Day 7: Inverness to John O'Groats

Wow, what a day. According to my pretty elevation graphs today was meant to be a relatively easy 120 miles. I predicted rolling hills, gaining momentum to easily climb the next uphill; not continuous back-to-back 13% descents down to the coast and back up again!

We started out at Inverness at 8am, running late as usual, and headed over the Moray Firth. Our outstanding run of sun and blue skies stumbled today by introducing a few clouds into the equation, not that we can possibly complain, but the views across the Cromarty Firth still looked amazing (shipping forecast anyone?).

After our thirty mile break we encountered our first dose of light rain, which can only be attributed to why we rode straight past the Glenmorangie distillery. Fortunately the rain stopped but the cold northernly wind was still battering our already battered bodies. Heading further up the coast we took in the scenic Helmsdale, with its 13% downhill where Greg broke another spoke at 46mph on a 90-degree bend, and rode through the many 'ghost towns' of the north shore. The final stint toyed with us with many false summits and a long long climb, which was hardly necessary after 835 miles, then dropped us down through the bleak countryside into the heady heights of John O'Groats, where our outstandingly supportive support driver and chef Wendie met us with a bottle of Champagne!

Final stats: 846 miles; average speed of 16.3 mph; total riding time of 52h 5m 10s.

Epilogues to follow after these beers have been drunk and we get home to a real internet connection! Thanks for reading, you've been a lovely audience.