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You know you are nearing Scotland when you look out the window in the morning and think ‘I know just what to wear today – my warmest jersey and bags of sunscreen’. And that turned out to be on the money; the day started in cold mist and quickly developed to wall to wall blue skies, albeit without much of the warmth normally associated with June sunshine.
I started early today. Fuelled by a big breakfast from the Youth Hostel I climbed the 300 or so metres up to the head of the valley where I reached the highest point on my journey so far – 575 metres above sea level. The climb was eerie as the mist was thick and the road was deserted. Once over the summit I descended into Alston and from there I followed the main roads to cross the A69 at Brampton. This was a change to the Garmin route at the suggestion of the Youth Hostel manager, and it was good advice as the road was excellent and quieter than many B roads I have ridden on.
Once north of the A69 the countryside became rolling and expansive. The views towards Scotland were breathtaking (they were probably pretty good towards England too but I was only looking one way!). Firmly back on small roads, I crossed the border at a fairly low key crossing point over the Kershope Burn. I was slightly disappointed there was no ‘welcome to Scotland’ sign but it was, I suppose, a small price to pay for the absence of kilted piper!
Into Scotland the rolling countryside continued. In many ways it was reminiscent of Cornwall; certainly my legs recognised the pattern of long uphill slogs punctuated by brief downhill sprints. Eventually I made my way to Melrose, where I checked into the Station hotel (the cold shower comes at no extra charge…)
Today was a day of records. At 95 miles it was by far the longest day, it was the day with most climbing (2000m) and it was the day I reached the highest point to date. Although I don’t have the numbers to prove it I would say it was also the windiest day, relentless and unforgivingly from the north. But all things considered this was probably the best day on the bike so far.
Tomorrow – Glasgow