... Flower of Scotland!

So here I am - in Scotland and it was a lovely (if slightly dull!) ride from Armathwaite to Moffat ... we crossed the border after 25miles and found that the wind (as ever a headwind!) had blown the sign over!!! .... so a quick krypton factor'esque moment of putting it back together and the 'welcome' that Bike Adventures had put up was back in place...

But .. before we got to Scotland 'Bradley' had a little TLC,  over the last weeks the gears have not been happy and the cables needed replacing... so rather than spending the day off trundling around the Borders finding somewhere to sort things out when we passed through Longtown in Cumbria, just before crossing the border I popped into Bike Seven where Shane gave Bradley some much needed attention... new gear cables, wheel bearings tightened.... brakes checked ... and discovery of wildlife being carried!!! I'd picked up a worm who was nestled on the back brake callipers!!! Big thumbs up all round - thank you Shane! 

So we entered Scotland feeling buoyant - and with warm feet as i've finally succumbed to buying some overshoes... and not just any old overshoes... but 'disco' over shoes! ... passing through Ecclefechan, Lockerbie and across the hills... group dinner to celebrate getting thus far ... and we bade a fond farewell to lovely Geoff who has had to leave us to go home ... a new 'sweeper' will be joining us tomorrow... 

Can he possibly be as nice as Geoff?! 

Anyway it's good to be in Scotland but no early celebrations yet - we still have 438 miles to go - and lets face it, Scotland's not known for being flat!! I've had a lovely rest day catching up with old friends ... and revelling in that delicious feeling of 'picking up again' ... where oh where did those decades go?! 

I have to be honest - the last few days have been really emotional ... coming up through Lancashire, Yorkshire & Cumbria left me aching to chat to Dad.  Maybe because the weather and the hills were tough - maybe because they are areas that Dad was very fond of...  maybe i was tired and emotional! I had a lot of time to think whilst i was cycling ... it was a good thing, but quite unexpected. I so wish i could compare notes with him ... 

So back in the saddle tomorrow... Come on Bradley - only 438 miles to go!!! Let's turn the red line black!!! 

xxxx

Shropshire & Cheshire ... and cheerleaders all the way!

LOOK!... I seems slightly odd to think that i've cycled all of that!! 

But before i feel too excited - i've still got a long way to go - we're over 1/3 of the way ... but still have another 12 days of cycling to go! And some of them are going to be a bit tough ... but let's not worry about them, the last couple of days have been wonderful - great weather, wonderful countryside and lots of friends/family coming along to say hi. 

We left Weobley on a heavy misty/foggy morning with one of Dad's friends cycling with us ... a serious cyclist who thinks nothing of pedalling hundreds of miles! It was good to have him along - pedalling at our / my much gentler pace and stopping for cups of tea along the way! The cloud kept lifting a little and tempting us with sunshine, the countryside was rolling and delightful. Apart from one long slog of a hill after lunch ....it was my favourite day - 

Until today! 

Well... what can i say of today other than i loved cycling it so much i could almost move here! The route felt flat but apparently it wasn't ... it was swooping, so that you could keep your speed and momentum up hills and swoop along ....  and then my own 'Team Coyne' appeared ... The lovely Lloyd Williams family came from Denbigh with banners and loud cheers and would appear in unexpected places waving and cheering! Then they'd pass in the car cheering me (& all of the others) along .... to find the next cheer spot! My heart was singing as i was cycling wondering if they would appear - we lunched in Tarporley and then i cycled off ... and was at my B&B by 3pm! 

My favourite day so far! 

 
Team Lloyd Williams Cheering beautifully!!!