Day 10
You’d think that the last day (especially at only 55 miles)
would be very easy. Well, we did anyway. But we weren’t quite right.
The day got off to an interesting start as we discovered that what we thought
was just a buckle in Jim’s wheel was due to spokes tearing through the rim. After
some discussion about whether it was safe to continue with this mechanical fault,
Pete offered his mechanical expertise and reassured us all with a simple ‘it be reyt’
and we were on our way – albeit a little more steadily than on previous days.
Cold, damp weather meant that we didn’t overheat on the 3 mile climb out of Helmsdale
and the rest of the journey was punctuated with a couple of decent climbs too, which
meant that we were working right the way until the end.
Just before the finish line we met with some of Sid’s family who dished out cans of
John Smith’s so that we could cross the finish line together with beer in hand! And
the finish line was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for us all. Feelings ranged
from being proud of our achievement and feeling a close bond with our fellow riders
to some sadness that it was all over and being very tired and more than a little
achy. Add to that some champagne and beer and I think the phrase is ‘tired and
emotional.’
After the paparazzi had finished taking our photos it was time to get into a car for
the first time in 2 weeks, for what we thought would be a long journey back to Inverness.
However, we were used to travelling at bike speed, which is very, very different to
travelling with Sid’s Dad and Uncle in their cars, so before we knew it we were checking
in to our B and B in Inverness.
During the evening we talked about what we had achieved and how this was the biggest
challenge we had all done and as the aches and pains started to subside and (perhaps more
significantly) the drinks started to flow the big question to be asked was of course
“What to do next…?”