20th July Armathwaite to Moffat- 95.4 km
20th July Armathwaite to Moffat- 95.4 km
Today was a fairly flat ride as we only climbed 757metres....
It was the day we crossed in to Scotland, the day the ride distance went beyond 1000kms and the last ride before our rest day in Moffat...
Steve (I call him "fast Steve" as he is normally first in to the hotels each afternoon) asked me to join him on the ride. As Chris was staying at a hotel about 11 km up the road for the previous night, Steve and agreed to meet with Chis and then complete the ride together.
Despite having some trepidation that I might be a burden being slower than Steve, we had a really good day of riding together...the 3 of us...
In many respects the country we travelled through was not as interesting to me as the other days we have ridden. Not sure whether this was because of the weather (coolish at about 16 degrees and overcast), a large part of the ride being on B roads which were busier and were largely beside the main motorway heading to Glasgow or whether I had to concentrate on riding to make sure I did not let Team Steve, Chris and Pete down.
To give you some idea of the relative speeds of the ride we had today....we averaged about 20kph compared to 16 on other days with stops included. Now 4-5 kph does not sound a lot but it means you work a bit harder on the whole ride whether riding up the hills or down...
You will see we took several pictures of the approach then finally the crossing from England to Scotland....to be frank it was nothing to write home about.
We also crossed Hadrian's Wall but there was nothing to see for the effort Hadrian made to buld the great wall across England to keep out the invading hordes from Scotland.
I am told the cross England walk following Hadrian's wall is something to do....not sure how you follow this when there is no wall to be seen!!
At about 30 km in to the ride we stopped in Longtown where there is an excellent bike shop. I wanted to check my bottom bracket as it was making some creaking sounds. The guys there made the check and it was OK....seems sometimes the creaks come from the carbon fibre frame when there is extreme pressure in riding up hills...this made me feel much better..the guy also made some adjustment to the back disc which was rubbing when freewheeling...I can now go a little faster now the breaks are not on all the time!!!
After Longtown it was on the Ecclefechan for lunch in a stately home...forgotten the name now. But we had sandwiches and coffee then pushed on for the rest of the ride. As I said earlier this ride of about 20kms was fairly boring being a fairly major road beside the motorway...the surface was good and it had good shoulders and the gradients both up and down were about 2%...funny how a boring part of the ride is a flatter road but there it is...
Along this part of the ride we passed Lockerbie which was the town that took the brunt of the Pan Am disaster many years ago. We decided not to go and look at the town or the memorial as it is a fairly bleak part of Scotland.
The final part of the ride after heading off B 7076 was more interesting as we headed in to Moffat.
We arrived in Moffat at about 2.30pm well ahead of most of the other members of our group.
We are staying at the Buccleaugh Arms Hotel ( pronounced beclew) which is very comfortable.
Steve and I went for a walk to get a few items to clean our bikes on the day off and some insect repellent for "midgees" who are apparently a real pest for bike riders as we head north...
Tomorrow is our day off and I am looking forward to a rest after 12 days of pretty serious riding
In tomorrow's blog I will give some stats on the ride so far.
Now for the photos...
The route for the day.....Now in Scotland!!!!
This sign looked promising....but we had a way to go!!!
A nice Church and a very big graveyard
Seems a lot of people die here???
"Fast" Steve & Chris at a cross road....the Gretna sign meant something to Chris as a Civil Celebrant
The Manor House where we had lunch....very impressive!!!
The touring company use this as a place to stay on some trips
Has a camping ground nearby.....for Phil!
Finally at the border...pity it only gets shown on the motorways.
We had to stand on a fence to get this photo....
Today was a fairly flat ride as we only climbed 757metres....
It was the day we crossed in to Scotland, the day the ride distance went beyond 1000kms and the last ride before our rest day in Moffat...
Steve (I call him "fast Steve" as he is normally first in to the hotels each afternoon) asked me to join him on the ride. As Chris was staying at a hotel about 11 km up the road for the previous night, Steve and agreed to meet with Chis and then complete the ride together.
Despite having some trepidation that I might be a burden being slower than Steve, we had a really good day of riding together...the 3 of us...
In many respects the country we travelled through was not as interesting to me as the other days we have ridden. Not sure whether this was because of the weather (coolish at about 16 degrees and overcast), a large part of the ride being on B roads which were busier and were largely beside the main motorway heading to Glasgow or whether I had to concentrate on riding to make sure I did not let Team Steve, Chris and Pete down.
To give you some idea of the relative speeds of the ride we had today....we averaged about 20kph compared to 16 on other days with stops included. Now 4-5 kph does not sound a lot but it means you work a bit harder on the whole ride whether riding up the hills or down...
You will see we took several pictures of the approach then finally the crossing from England to Scotland....to be frank it was nothing to write home about.
We also crossed Hadrian's Wall but there was nothing to see for the effort Hadrian made to buld the great wall across England to keep out the invading hordes from Scotland.
I am told the cross England walk following Hadrian's wall is something to do....not sure how you follow this when there is no wall to be seen!!
At about 30 km in to the ride we stopped in Longtown where there is an excellent bike shop. I wanted to check my bottom bracket as it was making some creaking sounds. The guys there made the check and it was OK....seems sometimes the creaks come from the carbon fibre frame when there is extreme pressure in riding up hills...this made me feel much better..the guy also made some adjustment to the back disc which was rubbing when freewheeling...I can now go a little faster now the breaks are not on all the time!!!
After Longtown it was on the Ecclefechan for lunch in a stately home...forgotten the name now. But we had sandwiches and coffee then pushed on for the rest of the ride. As I said earlier this ride of about 20kms was fairly boring being a fairly major road beside the motorway...the surface was good and it had good shoulders and the gradients both up and down were about 2%...funny how a boring part of the ride is a flatter road but there it is...
Along this part of the ride we passed Lockerbie which was the town that took the brunt of the Pan Am disaster many years ago. We decided not to go and look at the town or the memorial as it is a fairly bleak part of Scotland.
The final part of the ride after heading off B 7076 was more interesting as we headed in to Moffat.
We arrived in Moffat at about 2.30pm well ahead of most of the other members of our group.
We are staying at the Buccleaugh Arms Hotel ( pronounced beclew) which is very comfortable.
Steve and I went for a walk to get a few items to clean our bikes on the day off and some insect repellent for "midgees" who are apparently a real pest for bike riders as we head north...
Tomorrow is our day off and I am looking forward to a rest after 12 days of pretty serious riding
In tomorrow's blog I will give some stats on the ride so far.
Now for the photos...
The route for the day.....Now in Scotland!!!!
This sign looked promising....but we had a way to go!!!
A nice Church and a very big graveyard
Seems a lot of people die here???
"Fast" Steve & Chris at a cross road....the Gretna sign meant something to Chris as a Civil Celebrant
The Manor House where we had lunch....very impressive!!!
The touring company use this as a place to stay on some trips
Has a camping ground nearby.....for Phil!
Finally at the border...pity it only gets shown on the motorways.
We had to stand on a fence to get this photo....
Home for the night ....and the following night
Looking forward to a rest!!!