1010 Miles / 1625 km
Well… Last night might have been the worst night of sleep I’ve had on this trip. I have no idea why, I had a quiet house/room, a comfy bed and a cosy warm room. My body was restless and my mind was racing. I had terrible anxiety last night. I guess you don’t get to chose when anxiety hits. Well last night it hit me hard, and I’ve been trying to process it all day.
Thankfully I had a great ride today, although it feels like a bit of a blur. My legs had power in them today, which I was extremely thankful for! 36 miles and easier hills today meant for a nice day of riding. The weather was okay, double the degrees than yesterday, so we were looking at a ‘warm’ 12 degrees! The rain clouds were looming though, and I was not wanting to get wet today, so I think some of my motivation today came from wanting to beat the rain… and BAM I did!
36 Miles went by quick, my mind was pretty busy throughout the whole bike ride, and thankfully clearer when I’d finished the ride today. I have really been hitting my mental and physical wall the last couple of days. I never imagined it would be the end that I’d hit it the hardest. But we really are on the final countdown now!
Leaving Tain and crossing the Dornoch Firth Bridge (hello side wind!!) I see a mile sign for the next few towns and there at the bottom was John O Groats…. 85 miles. Ahh I couldn’t believe it was so close. I knew by the end of the day I would be just be 55 miles from there.
The constant mile signs kept me going, and I made surprisingly good time on the bike. I stopped twice, once to pee and once to take a photo but otherwise stayed on the bike and powered through the 36 miles. The wind was behind me and a little strong which helped with the hills. The ride was mostly along the Moray Firth, which was beautiful. Seeing the Mountain of the Cairngorms and the Black Isles in the distance was amazing!
Hitting West Helmsdale at 1.30pm, I was so happy to be there early and get to relax for an afternoon. I headed into town for food and then up ‘the hill’ to the bunkhouse i was staying in. WOW…. What a hill. I mean it may as well have been vertical. Felt like it anyway. luckily only about a third of a mile of pushing my bike up and I was there.
A 4 bed dorm bunkhouse (brand new) was waiting for me and I was the only person staying. It was fantastic. And there were two dogs here. I was in heaven! I showered, ate lunch and passed out for a couple of hours. I definitely needed that nap. I woke up to two dogs scratching on the door… they were not so patiently waiting to greet me! So I spend some time outside in the yard with them as the sun is going down. A chilled relaxed evening, preparing myself for the ride tomorrow and finally having a chance to sew Lionel’s new patch on him. I only took one photo today, so I guess its left to Lionel to take the spot light.. Here he is with his Ben Nevis patch!
We are ready to do the final ride tomorrow (I say final but we still have to bike some Thursday to get to train station) Its been 22 days of the journey but tomorrow is about the destination. We are coming for you John O Groats!
