The morning in Inverness at this time of year dawns at a startlingly early hour. But fatigue caused, in the main I think, by errant weather meant we still didn't get moving until after 9. Either that or the fantastic cooked breakfast at the B&B. Whatever the cause though, it meant we missed the morning school run rush.
We cycled out of town across the firth tracking along side the busy main road north. Only on patches did we brave the fast moving traffic. Mercifully, for the first time in days we had dry weather for a few hours of cycling, which did much to lift the spirit.
We got caught on the Google car taking pictures for streetview in one town, so we'll be sure to look that up in a few weeks. We're not going to tell you where though just in case the picture of us is less than flattering.
Just before lunch we met a French couple on another Tandem, they were heading up to Lairg for the night before pushing on to John O'Groats, and then randomly, less than an hour later we ran into another set of tandem end to enders who were from the Scottish Borders. We rode with them for a bit, or at least hung onto their back wheel before pulling off for lunch in the town of Dornoch, after having been given the name of a B&B in Helmsdale where they were staying for the night.
We stayed slightly longer in Dornoch than we had planned. The rain returned as we were parking the bike outside the pub, so we were forced to order desert while we waited for the main squall to pass. But although wet it was relatively flat run to Helmsdale, once we'd plucked up the courage to brave the elements once again.
That evening we enjoyed a couple of beers with our tandeming friends and swapped stories of our different trips up the country. Then it was on to the final day. Good news, we had a strong tail wind, the bad news, that heavy showers were forcast.
Out of Helmsdale we had a succession of moderate to steep climbs. But climbs mean there have to be downhills and we reached a new record high speed for the trip of 55 mph. My technique here was to adopt an aerodynamic crouch which meant that Den could not see her speedo or apply her brake. Only two concerns for me were whether there was a cross wind as we broke cover onto a bridge and whether Den would be angry when she'd found out how fast it was we'd been going.
As we got into the final half day, north of Wick, the tree and hedgerow cover thinned and we found ourselves increasingly exposed to the fierce wind in a real slog to the finish. But then we were on the final downhill into John O'Groats. We'd made it! Just time for the obligatory photo with sign post before we rushed to the licenced cafe for a beer before it closed at 4pm.
In the end we cycled 1130 miles, walked for 14 and a half hours and broken 7 spokes in our rear wheel. No punctures though.
So all that remains is to say a big thanks to everyone who supported us throughout our trip. Especially to those of you who sponsored us.
If you know of anyone who you think might like to make a donation to further support Maggie's please do forward this on, we and everyone who uses Maggies will be immensely grateful.
We cycled out of town across the firth tracking along side the busy main road north. Only on patches did we brave the fast moving traffic. Mercifully, for the first time in days we had dry weather for a few hours of cycling, which did much to lift the spirit.
We got caught on the Google car taking pictures for streetview in one town, so we'll be sure to look that up in a few weeks. We're not going to tell you where though just in case the picture of us is less than flattering.
Just before lunch we met a French couple on another Tandem, they were heading up to Lairg for the night before pushing on to John O'Groats, and then randomly, less than an hour later we ran into another set of tandem end to enders who were from the Scottish Borders. We rode with them for a bit, or at least hung onto their back wheel before pulling off for lunch in the town of Dornoch, after having been given the name of a B&B in Helmsdale where they were staying for the night.
We stayed slightly longer in Dornoch than we had planned. The rain returned as we were parking the bike outside the pub, so we were forced to order desert while we waited for the main squall to pass. But although wet it was relatively flat run to Helmsdale, once we'd plucked up the courage to brave the elements once again.
That evening we enjoyed a couple of beers with our tandeming friends and swapped stories of our different trips up the country. Then it was on to the final day. Good news, we had a strong tail wind, the bad news, that heavy showers were forcast.
Out of Helmsdale we had a succession of moderate to steep climbs. But climbs mean there have to be downhills and we reached a new record high speed for the trip of 55 mph. My technique here was to adopt an aerodynamic crouch which meant that Den could not see her speedo or apply her brake. Only two concerns for me were whether there was a cross wind as we broke cover onto a bridge and whether Den would be angry when she'd found out how fast it was we'd been going.
As we got into the final half day, north of Wick, the tree and hedgerow cover thinned and we found ourselves increasingly exposed to the fierce wind in a real slog to the finish. But then we were on the final downhill into John O'Groats. We'd made it! Just time for the obligatory photo with sign post before we rushed to the licenced cafe for a beer before it closed at 4pm.
In the end we cycled 1130 miles, walked for 14 and a half hours and broken 7 spokes in our rear wheel. No punctures though.
So all that remains is to say a big thanks to everyone who supported us throughout our trip. Especially to those of you who sponsored us.
If you know of anyone who you think might like to make a donation to further support Maggie's please do forward this on, we and everyone who uses Maggies will be immensely grateful.
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