Distance - 87 miles
Total distance - 119 miles
Average speed - 12.1 mph
Maximum speed - 33.6 mph
Time - 7 hrs 10 mins
Apparently we don't really do hills in Suffolk. Not Scottish hills anyway. I love Suffolk, but it really hasn't honed my muscles for the type of hills we took today. After a 7am alarm call, we set off from our hostel at 8.30am. The first 30 minutes were fairly quiet. And then it started to rain. A quick stop to pull the rain covers over the panniers, before heading off to Wick.
With Wick behind us it then began to rain heavier. Normally this would be a pain, but it actually coincided with our fastest section of the day. To explain, obviously wind is the main factor in determining speed. Despite having a headwind today, it was mostly light and caused little frustration. In this section a combination of a recently tarmaced road and some slick conditions created by the rain allowed for an average speed of 15 mph for near on an hour. A freshly tarmaced road is so much easier than a pot-holed worn road.
The rain did actually ease, before 40 miles in we hit major hills. 15% hills. We were pre-warned by a local, who seemed to take great please in telling us we had a hard section head of us! While it was lovely cruising down the hills at 30 mph, it was a nightmare getting up them. It's also moral-crushing how you lose 30 mph of moment in a matter of seconds upon hitting the uphill.
Anyway, after this section things got a little easier and we pushed onwards towards Dornoch with just occasional showers to contend with. Lesser hills than previously got increasingly difficult, but generally the terrain was undulating rather than hilly. After making it to Dornoch we decided to push in for just a few more miles, to Tain, in Ross and Cromarty. It's a very pretty little town. After finding a B&B we then made an even better find in the local chippy. We're currently having a quick drink in one of the pubs. Therefore, I should go because my pint is waiting and I'm being unsociable.
Lastly, it didn't seem to get dark in John O'Groats last night...that's when you know you're in the North.
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