I was so tired the last two nights that I just didn’t have it in me to put together a post. The four of us have been having great fun exploring each new town we stay in, finding nice little pubs and such for dinner, and catching up on everything our kids and mutual friends have been up to, that we’re usually saying our good nights around 11 o’clock. The first few nights, I would stay up past midnight writing my blog post, but I just haven’t had it in me for the last couple (no surprise)!
Sue continues to do a great job exploring on her own while we’re riding, both in the town where we start, and then at the destination, after catching a bus there. I know it’s challenging, and that it’s tremendously disappointed to not be riding with us, but I hope we’re making up for it just a little bit with our afternoon/evening time together.
The route we chose to take to Innerleithen (of four, ranging from 18 to 55 miles!) was 38+ miles, and it was another spectacular day, at least to start. Showers were forecast in the afternoon, but we were fortunate that they stayed away for the duration of our ride.
There were two big climbs that day, the first a long, slow slog up a steady pitch amidst stark surroundings. First or second gear most of the way. Near the top, I captured this panorama. Note the clouds in the distance behind us; the tiny speck on the road at the far right is Mallory.
At the top, we found a sweet little stone windbreak in which to have our picnic lunch:
While on the top of the pass, we were surprised to see a military-style cargo plane flying low enough that it appeared to be below us. Then a little further on, while riding the lovely, idyllic valley pictured below, we heard a low roar building behind us that quickly became so loud that it scared the wits out of us. I literally had trouble holding on to the handlebars it was so frightening. It turned out to be a fighter jet, flying less than 500 feet off the ground, and it was fully sideways as it wound up the valley beyond us. I only wish I had time to snap a photo!
We arrived at our B&B in Innerleithen about 4:30, and Sue arrived soon after that. This was probably our nicest B&B yet, a newish place with quite a few rooms, operated by yet another incredibly friendly Scottish couple. Amazingly, less than an hour after we arrived, the skies opened up, and we wondered what riding in a downpour like that would be like. A little later, we found out that the rain was much bigger than a ‘normal’ one, causing flooding in town, as well as our host’s garage and car park. It was bad enough that most of the restaurants in town were closed, so we took a taxi to the neighboring town of Peebles (where it hadn’t rained at all!) for dinner. We had a lovely meal, and enjoyed exploring the village at sunset. There I stumbled onto the most incredible bed of hybrid lupine I have ever seen:
Stay tuned for the report of our last day of riding, which I hope to post later today!
