Day 1 - John O’Groats to Altnaharra - Tougher than expected

 I left the B&B at 9.15am and reached John o'Groats by 9.45am, the head wind, travelling north, was stronger than yesterday, I was glad I would soon be changing directions.

Whilst riding to JOG I decided that even though yesterday I had a photo of me in front of the 'signpost' today I would have one done with 'In honour of Nat Lofthouse' written on the post. Unfortunately when I got to JOG there were lots of cyclists but no sign or man with the sign. I therefore emailed yesterdays photo + a mini blog to my mate Frank (the chief blog editor), I then got ready to set off but noticed the sign man had arrived.

I rang Frank to ask him to hold the 'press' and proceeded to arrange the photo with 'sign man', he said there were 3 groups in front of me and I would have to wait. 45 minutes later and on the verge of hypothermia, I finally got the shot, emailed it to Frank and with great relief and anticipation set off.

The first 30 miles were much as I expected, quiet roads, relatively flat and a gusty cross wind making progress challenging.

I felt a little soreness in my right knee, which is a bit concerning considering I've only just started. Anyway, I was ignoring it until a car passed me, travelling in the opposite direction, a little old lady was driving and she was gripping the steering wheel with all her strength, her nose was almost touching the screen and she was travelling at about 60 mph. As she passed a stone chip shot out from under her wheel and with the accuracy of an Olympic gold medal winning archer the stone hit me on my knee at exactly the spot where it was sore! I had to laugh .... at least now, if my knee let's me down, I can blame Penelope Pistol's grandmother.

After the 1st 30 miles the terrain changed, significantly. Long steep hills followed by fast descents followed by long steep hills, repeatedly. Combined with the cross winds and 10kg of weight I was lugging around in my panniers, my energy levels were dropping faster than a fast thing. The remaining sandwich from lunch, an Energy bar, a gel tube and Electrolyte drink were all consumed to ward off the fatigue.

After 50 miles I was surprisingly 'knackered', I had been sailing through 50 miles in training but now my sail was wailing.

Fortunately at about this point, soon after reaching Bettyhill, the route turned to a southerly direction and at last I had a tail-wind + the terrain became a series of gentle rolling hills, with a definite trend downwards. This remained the same for the last 20+ miles, happy days.

I'm now showered, fed and watered and about to go to the only drinking establishment in the village for a well earned pint, with 2 or 3 fellow guests.

To be continued.

Statistics

Distance cycled:             76 miles                      Total distance cycled since start:   76 miles

Average speed:               14 mph

Maximum speed:           36 mph

Average heart rate:       138 bpm

Maximum heart rate:   158 bpm

Motorist watch (Quantity)

Considerate motorists (The good):     All of them

Inconsiderate motorists (The bad):   O

Lunatic motorists            (The ugly):      I don't think they exist up here

Scores (out of 100)

Scenery:                 80

Road surfaces       67

Weather:                40

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