Sept 21, 19:14: I think it's safe to say our pleasant weather permit expired today. It wasn't too bad when we left Carlisle; a bit overcast, but a decent temperature and dry.
After about 10 miles or so, Andy & I were riding at the front of the pack when Veljko suddenly shot past without warning. Veljko & I had a bet on as to who would reach Scotland first; I took his sudden action as a sign that he'd spotted the, er, sign which says 'Scotland Welcomes You'. So naturally I stood on the pedals and gave it everything, just about managing to pass the big fella before we entered a different country. Immediately he blamed his gears. I didn't care, I'd won.
We stopped to take some photos, and it started raining. Then, after a little while, it continued raining and pretty much didn't stop for the rest of the day. It became, frankly, a bit of a drag as we rode through Gretna, Lockerbie, Abington and finally Lanark in the rain, to which Scotland added vicious sidewinds as we rode the last 16 miles causing the rain to go sideways and several of us to wobble into the path of oncoming traffic. Such fun.
Becks rejoined us for much of the ride and, I have to say, went a bit mental. I'm not sure precisely what happened, but the mentalness manifested itself in two ways; first, she insisted on saying hello to every field full of cows, sheep and whatever else we went past (oddly, one sheep actually looked round and directly at her when she said hello - I guess they don't get that level of friendliness very often), and secondly in her sudden massive speed boost. From Abington to Lanark she was out in front the whole way and I'm not joking when I say I frequently wished she'd slow down a bit because my legs hurt (not that I actually said that of course).
It did, however, mean that we reached Lanark at the fairly respectable time of 18:10 (ish), where we checked into a Youth Hostel (Feels a bit weird at 39 years old) and will shortly be off out for food. More of the same tomorrow!
Stats:
Distance: 78.69 miles
Ave Speed: 13.69 mph
Ride time: 5h 44m 53s
Keith
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well done team, keep up the pace !
ReplyDeleteTom D