Final Destination
The day started with some hilly climbs out of Bettyhill, but nothing we couldn't handle by now. The end prize was now within reach, and this numbed the pain somewhat.
The roads led us to Thurso, where some cruel members of the team planted the idea of doing an extra 12-mile detour in to my head. It was to bring us up to Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of mainland Britain. And so it did..
We then did some back-tracking and continued our journey towards John o'Groats, the most northerly village on the mainland. The adrenaline started kicking in and everyone was going at a fantastic speed. Barney and I managed a decent 17mph run for a good while but he left me in the dust as we got closer.
At last, we arrived at our hotel for the night and got ourselves checked in. We then made the final three quarters of a mile's journey to the official John o'Groats sign post, where Chris popped open some well-deserved bottles of champagne. Some photos later, and back to the hotel it was..
Truth be told, it was an odd feeling to realise that that was it. The end of the road - the finish line. I stood still there myself in disbelief, wondering if I'd actually done it. And I did.. we all did!
The atmosphere at the dinner table was clearly different last night. As usual, after the main course, Chris stood up and started off with his "Tomorrow, tomorrow.." that we'd grown so familiar with during his nightly briefings.
"Tomorrow.. you won't have to cycle anymore."
It rained that night. (Welcome to Scotland.) Miraculously, we'd managed to avoid any real rain throughout the entire tour - the best he's ever had in September, he says.
We woke up this morning and put our "normal people" clothes on - again, such a strange feeling after wearing lycra day-in, day-out. Our bikes and luggage were loaded up on to the coach, followed by some farewells and thanks to Chris.
As rain fell, the coach brought us through some familiar paths once again - the last being the Kessock Bridge to Inverness. Funny how different things look from inside a vehicle. (Probably why I got such a bad bout of motion-sickness)
A couple of us went back to the Velocity Cafe, mainly for the good food, but also for old time's sake.
When it was time to leave on our respective trains, we said our final goodbyes and headed off. I spent most of the train journey revisiting the thoughts of what life was going to be like now.
This time last year, I entertained the insane idea of cycling Great Britain in its entirety from its south-western point, to the north-eastern. Yesterday, this dream became reality..
The only problem with doing something so amazing, absolutely beyond-belief, is that you don't know if you'll ever get to feel the same way again..
What's next?
I'll keep chasing those dreams..
1032 miles, 19 days, 2 wheels.
More pics to follow.
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