Day 12

Monday 29th May

My legs felt tired as I set off today despite the day off, & it was spitting at me too. I was able to keep largely dry though which was a plus, but the main problem today was the wind, which was blowing against me the whole way. It’s hard to make a non-cyclist understand the effect this has, especially over extended distances, but to try & put it into some perspective I was averaging 10mph into the wind on the flat, whereas when there is no wind on the flat I can average 15mph without too much difficulty. That’s 50% more speed, and in addition to that you get the extra speed (and therefore distance) with far less effort.

Moved into Scotland today which was definitely a good thing, and cycled past a pub that has been carrying out weddings for over a hundred years. In Scotland you don’t need parental consent to get married at the age of 16, and so numerous amorous English couples would cross the border, a few feet from which they could get married in this place…

Cycled through the beautiful Nith valley, and stopped in a service station for an energy drink when a man pulled up in 2yr old Vauxhall Astra. He opened the dirver’s door, stepped out, left the engine running & the door open, & wandered into the shop for a natter with the shop keeper. I think he bought something, I can’t be sure, I was too busy being stunned that he would leave his motor running like that. Haven’t seen anything like it for a long time, and it was heart warming to see, although I must admit I allowed myself a wry smile as I contemplated the size of his boot & how far I could get before they’d catch me… ; - )

Made New Cumnock, a nothing of a place where I was lucky to find somewhere to stay. As it happened, I was the only guest in this hotel (if one can call it that, I cycled past it a couple of times before I realized it was actually a hotel, it looked so run down & all the lights were dimmed or off to save electricity). The place was cavernous inside, and I was the only guest! Came down for “dinner” to find everything I asked for off the “menu” wasn’t available, until eventually I asked what they had – burgers. Well on the plus side it was a damn good burger, home-made beef pattie, nice & thick & very tasty, none of this frozen malarkey.

I also met a “Chookie” in the bar as I was waiting for my food. For those of you who don’t know what a Chookie is, fear not, neither did I & I am still here to tell the tale… Chookie had been propping up the bar since it had opened at 11am, and as I walked in he insisted on discussing the subtle differences between a p***y & a c**t. He managed to expand on the subject for ten minutes before I could distract him & get him to talk about something else; by that stage his taxi had arrived to take him home, and he shouted over to the cabbie “Mack, kom tee-ache a luke at mah chyclisht! I’ve goat a chyclisht”. My new friend in town, Chookie….

74miles today out of a total of 601m, despite the wind.