Day 18a: Thurso to John o' Groats

A great start to my final day, with a mixture of clear blue skies to the north and cloud to the south providing a lot of sunshine throughout the day. From Thurso, the A836 followed the coast quite closely and was pretty flat, with just a few undulations every now and again. The road seemed fairly busy for the first few miles, but got a lot quieter at around Castletown (where there is a B-road to Wick).

The going was pretty easy, especially with a slight south-westerly breeze to help me on my way, and I arrived into John o' Groats at around 10:15am, just under 16 days and 23 hours after leaving Land's End! That's only about 15 days and 3 hours over the current record - hmm, maybe next time ;-)

In fact, I was a little too early getting to John o' Groats as the "official" signpost wasn't yet set up. So, I had my photo taken against a "fake" sign by one of the gift shops. After a little wander around, admiring the excellent clear views across to the Isle of Stroma and the Orkneys beyond, I was done! Or was I? - read on to the next entry...

Distance: 19.8 miles
Total ascent: 231m
Cumulative distance: 1038.7 miles
Interactive route map and profile: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2189