Motorwayside Meanderings

Glorious road to Carlisle

Day 2:

Moffat to Armathwaite – 55 miles

Planned mileage: 55 miles

Actual mileage: 58.1 miles (little extra from needing to go into central Carlisle, unplanned)

Cycling time: 3hrs 52½ mins

Average speed: 15.1mph

Top speed: 33.9 mph (coming down the penultimate hill into Armathwaite)

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/en/cycling/route_1371236.html

Accomodation: Staying with friends Rob & Susan (+ menagerie)

We've stayed in some good B&Bs on our travels before, but for hospitality, setting, character of building and standard & comfort of accommodation then Buchan Guest House really does take some beating – highly, highly recommended! Lovely night's sleep, delicious breakfast and we were so well looked after that we were very reluctant to leave. Shortly after 10am we dragged ourselves away and meandered down into the town, stopping to buy presents for tonight’s hosts at the Moffat Toffee shop. Marvelling in the cloud free sky, we headed off to start the main part of our cycle.

So... if I described a route which mostly followed closely along a motorway from Moffat to Carlisle would that sound like a good mornings cycling to you? No? Can't say I was over excited by the prospect either. But given a lack of alternative roads, gloriously sunny summers day and a vaguely northerly wind, it really did turn into an incredibly scenic and speedy journey. Aside from that, there's not that much to say about that cycling part of the journey. We cycled steadily, zoomed along and soaked up the sights without being really bothered by the nearby traffic. And were in Carlisle by late lunchtime (though took forever to get in to the station due to silly road systems, cycle paths and roadworks) – not bad going if we do say so ourselves!

Bit of a rush to get something for lunch in time for Calum to get a train shortly after 2 due to pandemonium at the station – horrible. He sadly said goodbye and rushed off to catch his train and go back to work on Monday. We were left sunning ourselves on a bench outside County Hall, such a hard life.

Communication with Rob revealed that we should continue out of town to Weatherall in order for him to pilot us in on the final stage of the journey (though I'd run the route whilst marathon training several years previously). Arrived in Weatherall, parked ourselves on the village green and waited. And waited... After 20 or so minutes, Susan arrived in the car with Tilly the dog and asked where Rob was. We'd been wondering just the same thing! Turned out he'd been waiting up by the A69 which we'd deliberately avoided. Eventually we were all united. Susan & Tilly continuing in the car and the other three of us meandering our way along the more undulating Eden valley, reaching Armathwaite shortly after 3:30.

Cordial, tea and fresh homemade Welshcakes in the sunny garden before much needed baths and a wander across the road (literally) to the Dukes Head pub with their next door neighbours to chill out in the beer garden. Richard's sister is Lillian in The Archers, so we enjoyed finding out a little more about that. We were also very impressed when with energy levels flagging he rushed back across the road and returned with ultra fresh homebaked sourdough bread and butter. He even cut and buttered it for us. So lovely for someone we were meeting for the first time!

Dragged ourselves back indoors for delicious stew and cheesecake made with locally foraged blueberries – yum. Quick full tour of the top & basement floors of the house and that's us conked out on the sofa with a cup of peppermint tea. Sun soaked, relaxed and very happy!

Made it to Moffat!

Day 1:

Edinburgh to Moffat – 60 miles

Planned mileage: 60 miles

Actual mileage: 67.8 miles (extra 'Calum' miles from scenic route prior to Innerleithen!)

Cycling time: 4hrs 40mins

Average speed: 14.5mph

Top speed: 33.6mph

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/en/cycling/route_1370212.html

At last – our holiday has started! Land's End was beckoning so after a hefty (and slightly random – porridge, orange juice, one small piece of toast, two tomatoes, one banana and two maltesers!) breakfast we completed our packing then set off up the steep and unpleasant cobbles of Comely Bank Avenue. We met Calum (and half the Edinburgh Road Club) at the Commonwealth Pool then headed out of town. No incidents to report, and Calum directed us round a series of pleasant minor roads, and while it added a few miles to the route (Calum denied this, but it's true!) it was very pleasant scenery.

The long slog up towards Innerleithen wasn't as much of a slog as I had thought, so soon we were whizzing down the other side into Innerleithen, looking pleasant and quite prosperous in the bright sunshine. However we carried on without stopping, as the tearoom at Traquair House beckoned.

A pleasant though pricey lunch ensued, with grudging service, and we sat outside in the sunshine – the air was cold however so we shivered whenever the sun went behind a cloud.

We carried on southwards after eating, towards the Yarrow valley, a road I later worked out I last cycled down in 1985. A lovely descent along twisting roads in the sunshine, complete with a fly escort each. We turned right at the Gordon Arms hotel and followed the scenic shore of St Mary's Loch on another pleasant twisty road, with plenty of motorcycles whizzing past at speed just to keep us on our toes. We stopped at the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall to look at it (from afar) and by this time it was getting properly warm and the clouds were definitely outnumbered by blue sky!

 Euan & Calum at Grey Mare's Tail

We carried on and enjoyed the last remaining miles in to Moffat, getting to our destination by 4.30. We easily found The Buchan guest house and were given a great welcome by our hosts, given help to park our cycles in the garage, and shown to our very nice rooms. The guest house has its own really comfortable guest sitting room, there were Tunnock's tea cakes & caramel wafers in our room, and our landlady even washed our cycling gear for us. What an excellent place!

A trip to the Moffat Arms hotel for a good bar meal then back to our comfortable B&B for chat with other guests, a cup of tea and updating the blog.

Accomodation: Buchan Guest House, Moffat - www.guesthouse-moffat.com