Day 15 – arrived at Wick, somewhere I’ve never been.

Hello, and welcome back, I thought it might be safer if I wrote my blog before dinner tonight!!  So here I am.  Sorry if I offended anyone with my ramblings…..you’ll be pleased to know I woke up reash as a daisy!  Even I was a bit surprised.  Tonight we have to go out for dinner and we arrived in about an hour later, so we may not have the same opportunity to get de-mob happy.  Rest assured we’ll make up for it tomorrow after we cross the finish line at John O’Groats.  What an adventure we’ve had – are still having – although Coach says we’re done now, we’re not…quite.  Only 18 miles to go though, so chances are…………………GREAT!

Today we set off from Golspie with a spring in our saddles, knowing that this was the last long ride to do.  The Hotel we stayed at had a helpful sign that stated we had come 777 miles and had 73 to go.    
[Ooh good, internet connection problems….that’s me up ’til 12:00 again 😉 ]
Anyhows, we rode well this morning and with little signs of civilization, we had no distractions.  The scenery as ever was stunning and very soon we saw the North Sea.  Shortly after our first sightings the North Sea oils rigs came into sight and I had to think of Kerrie’s friend and whether or not she’d be on hers today.  I waved just in case….

Sighting the North Sea.

We meandered up the coast for several miles before we hit the final hills of substance of our trip.  They were pink on the scale (steep in places)  and we set into poley poley mode pretty quickly.  The first was long and dragging, but the second was a 13% er that wound up the side of the coast giving us some more beautiful views on the way.  I’ve enjoyed all that Scotland has offered on the scenic front, it’s been so varied too.  Today I enjoyed seeing more of the little farms they have up here with the full complement of cows, sheep, chickens sometimes goats.  We even passed a Llama farm today.  The dry stone walls curl over and around the hilly terrain right down to the sea in places.  The sheep in particular shelter from the wind, tucked up against the stones.  More pictures I’d have liked to have taken.  Up the steep hill the valley turned into woodland with Autumn colours showing through, and a river weaving down the valley.  It was worth a stop for a photo, even if I had to do a hill start after.   Half way up the first hill today we encountered the Caithness sign.  We’ve been trying to capture all the County boundries along the way…though I think I’ve missed a few.  It was always satisfying to know we’d crossed another border safe and sound.  We were looking for a place for a coffe stop after 25 miles or so, and there really wasn’t anything but the odd crofters house/ farmstead.   We have a narrow escape when we turned off the main road to go into a village where we thought there would be a cafe….but turned around when we saw the entry/exit road was 11%.  There was no way we were going to add, voluntarily, a hill like that onto our route.  We found an odd little Spar shop just off the main drag and bought some pies to eat.  Jackie contacted John and he said he was waiting for us with his bike at a hotel 4 miles-ish down the road.  Dutifully we set off, passing two tea shops on the way, to meet him.  When we finally got there he was ready for the off.   We politely (I think) explained (in no uncertain terms) that we would like to stop for a coffee break. 
We had a nice break with a hot drink and food.  Although the weather has been really good for us, it was pretty sunny today,  the wind really zaps you of energy, and it was pretty strong again this afternoon.  So a short break before the final push into Wick was well received.  John then took the lead to blast us into town.  Very good fun on the down slopes, slightly harder work on the up slopes.  Ok, much harder work on the up slopes.  We arrived in Wick in good time to be relaxed over showering and then lounging in the bar before going out to eat at a lovely bistro on the shortest road in the world.  Or so they claim.  A few whiskeys for those who drink the stuff in a bar after, and people were set for bed.  That left me in the hotel lounge area with three giggling waitresses polishing the cutlery for tomorrows meals.  Between them and the loud radio, I hope this all makes sense?!  At least I had wi-fi again. 

Before I leave you I got permission from Alex to air the photo of him last night winding down in Golspie.  Small place, but it has a lot to answer for!  I feel sure tomorrow night we will celebrate too after we get to Inverness for our final night away. 

Alex, trying to unwind - not sure he's quite there yet!

There will be more posts over the next few days as we finish our ride proper – celebrate – arrive back at The White Horse on Monday and celebrate some more. 

Am very excited and a little sad that it is going to be the final day tomorrow.  I look forward to hearing all your comments tomorrow – thank you as always,
night night for now,

Beth xx
ps. I just realized you can see David unwinding too, in the mirror.