Last leg of LeJog

I reached Audlem a week ago, in time for some emergency repairs by Audlem Cyclesport to my bottom bracket (which is part of my bike, and nothing to do with saddle sores as my daughter thought!).

Having lost half a day (and my cycling partner who had to head back to Norfolk), I did a big hop on Friday to Ingleton, and then Gretna via Shap Summit the day after, with a tremendous tail wind.

My first day in Scotland was very different – huge headwind and a real slog for 70 miles. And the same the next day, to Loch Lomond and the same the next to Fort William via Glencoe. By now a headwind just seemed normal and the scenery more than compensated.

Then we crossed to the east coast via the Great Glen and Loch Ness, and yesterday has been fabulous with a mixture of coastal and inland roads through stunning scenery. Tomorrow, all being well, John O'Groats.

The forecast is proper wet but the wind might be in my favour. I'm heading inland from the beach we're currently camped on near Helmsdale, then due north across Sutherland and the flow country to the north coast, turn left, through Thurso and should be in JoG by late afternoon.

It's amazing how quickly the past two weeks have gone, but the job's not quite done yet... tomorrow is a long 80-miler to finish.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.