We had arrived and enjoyed an enjoyable evening meal in John o’Groats the previous evening but now on JOGLE Day 1 the real cycling began. It was a cool grey and overcast morning as we headed down from the hotel to the start point. Ahead would like two weeks of cycling and over 900 miles. After the obligatory photo’s, there was no big fanfare (other than from Nic and Sarah), but soon we were on our way.

We followed NCN Route 1 and this far north the route is barren, grim yet strangely beautiful.

The roads are long and straight as we made our way through the gorse and broom.

With the sea on our right we could see the Orkney Isles just over the water.

It wasn’t long before we reached Thurso. We met up with Sarah and Nic for a morning break.

Whilst the cyclists left Thurso and headed towards Reay, Nic and Sarah headed for the beach!

The cyclists made their way through Melvich and towards Strathy.

However before we reached our our proposed lunch stop Sarah and Nic checked the place out and found it to be closed at lunch times. This meant an impromptu lunch break at the top of the hill just before Strathy. Sarah and Nic quickly made some sandwiches and provided other snacks. It was extremely welcome.

Whilst the terrain had started to undulate after Thurso, the hills really started to kick in now.

And of course with the hills comes the splendid views.

By the time we reached Bettyhill we were ready for another break! And here again things didn’t go as planned. The cafe we had intended to stop for a cuppa was closed for the afternoon! Thankfully our scouting party (Sarah and Nic again) had found an alternative in the Bettyhill hotel where we enjoyed some splendid scones with jam and cream.

And then it was on to the final section of the journey and the last couple of climbs.

 

Whilst we were climbing the hills our support vehicle got stuck in rush-hour traffic …

In the meantime we continued climb the hills …

Finally we reached Tongue. We had cycled 63 miles and climbed over 3800 feet.

You can view our JOGLE Day 1 route from John o’Groats to Tongue below:

[sgpx gpx=”/wp-content/uploads/gpx/jogleday1-johnogroatstotongue.gpx”]

In the evening we went for a short walk. The views up the Kyle of Tongue were fantastic.

So that is JOGLE Day 1 completed. Tomorrow we are off to Tain.