Day 6 - Dumfries to Loch Lomond

The weather finally changed for the better today. Knowing that we had broken the back of the ride we were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves but cautious that we had a long ride yet before reaching John O'Groats.

I think that the Scottish countryside is stunning. I have little recollection of Scotland since my parents took me as a child. I vaguely remember lots of castles and complaining alot about the long drive from South Wales.

From leaving Dumfries we followed a cycle route through the hills. This was a welcome break from the dual carriageways we had been navigating.

On route we visited a Drumarrig castle. After getting a lady at the
he castle to take a picture of us outside the castle, she said that we must visit "Riks bike museum." The duke who owned the castle had helped Rik fund the mountain bike trails around there. The mountain bike there are for all abilities, you can even hire a bike and get lessons there.

Paul's spoke snapped about 25 miles from Kilmarnock, we were lucky that we had Becky to call on. When she arrived in "the beast" we managed to switch Paul's broken wheel for one on Becky's bike. Becky was able to take the broken wheel to a bike shop called "Walkers" in Kilmarnook.

When we arrived in Kilmarnook, Becky was sat outside the pub having a drink. It was her birthday after all! The people in Walkers were very welcoming. The lady in the shop made us a cup of tea because she knew how hard the trip was since she did it with her husband on a tandem in 1996.

We got a bit lost around Glasgow and a helpful chap on a bike took us out of his way along the urban cycle paths, to get us back in the right direction. He even made a donation for the cause. He was a really kind chap and if we ever get his name I'd like to thank him again for helping us out.

The last stretch to Loch Lomand seemed to take forever. The lake was breathtaking which helped me take my mind off my knees. I recommend a mountain bike if you take these roads as they were terrible. After all of the mishaps with the bike and getting lost, this was the longest day of cycling we had done so far. We arrived at the hotel at 8:45pm, just short of a 12 hour day in the saddle.

Pictures to follow!