cycle THIS ISSUE TAK E CHARGE ON TOUR SA NDSTONE WAY BIK EPACK ING
cycle THE MAGAZINE OF CYCLING UK
650B ROAD-PLUS BIKES FROM CANNONDALE & HALLETT
SPRING CYCLING
RIDE IDEAS FOR HOME AND ABROAD
TOURING IN IRAN BIKE BAGS & BOXES AGM AGENDA
Plus C H AR G IN G D E VI C E S B Y H U B D YN AM O SAN D ST O N E WAY B IK E PAC KIN G R O AD - P L U S B IKES TEST E D TA KIN G T H E SILK R O AD T O IR AN
A P R I L / M AY 2 0 17 £3 OR FREE TO CYC L I N G U K M E M B E R S CYC L I N G U K .O R G
A P R I L / M AY 2 0 17
The big picture Nationwide
R I D E S O F WAY
Photo: Seb Rogers
‘RIDES OF WAY: Cycling UK’s Off-Road Report 2017’ was launched in February. The report found: 91% rate off-road cycling as fairly or very important for their mental health, and 90% for their physical health Two thirds cycle straight from their front door to ride on rights of way 74% consider current rights of way legislation unsuitable Paul Tuohy said: ‘Our Rides of Way report shows people are frustrated by a system that could be more accessible. There is so much we can do to make off-road riding easier without creating conflict. That will be our goal as we launch our off-road campaign this spring.’ You can download a copy of the report here: bit.ly/cyclinguk-ridesofway.
PAUL TUOHY
Chief Executive
SPREAD THE WORD
PAUL TUOHY Chief Executive
Cycling UK is worth shouting about so let’s tell non-members what they’re missing. If you want Cycling UK-branded kit, we’ve got that too, says Paul Tuohy
it’s the UK’s most-read cycling magazine! I still have to remind myself that it’s only a year since we remodelled our look and feel as the national cycling charity, in order to help us attract wider public support and new members to support our cause. This wider support is starting to take shape, with increases in funding enabling wider engagement with people currently cycling or wanting to do so but needing our help.
A WELL-DESERVED CUPPA
Paul Tuohy keeping warm on the Kentish Killer in his new jacket
S
PRING HAS FINALLY sprung. Soon we can and put away the leggings and ride in shorts. I’ve no doubt some of you hard core Cycling UK members are doing so already, but my pasty legs have remained undercover – health and safety for those on my wheel! In February, I took part in a sportive called the Kentish Killer. Some participants noted that I wasn’t wearing gloves or overshoes. It was windy but a healthy 10 degrees, and the gloves I started in were soon discarded. I was toasty warm on this hilly sportive, thanks mainly to my new Cycling UK wind jacket,
“Sign up a friend, colleague, or anyone you know who rides”
made by Endura. It kept me comfortable so I just scraped inside the Gold Standard for a tough ride. I’m sold on it. This jacket and other Cycling UK clothing will be coming soon from our new online shop. Keep an eye on CycleClips, Twitter and Facebook for details of when we go live, then treat yourself. The CTC heritage touring jersey will be available soon too. I had a preview at the London Bike Show and it looks brilliantly retro. I’m getting one! There’s so much happening at Cycling UK right now that I can’t pack it all in here, but you’ll get a taste of what’s to come from this and subsequent editions of Cycle. Events include the Women’s Festival of Cycling, Big Bike Revival, our new Challenge Ride Series, Bike Week, Member Group rides, and more. Of course, when you're not out on the bike, there’s plenty to enjoy in Cycle. No wonder
We appreciate the benefits of cycling because we are already converts, or because cycling has been handed down to us by our parents or friends. It’s simply part of our lives. We tour, commute, shop, do club runs, events, group rides, and we understand that cycling is the ‘get me anywhere’ means of active travel to be nurtured and shared. We want to spread that message – with your help. With a summer of cycling ahead of us, I want to appeal to you to support us and help us grow in size. Our best advocates are our members: you. See page 76 in this edition of Cycle and sign up a friend, colleague, or anyone you know who rides. As a thank you, you’ll get a free, limited-edition Dave Walker Cycling UK mug to say thanks. By joining Cycling UK, your friends will be making a donation that is repaid with insurance cover, magazines, advice, and discounts exclusive to our members. They will be actively supporting cycling in all its forms, and will help us to pass on the joy and pleasure that cycling brings to even more people. They will be joining the UK’s most influential and active cycling community – one that stands up for cycling to protect, enhance and improve conditions for cycling across the UK like no other organisation can. Please introduce a friend this spring and share your love of cycling with them. Why not send us a photo of you enjoying a cuppa with your new mug? We’ll then share that more widely, because doing such a good deed should give you a warm feeling beyond your brew.
CYCL I N GU K . OR G CYCL E 7
PRODUCT NEWS | SHOP WINDOW
Product news
SHOP WINDOW EDITOR DAN JOYCE PREVIEWS A CROSS-SECTION OF NEW PRODUCTS THAT ARE IN THE SHOPS OR COMING SOON
1
5
6
2 6 C Y C L E APRIL/M AY 2017
2
4
3 6
Bespoked The UK Handmade Bicycle Show returns to Brunel’s Old Station in Bristol from 7-9 April. For more details, see p18 and bespoked.cc
DAN JOYCE Cycle editor
1WHYTE FRISTON
£1599
With room for fatter tyres (700×40C fitted, room for 650B roadplus – see below), Whyte’s Friston shows the way gravel bikes/adventure road bikes are heading. whyte.bike
2 BEELINE
£99
Digital navigation stripped to the basics: the display shows the direction of and distance to your destination, receiving instructions from the smartphone in your pocket. beeline.co
1985 GORE-TEX 3 ONE SHAKEDRY JACKET
£230
At 116g (size L), this might be the lightest, most packable jacket that’s fully waterproof. It’s essentially a GoreTex membrane layer without an outer shell or separate liner. Black only, sadly. goreapparel.co.uk
TUBELESS VALVE & 4 MILKIT REFILL KIT £44.99
There are two neat things about this kit: the injector puts the sealant in the tyre rather than onto the floor; and the split-rubber base of the valve prevents it clogging afterwards. milkit.bike
WORKS WAVE TECH 5 PRAXIS CHAINRINGS £39.99+
An alternative to narrow-wide for single-chainring bikes (104BCD, Direct Mount, or 110BCD), Wave Tech claims better mud shedding and slower wear. And it avoids the narrow-wide patent. praxiscycles.com
BIKEPACKING 6 CARIBOU BAGS £40+
7
More bikepacking bags. The seatbag (small £59.99, large £69.99) is seam-sealed and waterproof, as is the handlebar roll (£49.99). The frame bags (£40/£50) have zips so are only showerproof. madison.co.uk
7 WTB HORIZON TCS TYRE
£40
Wide 650B road tyres are now an industry thing, dubbed Road Plus by WTB and appearing on an increasing number of bikes – see p64. wtb.com
D E TA I L S WHERE: The Silk Road START/FINISH: Beijing to Tehran DISTANCE: 10,105km PICTURES: Getty Images and Charles Stevens
THE ROAD TO IRAN | GRE AT RIDES
Great rides
THE ROAD TO IRAN
Charles (left) and Will arrive at Tehran after months on the road
Aged 19 and 18, Cycling UK members Charles Stevens and Will Hsu became the youngest cyclists to ride the 10,000km Silk Road from Beijing to Tehran
H
alf a dozen Iranian soldiers fixed their gazes on us, AK47s pointed in our direction. We were at the border with Turkmenistan, wheeling our bikes. The commander met us with a long look and a single word: ‘Passport.’ Our photos were taken, as were our passports. We waited nervously. When the soldiers returned, the chilly atmosphere had thawed: they were smiling, machine guns hung unthreateningly over their shoulders. The commander beamed at us like an old friend: ‘Welcome to Iran.’ And it certainly was a welcome, after the austerity of our journey so far. Silver trays bearing cold drinks and cakes were brought out to us. Half an hour later, we were in a well-lit boardroom, air conditioning running at full blast to drive off the 40-degree heat. We were given fluorescent hi-vis vests for travelling on Iran’s roads by officials who apologised for any delay we might have experienced. They were gracious hosts, the first of many we were to meet in Iran.
Left: Getty Images. Others by Charles Stevens
REACHING THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC Whilst Iran is an interesting destination in its own right, for us it constituted the final leg of a 10,000-kilometre journey along the Silk Road from Beijing to Tehran. It was our final country after pedalling through China, Mongolia, Russia, and the jigsaw puzzle
of the five former Soviet Central Asian republics, in our aim to be the youngest pair to successfully cycle this historic route. By the time we arrived in Iran, on day 104 of the expedition, we were already seasoned by the adversities of a cycling route that is recognised as ‘the longest, hardest, hottest and coldest in the world’. Each country along the way brought challenges, but also great rewards. Mongolia is home to a nomadic way of life that’s slowly dying, as well as a landscape of severe but breathtaking beauty, all harsh angles and sweeping shadows. We endured a thousand kilometres of extremely poor off-road conditions; sandstorms in the Gobi Desert; and morning crusts of ice on our bikes, our tents, and sometimes ourselves. Siberia’s Altai Republic conceals not only some of the most beautiful roads in all of Russia but also one of the largest open air art galleries in the world, containing thousands of examples of ancient rock painting and petroglyphs. Much to our surprise, the conditions in Russia were probably the most forgiving of any country. We began to experience altitude sickness in Kyrgyzstan after the Tian Shan mountains broke the monotony of hundreds of kilometres of Central Asian steppe in Kazakhstan. Known as ‘the jewel of Central Asia’, Kyrgyzstan offered stunning views and
Do it yourself
BEING PRE PARE D Leave plenty of time to get visas. We allowed three months and it was tight. Many of the roads are extremely rough, so make sure your bike’s tyres are tough enough and wide enough. You might even want suspension that can be locked out. Flights to Beijing are straightforward and regular, and it’s possible to fly to and from Tehran now as well.
‘WELCOME TO IRAN’, HE SAID. AND WHAT A WELCOME. SILVER TRAYS BEARING COLD DRINKS AND CAKES WERE BROUGHT TO US CYCL I N G U K . OR G CYCL E 3 9
SMARTPHONE battery life pales beside that of basic handsets
Feature
TAK E CH ARG E O N TO U R WHEN MAINS ELECTRICITY ISN’T AN OPTION, A HUB DYNAMO CAN KEEP YOUR ELECTRICAL DEVICES TOPPED UP. TECHNICAL EDITOR RICHARD HALLETT EXPLAINS HOW
ycle touring is not necessarily quite what it used to be. Once it was simply a matter of loading up with luggage, a map-holder, and perhaps a tent before heading off for a week in the wilderness. Nowadays, the growing popularity of bike-mounted electronic aids such as GPS cycle computers and the desire of many touring cyclists to stay connected to the online world while travelling means it is all too easy to travel laden with small and light but energyhungry electronic devices. Each of these will be powered by a battery that will, sooner or later, require recharging. While this is not much of an issue for cyclists who rarely ride for more than a couple of hours, and within easy reach of a plugged-in battery charger, it poses something of a challenge for anyone whose ride-time exceeds the battery life of the gadget in question. This does not have to mean a long-distance cycle tour; the battery life of a smartphone using mapping software may be a mere handful of hours, which impairs the usefulness of the device as a navigation or recordmaking tool. Keeping tags on device battery life might even count as cycling’s equivalent of the ‘range anxiety’ apparently experienced by electric-car drivers.
Photo: Cass Gilbert
C
POWER TO YOUR DEVICES Options for remaining powered-up depend in part on the power requirements of the device in question, and are, inevitably, few, given the restrictions on space and energy consumption imposed by cycling. One solution is to carry a spare battery, but that means extra weight and does not fully address the basic problem of limited battery life. Small solar arrays capable of charging a larger tablet device are available but need both sunlight and a position that takes advantage of it, making them better suited for use in camp rather than on the road. The effective, accessible solution is to use a hub dynamo. When not employed for lighting, it can provide the power needed: to keep a small device charged; to recharge it; or to charge an auxiliary or ‘cache’ battery for use later. With a few exceptions, modern hub dynamos operate on six volts and are designed to generate three Watts at normal riding speeds. This is enough, if used judiciously, to keep the savvy touring cyclist largely self-sufficient. If more than 3W is needed, one of the options mentioned earlier may be needed in addition. It’s not a huge amount of power, so not an amount that can usefully be split two ways; if a dynamo is being used to power lights, there may not be enough
CYCL I N G U K . OR G CYCL E 4 5
D E TA I L S WHERE: Northumberland START/FINISH: Berwick upon Tweed to Hexham DISTANCE: 136 miles PICTURES: Jo Gibson & Getty Images
SPRING IN THE NORTH | GRE AT RIDES
Great rides
SPRING IN THE NORTH
Day four: Hadrian’s Wall, beyond Simonburn and Uppertown
With new bikepacking kit to try and a few days to spare, Jo Gibson and her partner Dave tackled the Sandstone Way in March Do it yourself
T
Left: Getty Images. Others by Jo Gibson
he Sandstone Way is a new offroad trail through an ancient landscape. It was established in 2015, the brainchild of Cycling UK member Ted Liddle, and it meanders across 120 miles of Northumberland landscape and a few thousand years of its history. With some time to spare last March, Dave and I decided to ride it from north to south, Berwick-uponTweed to Hexham. Day one of the trip proper, however, found us in the Crown and Anchor on Holy Island, which isn’t part of the Sandstone Way but is only a short diversion from Berwick. We had risen at 05:45 and waited shivering above the harbour so we could watch the sun rise in the company of fishermen and wheeling gulls. Fierce rays pierced the horizon, bleeding red across the black sea. After breakfast, I was conscious of our luggage stuffed into dry-sacks, ready to be lashed to our bikes. But the fire was roaring and I was reluctant to move. Except time and tide don’t wait for you forever on Holy Island. So we said our goodbyes and pedalled back across the causeway to the mainland.
INGLORIOUS MUD Once we crossed the A1, we gladly left the great tarmac artery for tracks covered with
TR AVE L TIP S grass, mud and sheep dung. Strangers to Northumberland and to bikepacking, we were plunging deep into both. While it had been satisfying to strap my gear to my bike, knowing I was self-contained and selfsufficient, I quickly became irked when my tyres flung up filth from the field and my fresh, portable world became soiled. I met each muddy field crossing with a sigh. The day passed rhythmically, my head ducked against the crosswind, popping up only to spot a sandstone crag in Kyloe Woods and the outcrop of St Cuthbert’s cave. But mindful of the time, the light, and the dark clouds burgeoning above, we rolled along the fire roads and dusty singletrack while the rolling was good. When we found ourselves following a sandstone ridge and grinding up a deserted back road climb, I secretly relished the tarmac and I felt guiltier and happier when it turned downhill. Freewheeling, we missed a turn. Upon retracing, we found a ferociously rutted Jeep track, with ridges coated in mud like melted chocolate. The extra weight made my twitchy carbon race bike utterly unpredictable. Dave, with his almost-as-twitchy Cube Reaction, was not faring much better. Pedal, wobble, shove, repeat: bikepacking at its most dynamic. The market town of Wooler was our first
Hexham and Berwick-uponTweed both have train stations. It usually takes less than two hours to travel between the two, with a change at Newcastle. Our planning revolved around breaking the ride into three main riding days and finding accommodation at suitable intervals on the route. The Sandstone Way website suggests the route is suitable for families, and while it is not technical in MTB terms, this is a demanding ride for a moderately fit rider. There are extra loops and more challenging lines veering further into the Northumberland National Park. It’s suitable for a hardtail MTB.
WE HAD RISEN AT 05:45 AND WAITED SHIVERING ABOVE THE HARBOUR SO WE COULD WATCH THE SUN RISE CYCL I N G U K . OR G CYCL E 5 3
BIKETEST | ROAD - PLUS BIKES
Bike test
ROAD-PLUS BIKES
DAN JOYCE Cycle editor
Fatter tyres on smaller diameter wheels are transforming gravel bikes. Editor Dan Joyce tests a Cannondale Slate Apex and a Hallett 650 Adventure
R
OAD-PLUS is what the industry in general and WTB in particular has begun to call drop-bar bikes with 650B wheels and fatter tyres. The name was surely inspired by plus-size mountain bike tyres but makes sense in another way. Those wider tyres are better able to cope with roads plus a bit more besides: roads with potholes; roads with horrible chipseal; gravel roads; forest roads; bridleways. Until recently, 650B (ISO 584) was a wheel size favoured by French tourers. Now it’s usurped 26in (ISO 559) as the dominant wheel size for new mountain bikes, so there are lots of quality rims and off-road tyres available. Nice-rolling 650B road tyres aren’t the rarity they were either, thanks to converts such as Jan Heine of Bicycle Quarterly and Compass Cycles persuading Panaracer to make more. For a sporty, all-purpose road/off-road bike, 650B is thus a better option now than 26in. Cannondale were an early adopter of 650B for the road, launching the Slate to raised eyebrows two years ago. They describe it as ‘a full-tilt road bike with legitimate off-road chops.’ Three of the models have a short-travel Lefty suspension fork. This one has a rigid fork, which is equally practical for the sort of off-road riding you’d do on a bike like the Slate. Framebuilder Richard Hallett has been carrying a (brazing) torch for 650B wheels for
longer than most. A 650B tourer of his won Best 2015 Touring Bike at Bespoked, and if you Google ‘650B road bike’, Richard comes up twice in the first nine hits – including the top one. He’s also written about fatter road tyres for Cycle in his capacity as Technical Editor. (That’s not why his bike is in the review, however, and I hope it goes without saying that he didn’t see this review before it went to press.) As well as 700C bikes, he offers two 650B options: the 650 Sport with ~32mm tyres; and this, the wider-tyred 650 Adventure, described as ‘a true all-roads tourer and “gravel-basher”’.
FRAME AND FORK A 650B wheel with a 42mm tyre has roughly the same diameter externally as a 700C wheel with a 23mm tyre. So the geometry of a roadplus bike need not be radically different. Some road-plus bikes have the clearance (and disc brakes) necessary to run wide-tyred 700C wheels interchangeably – 40-622, for example. These two don’t. That means buying into 650B in a real sense, which is a consideration if, like me, your only spare wheels and tyres are 700C/29er sized. Cannondale’s distributor advised me that the Slate had a short reach for its size and suggested I try the Large. But I’ve got a bad back and invariably fit shorter stems to stock
A 650B WHEEL WITH A 42MM TYRE HAS ROUGHLY THE SAME DIAMETER AS A 700C WHEEL WITH A 23MM TYRE. SO GEOMETRY NEED NOT BE RADICALLY DIFFERENT 6 4 C Y C L E APRIL/M AY 2017
bikes. The Medium fitted me perfectly, and was just long enough for my toes to clear the bare tyre. The Slate’s smoothly hydroformed aluminium frame has the rear brake hose and derailleur cable running internally, through not just the down tube but the bottom bracket and chain stays too. It’s neat but will complicate replacement. The bottom bracket is a BB30A unit, an asymmetric 73mm-wide version of the BB30 standard that Cannondale developed. I’m not keen on any kind of press-fit but would prefer one, such as the standard BB30, that could be swapped for something like a Praxis Works Conversion BB when the time came. The Slate’s seat stays and chain stays are radically flattened. This is ‘Save-plus micro suspension’, and it surely is micro alongside those voluminous tyres. I’d look to the fork first for vibration reduction – and here that’s monolithic. The aluminium Solo Rigid fork has a 1.5-inch steerer, a chunky single leg, and a stub axle. It’s strong, stiff and light. Puncture repair can be done with the front wheel in situ,
Above: With a 44t chainring and this huge 11-42 cassette, the Slate’s gear range is 28-107in – a more useful range than many road bikes with compact doubles
ROAD - PLUS BIKES | BIKETEST
CANNONDALE S L AT E A P E X These slicks roll well on road, but you’ll want tougher, treaded tyres for regular off-road riding
HALLETT 650 ADVENTURE With chain stays 15mm longer than the Slate’s, a pannier rack is a practical addition
CYCL I N G U K . OR G CYCL E
65
BIKE BAGS & BOXES | GROUP TEST
Group test
BIKE BAGS & BOXES Some kind of case is often required when taking your bike abroad. Technical Editor Richard Hallett reviews four PROTE CTI O N Padding or a hard shell? Padding won’t resist crushing, while a hard shell invites rough handling and is itself vulnerable to impact from hard edges and sharp points. A cardboard box can be braced internally.
RICHARD HALLETT Technical Editor
S IZ E While the case, box or bag must be big enough to accept the bike broken down as required, it should be as small and light as is practicable. A smaller case is lighter, more easily managed, and less likely to exceed the maximum size specifications of transport providers.
S TO R AG E Integral pouches and pockets make it easy to stash tools, spares and dismantled parts like pedals during a journey, but in their absence a soft bag with drawstring or even old pillowcase can be used instead.
INTE R N A L PA D D I N G May be shaped to accommodate specific areas of the bike or simply provided as one or more large foam sheets. Old bedding sheets and pipe lagging can be used to great effect.
P O R TA B I L IT Y Handles and/or carrying straps are an absolute necessity, if only for heaving a case off the airport luggage carousel onto a trolley. Small castor wheels at one or both ends make moving a large, heavy case easier but are vulnerable to damage unless recessed.
Y
OU NEED to put your bike in a bag or box to take it on a ’plane. Some rail services require a bike to be bagged too – European high-speed trains demanding a case no bigger than 120×90cm. Check any regulations carefully before booking. Of the well-protected options, a hardshell case is the most expensive, a padded bag generally the most capacious, and a cardboard delivery box from the local bike shop the most affordable. On the other hand, plenty of seasoned travellers get by
with minimal protection, on the basis that a bicycle clearly identifiable as a bicycle may be treated with more care than an anonymous box. The translucent CTC Cycling UK Plastic Bike Bag (£12 from online retailer Wiggle) is a case in point: it lets the bike be seen, and the bag can be carried rolled up on the bike. If you’re regularly travelling with your bike and don’t fancy a folding bike, it may be worth investing in S&S couplings (sandsmachine.com) or the Japanese Rinko system (bit.ly/cyclinguk-rinko).
PROJ E CTI O N S External nooks, crannies, holes, straps and buckles can snag on conveyor belts and other luggage – a problem if snagging could open the case or cause breakage.
Your thoughts? WRITE TO US: Cycle Letters, PO Box 313, Scarborough, YO12 6WZ EMAIL US: editor@cyclinguk.org DISCUSS ONLINE: forum.cyclinguk.org
CYCL I N G U K . OR G CYCL E 7 1
Travellers’ tales
Toasting a successful trip with a shot of whisky at the finish
Our Scottish C2C ANNE SMILLIE AND FIVE COMPANIONS RODE 112 MILES ACROSS SCOTLAND
GRE E NWAY GE TAWAY Geoff Saunders and his friend Andy rode the Avenue Verte on folding bikes
A
t Gare du Nord, Andy took 20 seconds to flick his Brompton into its riding position, then watched with disdain as I produced spanners to assemble my ‘folding’ bike, a less portable Viking Safari. Twenty minutes later, I grinned at Andy and we were off, heading to Dieppe on the Avenue Verte. We’d done the British leg already, riding from London to Newhaven over a number of day trips. The perils of small wheels on off-road tracks had quickly become evident. Andy had taken a minor tumble, his wheel trapped in a rut. Other stages had involved ice, threatened snow, plus construction work that required bike carrying. But by Newhaven, things had picked up. For the French section, we’d taken a Sunday Eurostar from London. Leaving Paris, the route was industrial until we
Share your story Cycle wants your Travellers’ Tales. Email the editor – cyclinguk@jppublishing.co.uk – for advice on what’s required.
8 2 C Y C L E APRIL/M AY 2017
reached the Seine. (Some weeks later, Paris, and the Avenue Verte alongside, was flooded.) Our first night’s stop was at Maison-Laffitte, where we parted company with the river. Monday started damp but we enjoyed the route across the woods and fields to join the river Oise, even though it wasn’t always Brompton-friendly. Near Cergy, we missed the signs, but thanks to my iPhone we found a section of old railway, and made good progress until we crossed farmland mud. We hurried on towards our night at Gisors, fantasising about our evening meal. The rain cleared overnight, and we again followed a railway and quiet roads to Forges-les-Eaux and another enjoyable meal. From there the AV is a surfaced former railway to Dieppe, leaving us time to enjoy the route and our lunch. Then it was onto the ferry, passing hitchers wanting a ride in cars. Back in London, our AV odyssey was complete. Would I recommend it? Unhesitatingly.
s a long-time fan of Josie Dew’s cycling adventures, I realised a dream recently when five enthusiastic ladies, Pat, Eunice, Jackie, Muriel and Susi – all from Cycle Ayrshire (formerly Ayrshire CTC) – joined me to cycle from Annan to Musselburgh over three days. Travelling by train to Annan, we started the ride at the old Solway Viaduct embankment. Soon we were cycling past places we had only read about: Brydekirk, Hoddomcross, St Mungo’s. By the time we reached Applegarthtown Church, the sun came out. Duly refreshed and refuelled, we continued on to our B&B at Moffat. We knew day two would be hard as we would be pushing pannier-laden bikes up a steep, stony path to reach the A701 and the Devil’s Beef Tub. A beautiful autumn morning saw us taking to the Old Edinburgh Road with enthusiasm. Did we pack light enough? Would we manage the climb? Yes! We reached the summit, which had a lovely rainbow above and a stupendous view of the Annan Valley below, then descended to Peebles, our second stop. Our last day took us along the beautiful Tweed Valley Railway Path and up to the summit of the Moorfoot Hills. The views over the Forth spurred us on to the finish, where we had a malt whisky toast and a fish supper. Perfect.
A