Day 1 - John o'Groats to Invergordon (200km)

It was a very long drive up yesterday and the campsite was pretty much a marsh due to the huge amount of rain they've had up here so it was a nice surprise to wake up this morning to find no clouds in the sky and a stunning sunrise. We aimed to be ready for 7am but as these things can end up it all took a lot longer. First time packing the panniers and loading the bikes (much heavier than expected) etc not to mention the obligatory photos at the start meant that we didn't leave until about 8 am. As the day was 125 miles today and there was a very strong southerly wind it was looking tight as to whether we'd finish before it got dark. A quick detour to Duncansbury Head (the actual furthest point from Land's End) and we were off. 15 miles or so later and we had reached Dunnet Head which is the most Northerly point in mainland Britain, quick photo taken and we were off west again to Thurso.

After reaching there we headed south across the Heart of Caithness which is probably best described as a moorland wilderness. Very very desolate. The openness of the landscape meant that there was no shelter at all from the southerly wind which was probably a constant 20-25mph but constantly gusting to more than double that. Throw in quite a few steep hills and progress was very slow and very tiring. Neither of us can remember having to ensure such a sustained effort before just to keep moving but 4 hours later we emerged from the moors onto the Coastal road that connect Inverness to Wick. Things were a bit easier here as there was a lot more shelter from the wind but this time the hills were even steeper as we went from headlands to the beach and back up to the headlands again. a couple of hours of torrential rain was thrown in for good measure and eventually, some 11hrs 30mins after we started, we arrived at the campsite just as it was getting dark. We're felling ok. Tired as you might expect but some dinner and a good night sleep will do wonders I'm sure.

Tomorrow is in theory an easy leg in comparison at only 85 miles and with much less climbing but we've been hearing stories of the tail end of a hurricane hitting Scotland overnight and into tomorrow. Could make things interesting to say the least!

Rich

Ps I know the live tracker has been a bit variable how often it's been updating itself. This is because of an almost complete lack of mobile phone reception, and even where it does exist it never seems to be able a GPRS or 3G connection which means that I simply can't broadcast my position. This might continue for the next few days but I'm hoping that from Glasgow onwards thing will improve quite a lot.

Pps. For those wondering who I'm talking about when I say "we", my cousin Ross has joined me for the first four days.

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Location:Just north of Inverness