Friday, 4 April 2008

Day Twelve

The final push...

(After another late start and another hearty breakfast!)

Altnaharra to John o'Groats

Distance: 74.33 miles
Time: 7 hours 3 minutes
Ave Speed: 13.8 mph
Max Speed: 39.1 mph


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The day started with a lovely road along Loch Naver and then followed the course of the River Naver to Betty Hill. Once there, we took a right and followed the coast which will take us all the way to John o'Groats...

There was a remarkable symmetry with this part of the trip and the first day - big ups and big downs :)

After a spot of lunch at the Strathay Inn, we cycled over the last rise and onto the flatter terrain. We covered the last few miles at a fair old speed - sailing past places like Castle Mey and Thurso, before arriving at the road junction in John o'Groats.

We took a left and crossed the finish line outside the derelict looking Groats In. We then phoned Peter to arrange the obligatory cheesy tourist photo and had a few celebratory drinks before Paul came to collect us.

As we were loading our bikes into Paul's car, I discovered that my back tyre had gone flat... Ah well! Perfect timing :)

For the first time on the whole journey, we then headed South...



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