Day 12 LEJOG Thurso to John O Groats

Today was the big day and the end of the long journey which had started in Lands End 11 days ago.

After breakfast(porridge,full English and 2 slices of toast with marmalade) we set off at745am. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that nice. It was drizzling and cold.

As we only had 28m to cycle to John O Groats some of us decided to go to Dunnet Head which is the most northern point of the British mainland.
The wind was coming from the west and this made our short bike journey even easier.The 4 mile detour to Dunnet head however was into (side)wind and mostly uphill.

Tony had set off a bit earlier and he came whizzing and woohoo-ing down Dunnet Head as we were on our way up battling the elements. There was nobody to be seen when we reached Dunnet Head.Soon after the fast boys arrived and we quickly helped eachother to shoot a few photos and were on our way again.

It was now only 16 more miles to John O Groats and with the favourable wind we got there in no time. We stopped at the local hotel as agreed with DA staff and as we entered we were cheered by the crowd who had not done Dunnet Head and who were already there.

There was another 45min untill we would all together go to the finish line so we had a coffee and a small whiskey(a lovely malt of the day) to warm ourselves up.

Once everybody had arrived and the time had come to go to the finish line the bad weather had cleared and the sun had come out just as it had done in Lands End.How lucky were we!
We all went in one big peloton down the road to the finish line and there it finally was, the finish line and the white post.
We all went under the DA banner across the finish line and everybody gathered around the post cheering and clapping.The air was filled with joy and happiness and some of us shed 1 or 2 tears.

We exchanged hugs and congratulated eachother with our enormous achievement and soon the champagne was flowing.
After personal and group photos were taken Phillip and I cycled to the edge of town to take a few photos at the John O Groats road sign. 

We changed into some more comfortable clothing and waited in the local coffee shop for the bus to arrive which was going to take us back to Inverness.

After a 3hr bus ride we arrived at our Hotel in Inverness and Phillip and I spent the afternoon cleaning and wrapping up our bikes. A good friend of Phillip happened to be in Inverness with his campervan and he would take our bikes to Lutterworth where he lives.

And so came an end to my LEJOG which has been an amazing and memorable journey and exceeded all my expectations. And for anybody who has the chance to do LEJOG I would say go and do it and raise some mony for a charity as the whole journey is a one in a lifetime experience which one will never forget and cherish forever.

Today:distance 27.34m,moving time 1hr44min,avg speed 15.8mph,max speed 31.9mph, elevation 978ft
Total distance 982m,total moving time 67hr04min,total elevation 40628ft (everest is 29029ft),    total pedal strokes 239493