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| Dunnet Head: the most northerly point on mainland Britain with the Orkney Islands behind |
Everyone agreed that today was the best ride of the tour, fantastic scenery, great weather and great cycling country.
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| the Team having dinner at the Ben Loyal Hotel, Tongue last night |
The photos below show what a great day cycling we had. The first 25 miles was the hilliest we have experienced: we think the stretch from Tongue to Melvich was as severe as anything that Devon and Cornwall could offer, but the scenery was fantastic: views of Ben Hope, Arkle, Foinaven and the other mountains in the far north of Scotland.
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| cycling along the Kyle of Tongue: look at the weather! |
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| along the northern coast of Scotland |
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| climbing up yet another hill......... |
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| we're getting closer!!!! |
After Melvich, the hills relented and we cycled past Dounreay Nuclear Power station and the northern town of Thurso. We had far reaching views of the Orkney Isles and cycled past the deserted island of Stromsa with the forlorn derelict homes clearly on view.
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| a welcome rest on top of one of many hills today |
We eventually stopped cycling today after 49 miles with just 15 miles to go to John O Groats. We could have finished this evening, but we all felt that it would be fitting for us to cycle to ’Journey’s End’ tomorrow morning.
Tommy's Best and Worst Bits of the Tour
The best bits
· Buying Nessie at Loch Ness YH!
· The kind donations to charity I received from complete strangers on Arran, in Oban and Invershin
· To come tommorrow: going through the Finish Line at John O Groats!
The worst bits
- Nearly getting run over by a tourist coach by Loch Ness
- Seeing my mum falling off her bike
Things we can now reveal about readers of our Blog
The blog we have set up allows us to not only see how many ‘hits’ we have had, but where the hits are coming from! Unsurprisingly, the UK is the source of the largest number of hits, but you might be surprised at the other countries!
United Kingdom
Canada
Taiwan
Germany
Spain
Alaska
United States
Well done to you all. the scenery looks wonderful. So glad the rain stopped for you. Thomas will have lots of stories to tell when he gets back. Congrats must also go to Pauline for keeping the wagon rolling and belly's fed and washing done. Look forward to hearing all your news.
ReplyDeleteChris and Mick
Tommy. I guess by now you have made it....WELL DONE. You (and your Mum and Dad) have achieved a completely brilliant feat. What we want to know is - how are you getting home - cycling? Do you have time to see JT before you go off for a very well deserved rest in Spain? If you do - call us - we'd love to see you, even just for a minute or two to see if you look the same after cycling so far. WELL DONE AGAIN, AND AGAIN AND AGAIN.....K J AND E x
ReplyDeleteChris and Mick
ReplyDeleteTommy will have endless tales to tell! The back up lady performed an excellent job we could not have achieved it without her. See you soon.