Next we checked out of the Bannockburn Inn and headed into Helmsdale to find breakfast. Unfortunately everything was closed so we got sandwiches and fruit from the Spar shop and ate on a park bench.
We started our ride to John O'Groats via Wick, where we stopped for a proper breakfast at the Bridge Street Cafe.
The weather was not as bad as forecast, no rain but the mist from the sea meant we only had about 50 meters visibility. At some points the 55 mile route felt like cycling on a turbo trainer in a room with white walls and dark grey carpet.
As we descended into John O'Groats we were both overwhelmed with relief. It had been an epic 10 days of cycling but a battle physically and mentally.
The ride was a total of 968 miles, with 51,000 ft of climbing, the equivalent to climbing Ben Nevis more than 11.5 times from sea level.
After uploading our final activity to Strava we placed 55th and 56th out of 240,183 users worldwide who have signed up for July monthly cycling distance challenge. I don't think we will be topping that any time soon.
Months went into planning the routes, travel and accommodation but also training to get us to a level where we hoped to be capable of completing the ride.
The urge to quit and get a train home was definitely there at times but we powered on to get the job done. The sponsorship we raised for Wessex Cancer Trust is the real reward but our sense of personal accomplishment and the memories we made on the journey will be with us forever
Absolutely incredible! Well done both of you
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