Day 14 – wind’s still keen.

 Hi all, and thank you for the comments and support as ever.  We have finished day 14, only 1 and a 1/2 to go – hurrah!  I think we got into de-mob mode a little early tonight, so excuse me if this post meanders a bit in it’s content!  It’s 10:26 pm, the others have gone to bed and I’m left in the hotel’s front lounge, where the wi-fi signal works!!  We had a great ride today, making good progress to our lunch stop 32-ish miles into the ride at a nice town the name of which escapes me.  It may be the time-lag, it may be the alcohol consumed tonight.  Which ever the details of todays exploits may be a little less than totally acurate.  As I say, the miles covered were efficiant today, so we were well on target at lunch time to beat even our half days times.  We stopped for few photo ops, and only one coffee stop.

 I think this sign speaks for it’s self.  We are now making headway up, North (as all the signs helpfully tell us) toward John O’Groats.  There was a sign early in the day, which said John O’Groats 104 (I think) miles.  Woo hoo we’re nearly there!  We even had a momentary relapse and thought we’d just go ahead and do it all today.  
Woah, there….lets not get too hasty!  All will become clear. 

The scenery today was varied, mostly light industrial, but some agricultural, and some nice photo ops.  Not that we got that many today, it seems we are on a mission – imagine that!  Something about getting to the top end of Scotland, crazy eh?
Hey ho, took a few piccys along the way to amuse you.
                                                                              

Oil rig. The scenery changed from the vast highlands and the forested Lochs, to more flat, agricultural/light industrial along the way. There were two or three oil rigs as we got into sea-scapes. No where near (I don't think) the Firth of Fourth where Dad's final project was with Shell building an oil refinery....Hey ho, it was big at the time. The Queen opened it and all!So today we had a short stop for coffee around 20 miles in and the onward to a lunch stop around 32 miles. It was a quaint town, the name of which escapes me at the mo, and after Jackie had gone down and come up the hill to check out another venue, we stopped in ~The Sunflower Cafe. Jackie, seeking out a rest stop.

Perfect for a snack and a drink.  Great Coach John met us there on his bike – och-oh, we knew what that meant…. 

No slacking on the home-bound leg!!    We set off at a lick toward Golspie, our stop for night 15, with John in the lead.  I stayed up with him and Jackie, taking advantage of the drafting in the wind.  It was strong again this afternoon and I was grateful for the wake….unfortunately I lost it at one point, and unless you’re of ironman potential (which I’m clearly not) it is near impossible to get back in touch.  I was between John and Jackie, with a good lead, and Alex and David after a pee stop…didn’t stand a chance really.  Or I broke down, if David was correct, not keeping in touch with the front group, if John was right…or clearly – as I saw it – oh, I’ve forgotten the technical term now….oh, that’s it CBA.    Anyhow, it was all hard work in the wind, but we all grouped together by the the start of Golspie and ended up at this lovely place at around 2:30 pm.  Perfect!  Thanks John for taking another 1/2 hour off our days ride, and finding this lovely place and the perfect room for me in the attic.  Is’nt that where they normally hide the difficult Princess’s??  We had a fun-filled aftenoon/evening of drink, fine dining and more drink. 

  Thanks coach!!  I’ll be well bolloxed now for tomorrows sprint for Wick!!!   I know, I just don’t no when to say ‘no’ to that last drink of the evening. It’s my own, crazy fault!   Thank goodness everyone else went to bed soon after 10:00!  I was going to put a picture of Alex with his fine malt whiskey in here, but I really ought to get permission………………..I will put in a fine picture Alex took yesterday- Oh, ok computer’s not playing fair.  I’ll not be putting in any more pictures, and it’s sorted my text in an odd fashion.  Computers eh?  Who’d have ’em? 

I’m looking forward to our last big day’s ride of over 50-ish miles, then about 18 on the last day.  We’ve had a tremendous two weeks, full of excitment, fabulous views, crazy drivers, more fantastic scenery and a lot of team support.   I’d better get some sleep now….I’ll not be able to keep up again, and be called all sorts of  things in the day’s de-brief!!  

I do hope those at home have got back online for tomorrow and will give us a big cheer for the last push….nearly there, but not quite….

take care, looking forward to hearing from you all,

Beth xx
ps. Oh good, in bed by midnight again 😉 xx

pps.  I’ll try and get some more exciting photos for you tomorrow 😉