Day 12: Auldgirth to Fenwick (Happy Birthday !!)

Alan - Today started with the sound of neighing horses outside the window and rain, rain and more rain. Had breakfast and tried to refrain from the fried options, but failed again. We then took our time getting things together (see photo) hoping that the weather forecast was correct and that the weather was going to move rapidly north. Since our cycling doesn't involve the word "rapid", we knew that if we started in the dry then we should stay dry and apart from a brief shower at the end, we were dry.

The first part of the ride was FANTASTIC !! It was a slow climb along the B729 and then a loooooonnnnggg sweeping drop through some fantastic senery. Personally, I don't think that the Scottish scenery is better than other parts of the UK, but they have soooo much of it. Other parts of the country are a bit like Dulux tester pots for Scotland.

"I'm thinking about doing some scenery, but I'm still not sure about the outdoors stuff. What would you suggest?"
"Well sir rather than going all out, how about a tester. For example, you could try Cumbria, for some lakes and hills, Cornwall for some coast line or how about Devon, Cotswolds or Herefordshire."
"That sounds good. What if I really like one of them and fancy taking it a bit further."
"Well sir, for that we have Scotland. It's like the testers, but 1000 times more."
"That sounds excellent. You've thought of everything. I'll go back to the couch and have a think about it whilst I watch East Enders."

(I think I might be in big trouble when Elayne notices that I've used a decorating analogy.)

I also think this helps to explain Lancashire. I don't think the people in Lancashire were unfriendly, just a bit depressed. To the north they have Cumbria and Scotland, to the south they have Herefordshire, the Cotswolds and to the south west there is noth Wales. Then to the east, they have Yorkshire, which probably doesn't bother them that much but you get the picture. To top it all, they are nowhere near Essex, so don't realise how bad things could be. So I have a solution. Scotland has bags of scenery. So if a bit of this could be moved to Lancashire, just think how happy they would be. Maybe one of the mountains, which will also save the Scots some cash since they won't have to rescue ill equipped tourists from it each summer. It's a win win.

Finally back to today. After the morning run we had a great lunch at the friendliest cafe and I rediscovered square sausage ... hmmmmmm, which is when things went downhill. Matt's knee gave out (see his entry below), which left me on my own for a while before he rejoined. When Matt is away, the trip changes and becomes much less of a holiday and a chance to see the sights and just a challenge. Both Rob and Frances (both end to enders) said that once you enter Scotland, 500+ miles of cycling will turn you into a machine. I can now sort of see what they are talking about. My legs just want to push the pedals, which is very unlike me. I probably wouldn't go quite as far as calling myself a machine, unless it is the sort of machine that Willy Wonker might invent to create lard based snacks, but I have noticed a change. Bring on the rest of Scotland and with Matt back a chance to see some great sights and maybe sample the odd dram.

Matt - What a day. Its my Birthday - thank you to everyone for presents,cards,texts and calls. It made the day very enjoyable. Elayne and Alan had brought a cake with candles and a most excellent poloshirt with the route and Le Jog 2007 embroidered on it.

Kate, my sister, had sent a great selection of goodies which will be enjoyed with guilty pleasure over the next few days.

Back to the cycling, I agree with Alan regarding the downhill stretch on the B729 It was tremendous. Unfortuntely after that my knee started to play up. No amount of pills /pain relieving gells (Alan - He even borrowed my Nora Batty stocking) could stop the problem. So I had a break and looked at a few villages with Elayne (which were closed). Cycling resumed with 14 miles to go and I made it to the end despite the odd twinge. Will get strapped up and see how we go tommorow.

Right, the promised whiskey review. Lagavulin 16 year old. This is an Islay malt. Lots of malt, seaweed and very slightly salty. Smooth with a good aftertaste. One of my favorites.

Elayne: Just finished eating in the weirdest place. Don't come to Scotland on a Wednesday - it's closed. Having failed to find somewhere open in Kilmaurs, the nearest village to West Tannacrieff B&B (fab, full review tomorrow) (Alan - Thanks to Rob for the recommendation) we followed directions from friendly locals to Kilmarnock. That was also mostly closed. We found one restaurant who said they couldn't give us a table until 9.00pm and they stopped serving at 9.00. We didn't wait. We eventually found a restaurant called September 31 - very smart, but bizarrely showing Arabic TV on screens all around the place, However, staff were charming and food very good. And as for the toilets! Ladies pink and silver, gents purple and huge fish tank (see through) between the two.