THE LAST DAY!!!
Incredibly happy that the end is nigh.
I awoke to lots of encouraging texts and facebook messages from friends and family for 'one last push'. Its nice to know people are thinking of us in what seems a very surreal situation. Definately helped to motivate me this morning!
Started a bit later than usual, 0830, a bit more relaxed knowing we had less than 90 miles to do today.
We managed a good initial pace making the first 30 or 40 miles fly by.
Sonny noticed my back wheel was very buckled. We pulled over and found a very loose spoke. Slightly alarming as these were brand new wheels and we knew there were some monster uphills today, which more often than not, means monster downhills too. We tightened it using the wrong tools on the side of the road which helped for a bit but it soon loosened itself.
Not confident enough in the bike to cane the downhills. Shame, they were awesome, I'm sure I could have hit 50mph!!
Team speed had warned about a couple of big hills today as they'd been here a few days before us. Thankfully, the ridicuhills of Wales and the Lakes had prepared us well so we were soon over the worst of it.
The final 30 miles were very windy. We had wanted to turn up the pace for the last section but the wind hampered our progress and tired me right out!
We bumped into Tunnocks Dan (check out his blog - http://mitchelllejog.blogspot.com ) with less than 10 miles to go on his way back to Wick to catch a plane home. It was nice to see him for the last time, and to know he had made it.
The last few miles were undulating, very sparsely populated coastal roads. How anyone can live up here is beyond me.
Lots of cyclists passed us on the final few miles. They were embarking on their own JOGLE adventure (John O Groats to Lands End), I couldn't help but feel sorry for what they were about to endure!
We finally reached John O Groats - It was not what I expected, but then i'm not too sure what i had expected. A ticker tape parade maybe?!
It was a massive anti climax. I expected to feel at least some emotion when we reached 'the sign' but there wasn't any. A brief sense of relief maybe, but I think the daunting drive home was on all of our minds. That and then the extra trip to Torquay to drop off the canyonero.
Definately pleased to have finished, and also pleased to see Rachel and Tim who we'd met in a pub a day or so previously. They had given us some sponsor money and promised to meet us at John O Groats. Nice one guys!
One thing we had been talking about and looking forward to at the finish line was a big fat victory cigar each. Ang didn't let us down. He had some massive Dominican stogies posted up to the John O Groats visitors centre for us which we duly smoked. Not only did they make us look cool but they meant we were done. No more cycling, no more mountains and no more pain!
After sending a few postcards we started the huge mission home - we were on the A9 for a million miles, Phil caned it all the way, then we started on the ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE M6. Not before a sleep in a service station in which Sonny and Phil became convinced we were being surrounded and about to be attacked and Ang decided he'd try and drive off with us still sleeping. Needless to say we didn't let that happen!
Arrived home finally, cleared out the canyonero and went for a much deserved curry and a few pints.
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