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Drew says:
After yesterday's failure to reach our intended destination we changed our plan to follow the easier route to Glasgow following the M6 and M74 from Carlisle in order to make up some time.
We had spent the night in Tebay which has always looked to me, driving past on the M6, to be a god-forsaken place in the middle of nowhere, dominated by the roar of the traffic on the Motorway, and often shrouded in driving rain. The view as we rode out of the village was of a reasonably attractive little place in pleasant country, the motorway notwithstanding.
We started out going directly North towards the Eden Valley up some very steep hills, including one long one where there was no option but to get off and walk. The sun became more intense and the wind increased from the East. At times the wind was on our backs which helped our progress.
I had always expected the countryside to the East of the M6 at this point to be extensive moorland and was surprised to find a delightful area of lush fields and hamlets with long descents into the Eden Valley. Because of the number of ascents on the way, our progress was fairly slow all the way to Carlisle where we had lunch in a cafe in the square.
By this time the Easterly wind had really intensified so we decided to abandon the idea of the easier route alongside the M74 and to turn west towards Dumfries to make use of the tailwind to clock up some fast miles. We were able to cruise along at between 18 and 24 mph to arrive in Dumfries, having made up good part of yesterday's shortfall with our longest daily distance so far of 82 miles. Given the weight of our bikes (around 15kg unloaded) plus the luggage this is not bad. I must remember to weigh the total if the opportunity arises - perhaps at Wick railway station.
We had one or two incidents of idiot car drivers again. A woman in a bloody great 4x4 seemed to think it was our fault when she misjudged the space available to overtake and had to slam on her brakes with much screeching of tyres to avoid a collision with an oncoming car. She then gave us several blasts on her horn as it was clearly our fault for being there in the first place.
Another incident involved a red transit van travelling towards us. A thick-headed teenager hanging out of the window first threw a baked potato at David bruising his calf and a few seconds later, when they drew level, spat at me but missed. Funny though the family no doubt found this, the consequences could have been serious.
We are off to Troon tomorrow.
Stats:
Distance 129km, max speed 51.5km/h, moving time 6 hrs 31 min, moving avg 19.8km/h, ascent 876m
- comments
Sue and Richard Hi Drew and David ...It's become a must do to log onto your blog every evening and find out what the intrepid duo are upto ! .....very impressed !!!...Best Wishes Sue & Richard