It’s a breezy day lads

Breakfast was a buffet which meant unlimited haggis for me, and very good it was too. Andrew arrived half an hour before the rest of us trenchermen but due to his slow eating disorder was still the last to leave.

Left the grand but fading hotel at 9:30, out the door, turn left and straight onto 1.4 miles of rough, hilly gravel track through the woods. We weren’t expecting that!!

The next 5 miles weren’t much better thanks to a 17mph headwind. But handily we then turned north east and had the wind, as Andrew says, ‘up our a**es all the way’ to Lockerbie. None of the expected showers either. The border countryside around Dumfries is lovely and we had all the help we needed to appreciate it. Unfortunately for Andrew, some of that help came from a wasp that encouragingly flew into his shirt and made its way er…South…where it then stung him. Some minutes later Pete, at the back as usual, came round a corner to find Andrew with his hands down his shorts fiddling! Being a gentleman, Pete turned a blind eye and continued.

Not many lunch stop opportunities along the way so, when we arrived in Castle Douglas, Scotlands Premier Foodie Town (that’s a real thing according to ChatGPT), we found a fabulous bakery and stocked up on quiche, Homity pies and cakes. We then headed to Lochfoot for a picnic. There’s some picnic benches the village has provided next to the loch, and across the street there’s a house with a sign saying ‘Cyclists water tap here’. What a lovely place. Hope our noisy banter didn’t disturb the tranquility.

Arrived at our also rather nice hotel in Lockerbie to a cool, almost frosty, welcome from the matron in charge.

Later found out why she was so ‘focussed’. It seems this hotel is ‘the place’ for dining on a Saturday night. It was very busy. Given that the barman was a bit pickled even as he started his shift we could see why the poor lady may have been a bit stressed. Meal was better than the Crown but not as good as the Pax.

63 miles

3384 feet

Hilly one to Hawick tomorrow