LEJOG day 15

The alarm went off at 4am on the last day of our trip. It was Tracy's 50th birthday and she was determined to milk it for all it was worth, hence the early start. 

Tracy's first 50th birthday card

We had decided to get on the road early to avoid as much of the forecasted rain and 40 mph winds as possible. We had also changed the route, opting for the most direct, A9 then A99 through Wick, missing out Thurso and the Northern coastline altogether. In our haste to depart, we left our lunch behind in the fridge! It was a shame to cut short our stay at Helmsdale as it was our favourite accommodation of the whole trip.

On leaving Helmsdale we immediately hit a 2.5  mile long climb. Luckily, Tracy had stealthily made and consumed coffee in the communal kitchen, so her legs were actually awake, completing the hill with no rest stops at all. Continuing along the undulating coast we encountered the longest downhill of our trip at Berriedale followed by a 10% climb. Tracy surprised both herself and me by tackling it in short order.

Down this hill and up to this viewpoint 

The winds got stronger and the rain was harder the closer we got to Wick, but undaunted, we arrived at the town at 9am.

We stopped at the Bridge cafe in Wick to re-caffeinate and refuel. Tracy had a delicious bacon roll and I opted for beans on toast - proper comfort food for the weather.

We checked Google maps which confirmed that we only had 16 miles to go, mostly flat. This raised our spirits immensely and we felt almost like we were racing to the finish line. The sign for John o Groats read 3 miles and despite a tail wind those last miles seemed to take forever.

Caithness is full of...

...nothing. (a cleaner version of what I actually said at the time)

We passed the village sign and onwards to the visitor centre and the obligatory photograph at the signpost. This was the hardest part of the morning, having to co-opt a passer by as official photographer, whilst we removed waterproof layers in the driving wind and rain , so our LEJOG jerseys were on display. Our discomfort is in no way obvious in the pictures!

So happy to have finished

Then off to the cafe for the last (but not really) cake of the trip and double coffees. A well earned rest and a change into dry clothes and we felt more human again.  Tracy was still buzzing from the achievement rather than the caffeine an hour later when we walked the bikes to the Seaview hotel, where we were being picked up by a bike-taxi at 3 pm.

Tracy thought that this was the last cake of the day

On the way up we encountered the 3 LEJOGers that we had met in Whalley, just about to complete their adventure. High fives and selfies all round and we were all grinning like Cheshire cats.

Ray, who we met in Yorkshire

The Seaview hotel, like most properties in Caithness, looks very tired and weathered from the outside, but a cosy welcoming bar awaited inside. We had lunch, the ubiquitous veggie burger for me and a steak and ale pie, which seemingly contained a whole cow, for Tracy.

Gavin, our taxi driver from Inverness arrived early at 2:30pm. We soon had our bikes loaded and were on our way South once more, making short work of the miles that we had worked so hard to cover this morning. The sun finally showed itself, transforming the bleak surroundings, as they appeared to us this morning, into colourful rolling countryside and impressive coastlines.

The three of us chatted all the way to Inverness, apart from Tracy, who had a brief nap, once the caffeine ran out and the celebratory cider from lunch kicked in. Gavin is an interesting guy, well educated, having travelled the world in various jobs. He was also an avid cyclist, having developed a passion for bike touring to escape his troubled home life as a 14 year old. He told us with a wry smile, "I used to just ride up the West coast for days at a time. Nobody knew where I was, I had nae money, but would blag it. I can't believe now that I used to do that"

He dropped us off at the Inverness hostel (I had decided to treat Tracy on her 50th birthday, by pulling out all the stops).

A quick video call with our bickering children at home before thankfully having to cut it short to go to the Italian restaurant in Inverness for dinner. They may still be arguing now for all we know.

What Tracy didn't know was that we were being met by friends from home, Jannise and Ross, who now live about an hour from Inverness. The look on Tracy's face was priceless - she was surprised and delighted.

We enjoyed our time together and an excellent dinner, before the staff brought out the actual final cake of the trip. Jannise had made a stunning 50th birthday cake, which brought tears of laughter to all at our table. It was also delicious.

A work of baking art.

Those that know, know

The evening felt so short, with our friends dropping us off at the hostel, with promises of us coming back up to visit soon.

Today was a good day to be on the saddle. Actually today was just a good day to be alive. 

Distance travelled: 51 miles

Elevation: 2954 ft

Cake of the day: Shed cake (thanks to Jannise who must have spent hours on it).

Tracy whinge factor: 0/10 (a bundle of positivity today)

Total distance: 1018 miles (we did it!)

We intend to do one final post after we return, to collate our thoughts, reflections and tips on our trip