Land's End to John O'Groats on a Bike Friday Tandem
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| Loch Naver |
Day 21 (July 5)
An easy ride took us along beautiful Loch Naver and then down the river to Bettyhill. We were advised to stop and look for Salmon at the bridge there, but the river was too muddy to see anything. We did see a fisherman catch a salmon however. Bettyhill appeared to be rather a strange town, with small crofts dotted everywhere over the headlands, but with no real center, at least that we found. We stopped for tea and carrot cake in the cafe at the eastern end of the town.
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| Cliffs, Bettyhill |
The route from Bettyhill to Thurso went up and down 5 times between sea level and about 300 feet (once to 500 feet) as we traversed the headlands. The last few miles into Thurso was flatter, but against a strong headwind with no shelter, making hard cycling. (Isn't the wind meant to be from the west here?!). We could have cycled beyond Thurso, but we wanted to visit the Castle of Mey further on, which would be closed by the time we reached it if we kept going, and there wouldn't be much to do in John O'Groats if we reached there today. So we stopped for the night in Thurso, at the Annandale Bed and Breakfast.
The bed and breakfast was about a mile outside the town, which meant we had to use the bike to get back into Thurso for dinner. Since we were close to completing the journey, and this was going to be the last might on the mainland, we had a celebratory dinner at The Bistro (sea food platter/roast lamb followed by a sticky toffee pudding each - usually we shared one desert). There was a pretty sunset over the sea and cliffs.
Mileage: 55.1 miles
Route and more pictures
Elevation
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Last modified 24 July, 2007