Sharing a marmalade sandwich with Paddington ... who somehow arrived at JoG before we did.
They then joined us as we finished ...
creating a fitting end for their and our journeys from LE to JoG!
BUT
Let us not forget that the journey started at Lizard Point and ended at Dunnet Head ...
We would like to thank John Lund of Fife, Scotland for the artwork by integrating Moose and Mouse into our journey.
All Moose and Mouse images are © John Lund and Biophys Ltd.
It all started with:
We wanted to cycle from the Southernmost and Northernmost points on mainland UK, via Land’s End to John O’Groats. When we mentioned this to Arlene, she took maybe 5 seconds before she decided that she was coming too.
And thus started months of planning, even more months of training, all in aid of getting Michael across the UK.
And we did it!
Land's End to John o' Groats in 11 Days!
The downhill to Inverness was so welcome and exciting, that Moose and Mouse nearly forgot Bubbles their cat after a road side stop for munchies.
And finally they rolled down the hill to the 0vernight stop having conquered the Strath Vagastie on the very narrow A836.
And just like that this afternoon, we found ourselves in the laid-back and quaint town of John O'Groats. It seems like it was another life 11 days and 989 miles ago where we stood under a very similar-looking sign in Land's End at the beginning of our End-to-End cycling adventure.
Today was our last day of long cycling (a very short day planned to get to Dunnet Head, tomorrow). It took us the length of Loch Naver and along the River Naver to Betty Hill on the coast, then a sharp right and West towards John o' Groats for the rest of the day.
We braved swarms of midgies, got drenched (again) in a rainstorm, wished that we had superpowers to make the howling and freezing headwind go away and climbed 1135m of elevation before arriving in John O'Groats this afternoon. A warm coffee shop in Thurso and some beautiful views of the Orkney Islands on the horizon helped to keep us smiling.
None of this trip would have been possible without Bruce, our indefatigable support crew. Huge thanks and absolute respect to him for the long hours of driving, loading bicycles and kit, creative problem-solving and keeping a step ahead of tired cyclists.
Looking forward to standing at the northernmost point of the UK tomorrow!
Rain could not stop Moose and Mouse's enthusiasm as they were well prepared for the weather.
And once the rain had stopped they climbed into the highlands and were last spotted passing Slochd Summit on their way to Inverness.
What we did not anticipate were the A9 roadworks just after we started. which detoured us for at least 5km on gravel paths. But once these had been conquered the promised downhill to Inverness was very welcome indeed.
As we entered Inverness, we rode straight through the UHI Inverness campus - campus to campus in 2 days 😁.
Shortly after UHI Inverness, we encountered a further detour across the Kessock Bridge however that was easily overcome and we started our ride across the Black Isle.
This route however meant that we had to miss our rendezvous with Nessie - we'll have to come back to do that.
We quickly reached Dingwall where we stopped for coffee at the Highland Farm Cafe. Here we encountered another group doing LEJoG, albeit over 22 days ... twice the time of our ride. And all of them on e-bikes.
crossed the Bonar Bridge, and finally turned North onto the A836 which goes up the Strath Vagastie to our overnight stop.
As we slowly made our way towards Perth and the ASW, Moose and Mouse decided to use the great weather to have a picnic. Michael thinks that he would much rather have joined them as they were eating his favourite biscuits ... Baker's Lemon Creams from South Africa.
However, the intrepid pair soon got back on their bicycles and met us in Dalguise.
