Day 16 - Thurso to John o'Groats & back

Yee haw! We did it!

Route and map here - not that there was really much choice up there!

Actual Day 16

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

We were able to leave our panniers in the hotel in Thurso as we had to come back to catch the train. The bikes felt a little strange without the weight on the back but we soon got used to it.

It was only 20 miles/32km to John o’Groats and it was relatively flat so we were able to make good progress. As might be expected there were quite a few people there including three other cyclists who had actually finished the night before but who had returned to buy postcards, etc. They pointed us in the direction of the Finish line which was by the derelict John o‘Groats Hotel.







Having written a couple of postcards ourselves and after celebratory ice creams we set off back towards Thurso. The wind had, by now, started blowing and, for once, it was a headwind. This appealed to two accountants’ sense of symmetry - we had a headwind getting to the start and another after the finish while in between it was almost always a tailwind! We are certainly most grateful that it wasn’t the other way round!!

When we turned up at Thurso station we discovered that there had been an accident and the train was running late. As a result it was not going to make its 20 minute trip up a branch line to Thurso and back. Instead, we were bundled into a taxi and two minibuses (one of which was for the two of us and our bikes) and driven at high speed to the junction where the train was waiting for us.

The train line wanders around the north of Scotland, taking almost 4 hours to get to Inverness but giving great views of the country. At Inverness we encountered more issues with trains. Firstly, we couldn’t get the bikes in the guard’s van because of crates of frozen shellfish and suitcases. This was eventually sorted out by three members of the station staff. Then we found that the lounge car on the sleeper was not going to be manned because of “staff shortages” and so there was no food or drink on board. Luckily, we had bought a few snacks and drinks at Tesco in Thurso before going to the station and so we managed to keep body and soul together all the way to London where we cycled the short distance from Euston to St Pancras. There we had a celebratory Champagne Breakfast looking at the refurbished station and watching the Eurostar trains leaving for Paris and Brussels.

Day 15 - Crask Inn to Thurso

Very definitely a day of two halves!

Here's today's route and map.

Actual Day 15

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

The morning was as perfect a ride as you could wish for! A gentle downhill over 30 miles in beautiful scenery and glorious sunshine with a cooling breeze (yet again a tailwind! We’ve been so lucky in that respect.) is right up there with the best rides we have ever done - along the Iceland Parkway in the Canadian Rockies, the 30+ km downhill of the Grand Ballon in Alsace, the first day of the Tour de France in Britain with 5,000 other cyclists, across the Rhone Delta in the Camargue and others. The scenery is simply stunning - it is impossible to believe that this area does not have National Park status to protect it for the future.



We turned off the bustling(joke!) A 836 onto the B873 (almost impossible to believe, but this was narrower than the A road} and, in a stretch of 12 miles/19km, we saw 12 cars, 1 motorbike, 6 cyclists going faster than us (doing LEJOG in 13 days - but “cheating” because they had two cars carrying luggage and taking them between the route and their accommodation! Sounds like a plan to us!!)

There was also a family with a mother, 4 children under the age of 12 plus either a father or a teenage son (neither of us were particularly observant or certain of what we saw!) on 4 bikes + 3 trailers of luggage/little ones and they were doing John o’Groats to Land’s End - a seriously impressive feat with a girl of no more than 11 with a trailer and a boy of about 8 with panniers! We would have stopped to speak with them but they were just getting under way after a stop and we know that one does not welcome the interruption once you‘ve made the decision to “set sail”!!

And so to the second half, Brian! Almost as soon as we hit the coast road we encountered an uphill, swiftly followed by an downhill, followed by ….! You guessed it! In common with many coastal roads it was serious of steep ascents immediately followed by serious descents. This was accompanied by a fairly long shower. So much for our hopes of two successive dry days!




And so it went on - until, passing the Dounreay experimental nuclear site that is in the process of being decommissioned, we passed a tourist information thingy that said this ridge marked the boundary where the gentle fertile slopes of Caithness gave way to the rolling hills of Sutherland - except that we were going the other way! It proved to be correct - although there were still hills to climb, they were less steep and not so high and so we were able to move at a faster pace.

Eventually we rolled into Thurso after 102 km/64 miles feeling more tired than we have done for a while. We were grateful that the hotel was easy to find and ready to serve orange juice, beer and food! Just a short ride tomorrow to go!

Day 14 - Inverness to Crask Inn

We’re feeling pretty chuffed with ourselves as we’ve just completed our longest day - 120 km/75 miles - and we are in the middle of nowhere, just a day and a half from the finish. The Crask Inn is about 10 miles from the nearest village and on an A road that is single track with passing places.

After a leisurely breakfast - not through choice, the service being very slow - we set off out of Inverness alongside the A9 (again) looking nervously at the amount of traffic on the road and the speed at which it was going because we knew we had to actually ride along it later in the day. We had expected the road to become less busy after Inverness - after all, with all due respect to Wick and Thurso, there’s not much beyond Inverness is there?

Crossing the Kennock Bridge (our third big suspension bridge after the Severn and the Forth Road Bridges), we enjoyed a lovely view of Inverness which was clearly looking its best. we’re certain that, on a bleak, wet January afternoon it looks far less appealing.


We then turned off onto minor roads and immediately started climbing steeply up to the top of the Black Isle. Once up there, it was wonderful cycling with long, straight, relatively flat, minor roads with little traffic other than a discourteous, single finger-waving, red van driver going far too fast who took exception to Stephen stopping, uttering an expletive and glaring at him as he roared past.

We made our way across the Black Isle to Cromarty (as in the shipping forecast “Cromarty, Forth, Tyne,….” for the Radio 4 listeners amongst you) where we caught a small ferry to Nigg with only space for two cars and two bikes (well, they probably could have fitted more bikes on, actually). Rather than drive on drive off, the ferries was drive on reverse off, which certainly seemed to cause panic and consternation to 1 of the drivers as he tried to reverse down off the moving ferry and up the slipway. It was much easier with bikes! We’ve just had a horrid thought - using public transport doesn’t “invalidate” our achievement does it??!!

Shortly after this we finally got to cycle on the A9 instead of beside it. Thankfully, it was less busy than it had been when we last saw it just north of Inverness, but it was still a bit of a racetrack. However, it wasn’t a long stretch and, as the A9 turned north over a newish bridge, we carried on westwards on another A road towards Bonar Bridge. This road was much, much quieter and had spectacular views over the Dornoch Firth.



From Bonar Bridge there were one or two steeper climbs and descents to Lairg before we really emerged in the wilderness of the Flow Country. It was just a gentle climb which, with the strong tailwind at our backs, was easy, allowing us to take in the surrounding loveliness.


It was a beautiful summer’s evening, with just the occasional car driver practising his rallying technique to spoil the perfect peace of the evening. Christine enjoyed it so much that she sauntered slowly along, stopping frequently to look at the view and listen to the silence. It was as lovely an hour’s cycling as you could wish for.

The only blot on the landscape was that there is much forestation of the otherwise boggy peat covered landscape. The trees look okay whilst growing, but when cut the area looks completely devastated, with stumps and branches just left getting bleached. The scenes looks like war pictures.

The evening cycle ended with our arrival at The Crask Inn, comprising an Inn built around 1815 and a single cottage. It was lovely and atmospheric. There was a fairly small dark bar, and a much brighter dining-room where we had a delicious meal of home-cooked food whilst looking at an amazing view. The inn was the only place in the 21 miles between Lairg and Altnaharra.

Here’s the route and the map.

Actual Day 14

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Day 13 - Dalwhinnie to Inverness

Wow! We’ve made it to Inverness. If you look at the map of the full route so far below it looks an awfully long way up - which of course it is! We only have 2½ days to go - the last one being a quick blast without panniers from Thurso to John o’Groats and back.

We have had a “debate” about whether today was our second dry day or not - Christine maintains that it was definitely raining when we left Dalwhinnie while Stephen insists that, as he didn’t put his rain jacket on, it cannot have been even if there was a little dampness in the air! Anyway, whether it was “rain” or “dampness” it soon went and, although the clouds hung about on the hilltops, it turned into quite a pleasant day and the evening in Inverness was lovely.

The route is here and below.

Actual Day 13

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Here's the (approximate) route so far.

The Route So Far

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Leaving Dalwhinnie, we enjoyed some of the best cycling possible - 25 km of gentle downhill on quiet roads with beautiful scenery to look at - magic!






Our route ran next to the A9 pretty much all day - generally on the old road but sometimes on a cycle track next to the rushing traffic. The railway line also follows the same overall direction so we are looking forward to seeing the sights again in a few days time - but this time without having to push those pedals round.

We passed through Aviemore which, like Pitlochrie yesterday, was bustling. It feels strange after so many hours with just your own thoughts or a few words exchanged between us to be amongst so many people.

Shortly after we went through Carrbridge which has a - you guessed it! - bridge but not one that is suitable for cars!


After such a long descent followed by a flat stretch it was a nasty shock to discover that we had to climb back to 1,300 feet to get over Slochd Pass (not sure how you pronounce that name but it probably involves lots of spittle flying everywhere if done correctly!) This was quite a bit steeper than yesterday’s ascent of Drumochter but, thankfully, that meant it was shorter.

Once over the top it was time for more fast downhill stretches and then the Moray Firth and Inverness suddenly appeared in view.




We arrived just before 5 o’clock - thanks to all that downhill - so Christine decided a siesta was called for before dinner, while Stephen finished off the previous day’s blog posting and carried on with his book (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” if you are interested - an excellent crime thriller translated from Swedish - highly recommended).

We were the only ones eating in the hotel restaurant so dinner was quickly done. With Christine having had a nap, she did not rush off to bed as has happened every other night and so we took a leisurely stroll along the River Ness in the evening sunshine and ate Orkney ice cream.

Day 12 - Perth to Dalwhinnie

Today was the high point of the journey - going over the Drumochter Pass at 1,516 ft/
462m above sea level. The pictures show that the early morning promise of good weather was not fulfilled!




Route available here and below.

Actual Day 12

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

After a few wrong turns we managed to find our way out of Perth and followed a minor road that ran approximately parallel to the A9. It turned out to be Sustrans route 77 as well with signposts to Pitlochry - the last town of significance on the road to Drumochter Pass - so we had signposts to guide us as well as the map.

Our planned route did not take us into Dunkeld. Instead, it joined the A9 just outside the town for a couple of miles before getting onto a B road. However, Stephen was off in front blithely following the cycle route signs and took us into the town. At least it presented an opportunity to buy lunch!

Seeing another cycle route sign pointing towards Pitlochry we decided to ditch Plan A and trust in Sustrans. The route took us up the long drive of a hotel with a view of Dunkeld cathedral before veering off onto a track alongside the River Tay. It was extremely pretty and much more enjoyable than the A9.


All too soon the route headed away from the river and onto a footpath beside the main road for a brief spell before turning onto the B road that was in Plan A. A few miles along this road we joined another Sustrans route (number 7) which Stephen had ridden with Alaric 8 years ago from Inverness to Glasgow. He immediately claimed that he recognised it but Christine quickly began to have her doubts as he stood puzzled at a junction. His excuse was that it all looked different because we were going the other way!

Pitlochrie was a bustling little place but we rode straight through as we had a lot of climbing to do. The route followed the old road and so was much quieter although there were several coaches as the area is quite touristy. There were a few short, sharp climbs including one signed at 14% (or 1 in 7) which was not as steep as some of those that we had come over in a short stretch before Pitlochrie which went from the Tay valley to the Tummel valley. These climbs were often followed by descents which made out hearts sink as we knew we would have to regain the altitude soon.

After a while, all motor vehicles had to join the main road leaving the old road as a cycle track which, of course, deteriorated in quality somewhat but was perfectly rideable. The climbing became much more steady but was quite a gentle slope and, with the tailwind, was easily manageable. All the time the views were spectacular but your correspondents are not competent enough photographers to do the scenery justice with their digital Box Brownie!

All the time the weather was closing in, with some of the hilltops in cloud and a few spots of rain in the air. As we got nearer the top it got worse and the warnings on signs about weather conditions rang true.



Once over the top it was only a couple of miles of gentle downhill to the hotel in Dalwhinnie (a name that may be familiar to the whisky drinkers amongst you as there is a distillery there producing what Stephen considers to be a very nice malt). On the way down we saw four cyclists battling their way into the wind and rain the other way - but on the main road. Now, we would defend their right to use the road, and also acknowledge that the road is quicker and more comfortable because the surface is better - BUT the traffic was pretty intimidating especially in that weather. It just escapes us why they would choose the road over the cyle track.

Walking into the hotel we were struck by the warmth - they had the central heating on - on the 3rd August! This chimed with something that we observed a couple of days ago but forgot to put in this blog - that was riding past houses with log fires going on 1st August. Ah, the delights of a British summer!!

The hotel was a little “odd” - very relaxed - the sort of thing that would appeal to, say, the surfing crowd - but also very good food - the beef came from a local herd of 500 Highland cattle (the really shaggy cows) and it was cooked beautifully! The room was not particularly brilliant but, if you are in The Cairngorms, it is worth the trip for the food.

Day 11 - Penicuik to Perth

Wonders will never cease! A day without rain!

Route available here and below.

Actual Day 11

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

After a bad night’s sleep due to the wedding reception immediately below our room we made our displeasure known to the hotel management and got on our way later than normal at 9.45.

We headed towards Edinburgh intending to go into the centre and then pick up a cycle route out to the Forth Road Bridge but, just after we hit the outskirts, we saw “RR” signs for a cyclists’ ring road so followed them. Bikes are not allowed on the cars’ ring road but this was infinitely more pleasurable as it followed a quiet B road for most of the way.

Just before the end we must have missed a sign (or some smart alec had made it disappear) because we ended up at the junction of the by-pass (the one that cyclists are not allowed to use) and the A8, where there were roadworks for the Ednburgh tram system. After just a couple of hundred yards of cycling on the A8 (the 4th single digit A road of the trip with the A9 to come!) the footpath reappeared and we able to “escape” the traffic.

We soon made our way to the cycle route that was part of the original plan and followed that to Queensferry, the southern end of the bridge. After a loo stop we got onto the bridge and were surprised by the number of cyclists and pedestrians using it. There was a good view of the rail bridge.


The weather in the picture looks fantastic, but it didn’t feel like it. It was pretty chilly and there was a very, very strong wind coming from the West, and for the first time we had quite a bit of cycling west around Edinburgh and slightly west afterwards, which made the whole day quite a struggle when it should have been relatively easy.

On the other side of the bridge the road climbed steadily away from the river through Cowdenbeath (which we had heard of in the football scores on the radio and TV but absolutely no idea where it was) and Kinross. It would appear that Jim Baxter came from Cowdenbeath as there was a statue of him beside the road.


We saw signs to St Andrews, which certainly made Christine think she would like to come back some time to watch the golf, while Stephen goes biking perhaps! From Kinross we took the little back roads with some climbing, as ever. Along the way we helped 3 lost Scots find their way to a reservoir for some fishing. They were young, mid-twenties and mighty impressed with us cycling from Land’s End.

Finally into Perth, in the Tay valley, and a hunt for the hotel, as the map Christine had downloaded had the hotel marked in the wrong position, but when we got there it was well worth the hunt. Another one to recommend, The Parklands. Not like last night’s, The Craigbieldtie House in Pencuik, definitely one to avoid. Bottom marks so far of all the places we have stayed. The only one so far with nowhere secure for our bikes. Anyway onwards and upwards-to The Highlands tomorrow!

Day 10 - Canonbie to Penicuik (just south of Edinburgh in case you are wondering!)

Ever northwards, all the while enjoying this great British summer!

The route is available here and the map is below

Actual Day 10

http://www.bikely.com/

Christine was optimistic about the weather having seen the 8 o’clock forecast which predicted that the rain that was falling then would be gone by 12. Come 11 o’clock, with it still raining on and off and with no sign of a let up of the black clouds, her faith in the Met Office was shaken. However, soon after it brightened and the roads started to dry in the strong wind. Faith restored! But, come mid afternoon, the skies darkened again and it kept trying to rain (but, thankfully, not succeeding in any meaningful fashion). Faith squashed!!

After an excellent breakfast at the Crosskeys Hotel (another recommendation if you are in that neck of the woods), the day began with a short, tough climb out of Canonbie to the by-pass which is the A7. Early on a Saturday morning there was not much traffic but progress was slow on what cyclists call a “heavy road”. The combination of wet, a deceptive uphill and the “wrong sort” of tarmac meant the bikes did not roll as they should have.

In Langholm (scene of some sort of horse race that closed the A7 on the previous evening, apparently - very popular as we were unable to get a hotel there when we tried booking) we turned off the main road and started climbing up the Esk valley. Our view was somewhat restricted by the rain and the clouds but what we could see of it was very pretty.

As we climbed we saw the occasional sign to a “Tibetan Centre”. Eventually, near the top, wecame across it. We were sort of expecting a country house with Flower People lounging about and saying "Peace, maaaaan!" Instead there was a Buddha in the middle of a pond, some flags and a building that might have been a temple and nobody about other than a bemused looking German motorcyclist!


Once over the top we had a long freewheel down the other side - lovely! But inevitably, there were more hills to come. Round here they do not seem to be as steep as the Devon and Cornwall hills but they go on for much longer.

We had lunch at an inn in the middle of nowhere - apparently halfway between Edinburgh and Carlisle and also between Glasgow and Newcastle. The barman was a chatty sort and said that they had a lot of End To End cyclists passing throiugh and staying with them. Most people seemed to be aiming for 10-16 days but the quickest were two young lads who were trying to do it in 5 days and spent their third night there. Imagine that! Three days from Land’s End to a place about 30 miles south of Edinburgh! We left feeling slightly inadequate having taken 9½ days to do the same!

This is an unusual kirk that we passed in Traquair close to Scotland‘s oldest inhabited house - apparently visited by 27 kings but not by us as we pressed on.



Out of Peebles, we faced one last climb - thankfully much more gradual than the previous ones and, sooner than we expected, we were swooping down into Penicuik to find the hotel.