Woke up at around 4.30 and for the first time so far in the trip the sun wasn't shining - it was a misty start to the day. This made getting up and leaving even more of a chore than normal and didn't relish the prospect of having to cycle in the damp mist. I turned on Radio 1 on the freeview box with the tv and listened to this whilst eating breakfast/looking at maps/packing my bag. After getting ready i felt too tired to leave so decided to have a 10 minute snooze at around 6am. I then woke up suddenly to the Chris Moyles opening music for the start of his show at 6.30. I felt a little more awake now and managed to get going by 6.55. The first section of the day remained misty and cold (the mist was blowing over from Loch Ness that I was riding alongside). Still I guess it wouldn't have been a true reflection of Scotland to have hot sunny weather everyday. I prioritised not stopping even more now as I was just about warm enough without having to put on my jacket and I knew if I stopped I would be cold within 5 minutes or less. Anyway I churned out this first section of the day telling myself that I'd treat myself to a hot chocolate and scrambled egg on toast when I got to Inverness. However when I got to Inverness I decided to stay on the A9 (which would take me all the way up to Thurso) and not waste time looking for a cafe in the city centre. Inverness was then behind me and I was onto a very busy stretch of the A9. There were no petrol stations or shops shortly after Inverness so I had to settle for putting my jacket on and having half a cheese sandwich, crisps and mars bar on a bench at the side of the A9. This actually didn't turn out bad as it was time-saving as I wanted to get going before getting too cold and didn't have to waste time looking for somewhere to get food. So I set off around 15 minutes later with my jacket still on feeling better having eaten and knowing that I knew I should be able to make Thurso comfortably today (around 110 or 115 miles to go and it was before 10am. 10 minutes later after a small incline the jacket was back off and into the bag. The temperature was rising slowly and the mist was easing which was a relief. I reached my half way destination of Tain by around 12.15 (I was doing well for time) so decided to take the mile or 2 detour into town to find a cafe to get that hot chocolate and scrambled egg on toast that I'd wanted earlier. I found a decent cafe easily enough and got my hot chocolate and scrambled egg on toast which was lovely. Thankfully there was a Co-op next to the cafe so I stocked up with more water, more mars bars and some jam donuts, a banana and a bottle of Lucozade for later. I was on my was again at about 1pm and by about 2pm the mist had completely cleared and once again it was another gorgeous hot and sunny day. The scenery improved with the weather as the stretch of A9 between Golspie and Helsdale especially was pretty special with miles of glorious deserted sandy beaches and little traffic with only a few houses dotted around. After Helmsdale The scenery remained great but I was expecting to see the A9 going inland towards Thurso but this did not seem to happen for a long time (probably due to this being a rather hilly section of the route so progress was slow). After somewhere between 115 and 120 miles and after another long climb I needed to stop so sat on the grass at the side of the road and had my donuts, banana and lucozade whilst looking at the maps. I was doing well for time (i think it was around 5pm) and I realised that if I made it to Wick in an hour (around 20 miles away) I would have enough time to make John O Groats and then to Thurso by no later than 10pm. Game on. So I set off as fast as I could towards Wick and made it there by around 6pm, found out that it was less than 20 miles to John O Groats and another 22 miles to Thurso (should be well within what I am capable of) and had a quick pastry and downed a Lucozade in about 5 minutes before leaving on the last push to John O Groats. This section offered some of the best/fastest riding of the whole trip with long, flat and smooth stretches and just a few small hills. I made it to John O Groats by around 8.30 and went down to the seafront in search of the sign. There was a sign fixed to a harbour wall (the other 'official' sign had been taken down for the day and would not be put back until the following morning) so I found an older couple who congratulated me on completing the ride in 6 days and informed me that there was a very old woman (I can't remember her exact age but think it was between 85 and 90) who had just finished walking here from Lands End since starting in March - amazing. They were more than happy to take a good few photos with me and the bike next to the sign. After the photos I had a below par apple turnover I'd bought back in Wick before heading off to find my hotel in Thurso. It was another great fast paced section flat smooth section of road and was comfortably able to achieve an average speed of 20 mph so I didn't have to push myself too much to get to my hotel in Thurso by 9.45ish. I checked in, dumped my stuff and had a quick shower before heading into town in search of food (the hotel as all hotels seem to do in Scotland stopped serving food at 9pm). I had to settle for Battered sausage and chips from a fish and chip shop as all the restaurants had also shut in town. I walked back at what must have been about 11pm and it still wasn't properly dark!!! Anyway got back and went to bed setting my alarm for 6am (a lie in compared to the previous 5 days) and went to sleep feeling relieved that the cycling ordeal was as good as over and looking forward to my full Scottish Breakfast in the morning.
Reviews
Food: (cafe in Tain) 8/10 - great quality tasty food and good value but miserable waitress.
(fish and chip shop in Thurso) 7.5/10 - food decent, not too expensive, took a little while to s serve, portion not very big but free ketchup which you don't always get in chip shops
Hotel: The Weigh Inn Lodge (Thurso) 10/10 - friendly service, was allowed to take bike in room, great value, free biscuits in room, nice enough room, amazing breakfast in morning.
Lessons Learned
If you need a snooze in the morning set the alarm again (I could have slept in much later - pure luck that I woke up when I did).
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