Checking wind forceasts here it would suggest that North to South winds are more prevalant throughout the year, which I thought was quite obvious although once your on the ground I doubt it's going to make much difference. Being in Gloucester it's going to be a lot eaiser to get back home from Cornwall than to head back from the Highlands. So, heading for the highlands is the plan and this is how I'm getting there.
EasyJet have a flight from Britol Airport (BRS) which flies out at 13:20 arriving in Inverness (INV) at 14:45, the cheapest flight in October is £23.99 although on Friday the 9th it's going to cost £37.99. At the time of writing it's £8 for 20kg of checked luggage, this does not include the weight of your bike. The bike has to be added as 'Sports Equipment' which costs a further £18.50. The Bike has to be either bagged or boxed, a local cycle shop have provided a bike box free of charge. Nothing can be packed in with the bike.
Arriving at Inverness the train to Thurso (Northern) or Wick (Southern) is £10.20 with 'No Charge' for the bike, although you do have to book over the telephone (08457 550033) to reserve the place for your bike. The train times from Inverness are as follows.
| Inverness | 07:14 | 10:38 | 17:52 |
| Thurso | 11:05 | 14:27 | 21:37 |
| Wick | 11:34 | 14:55 | 22:06 |
The best train to get would be the 10:38 as there is a Bus (Rapsons Bus Company 01847 893123) from Thurso and Wick at 15:35 whcih will take you to John of Groats, takes 1 hour and costs £4. Unfortunatey the only train I could get for this day was the 17:52. Train times differ for Saturday. There is only 4 miles difference to John of Groats from Thurso rather than Wick.
My only option arriving at 22:06 is to get a Taxi to John of Groats, I'll post some details once this is arranged as I dount all will be able to take a bike.
This is by far the easiest and cheapest way I've found unless ofcourse you have somebody that is willing to drive you all the way by car.
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