Warning: there are a LOT of pictures of fields, today.

Loaded our bikes in the morning sun, the cool moist air of the last several days was gone.  We had a wonderful mile long drop out of town, quickly followed by a half mile climb into the fields.  Glanced back to catch a glimpse of the Alnwick Castle (dating from 1096)that we apparently missed while we were in town.  The rolling hills were minor,the soft palette of ripe grains contrasted against the dark pines and farmhouses were stunning.The farm/home estates were once again immense and the stone walls that were so prolific in the Dales once again were present.

We arrived at the coast minutes before the fog.    The low tide is dramatic, as was the fog, just a bit more difficult to photograph.  The southwest breeze that was blowing in the fog caught us appreciative on our backs.

The approach into Bamburgh for coffee was highlighted by the dramatic Castle.Our planned stop after 20 miles was sidetracked by meeting Egbert and Gertrud from Germany.  We had a wonderful conversation, but needed to continue.  Just as we were leaving, Henri (also from Germany) that we’d briefly met yesterday, joined the group.  We left them as they chatted away in their native tongue.  Leaving Bamburgh is when the real hills began; not the ones we have complained about to this point the climbs became longer and the fly-downs fun.  With the ups and downs pretty balanced we had time to recover before the next climb.  In the next town, on one such drop we stopped for lunch, only to climb a big hlll immediately after.  As our course took us closer to the sea, we became confused when the path we were instructed to take had a locked gate across it.  So we unloaded our bikes, lifted the bikes over, packed up and rolled on.  The path turned to a trail, then to a field.  For ten miles we slowly maneuver over the creeks, past the stunning cliffs and through the cows.  Our progress had slowed trememndously.  We rejoiced when we were on pavement again, even though it was climbing.  The coast had been captivating, but we were tired and needed to be there; we did not even care that the clouds were building around us.  The afternoon became a blur. Somtime before 5:00, we touched the Scottish Borders, but our road turned us away and up a hill, so the photo op was missed. Another 15 minute climb and were were at our bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere.

Thankfully, we had made a dinner reservation when we booked the room, which was excellent since our legs were carrying us no further than the 60 miles we had already traveled.   The scenery today was some of the best we’d experienced but it was not easy.

All night, we listened to the pouring rain on the skylight in our loft room. The rain had stopped by the time we woke, but the ceiling was low and the air very damp.  We wanted to make it to Edinburgh today for a much needed day off, but it was at least 60 miles and with the threat of more rain, wind in our face, plus the hills sure to be awaiting, we were not confident it would happen.

The morning began with a mile long downhill with half as much up and that is when we stopped counting.  For the next ten miles we climbed, some tough grades, some minor, but always continuously up.   The trees on this ridge had managed to adapt to the continuous wind as had technology, the sheep, however, seemed quite indifferent.  At the ridge, before our drop the view was brilliant (English slang for awesome).  Two miles into our wonderful downhill a fork in the road had us pulling hard on our brakes.  The “bike course” pointed right towards the sea (which seemed questionable to us), but after our bike course excursion of yesterday, we had second thoughts.  A chat (included repeating the heavy Scotish brogue instructions three times) with a local advised the right fork “will be hell up, you need to go that way.”We went with his recommendation and choose the left leg of the fork.  Not sure if it was a short cut, but it was paved, the vista fabulous and we made forward progress……perfect!   Once back on the “course” the path led us along the highway and then turned to dirt.  Memories of yesterday returned; thankfully the path did not have dangerous, unseen ruts, just beautiful wildflowers.

Our pavement returned just before Dunbar, where we met Graham and Rose (on a bike holiday from Manchester) over coffee.With only 11 miles to the next town where there were accommodations, we frantically started searching for a place that would take us further.  Everything was booked unless we could make it to Edinburgh.  With less than half the mileage to the city completed by 1:00, we thought it wise to be happy with the last eleven miles.  Managed to slow down a bit, with the shorter day, and enjoy the incredible scenery and classic Scottish golf courses.We passed the Bass Rockpedaled along canals and beside more glorious fields.Our last few miles were not without struggle, with plenty of hills and wind in our face we were happy with our decision of staying in the next town.  The town of Haddington is quaint and very picturesquebut not a sole was around on this Sunday afternoon.  Headed through the village square and directly to our hotel, that just happened to have a tavern downstairs; perfect place to watch the finals of the World Cup.  We partied with the locals, enjoying Scottish pie and Scotch Whiskey; the evening sky was putting on a show as we headed upstairs at 9:30.

Traveln’ may slow down bit, thirs’ scotch to be drunk!

A sunny morning for our pretty half mile stretch out of town, past big homes overlooking the valley below.  A quick jig in the road and we were on a converted railway track.  The next five miles was a quiet, flat, tree covered and flower lined path, protected from the wind.  It would have been perfect had the odometers decided to stop working, one at a time.  For 45 minutes we struggled to troubleshoot the problem; considering we had just replaced the batteries we were at a loss.  We finally decided to continue blindly.  By the time we emerged from our secluded path, the clouds had built and there was a coolness to the air.

A quick drop and we were by the sea on Scotland’s “Gulf Coast Road”.Without the tree projection and our westerly turn, we felt the wind full front.  So though the road was flat, the ride was not without effort.  Once again, the tide was out,most dramatically illustrated in the small harbors.They take full advantage of their daily dry dock, by getting some work done.The day was getting grayer as the clouds thickened, casting a dark parlor to the homes.We could see the city in the distance, just could not seem to cover any distance to get there.  One wrong turn was quickly corrected by Marshall; the redirect took two minutes, Jerry trying to understand thick Scottish (more like Japanese) accent took another twenty.  Once back on course, we passed a monument to those that died in both World Wars, more parks and flowers and a canal draining out with the tide.As we got closer, we could see that the flat bike path and boardwalk we were enjoying would not carry us into the city.  The dark clouds that had been building were starting to spit at us on our three mile trek uphill into the center of Edinburgh.  We reached the hotel door just as it started to pour.  An hour later the rain quite, so a bit of housekeeping, maps, batteries, laundry, etc. after all, one must do something while waiting for laundry to dry.  Still quite overcast and grey, so will tour this impressive city tomorrow.

Not only does the Castle of Edinburgh sit on a hill, but so does the city, which means the streets are either up or down.  What better reason to take the classic “hop on, hop off” bus.  The old city is built at the foot of the rock cliffs that the castle seems to materializes from.  There are many statues on our way; this is The Duke of Wellingtonand most important James Young Simpson,who discovered the useful properties of chloroform, precursor of our modern day anesthesiologists.  Edinburgh is also one of the largest banking cities in Europe, The Bank of Scotland is predominant.Though we found most of the buildings need a good scrubbing, the architecture on most is stunning.Our least favorite and one of the most controversial buildings in the city (understandably) is the Scottish Parliament Building.

Back to the beautiful.We strolled the Royal Mile, the stretch between the castle and palace, better known in recent years as a tourist trap.but great people watching.  It also boasts the beautiful St. Giles’ Cathedral dating from the 14th Century.  Stained glassed, exquisite marble floors and an incredible ceiling in the chapel.There was so much to see in this immense city and no way we could cover it all, so we climbed the Calton Hill by foot for a better view, it was brilliant.  The rest of what we saw is below.  Not sure we rested our legs at all, but the big cities always make us want to ride…..check in tomorrow to see if we thought that was such a good idea.

Remember you can click on any picture to make it larger and then arrow through.

Something between spitting and rain greeted us when we pushed off at 7:15 this morning.  For two miles we weaved our way through the many buses that serve to bring the droves of workers into the city to begin the day.  One turn and we were on a bike path, able to relax a little and notice that it was quite chilly outside (55°), but the rain had stopped.  We enjoyed the pathand small roads for over an hour.We passed many fields of sheep, filled with grouse and an beautiful home. then a climb over the mile long bridge that crossed the River Firth of Forth and to breakfast.  A quick pedal into town and we found a little shop with only three tables; one saved just for us.  We enjoyed the best Scottish breakfast (no Black Pudding, but we did have Haggis) cooked by the cheeriest Irishman we’ve ever met.  As seems to always be the case when our bellies are full, we climbed…..for twelve miles.  The climb, though difficult, was beautiful through the forest.  From our high ridge, we could see a mist over the valley below.  As we began to drop, the mist got wetter and colder.  Halfway down we had to stop to grab our raincoats, as much for warmth as to stay dry.  At the bottom of our long and cold descent was Kinross, there we ducked into a coffee shop for cappuccino and a most incredible toffee and banana cake; just what the doctor ordered to warm the soul.  As we left, the ceiling was lifting, the temperatures had jumped 10 degrees and there was a breeze blowing the clouds away. From here we were either slowly climbing or rolling down the hills, fascinated by the play of clouds and sun on the hills in the distance.  One very long climb served up one fantastic (40mph) descent (though Travis would not like it),  At the bottom or our two mile drop, we met Catherine and Nicolas on a bike holiday from Belgium.  We rode with them for a few miles and then caught them again in Perth.  They had more miles to cover, so we said our goodbyes, though we may run into them again along the way.  We checked in as the clouds were once again building.Before we headed out for a walk about town, we had a quick drink??  Apparently, still trying to warm up or just getting in the Scottish spirit a shot of whiskey with a beer chaser.We walked the couple of blocks to the River Tay and then to dinner.  The 51 miles were tough today; a good night’s rest is much needed.  

 Shout out to Simon at Sustrans, great advise on the course and very well signed.

This morning’s 57° seemed more than two degrees warmer in sunshine versus the rain of yesterday.  For five miles we biked up the River Tay.  Golf courses and flowers surrounded us.Though the trail looked flat, the gears on the bike said we were climbing.  The climbing became more aggressive and the course a combination of dirt, gravel, trails and occasionally the road, but all spectacularly gorgeous.Though we continued to follow the river, we zigzagged up and occasionally down,the foothills of the Cairngorms National Park Hills bent dramatically down to the river’s edge.  The sun danced on the greensas the clouds passed.  We finally dropped back to the river on a rugged trail, but it led us to our meeting of Herbert and Iris from Germany.They were on the last day of their bike holiday.  As we continued, the course led us quickly uphill again along the rivers’ edge.  The scenery continued to be amazing,the surfaces we traveled …. “creative”.We began to doubt the course as it was taking us further up and away from the river, but at 1:30 we finally reached the fork in the road

that would send us further or have us stay for the evening.  With only 34 miles done, we felt we should go on, even though our last four had been a lot of climbing 15%+ grades.  As we travel farther north, accommodations will become more difficult, so we needed to be judicious on our stops for the night.  Most importantly, the town of Pitlochry had more tourists than flowers.  Once rested and fed, the memory of the earlier climbing faded, we felt energized and decided to go on…..plus, it was an incredibly brilliant day!   Our last 12 miles was on a straight road, while not flat, it had much milder climbs than that which we had already experienced.  A midway stop for more liquid, led us to meeting Haakan, Mret and Lisa from Norway.Lisa is on a quest (she will surely complete) to be the youngest person to complete the North Sea Cycle Route (6500k); her 14th birthday is Monday, Amazing!

 Our stop for the night was a darling B & B in the middle of nowhere; but they had a bar and a restaurant, so it was perfect.The 48 miles today had been tough and we were more than ready to stop; didn’t we say that about yesterday?

Overcast skies and swirling wind in the valley our B & B was nestled in, as we instantly began our climb from the rivers bottom.  Protected by a tunnel of trees, the sound of the stream we followed entwined with the rustling of the wind in the trees.  Two miles later when we emerged, we were happy to know the wind was at our back.  The temperature was struggling to stay at 60°, but we were plenty warm with our continuous climbing high along the ridge.Even without the sun, the scenery was amazing, clouds hugged the tallest ridges of the hills barren of trees.   It took us two hours to climb 15 miles and that is with a wind assist; cannot imagine how unfun the opposite direction would be.  As we reached our 1400 foot pass, we could see sun in the distance.  We flew down the next six miles in 20 minutes and dropped into a coffee shop to warm up: note the snow patches. In the time in took for a hot cappuccino, the sun was out and the wind had kicked up.  The gusts that hit us, challenged our upright mobility.  But the path and road we traveled had only the occasional car or biker, giving us plenty of opportunity to enjoy the scenery.  On one such path, we met Rod, Matt, Mitch and Mike from Indiana.  They had just arrived from the states today for a golf holiday.  Unfortunatley for them, they had a flat tire, so they were happy to chat while they awaited a repair. At 1:30 and 35 miles completed, we took our turn to lead us to our stop for the night.  We “thought” we had less than six miles to travel and with our last 20 being flat or downhill we thought it would be a piece of cake.  Instantly we started climbing away from the river,but the climbing was not without it’s rewards.And as beautiful and peaceful as it was, it continued well past six miles, some climbs very aggressive.  Though we enjoyed the vistas, we were high in the middle of nowhere and ready to stop.  After 53 miles and over five hours in the saddle, we finally reached our town and hotel.  With no lunch, we were drained.  Nothing that some beer, wine, dinner and dessert can not fix.Tomorrow night, Inverness….if all goes well!