Jon O' Groat to Inverness (NCN 1) – around 200 miles


21 to 23 June 2013


This was my first mini touring cycle, well, it was only 3 days but I did have fully loaded panniers so that it must qualify as such!


Every year I celebrate the Summer Solstice and this time I tried to go as much North as I could go, and that was, Jon o Groat. My cycling buddy, Mr Zazzu, proved to be a great and very entertaining company. That was his first “touring” experience too, and to be fair he never really heard what that meant, and how to prepare for it. He showed up with his Vintage road bike and a huge 13 kg rucksack. His sleeping bag was forgotten in the first train, and the rest of its content, among which stood out: 3 rolls of toilet paper, 1kg wet wipes, jeans and trainers (why??) is still a big question mark in my head. The only explanation I could find is, it's Zazzu, you need to take the full package :)




After 8h train journey we reached Thurso at 4pm. We had an hostel booked at Sandra's, sharing the room with another cycling couple, Zazzu's friends, who had cycled all the way up from Fort Williams. The guy was over the moon with his new waterproof sock, and the girl had this huge bag full of healthy food stuff, great characters! After a quick check in the in Fish and Chips downstairs 

we headed to Jon O' Groat, and easy and flat 20 miles each way, nothing remarkable really but we had to say we have been there. The weather was amazingly great, sunny, not too windy nor cold, we took the “I was there” picture, get an ice-cream and really enjoyed the never ending Scottish summer day.

The day after we started the proper cycle to Tongue, 43 miles and 800m elevation gained. Typical Scottish weather, sun, rain, wind, wind, rain, sun repeated 10 times in 1 hour. The route went continuously up and down but I found it very enjoyable, just the feeling of freedom, fresh air, and the remoteness of the place, added extra joy to the endorphins released. We made it to Tongue and, looking at the tricky sky, opted for the warm and cosy Youth Hostel. Tongue is quite a small village, we planned to get some food in the only store available, which was the patrol station one, but it turned out it was open 12am to 2pm..too bad, it was 4pm! Dinner at the pub it was then, and post pint run up the hill to help digestion. Zazzu learnt that night not to give me ideas... 

 


Day 3 was uncertain. The original plan was to run up the nearby hills and get back to Thurso, but the sky gave us no hope of a dry break, and we decided to keep going on the NCN1 down to Inverness. We didn't have any map, GPS nor Internet, and nobody, not even local people, could guess a distance, but we reckoned it could be done in 2 days. So we started the day, and that was a weird day. I'm still amazed at the perception we both had of the route, and the route profile as on a map. To us, it felt like we were going downhill all the time it was pouring down, but we got wind in favour so that we couldn't really feel the rain. It turned out to be a 48m and 550m elevation gained to Rogart.


The landscape was just amazing, so wild and remote. If you do that route stock up food, as the only place we found was a hotel / mansion. Our outfit was not exactly a good match with it, but we were so hungry, wet and cold that the lady let us in out of pity (the place was empty as well). 

After drinking our £3 cappuccino, we got back on the wet saddle and kept going South. Without a map we couldn't say where and if there would be an hostel, or a village, so that we stopped at the Tourist Office in Lairg, and after seeing our faces they directed us no doubt to the fantastic Sleeperzzz in Rogart. Now, if you are there around you have to go there! Is the best hostel I've ever been in my life. They converted a train couch into a hostel (with toilet, hot shower, kitchen and heating) in this idyllic, and hippy of course, paradise. The owner was a cyclist too and as cyclists we get 10% off. Really really recommended!


http://www.sleeperzzz.com/index.html

The last day was tiring and endless. It was around 60 miles to get to Inverness via Cromarty. We could feel the miles in our legs, but it was not long before we reached Inverness, had an abundant dinner, a few pints, and got the train back laughing with the memories of the trip, the characters we met, and with the certainty that that would be the first of many other touring adventures. 

 

Thanks Zazzu, your logic is still beyond my understanding but it was a pleasure to share the laughs and pains with you!