Day 19

We had a really comfortable night in the Loch Ness-side caravan and wandered down to the B&B house to a fantastic full Scottish breakfast served by our amazingly hospitable hosts May and Duncan McIntosh. Duncan kept us entertained with great stories of Nessie hunting, and other local wildlife. Again it was very hard to tear ourselves away but we knew we had a long ride today - 80 miles to Brora. As we left, our hosts invited us to put our overnight accommodation fees to our Parkinsons UK charity. Once again we were taken aback by the incredible generosity and kindness we have experienced from the people we have met along our journey - thank you so much again May and Duncan.

Our ride took us alongside Loch Ness and then over the hills to Beauly, Dingwall, and then lots of miles along the A9. After 45 miles or so we noticed a highway maintenance car pull in ahead of us and the driver leaping out to take photos of the LeJog team. Fearing some sort of obscure Highlands cycling by-law rap we were extremely relieved and delighted to see it was Nick Lindsay - Dad's friend from early Ordnance Survey days. We were on our way to stay with Nick and Jacquie at Brora for the night and Nick had come down to welcome us. We stopped just north of Invergordon, after 47 miles for a Shandwick pub lunch, and were joined by our support team. 

Our journey along the A9 brought us into contact with many other cyclists doing LeJog or JoGLE. As we approached Brora we started to see more and more signs supporting the team and guiding us to our final destination - the local LeJog supporters club had done a fantastic job.

After 80 miles we reached Brora and followed the signs to Sunnybrae. Mum and Sarah were there already and the sun was beating down as the riders broke the tape on the finishing line - yes, there really was a finishing line.

In the evening, after the riders had been hosed down and made more sociable, we were treated to a fantastic Scottish themed meal from Nick and Jacquie - the centre piece being haggis, tatties and neaps. Our meal was washed down with coffee and then Clynelish single malt whisky - and we could see the distillery from our host's house!