Coast & Castles Cycle Ride - August 2014: December 2014

Day 3 - Melrose to Edinburgh

After a decent rest, we were up and at 'em for the final day.

Andy's knee wasn't playing well and it was touch and go whether he was just going to go to Melrose Station and get the train.

We went down stairs and to our pleasure we were asked how we wanted our eggs. The breakfast came out and it was delicious.

The owner also gave us some info on the trip ahead...in particular about how the route had changed somewhat. He gave us details on how to avoid a particular section that involved getting off the bikes and steps.

After breakfast, the owner let us use his power washer to clean the bikes. Davey had a brain wave to clean his shoes with it (which were absolutely stinking from the bog we had walked through the previous day)...and so he ended up with wet shoes for the rest of the day!

Andy decided he was going to carry on and see how his knee was.

I had a flat tyre - back (it's ALWAYS the back). Luckily I had a spare inner tube so the change was fairly quick.

So we carried on riding alongside the A72

We stopped pretty regularly to take some energy bars on board and we managed to get him some ibuprofen at Innerleithen about 2 hours later

Next was the climb. It was quite high across the Moorfoot Hills south of Edinburgh but also long, so it wouldn't be very steep. We were still wondering if Andy's knee was going to be ok, so we stopped quite regularly. That wasn't a problem though because we had plenty of time that day.

It was stunning.

The next section was as long and downhill...as long as the climb
As we came off the Moorfoot Hills, I became aware that my tyre was losing pressure...back AGAIN! So I got off and pumped it up. We didn't have long to go, so it didn't seem worth fixing at the moment.

It did go down further again later as we were cycling in Edinburgh - but again, we were a few miles away from the hotel, so I just pumped it up again - well, Davey did 'cos I couldn't get the pump connected for some dumb reason!

We got to Edinburgh at 15:10

Distance : 50.92 miles

Avg Speed : 11mph

Max Speed : 35.1mph

And that was it.

We booked into the Premier Inn at Haymarket (with some problems which Davey ironed out). We showered, changed and headed to the bar.

We had a curry at the Mumbai Mansion in Haymarket which was superb (alot of food!) and then we decided to go into Edinburgh and see a show as it was the last day of the Edinburgh Festival so we jumped in a queue to watch a comedian.

A few beers later, we were back at the Premier Inn and hitting the sack.

After a group breakfast in the morning Davey and Andy left getting a nice early train to Glasgow. I had to wait until 12 for mine.

It was a superb trip. Andy hung on (I hope your knee's ok buddy) and Davey was a great help as "team leader" because he was much better at controlling the speed than I was and that helped Andy considerably - especially on the long second day and the long climb on the third.

Thanks again to Davey and Andy for making a great trip even better. You were both great company.

Day 2 - Embleton to Melrose

We started early because we had a long ride today. We were up about 06:30 and had some toast and cereal.

After packing, we got our bikes and set off...the time was 07:30.

We left our bags in the room and hoped the staff would remember to get them to give to the courier.

The weather was quite cold and wet. There was a fair bit of wind in places too.

Going through Bamburgh, we caught sight of the castle and took a photo opportunity. Unfortunately we didn't have any time this day to do any sight seeing.

We were going up a hill on a joint cycle/pedestrian path and at the top of the hill it crossed the road. As I got to where it crossed, I looked right and there was traffic coming - but I wasn't ready top stop and I was still clipped in...so I abruptly and not very gracefully just keeled over on the path. Davey and Andy had a good laugh at that one. I was just lying there attached to this bike trying to unclip my shoes so I could get up!

When we got to Lindesfarne (Holy Island) it was sunny but still pretty cold. Worse than that, we had to go cross country...on road bikes. This wasn't going to go well. The track we had to use was extremely boggy and at this point I wished I had taken Davey up on the offer of the over-shoes. The bikes were a mess as were we. We even had to carry the bikes a few times and not ride them (just walk).

Andy had a fair few offs along that track...it was a very thin track and muddy to boot...so the 23mm tyres weren't doing us any favours. It was a massive relief when it was over.
We got to Berwick at 12:00 just in time for some lunch. Berwick-Upon-Tweed did look lovely.

We crossed the River Tweed several times which meant we crossed into Scotland several times.

We arrived at Fiorlin B&B in Melrose at about 18:00. It had been a long tiring day. Andy was dubious about the next day. His knee had flared up and there was a long climb the next day. We booked in, went for a very nice meal at the Kings Arms, got some supplies and went back to the B&B for an early night. We were all pretty knackered.

Distance : 82.53 miles

Avg Speed : 11.2mph

Max Speed : 37.7mph

Day 1 - Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to Embleton

After a good night's kip, day one started nice and early with a good old fry up. Why not? I know I shouldn't but it was a bit cold out.

We packed our gear, gave our bags to the Receptionist to give to Carrylite and prayed they'd turn up to collect them and prayed more that they would deliver them to the right place and on time and then went to get the bikes.

The time was 07:50.

Davey

My beast. This is my new bike because some scumbag stole my Cube Peleton which I used for the previous two rides

(C2C http://billyrileyc2c.blogspot.co.uk/ in 2012 and WotR http://billyr-wotr.blogspot.co.uk/ in 2013).

So the first part of the 3 day journey was a 62 mile cycle to Embleton where we were staying at Grey's Inn - a small pub/B&B.

It just so happens the first part of the ride took us through Tynemouth and up past the end section of the C2C ride.

We came across our first castle at 09:20

The day was pretty uneventful. We passed by a rather picturesque (though drained) harbour (river outlet) at Hartley...actually called Seaton Burn

We carried on and, just in time, spotted a wee cafe in a park in Blyth called the Ivy in the Park Cafe (http://www.ivyatthepark.co.uk/)
It had some seats outside and the sun was out so we decided to soak up the rays and take some energy on board.
I had a cream tea which was delicious. The time now was 10:20 and we had been on the road for 2 and a half hours and covered 20 miles with an average speed of 11mph and average temperature of 16 degrees Celsius

We carried on cycling and got some fantastic views of the east coast

We were quite relieved when we reached Grey's Inn at 16:00. Because of our rather slow average, it had been a long day and we were not looking forward to another 20 miles the following day.