5 Oct: Day 12 Thurso to John O'Groats

Final leg this morning.
28 miles on gently undulating terrain from Thurso to John O'Groats via Dunnet Head. After so many miles in the previous days, this felt almost like a training ride, with coffee and cake at the end  (instead of 1/3 through the ride)

Dunnet Head (rather than John O'Groats) is the furthest point north in the UK mainland (Orkney is further north and is in the distance in the next photo). As you can see the landscape is fairly flat and very windswept. There are hardly any trees up here either but the sky can be beautiful in a remote, desolate, grey/bluey sort of way.

We had a nostalgic early morning departure, in the cold morning air and all cycled together into the weak sunrise, taking photos as we rode along. Surprisingly, both Caithness and Sutherland regions appear to have only just harvested hay/corn.
Sutherland is most famous for its highland clearances in the 1811-30 - evicting people for sheep farming, sometimes in a brutal way.
Checkout: http://www.highlandclearances.co.uk/clearances/clearances_sutherlandclearances.htm

We cycled along the top northern coast of the Uk, spotting sand dunes, huge rip tides and more places for sale with development potential. We still prefer a warmer climate! Even so, we were once again lucky as we had yet another mild (12-14 C) autumnal morning - with no rain!

Given all the likely photo opportunities Sarah wore her Bianchi matching outfit. Sarah was speeding past Jo (again!) in the shot above

We all descended on John O'Groats at 11 am for the end of the ride. There was practically no one else there.

We both felt enormously happy to reach the end but also sad in a way after so much training, nerves and anticipation. Our legs and butts need a rest.
Below is a photo we are going to send to the charity (I CAN) that you have all so generously supported.

Today's route:

Final stats for the whole trip:
1078 miles, 69 hours 24 minutes in the saddle, 14367 metres of ascent.

Our final blog for LEJOG will be in a few days when we will summarise what we have learnt, for the benefit of anyone else who ever cares to attempt Land's End to John O'Groats or a similar trip.