It was up at 6.45 feeling pretty tired after a poor nights sleep for a 7.30 depart. The plan was to follow the A74 to Gretna but we met signs telling us that cycling on this road was prohibited and redirecting us to the slightly longer A7/A6071. That said, it was flat ground and we made pretty good time arriving at Gretna before 9.00. There was a good stop at the Welcome to Scotland sign, and a real sense of achievement in just getting that far. I think we all found it quite difficult to believe that a mere week before we had just set off on the journey. We were joined by a couple from Essex and chatted to them for w while before they left us with a £10 donation.
By now, we were starting to get peckish and we found a sizeable retail park, but all shut up with no prospect of eating before 9.30. On that basis we decided to head for Lockerbie. By now we were following the old A74 (B7076) and we were joined by a couple of chaps who had done LEJoG a few weeks before having raised £7,000 for a cancer charity. Unfortunately, one of the chaps had lost his wife to the disease. They were both much younger and a lot fitter. The pace raised itself quickly, and, although they didn’t ride with us all the way to Lockerbie, they certainly helped us get there quicker. They did ask where we were staying and told us that there a few hills towards the end of the day to get to Wanlockhead.
On to Lockerbie where we found Café 91- a proper bikers café. We were instructed to take the bikes around to the yard at the back and then we tucked in to a grand breakfast. On leaving I was approached by a cyclist from California who had brought his bike across for a touring holiday and was trying to get back to Edinburgh. We then talked for a while with the chef who was, or had been, a bit of a cyclist himself. He had trouble stopping laughing when we told him where were stopping! He recommended taking a break at Moffat but suggested staying out of the town and heading for a Caravan park just out of time. This we did, but were less than impressed!
From Lockerbie we followed the A74 route and we were impressed with NCN74 and the facilities. Again we had sunshine and a traffic free environment. The climb up to Wanlockhead started as we went onto the B7040 but there was nothing harder than we had already ridden but the scenery was, again, tremendous.
We arrived at Wanlockhead about 6.00 pm and headed off into the village and the local pub for a meal. It was a perfect summers evening. The village impressed us as being wonderfully peaceful (that is when the quad bikes stopped) and the type that would grace any calendar. Perhaps that image was marred to some degree by the pub where the barman was kind enough to inform me in fairly strong terms that lime and lemon was not a man’s drink. Later as we sat outside, he had a long conversation with an older couple how may have been his parents. The whole conversation was shouted with liberal use of effing and jeffing. That said, the meal was good, and we hag a stroll around the village before heading back for the hostel and a good nights sleep, without road works, in a quiet rural location.
By now, we were starting to get peckish and we found a sizeable retail park, but all shut up with no prospect of eating before 9.30. On that basis we decided to head for Lockerbie. By now we were following the old A74 (B7076) and we were joined by a couple of chaps who had done LEJoG a few weeks before having raised £7,000 for a cancer charity. Unfortunately, one of the chaps had lost his wife to the disease. They were both much younger and a lot fitter. The pace raised itself quickly, and, although they didn’t ride with us all the way to Lockerbie, they certainly helped us get there quicker. They did ask where we were staying and told us that there a few hills towards the end of the day to get to Wanlockhead.
On to Lockerbie where we found Café 91- a proper bikers café. We were instructed to take the bikes around to the yard at the back and then we tucked in to a grand breakfast. On leaving I was approached by a cyclist from California who had brought his bike across for a touring holiday and was trying to get back to Edinburgh. We then talked for a while with the chef who was, or had been, a bit of a cyclist himself. He had trouble stopping laughing when we told him where were stopping! He recommended taking a break at Moffat but suggested staying out of the town and heading for a Caravan park just out of time. This we did, but were less than impressed!
From Lockerbie we followed the A74 route and we were impressed with NCN74 and the facilities. Again we had sunshine and a traffic free environment. The climb up to Wanlockhead started as we went onto the B7040 but there was nothing harder than we had already ridden but the scenery was, again, tremendous.
We arrived at Wanlockhead about 6.00 pm and headed off into the village and the local pub for a meal. It was a perfect summers evening. The village impressed us as being wonderfully peaceful (that is when the quad bikes stopped) and the type that would grace any calendar. Perhaps that image was marred to some degree by the pub where the barman was kind enough to inform me in fairly strong terms that lime and lemon was not a man’s drink. Later as we sat outside, he had a long conversation with an older couple how may have been his parents. The whole conversation was shouted with liberal use of effing and jeffing. That said, the meal was good, and we hag a stroll around the village before heading back for the hostel and a good nights sleep, without road works, in a quiet rural location.
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