Day 8 - Evanton to John O' Groats

We set off a bit earlier today, at 8am, and headed up the A9 towards Wick. The day started cold, windy (easterly wind) and ominously overcast. We went over a long bridge over the Firth of Cromarty and basically followed the coast line. The wind was very strong and when it started to rain, the conditions were quite scary on the exposed coastal road with the side wind. Toby passed us at around 20 miles, and thankfully stopped for a coffee. At around 50 miles, we stopped at a cafe, and met the driver of the other cyclists that we had previously met at Carlisle and Loch Ness, and the drivers were thinking of changing their route to cut inland to John O' Groats in order to get away from the strong wind. We worked out that we must be around 1 hour ahead of the cyclists - even though they had set off early at 7am - the race was now on! We decided to keep going along the coastal route. We passed by a couple of Whisky distilleries (incl. Glenmorangie) and then met Toby for lunch at Dunbeath, where we changed into our winter clothes. After a brief lunch we set off up the A9 and then hit two killer 15% hills, which in the rain and wind were tough going, particularly the one at Helmsdale. We got to Wick and then took the A99 to John O'Groats. The weather by now was horrendous, the coastal road hilly, and the scenery was really bleak and we were very exposed to the wind. By this time we were stopping regularly for energy bars and gels. However, after Wick we turned slightly and the wind was now diagonally behind us and we picked up our pace to a steady 30mph for around 10 miles! We eventually arrived at John O' Groats at 3.50pm, and met Toby (wearing a 'see-you-jimmy' hat). We were also congratulated by the drivers of the other team (who still had not arrived).

In total today we cycled 103miles at an average of 15.2mph, a maximum of 41mph and a total of 6hours and 42mins in the saddle.

In summary we cycled from Land's End to John O' Groats in a total of 881 miles, which is pretty good going as the signpost in John O'Groats said 874miles. It's quite a big island.

We would just like to thank everyone for their support, both with their sponsorship and also with the encouragement that we have had on the way. It has made a huge difference to us knowing that we were being so well supported.

We would also like to thank Chester Motor Homes for giving us 3 free days with the Campervan, Dave Hall (Exeter Camp Site) and Pat (Kendal Camp site) for allwoing us to camp for free and thanks to Andrew and Mary for their hospitality in Hereford. Thank you to Ali and Julie Carmichael for the first aid medication which turned out to be a blessing.
We would particularly like to thank Emma, Maria and Claire for their support and allowing us to take the time for this trip, and through the year with our training. We would not have done this without your support.