Our final day's ride

Craig and Heather were wonderful hosts at the Strathy Inn. We had a great dinner last eve, a good nights sleep, and a fabulous breakfast this morning. Heather's porridge was the best we had for breakfast - maybe just pipped at the post by the Edinburgh garden centre!
We set off with only 40 miles or so to go to the finish. We were blessed with a wonderful sunny day, and the beach at Strathy looked clean and fresh as the sea rolled in.
After a couple of steep hills the terrain flattened out and we were treated to sunshine, gently undulating roads and terrific views as we made our way along the northern shores.
We stopped for lunch at Thurso, sitting outside a bakery. Shortly after lunch we clocked up 1,000 miles from Lands End as we headed out along the coast again. As we were making good time, we decided to visit Dunnett Point, which is the northernmost point on the mainland. The views across to the Orkney Isles were astounding!
With only about 15 miles to go we headed off to John o'Groats and arrived at the Sea View Hotel at about 3:30pm. After registering that we had completed the ride, we headed down to the village for a picture or two, before finally returning to the hotel and enjoying a celebratory drink or few in the hotel bar - 1,019 miles in total.
We are now showering and putting on our Cherished Memories shirts ready for photos this evening. It looks as though through everyone's generosity we have raised around £3,000 plus gift aid for the charity taking into account internet and other donations. That has made it very worthwhile.
Tomorrow we are being picked up by taxi (with a trailer for the bikes) at 9am to take us to Inverness Airport, where we will pick up a van which we will then drive home.
There won't be a blog tomorrow, but I'll be blogging an Epilogue by Wednesday evening. C.