We had breakfast with a young Danish couple who like us had turned up late and been taken in by Deborah. They were in a car though (sensible people I hear you cry). They had just been on a walking tour of Greenland! (ah ha not so sensible after all then). Knowing that this was day number 3 of 100 mile rides and that we were to stay with Garys friends in Edinburgh that night I realised 2 things.
1. It would be impolite to turn up after midnight.
2. Gary was becoming a suicide risk if subjected to another onslaught of hills I think he might have jumped from one of them.
A quick review of the route and maps made me take a slight detour along a B road and onto the A7 to cut off some undulating country lanes. We made some rapid progress on these good roads which were remarkably quiet. It was early Sunday morning though to be fair. With a little more consideration I realised that if we continued on the A7 and it remained as per the section we had done we could reduce our time to Edinburgh by at least a couple of hours. So that's what we did.
While everyone slept we entered Scotland (woof! for Dan).
The road wasn't flat and we climbed to 1000ft a couple of times but at gentle gradients and some long smooth wide roads to descend on too. We flew along notching up miles at a rapid pace and both feeling a lot better for a good nights sleep.
The scenery was spectacular and before we knew it we were rolling alongside a tributary of the Tweed and only 20 miles to go by mid afternoon.
This called for a cake stop.
As if by magic the Cloudhouse cafe appeared in Stow with more cakes than you could shake a large stick at.
I couldn't resist a slice of the coffee and walnut which was so big I had palpitations on the run into Edinburgh from all the coffee!
My legs were possessed with energy after that and with rolling fast roads and a tailwind we were flying along continuously at 22-24 mph. I had one of those moments on the bike where its such good fun and so fast up and down that I can't help but chuckle out loud to myself.
The ride into Edinburgh city centre was easy and we crossed a bridge in town with a view of the castle.
The castle being famous not only for it's centuries of history but also as the place where dad proposed to mum many moons ago. That pics for you Wrinkles! X
Robert and Christina Outram live rather appropriately on Scotland Street fantastically close to the city centre and with fabulous views of the city from their 3rd floor apartment.
Rob cooked a roast dinner and we all relaxed into another evening with friends.
It had been a busy few days but I finally managed a few minutes before bedtime to catch up with some of my all time, Top Banana best friends ever, Joe and Annie Chester. Joe will I am sure, be hot on my tail doing this ride soon as he tells me he can now ride 3 miles on his bike. Top Banana Joe. Big hugs and well done xx
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Location:Warwick Bridge, Nr Carlisle
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