Cycling LeJoG 2017: LeJoG Day 20

The final leg of our adventure is over! We arrived at John O'Groats shortly before 3.00 pm today. We finished as we started in brilliant sunshine, so the north coast of Scotland was looking its best, and we had wonderful views of the Orkney Islands not far off the coast.

Joel led us today - he's a great navigator, and as he wanted to get the whole thing over with, we moved at quite a pace! We're staying in Thurso, and our route brought us back through the town around mid-morning. We stopped at the bike shop to get a minor repair to my bike (as Joel put it, I had a screw loose! - or rather, missing!). We also found the ice cream parlour and treated ourselves.

Steve met us at lunchtime and cycled the last few miles with us along to John O'Groats. We had to wait our turn for photos by the signpost - the previous cyclists to arrive had done the journey in 11 days! At least we could get to the sign without paying for the privilege at this end of the trip. There's apparently no official finish line here - it got covered up! Another visitor kindly offered to take some photos with all four of us in them.

The name John O'Groats comes from a Dutchman called Jan de Groot, a Dutchman who was given the job of running a ferry to the Orkneys after James IV of Scotland had acquired them from Norway.

After we'd bought one or two souvenirs, we continued to Duncansby Head lighthouse, before we cycled back to the car. I don't think our achievement has quite sunk in yet - there's a bit of a sense of anticlimax just at the moment, and maybe relief.

And so our story comes to an end. I will probably do a couple of extra posts as I reflect on our experiences over the next few days - always assuming I have access to a good internet connection! At the moment, I just need to sleep!