Land’s End to John O’Groats – Day 20

June 2, 2024

Ride Stats:
https://cyclemeter.com/8c43cf9d11bd7f12/Cycle-20240602-0847-87138

I was once again happy to wake up to a dry tent fly…and stoked as this was the last day on this ride, and very much looking forward to getting to John O’Groats!
Given that the distance was less than the usual for each day on this ride, and that the forecast told me I’d have a tailwind all day, I hung around camp a bit longer…enjoying a unprecedented 3rd cup of coffee…and wasn’t off until almost 9.
With the wind being my friend, the ride west was quite easy.
I was surprised that there weren’t more forested areas along the coast, but given it’s all sheep farms and small towns…and probably battered mutchly by the weather coming from the North Sea, it kinda made sense…but it wouldn’t matter that there was no cover on that day.
The ride was a long, gentle roller coaster when I was away from the coast, but almost always had a view of the sea and the cliffs and Orkney Islands off in the distance.
The main highway across the top of Scotland is the A836…which I followed for a while after leaving Melvich, however it got quite busy as the morning wore on, so I split off onto some secondary roads that were much quieter…and as such, were higher on the land and as such provided better views to the north.
I was hoping for a second breakfast in Thurso, however as it was a Sunday morning, almost nothing was open….except for the Tesco and its cafe, where I availed myself of more coffee and baked goods.
Further along, the ride into Castletown and around Dunnet Beach was quite nice, with views of rollers breaking on the beach and the cliffs of Dunnet Head always in view as I rode by. I also reluctantly rejoined A836 out of Castletown.
The last section of the route ventured inland for 10km’s or so, with the sea coming back into view as I was approaching John O’Groats (JOG)….and if the road signs indicating JOG was near wasn’t enough, the increase in RV’s, caravans and touring motorcyclists certainly was.
I made the last left turn off of A836, onto A99, and headed towards the sea for another kilometre before finally arriving in JOG….and continued along right to the famous signpost indicating I had arrived at JOG, and the end of the journey.
I waited as a large group of enthusiastic motorcyclists took turn taking each other’s pictures by the sign, then asked one of them if they could take my picture…which they kindly did…and that was it, trip done…and with it, a sense of ease as I made my way to the JOG Caravan and Camping site.
I setup camp at a corner of the large field, beside some bushes that I hoped would give me cover from the persistent winds from the northeast and went about being just another one of the many tourists milling about at JOG; visiting gift shops, having fish and chips at the Cafe Groats and then doing a walking tour of the town.
After returning to my camp and finishing business for the day, the wind had increased and as such, my tent was flapping like crazy. Although the tent could easily withstand the thrashing about of 40km/h+ winds, I knew that I would not get much rest, so I relocated to the leeward side of the campground facilities building to get more cover from the winds…and although it looked rather odd to the passers by, it worked out quite well.
After my monologue, I continued to think much about how I wished that Nigel was camped there as well…and how it would have been awesome to finish this ride together…but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be (largely because I had book ended myself by booking a return flight and Nigel had some issues he also needed to attend to…more on that in a wrap-up video I will produce…).
I fell asleep thinking about the next challenge on this ride; the 30km ride into strong headwinds back to Thurso for an overnight, then catching the series of trains beginning at 7am (that I didn’t have a bike reservation on…) for the 14 hour day back to just south of London…then connecting with my wonderful Warmshowers hosts in Bolney, getting out for the day trip to London and finally getting back to Toronto…not to mention the 350km ride home from the airport…

I had a wonderful time on this ride.
It was exactly as I had hoped it would be; riding day after day through rural England, Wales and Scotland and experiencing the culture and society at that level without getting bogged down in big cities (for the most part) and concentrating on all the “touristy” things that there is to offer.
I absolutely loved the diversity that the UK provided…I will be back for sure!

Thanks for coming along with me on this ride…I know that it must have been a challenge, especially from the time Nigel and I parted ways and my microphone stopped working. I can honestly say that it was also a challenge for me in the editing process.
I hope you enjoyed the experience!
Cheers!