AshWarP: LEJOG (End to End) Ride Done - Going Home

Travelling Home from Wick

The LEJOG (End to End) ride completed the night before, it was a strange feeling to be no making plans for setting off to ride our bikes long distances whilst we consumed breakfast.  We figured we still needed to help our bodies to rebuild after the big effort of the last 9 days, so we tucked into yet another big cooked breakfast.  We had been staying in the Norseman Hotel (www.norsemanhotelwick.co.uk) in Wick and there breakfast offering was ample, in a running buffet style, so it seemed rude not to eat heartily.

With the important task of nourishment out of the way, it was just a case of rounding up the gear, which was luckily all dry this time after using the bin liners in the pannier bags.  Packed up and ready to leave and ready to check out of the hotel we decided to have a wander around town and, smart phones in hand, see what options we had for the journey home.  Unlike the car hire to Penzance prior to our departure, we hadn’t decided how we would get home.  We both obviously needed to get home, but with it being a Friday the immediate pressure was off.  Other than the wedding Paul’s was going to attend on the Sunday, we didn’t need to rush home for anything on the weekend (apart from meeting back up with the WAGs).

The Spot in Wick  - Looks Like Just a Toy Shop

We visited the train station in Wick and had a look at our options.  The lady working there was extremely helpful and looked into everything for us.  She even looked at what was going to work best for us, considering we had the bikes, from both a cost and timing point of view.  She seemed to be struggling to get a guaranteed connection at Inverness that would have room for us to put the bikes on.  She suggested us seeking an alternative way of getting the bikes home separately and then our train options would be better.  That sounded like a good plan.  The lady recommend a local toy shop/bike shop that often offered a courier service for the bikes.  Obviously, being one of the larger towns in the area and with a number of accommodation options, Wick seemed to a common place for people riding their cycles End to End to stay.  From that point of view, the locals were all used to seeing cycling tourists and offering them services, help and advice.

We head of to the recommended shop.  It was called “The Spot” and did a large range of toys, models and games along with a range of everyday family cycles.  The man in the shop (Brian) suggested he could do each bike for £50 (fifty pounds), which included both the packing up and shipping of the bike directly to our doors.  We figured that we would need the bikes for a few days when we got home, and tot be fair we both have other bikes if needed, so letting somebody else take care of getting them home seemed like a great idea.  It’s one thing taking the wheels off and putting them in the back of a car, it’s another thing altogether rushing between connecting trains etc. with a bike in tow.  That bit sorted, we head off back to the train station to sort out our tickets and route home before getting the bikes back to the shop, so that Brian could organise the shipping for us.

On the way back to the train station, Paul suggested we look at splitting our journey between the train and bus an the journey home.  We hadn’t got a final price, but the cost of getting home on the train had been stacking up and considering that we’d already parted with fifty quid to remove the hassle of travelling on public transport with bikes, we needed to consider the cost.  Now that we were on foot and travelling with just our pannier luggage our options did open up a bit.  Paul had a look at the Megabus web site on his phone and reckoned that we could pick one up at Inverness and then get back to Preston (we have a big bus station there - was once the largest terminal in Europe, I think) with perhaps one or two changes on the way.  This seemed like a reasonable plan and would definitely save us a few quid compared to making the entire journey by train.  It probably wasn’t going to be a quick and would involve a bit more stopping, but at least we’d be sat down all the way and could rest a bit as we travelled.  We booked the mega bus online and then went back to the train station to sort out the train from Wick to Inverness.

The bikes dropped off with Brian, the travel arrangements sorted and checked out of the hotel, we set off the get on the train.  It wasn’t going to be too far to the first stop in Inverness and we were going to have a reasonable stop there to wait for the connection with the mega bus.  We picked up supplies at the local co-op and got on our way.  The train journey was fairly pleasant.  The train was pretty quiet and the scenery out of the window was good, but not spectacular.  It was a dry, but not overly bright day at this point and it was interesting to pass through a good number of the towns and villages we’d cycled through the day before.

Once in Inverness the weather had taken a turn for the worse.  We had a bit of time to kill, so we stocked up on more supplies, from another co-op, for the rest of the bus ride into the night and grabbed some reading materials (cycling magazines) to read whilst we were on the move.  However, the supplies this time did include a few cans of the local beer.  As we were walking around the rain was coming into my leaky trainer again.  Now that carrying things wasn’t as much of a problem, I set off to investigate what I could purchase as an alternative, more suitable footwear, in the local shops.  We got settled in another Wetherspoon’s first and it set off alone for a bit to explore.  Fortunately, I discovered the local Sports Direct and was soon in position of a nice pair of ’cut-priced’ Karrimor walking boots.  I returned to the Wetherspoon’s pub to meet up with Paul, had a few beers and dined out of burger and chips again.

We departed from the pub and had small wait outdoors to get on the appropriate Megabus.  I can’t remember too much about the journey on the bus, other than the early scenery.  I suppose because a lot of it was in darkness later on, as I don’t think we got back to Preston until something like three or four in the morning.  We did travel along the A9, which a totally different route to the one we’d cycled and that did afford us nice views of the Cairngorms into the early evening until dusk.  We had a change quite early on at Avimore (I think) and then a bit of a stop on the outskirts of Perth at Broxden Park and Ride.  Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed the alcohol on the bus, so we’d had to stash that in the hold with the luggage!  By the next stop at Glasgow, it was quite late at night and completely dark, so it was a case of trying to rest as much as we could and keep our lift from Preston informed (my girlfriend Rachel) as to how we were progressing.  I can never sleep properly sat upright on public transport.  I do doze a bit, but always feel worse when I wake up.  We were totally shattered at the end of the journey, and it was a great relief and pleasure to see Rachel in the bus station car par in Preston.

Our adventure over Paul and I parted ways at his home on the way back to mine.  It was great to be back, but it was a real anti-climax to be not thinking about were we would next be cycling to.  Oh well, maybe next year we can do something similar?

LEJOG (End to End) Day 9 - To John O'Groats

Leg 9 - Strathpeffer to John O' Groats

We awoke to another dry morning.  A little overcast and a bit cool, but not freezing and not wet, so almost ideal for the last leg.  Looking back and learning that April had been the wettest on record in the UK since records began made us feel even more lucky that we’d been relatively dry, other than a few hours at the end of the day twice.  We’d never needed to set out into heavy rain, which would have been totally demoralising and we’d not encountered any floods like had been seen in many parts of the country.

We tucked into another hearty breakfast and that included the local speciality of porridge again.  We got all the stuff together, which now pretty much dry and commenced packing it into our pannier bags now lined with the black bin liners.  We had a brief spell looking around the quaint little spa town (with me inevitably photographing everything in sight - churches included) and then we were on our way again.  The first minutes were going to be easy, as we knew the was a brief spell of downhill.  We’d gone up and down it unnecessarily the night before!  We had a relatively quiet (traffic free) ride down some of the area’s smaller A roads (A834 & A862) before getting back onto the main A9 road in Dingwall.


I think our Inverness bypass route through Strathpeffer had been a successful one, it seemed like it had cut a bit off the journey, taken us away from the main roads for a while and (to Paul’s satisfaction and relief) probably avoided us crossing to fairly significant bridges over the Beauly Firth and Cromarty Firth.  Our route took us North-Easterly along the north edge of the Cromarty Firth until we swung almost directly North near Tain to cross over the Dornoch Firth.  This wasn’t too much of a drama for Paul as it was a very low level viaduct.  As we passed Tarlogie and approached the bridge across the Dornoch Firth we saw our first indication that we were headed to John O’Groats since we’d left Land’s End.  The road sign showed us that there was officially 85 miles to go until our final destination.

The First Sign of John O'Groats - At This Point Still 85 Miles to go

The next stretch of road took us past Loch Fleet, well I suppose technically over it, as it appeared to be on either side of the road.  We had a natural break and tucked into a few leftover sandwiches and snacks from the hotel room picnic we’d enjoyed the night before.  It looked like we may have to do a bit of climbing just up the road over something called ‘The Mound’, but the road actually didn’t rise up too much here and took us along the side of it.

APaul Rides off into the Distance on the A9 by Loch Fleet

The weather remained mainly dry, but we did see a few showers and needed our raincoats.  However, there was nothing too heavy and we just carried on.  Compared to the rest of Scotland, this was the least picturesque, but it did have its own charm.  There was a lot of agriculture, so to some extent it was too dissimilar to being at home.  We pushed along the A9 with the rest of the day-to-day traffic on the region’s main thoroughfare.  It did get quite busy at times, but we though it best to stay on the main routes.  I’m not sure what options we’d have had otherwise, to be honest.  I remember seeing Dunrobin Castle on our journey between Golspie and Brora, but unfortunately I couldn’t get near enough to photograph it without pulling off the main road and investigating.  My view was almost always obscured by the surrounding woodland.  I noted it down as another one of those places to visit in the future on another trip or holiday and carried on riding.  There was still quite a long way to go to get to the end of the journey, so time wouldn’t permit too many stops.  We discussed the upcoming places and decided to have a stop in the next town (Brora) to have  brief rest and pick up any necessary supplies.

The Memorial Clock Tower in Brora

While Paul stocked up (probably more Mars bars and Shortbread) I had a look around and photographed the Memorial Clock Tower in Brora and the River Brora.  We regrouped and Paul headed off again.  I decided to linger for a few more minute and see if there was anything else worth photographing.  I sat on the road bridge over the River Brora for a few minutes until I notices something bobbing in the water below.  There was quite a large gap between each occurrence, but something was coming up for air.  Initially, I thought it was an otter, but when I finally got to see it properly (albeit just the head) I realised that it was a grey seal.  Now there was something you didn’t see every day, well maybe you did in Brora, but certainly not in the River Ribble in Preston!  I ended up hanging around for ages, as the large water mammal could hold it’s breath for ages.  I realised that I wasn’t got to get any better shots of the animal, so I mounted the bike and head of to catch Paul, who now must have been quite some way ahead.

The River Brora - Where I'd been Surprised to see a Grey Seal Swimming

I did eventually catch up with Paul, but this time he was beginning to wonder where I was, I think I probably managed to catch him up on the small climb in towards Helmsdale.  We had a brief comfort break and discussed whether it was worth stopping for a proper meal, we were both fairly cold and tired and probably could have done with something substantial.  We were also now starting to calculate whether we’d just ride on to Wick, the location of our final hotel, or whether we’d go all the way to John O’Groats today.  We tried to spot somewhere to eat in Helmsdale, but didn’t manage to decide on anything, this mean that it was probably going to be Wick before we had another opportunity.

The River Helmsdale Further up the A9

After Golspie, Brora and Helmsdale the A9 became evermore undulating and closely followed the North Sea Shore line.  The climb out of Helmsdale was the most significant one of the day, at 750 feet over 2 miles that took me over thirty minutes to climb with my tired legs and heavy luggage. Unfortunately, this meant we were picking up a relatively strong headwind for most of the way.  The shoreline was quite rocky and covered in Gorse in many places.  Indeed, ironically we hadn’t really seen ant gorse (well at least not noticed it) since our time in Cornwall the previous week.  It seemed to funny to be starting and ending the journey with a similar landscape and flora.  To be fair, there was an awful lot more of the yellow flowered plant up here, and my eyes watered and my nose ran for a few hours.  I’m not a hay fever sufferer, but there was just so much gorse, if it was emitting pollen, there must have been tons of the stuff in the air.

It had been quite bright whilst we rode past the gorse, but now it was starting to get dull, and the headwind (whilst not strong) just seemed relentless.  The next few hours were a drag, and personally I was tired and just wanted the day to be over.  It was going to be a long one.  We’d come to the conclusion that we’d be better doing the 35 miles from Wick to John O’Groats and back in the evening rather than having to get up and kitted out for cycling for such a short trip the following morning.  Having come to this conclusion, we should have probably had the stop in Helmshore, but we ploughed on and we really ready for it in Wick.  We decided to stop at a local chip shop in wick and get a power up before the end.  Paul opted for the (battered) Haggis and Chips again, but as much as I liked this meal I wasn’t sure about cycling on it.  I opted for a lighter Chip Butty instead.

Paul tucks into Another (Battered) Haggis and Chips in Wick

There is very little to see on that final bit of the journey up to the End of the Earth and the fading light made it all the more bleak.  I’m sure it’s nice up there on a nice day, but in the (semi) dark, wind and rain, it’s not the greatest of spectacles.  We continued up what was now the A99, as we’d left the A9 between Helmsdale and Wick.  And mileage checks suggested we were within the last ten miles.  We could soon see the village around John O’Groats in the distance, but we’d need to go a bit further than that to get to the official markers.  The journey became more pleasant again, despite the conditions, as we realised that we were soon to accomplish what we set out to do ten days before.  We actually started to enjoy the last few miles even though it was still hard.  On reflection, I would have been better kitted out for night riding, if I’d have known we were going to do this before I left Preston.  I had no lights proper, just the hi-viz raincoat and a number of flashing LED reflective armbands.  There was very little traffic, but I would have preferred to be a lot more visible.

Well into the Evening (circa 9 pm), we were Finally There!

John O'Groats - The First and Last in Scotland

We've Finally Made it - Paul by the John O'Groats Sign

Slightly Worse for Wear - Ash by the John O'Groats Sign

Wot no Sign? - We were Slightly Disappointed that there was no Official Sign

Paul Checks in With the Wife - "We've Done it Love - See You Soon"

The Bikes - Probably Glad it was the End Too!

We finished basking in our glory and decided we better get going before the cold set in and to ensure that everything was OK with the hotel reservation in Wick.  The journey back to Wick was much easier and with the tailwind we managed it in record time.  Seventeen miles in an hour with the luggage was unusually fast for us, but we were on a bit of a high and keen to get back to civilisation.

Fortunately everything was OK at the hotel and we checked in OK, although it was well after 10pm by now.  A porter found us a suitable indoor location, down one of the corridors, to park the bikes and we went to remove the layers of lycra for the very last time.  As it was now pretty late we’d run out of dining options.  Paul wasn’t too bad off the back of his haggis and chips, but I needed to eat again.   The hotel had stopped serving meals and there wasn’t too much on offer now in Wick.  I think there was a curry hose open, but Paul didn’t fancy it.  We went back to the Hotel and the night porter kindly offered to rustle up some sandwiches for me.  We had a couple of quite celebratory drinks and relaxed in the knowledge that all our pedalling was done.