Day 14 - LEJoG

At last the final day or our trip arrived. The train we were booked on was leaving Wick at 16.00hrs so we allowed ourselves a lie in before a final FEB for Gary, while I had the Scotch Porridge. We checked out of the room and left our bags in the hotel reception so we could ride unencumbered with the usual weight but a glance out of the window and we could see we were in for a windy ride. Perhaps the luggage would have made good ballast after all!

It was 18 barren miles of land and high winds across to John O'Groats. The winds must have been gusting to 40 ph. Its was pretty hairy and not a particularly pleasant ride.











We had time as we rode to reflect back on the journey and on the people we had met. The highs and lows of the trip. I have to say they were mostly highs, only a couple of very minor and insignificant lows.

We rode to Duncansby Head the official furthest point from Lands End before heading down into town to the obligatory signpost. I hadn't totalled the miles up at that point for the sign but we added them up later to find we had ridden 996 miles. If I add in the miles to and from Paddington and Euston thats definitely more than 1000.




We took a taxi back to Wick, I didn't want to ride into that wind again unless I had too and its now all about rest and recovery for the big one. A quick change of clothes back at the hotel and lunch in the bistro before we walked across the road for the train to Inverness. Its a 4 hour journey and the sun was out so we sat back and relaxed and saw all the scenery and coastal views we had missed the day before in the cloud. The coast is stunning and It made me want to go back to Scotland to ride all the other remote roads we saw and heard about but couldnt fit into the itinerary. The beaches were stunning and we saw colonies of Seals diving into the sea as our little 2 carriage chain chugged past. In Inverness we boarded the Caledonian Sleeper train and got in to Euston at 07.45hrs this morning. How grim to be back in the big smoke with no view of the horizon or green fields full of sheep and cows... I am reminiscing already on what turned out to be one amazing ride. 
I can't recommend it enough and intend to add one more blog post in the coming days about Lejog with info about the accommodation and the equipment we took.