When I was in Devon and Cornwall I was reluctant to mention the fact that my intended destination was John O’Groats because it was at the other end of the country and so it could have been just a delusional ambition that I might never achieve. Now that I am within reasonable striking distance I am happy to confess that I am trying to go end to end when asked and it does get quite a reaction which is gratifying and embarrassing. I am also finding it a bit unjustifiable because it hasn’t actually proved to be terribly difficult so far because I am taking it gradually and enjoying the experience, which is what I always intended. Hopefully there isn’t going to be a sting in the tail as journey’s end gets quite close.

The climb over Drumochter beside the busy A9 was never going to be much fun and so it proved with very heavy winds blowing mostly against me together with some rain.  The first bit through Killiecrankie and Blair Atholl was interesting although a bit wet but from there on my new jacket was mostly to protect me from the fierce wind as the climb over Drumochter started. It was Saturday and the first group of cyclists coming towards me seemed unnecessarily elated as they waved with cheery “good mornings”. I realised that this was because they were going down from whatever rigours Drumochter had posed and that I was about to face. There were times when the wind almost brought me and the bike to a complete halt and I was back to working out if I would make it to Aviemore before dark.

Once up on the top the ride down was brilliant and very fast. In my mind the A9 goes north but in fact it heads west up to the top of Drumochter and then turns north so the wind suddenly started helping along with the wind. The bike was flying along and when I got to the café in Dalwhinnie it was awash with cyclists including my Dutch chums. The ride from Dalwhinnie through Newtonmore and then Kingussie was great fun with a mostly following wind which kept the temperature low, although it was sunny. Along the way I passed my intrepid Dutch friends sitting behind a wall with a flask of tea – where did they get that?

I stopped in Kingussie for a coffee and while in the cafe I heard something falling over with a bang and I thought it was my naughty bike again. I went out to survey the damage and found that it was the café’s sandwich board that had been blown over in the mini-gale and my faithful bike was waiting patiently in one piece.

From Kingussie the route was very familiar because I had cycled it very recently with my cycling buddy, Bill Dickie. I was soon in Aviemore and comfortably installed in The Cairngorm Guest House with a complimentary cake and tea. The distance covered was 60 miles and the height climbed was 3,000 feet.