Day 15 - 07.06.09 Tongue to John O' Groats

Distance - 66 miles
Average speed - 10.5 mph
Total time - 8 hours

Stop Press !!!!! We reached John O' Groats and can now officially call ourselves 'Groaters' !!!!

Felt really good to be getting on the bikes for what we knew was our last day. Set off from Tongue and into the highlands for the final day, the first half of which compromised some rather large hills which nearly pushed me over the edge (Jo!) Still, the guy in the village shop had reassured us that when we crossed the border from Sutherland into Caithness the hills would end and it was almost all flat/down hill to J O'Groats. This did turn out to be the case, and although it was still a pretty windy day, there was no rain and the sun sparkled off the sea of the north coast of scotland and the views helped us along our way. We spotted the headland sticking out into the sea, spied our goal and sped along the last few miles to the village. The man was just about to take down the John O'Groats sign so we wizzed up and asked if we could take a few piccy's before he packed away. Stood on the stone by the sign and felt very proud of ourselves ! It has been a long 15 days but a really great trip that we will never forget. Has also been really great to have all the support of our family and friends and all the generous sponsorship that people have donated. We have raised over £2000 for the two charities which is brilliant. Thank you very much to everyone who has donated.

Hooray, no more cycling for a few days, oh, apart from tommorow when we have to cycle back the way we came to Thurso to get the train back to Inverness !! Looking forward to getting home and living out of more than a pannier, some clean clothes will be nice.

Day 14 - 06.06.09 Carbisdale to Tongue

Distance - 50 miles
Average speed - 9.3 mph
Time - 8 hours

Today was supposed to be more of a rest day with a shorter mileage, but turned into a very wearing day with full on northerly winds blowing into our faces the whole way, as we travelled high up over exposed moorlands. It felt as though the whole day was going up hill and made our progress very slow - slowest average speed of the trip ! Hostel was on Kyle of Tounge which was beautiful and the sun came out again in the afternoon as we approached and lit up Ben Loyal and Ben More, a very impressive sight and a very scenic corner of Scotland. Feeling pretty excited as tomorrow is the last day and can't believe we have come so far - can't wait to get there !! (Another bowl of pasta for tea!)

Day 13 - 05.06.09 Invermoriston to Carbisdale

Distance - 69 miles
Average speed - 10.9 mph
Total time - 9 hours

A difficult day today, 13 days of the routine of cycling is starting to get a bit wearing. Also, the weather broke today in true scottish style with heavy rain settling in and a strong northerly wind lashing the rain horizontally into our faces ! Made our progress much slower and moral was dipping as fingers and legs started to go numb ! The roads stretched on and on over the moors and heaths with no villages for miles making it hard to work out how far we were getting. However, on the occasions the mists did lift we got nice glimpses of Cromarty and Dornoch Firths and as we approached the youth hostel, the sun under leaden skies gave rise to a double rainbow. Carbisdale Castle youth hostel was very impressive, with a grand statue gallery and huge paintings on all the walls. We ate another bowl of pasta for tea and went to bed !

Day 12 - 04.06.09 Glen Coe to Invermoriston ( Loch Ness )

Distance - 57 miles
Average speed - 11.8 mph
Total time - 8 hours

A bit cooler and cloudier than yesterday but with a fairly stiff northerly breeze in our faces. Today was a shorter day and we made good time up The Great Glen, along the side of Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal. Alas, no monster sightings. We are getting a bit bored of being on the busy A82, with all the HGV's, coaches and caravans. Still, had some nice views of the lochs as we passed and the sun came out in the afternoon as we arrived at our b&b for the evening in Invermoriston.

Day 11 - 03.06.09 Loch Lomond to Glencoe

Distance: 66 miles
Average speed: 11.6 mph
Total time: 8.5 hrs

If yesterday was the day we least looked forward to, today was the day we most looked forward to, entering the highlands and cycling round the lochs and through the glens surrounded by mountains. Another gorgeous day, the road was busy but ok as we cycled the length of Loch Lomond and then climbed up high on to Rannoch Moor and descended almost 8 miles down Glencoe. The hostel is right by a pub, very convenient! Now there are fewer roads there are lots of would-be groaters, we saw a team of Marines, all with matching lycras, however they weren't even carrying their own stuff, light weights! Only 4 days left to go and feeling really close now, and our bikes and knees are holding up well.

Day 10 - 02.06.09 Leadhills to Loch Lomond

Distance: 67.8 miles
Average speed: 10.4 mph
Total time: 10 hours

Today was the day we least looked forward, it was almost all on busy roads, trying to navigate around the industrial hinterlands of Glasgow, the city centre and the tenements, places like the Gorbals, that strike fear in to every A-Level Geography students heart as we all learnt about them as examples of how cities go bad! It was hot and grimy but once we got in to the centre of Glasgow there was a 20 mile cycle track all the way to Loch Lomond, this went through more industrial estates on the Clyde and through more housing estates and mostly involved cycling over a path of broken glass. Anyway, we broke through to Loch Lomond and made it to the very impressive pseudo castle Youth Hostel over looking the loch, where we had wine on the lawn.

Day 9 - 01.06.09 Southwaite to Leadhills

Distance: 70 miles
Average speed: 11.3 mph
Total time: 9hrs

Today was a great day because we crossed the Scottish border, so we are felling like we have really made some progress. Went through Gretna where someone was actually getting married, even though it mostly looks like a theme park now full of coachloads of Japanese tourists. The road today was a B road that ran alongside the M74 almost all the way to Glasgow, so it wasn't very interesting but it was quick and flat so we made good progress. We stayed at an inn in Leadhills, an old mining town that stopped mining and started decaying some time ago!