Scotland = Hills. Day 4 of the Coast 2 Coast was hard, but good! The thing w/ climbing hills is we’re so slow on the way up, but the view at the top is usually fantastic and today’s descents were epic! So epic that half way through Steve had to adjust the brakes - 😬. This one is different from LEJOG, more ‘challenging’ days strung together - we’ll see what tomorrow brings…
Kirkcudbright to Ecclefechan - hilly place, Scotland (says Steve). Day 3 of 6. Bit of rain, but not as wet as Day 1. Beautiful country even in the wet. Finding mostly good cafes, even in the bigger towns like Dumfries. A hair-raising 300 yard sprint uphill on the A75 - never again!
As there were no rooms to be had in Lockerbie, we found a place in Ecclefechan, about six miles to the south and adjusted the route accordingly. The Cressfield Hotel is where we spent the night, one of the best places so far - even managed to photo the room before getting our stuff all over!
The route was less ‘Alpine’ and less desolate than yesterday. More winding along rivers, estuaries and the sea. Lots of comparisons to LEJOG, both Cornwall and northern Scotland.
Staying at the Garrett Hotel in Kirkcudbright tonight. The town is on a river, lots of art, galleries and flower decorated houses. One of the prettiest villages / small towns we’ve found (so far!) in Scotland.
On the tandem, so getting anywhere and back is always interesting. Booked a van to Ayr and then Day 1 has been Ayr to Newton Stewart, 45 miles. It rained for a good portion of the day, but wasn’t a deluge so not too bad.
A couple big (for us) climbs through 30+ miles of what we called ‘Tree Farm Valley’ - miles and miles of a desolate winding road (we saw three bicycles and one logging truck) through forested tree farms and fields in what looked and sounded in many places like the Alps. The first climb was 1000 feet over 6 miles, 4-6% grade. The second was up to 1300 feet over 2 miles, 4-9% grade - luckily we started at 500 feet. An epic 10 mile descent!
Found Newton Stewart, a small town by the Cree River and realised we were quite sore! Probably from 4 hours in that d#%* van! Took a while (thanks Google!), but eventually we found our B&B, the Corsbie Villa Guest House.
Had a nice dinner at the Crown Hotel, 1/2 mile from where we were staying. Good to walk though and then an early night!
Final day of the Paris Trip! 50 miles, 3 hills over the first 20 miles and 1-2% descent for the next 30 into Dieppe. Checking out the Le Ha...
