Day two, an unfortunate mishap, and day three

Apologies for the lapse in postings here, but we’ve had a bit of a roller 0f events in the last 36 hours. The second day’s ride started out splendidly, with a cool breeze and overcast skies as we left our lodgings in Dunbar, but that quickly gave way to broken clouds and sun as we left the coast and started south towards Kelso, our destination.

The terrain quickly changed as well, becoming more hilly, along with much more diverse vegetation. We started to see much thicker woods, with everything from beeches to pines, along with a variety of smaller trees & shrubs like Mountin Ash and something that looked very similar to our chokecherry. Along about Abbey Saint Bathans, we started to see a lot of wild rhododendron, which was in full bloom, and gorgeous!

Just a little further up the road, I captured this splendid example of Scotland’s narrow little roads snaking through idyllic verdant-green valleys:

We stopped to eat our picnic lunch in the main square of a little town called Duns, where the locals were quite colorful (ask me about it later.) Continuing with my flower obsession, I found this amazing wall of clematis:

Mallory & I are continually amazed at the diversity of vegetation in the hedgerows as well. Here’s a colorful example:

Unfortunately, about 12 miles from Kelso yesterday, we ran into some bad luck. While fording a little stream lined with cobblestones, Sue took a spill and broke her elbow. She and Doug spend was too many hours last night at a nearby hospital getting it x-rayed and then put in a cast. They were both really stoic about the whole thing, and have some funny stories to tell about being in a small-town hospital in rural Scotland, and the kinds of characters you meet. It sounds like the medical staff was great though.

So now we’re wrestling with the details of how to get Sue through the rest of the trip, while the remaining three of us continue to ride. The general plan is for her to take taxis/busses to each next stop, where she can relax (and possibly get a little remote work done for her job as well), until we arrive on our bikes. She’s obviously being a really good sport about it, but doesn’t want to cut the trip short either.

So while they were at the hospital, we guiltily headed into town to get some dinner. Our B&B host had told us about some music happening at one of the local restaurants, and it turned out to be a really jolly bit of acoustic folk music, which we both enjoyed tremendously (and lamented that Sue & Doug couldn’t be there to enjoy it as well). Here’s a clip that I videoed:

Obviously a lot the above details weren’t fully shared until the four of us were reunited at breakfast this morning. We discussed options and decided to find a way for the Mal, Doug & me to keep riding, while Sue joined us for breakfast, dinner and evening fun. They also insisted that Mal & I enjoy our loop ride today (we’re in Kelso for two nights, which is especially convenient under the circumstances.)

So here are a few photos from today’s 26+ mile ride (and Doug got out for a 20 miler on his own later this afternoon).

Lastly, here’s a shot of two very happy cyclists, doing what they love to do!

Stay tuned for another update tomorrow, from Melrose.