After the last few days, I had a mental picture of standing at John o'Groats in the pouring rain and howling wind, unable to see more than 3 feet in front of me.
Imagine my delight to open the curtains today to sunshine. Even better, the weather forecast was for an 18mph westerly wind. We set off and went first to Dunnet Head- the northernmost point of the mainland. It seemed like a long time since we stood at Lizard point, away in the distant south. There were fantastic views of the Orkney islands and of the cliffs. Sea birds were playing on the updrafts, gracefully riding the air currents with the smallest movement of their wings.
The ride along to John o'Groats was ludicrously easy. With the wind at my back, I hardly needed to pedal. Soon we were there- the end of the journey. We had a celebratory hot chocolate and watched as a stream of motorcyclists turned up. There were also a couple of other cyclists, but the non-motorised two wheelers were very much in the minority.
We still had to get back to Thurso and that tail wind that had helped going was now a strong headwind. We cycled to the castle of Mey for a fortifying tea and scone. Headwinds and rain showers made sure that we worked for every mile back.
That's it for today. I'm sitting in the hotel with a pint of amber liquid in front of me, so my motivation to blog is likely to go down with the level in the glass.
Tomorrow's a day off and Monday is the train journey south. I'll post blog entries at least for those two days with some thoughts and reflections on the trip but until then... sláinte mhath!
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