It took a long time to pack up in the pouring rain as I had to half
pack outside the tent and inside and tried desperately to keep my
kit dry. There was a lot of slush on the road as I set off west
towards Innerleithen. I was relieved that there was no ice on the
road but as I descended to the flat stretches there were
considerable length flooded and underwater. It was mostly flat after
that and I kept an eye out for the cycle track that heads down to
follow the old railway. I eventually came to it on the outskirt
Innerleithen and made a sharp right down a steep slope to the
railway route.
The old railway bridge over the Tweed
I crossed the River Tweed on the old railway bridge and saw one
person approaching the other way on foot. The cycle track continues
into a housing estate and then winds its way into Innerleithen. I
followed the main street and then left to pick up the continuing
line of the railway where the old railway station used to be. This
is the third time I have ridden this stretch of cycle track and it
has been raining every time.
The cycle track Innerleithen to Peebles
I was still fortunate in having the wind with me but there
were occasional strong gusts as I rode up the Valley. I reached
Cardrona village and stopped briefly at the cafe which is in the old
railway station building. I was concerned about high fence barriers
across the cycle route and asked inside the cafe if the continuing
cycle track was open. They said it was and I needed to ride round
the back of the cafe to re-join the path. It is annoying that there
were no diversion signs pointing this out. I continued easily along
the track and through the golf course which has the amusing sign
saying please be quiet when passing through. I was now approaching
Peebles and followed the route up and under the road via the old
railway tunnel. I stopped here briefly to enjoy a few moments out of
the rain. Once out of the tunnel I stayed on the path and followed
it up steep way through the woods to join a side road which then
descended back into Peebles. Then came the part of the ride I was
not looking forward to the A713 which is a Trunk Road and very busy.
Before starting I called in the Sainsbury’s shop to buy some
doughnuts to keep me going for the rest of the day. I re-joined the
A713 I not only had heavy traffic coming at me from behind I also
had a strong headwind which made things very difficult. I guess
there was about 10 miles to go so I just put my head down and
continued as best I could. I reach the village of Addlestone and
stopped briefly in the bush shelter for brief respite from the rain.
I continued north and eventually reached the turn off at Waterheads
and stops briefly in the bus shelter to enjoy another doughnut
before continuing my ride. I was now heading steeply up and the
first part was a steep zigzag climb which was made very difficult
because of strong crosswinds. As I approached the summit the
headwinds were very vicious and it was quite difficult making
progress and I could only manage a top speed of a round 5 miles per
hour.
I pressed on until I came to the small village called Temple where I
turn right down a narrow lane and descended steeply to the bridge
then stopped briefly to take a couple of pictures of the old ruined
church. The climb out was very steep so I had to push the bike up
then a sharp left turn followed by a long descent down to the river.
I continued into Carrington where I turn right along a narrow lane
which was partly flooded in places.
The Church at Temple
It eventually dropped very steeply down to a narrow bridge
over the River South Esk. A left turn took me up a long steep climb
with a bridge at the top. It was very steep and halfway up I had to
stop and push the bike. The bridge I crossed over it to follow a
track which should have taken me into Gorebridge and as I approached
the railway line the track and bridge had been cut off so I had to
reverse my route and join the road. The annoying thing is there was
no sign to say the path was closed. I followed the road up and
re-joined my original planned route up a very rutted wet muddy track
into Gorebridge where I called at the supermarket to buy water.
Thankfully the water here was much cheaper and only 25 pence per 2
litre bottle. It was a long easy descent on the B704 to Newtongrange
and the industrial estate where I would set up my camp. I turned off
the road then through the housing estate and up to the area of open
land where I was to pitch my tent. I had to put plastic bags over my
shoes as I left the path as the grassy area was completely sodden
and this made it very difficult keep my feet dry as I pitched the
tent. The rain continued mercilessly through the late afternoon and
evening when there were a very strong winds.
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Whittle Wanderer
