Date: 18/06/2022 Kirkpatrick Fleming to Peebles

Woke to a better day with the sun making an effort, though it was a stong cross wind.
It was to be a shorter day with an easy start leading to 5 climbs before the final descent to Peebles.
We took the B6357 out of Kirkpatrick Fleming then the B720 & B6318 to Langholm where we had our first break.
Leaving Langholm on the B709 following the River Esk through Eskdalemuir and then we had the unexpected site of the Samye-Ling Tibetan Centre.

We did the first 3 climbs before lunch with a couple of short breaks and met up with Rodney just before Ettrick at 12:30, after 40 miles, for our lunch break.
Nick had to put another new tube in his rear wheel after another puncture.
The climbs have been quite long but with a steady incline so not as physically demanding.
We continued on the B709 and started the penultimate climb shortly after lunch.
After 50 miles we crossed over the A708 and onto the final main climb before descending to Traquair where we took the B7062 following the River Tweed.
The last 2 hills had been equally steady and we came into Peebles at about 15:30.

Rodney had arranged with a friend, George, for us to use the facilities at the Rugby Club for the evening and phoned to say we would be met at the bridge as we come into Peebles but it came as a bit of a shock when a blue van pulled out in front of us and a strange man's voice shouted at us through the open window "Follow me" and shot off up the road, even Nick had trouble trying to keep up. It was George.

It would be an exaggeration to say that I enjoyed the ride but this is an excellent scenic route, along with Dartmoor.

65 miles with 4200 ft of climbing in 4 hrs 53 mins, avg speed 13.3 mph.

Norman & Rodney's wives (Lizzie & Janice) joined us here and would be with us for the remainder of our trip.