Day 15 - Tongue - John O'Groats

It would be fitting if we could find some profound words to summarise the final hours of our adventure. Frankly, parts of the last day took a lot out of us, so you'll have to make do with this.

We awoke with a strangely nervous anticipation of the day ahead. We'd already cycled 940 miles, through some awful weather at times (see day 3), and had longer days (see 1, 3 and 7), so why the butterflies in the stomach now?

Perhaps we somehow knew what lay round the corner. The rugged 30 miles of coastline to the east of Tongue were some of the hardest we'd faced. The frequency of lung-busting climbs, over uninhabited rugged moorland, and down into little villages and sandy coves, provided a very physical reminder of what a diverse country we inhabit.

The second half of the journey, through Thurso and towards the end, were flatter. However, our old enemy - the headwind - returned, for one last attempt to thwart us.

It couldn't. We made it. Shortly after 3pm and over 1000 miles from Land's End. Michelle (Gareth's girlfriend) awaited our arrival with champagne, cakes and a car. We gratefully drank, ate and sped south.

63 miles. 8 big climbs. A lot of wind - some caused by weather, some by very fine burgers in Thurso. The end.

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