Omens

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JoG to Helmsdale 72 miles
It was rather auspicious starting the ride on Friday the 13th. However this was quite accidental but we were looking out for other signs for the potential of success for our trip. The first was arriving in JoG to find that the only shop was on an early closing day. As we were self catering this was a minor disaster. Does anywhere still have early closing? We managed to find a farm shop where we got some potatoes and goats cheese. Was this the omen? Or was it the sight of seals in the moonlight on the beach, wishing us well on our travels. The other challenger was the puncture Ewen received after storing the bike overnight which we discoverd as we started off. After this the consensus was that looking for omen sis silly.
A bit of advice though. You would never go to JoG unless it was to either start or finish the JoGLe or get the ferry to Orkney. Otherwise it has nothing to offer except a sense of desolation. I doubt if anybody from JoG will ever read this so it is ok to say it.
The forecast for the day was thundery showers but it turned out a lot better than forecast. We cycled inland and took an out of the way route which was absolutely beautiful. We heard our first cuckoo

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