Yesterday in one word? Wet, wet, wet.

My longest day on a bike yet. At Seven thirty as the last of the light faded we pulled in for the forth time in 30 miles just to stretch and eat. We noticed that the sign we were leaning against marked our departure from Scotland after four brilliant days.

At noon we were climbing in the rain and freezing cold. I was going through permutations in my head but could not see how we would finish before eight. We stopped in pub for lunch after only 35 miles with 70 miles still to do. We simply could not go on. The rain past and for the first twenty minutes after restart myself and Tom were shivering but the rain had stopped.

The scenery through Tweeddale was spectacular but there was not much of an appetite for it. At 8pm we pulled up at the caravan park in the dark. The owner greeted us by reprimanding us for using the wrong gate. Thanks to Staff at Carlisle A&E who managed to retrieve Paul’s pump at 4am. A quick wash and it will be as good as new