Friday 3 June 2016
It’s the last day….I don’t think any of us can quite believe it! Despite the weather, which to be fair did quieten down over night, we all slept pretty well and we are up bright and early and very excited about the day ahead.
We picked up food for breakfast from Carol our lovely host at the Kyle Tongue Hostel last night and so it’s good and hearty for a change
To be honest we are all so tired now that we need all the energy we can get. I honestly cannot recall feeling or looking the way I do…..totally wrecked!
Whilst the weather has calmed down a bit from yesterday we are surrounded by low cloud and so whatever scenery there might be to see is very hard to pick out
I do manage to catch some local wildlife on camera though….I like to call this one “Gorillas in the mist”
We start the day full of enthusiasm and excitement but it’s tough going and the wind is starting to get up again so after just 15 miles we are all starting to flag
After what feels like a lifetime we eventually drop down out of the hills and scoot past Doonreay.
Before pushing onto Thurso for elevenses….
After a short break we push on again and we know that we are now tantalisingly close. With less than six miles to go we think we spot our goal in the distance….
But it’s a false alarm so we pedal on grinding out the last few miles until all of a sudden…….we are there!
It is the most amazing and overwhelming feeling…..to be honest whilst we all three complain that we have grit in our eyes the fact is that we know we have pushed ourselves so hard, right to the very limit of what we are capable of …..and we have done it! It’s a truly special moment!
We each carried a small stone from Lands End to John O Groats which we throw into the sea together and then it’s on to the proper celebrations and the only proper way is with champagne and medals
The day, and indeed the whole trip is made complete for me when we got chatting to a young family (they took some of the photos of us together) and when they asked which charity we were raising money for the daughter and the son both knew everything about it and how one of their friends at school had lost her mother and Winstons Wishes had helped and provided support. We all three got a lump in our throat listening to them talking so clearly and passionately.
So that is it, that is the end of our adventure and I am afraid this blog. I think tomorrow we may add some more bits and pieces and reflections but other wise that’s it.
The final piece from me though is to say thank you.
I understand that to some it may seem very cheesy and perhaps even a little egotistical to have a whole “thank you” section. I mean all we did was go on a long bike ride after all! I make no apologies for what follows though ….for us this really has felt like an amazing and challenging adventure and there are lots of people to thank.
First of all a huge thank you to those people along the way that have sponsored us simply as a spontaneous act of kindness towards complete strangers i.e Marc, Dan and I. Steve from Petruth Campsite, Debbie and Sharon from Saffrons Cross Garage, Peter from McCormicks, Jo and Dan from The Boathouse, Yvonne and Alan who we met at Dingwall campsite and Caroline and Yvonne from Bonar Bridge Golf Club….thank you, you are all incredible!
All three of us want to give a very, very special thank you to Steve Hastie and WAVES Limited who has donated the frankly unimaginable amount of £1000 to our sponsorship. Thank you does not even come close….we are completely overwhelmed Steve, you sir are a legend.
We also want to thank our families and every one of our friends and friends of friends who have sponsored us, read our blog, commented on Facebook, texted and phoned us. Your support has not only encouraged and cajoled us through every single pedal stroke and up every hill (and mountain) it will really help make a difference to children who are devastated by bereavement and are otherwise left with little or no emotional or physical support. You are all amazing and we are so very, very grateful for all your support. Thank you.
Gerry, Kate and Jo thank you for being the most loving, caring, supportive and selfless partners and allowing us the time and space to just disappear off for two weeks and do something utterly self indulgent and daft. All three of you are simply fantastic and we owe you big!
On a personal note I would like to thank Marc and Dan for helping to make the whole experience such an amazing one and in particular introducing me to the frankly still doubtful merits of camping. We have had such a laugh together in the last two weeks and we have had an adventure that none of us will ever, EVER forget!
Finally an acknowledgment and a thank you to my mum and dad, Janet and Paul White who died on 25 April 1980. I miss them every day and even if they did give me my ridiculously fragile little lady ankles I am eternally grateful to them for making me who I am.
I am so incredibly proud of what Marc, Dan and I have achieved on our LEJOG adventure.
I hope mum and dad would have been proud of us too.
End to End…..The End