, before the final straight run in to the finish where the girls were on hand to capture the moment on video.
Meanwhile, what about the news you all want to know – who has won our bottle of bubbly for coming closest to correcting our total cycling time? Well the winner, subject to final confirmation, was Hubert (chip) Connelly who predicted a time of 64 hours 12 mins 50 seconds – just three minutes outside our final figure. Well done Hubert but a number of you were extremely close to our final time, not least Janine's mum Eileen – Janine is particularly devastated as she says she would have got to drink the champers!
Meanwhile, what about the news you all want to know – who has won our bottle of bubbly for coming closest to correcting our total cycling time? Well the winner, subject to final confirmation, was Hubert (chip) Connelly who predicted a time of 64 hours 12 mins 50 seconds – just three minutes outside our final figure. Well done Hubert but a number of you were extremely close to our final time, not least Janine's mum Eileen – Janine is particularly devastated as she says she would have got to drink the champers!
We're all a little tired to write much more tonight, but tomorrow we'll return with our final thoughts on the trip and our rundown on our favourite places and memories.
Posted by Jim Pendrill