I have always been fond of the writings of Thomas Carlyle, and this fondness was reinforced in 2000, as I was living in Carlyle Road in Cambridge when I met my now wife. I was therefore very pleased to see that Ecclefechan, his birthplace, has a suitably imposing bust of the great man erected on the village green.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle
This sight took my mind off yet another crippling bout of indigestion which lasted all the way to the 40 miles point. I am not going to dwell on this but breakfast tomorrow is going to be boiled eggs (no toast).
Apart from this, the ride was fascinating in that I rode almost all the way into Glasgow alongside the A74(M)/M74 on either the B7076 or the B7078. Why fascinating? For most of the distance I had an entire road to myself, and had the distinct sense of being a player in a post-apocaplyptic movie, complete with rubble-strewn road surfaces and missing cats-eyes. Some advice: if you are running low on water, do not listen to the siren song of the signs promising "local services" in Beattock. These signs are merely a ruse to draw the lone traveller in, for the services do not exist, and I was lucky to leave the village with my soul intact.
After Beattock there is a 10 mile climb, you have been warned. There is a descent which offers some recompense, but the real joy is that if you follow the signs for Crawford, there genuinely are local services in the form of a tea room attached to the post office. I made the most of it and despatched a can of real Coke (no diet stuff on this trip) and a Snickers bar, and restocked on water, which made my world a whole lot better.
The remainder of the ride was uneventful, but I couldn't help but notice the feeling of deprivation in some of the suburbs on the way into Glasgow. Ironic really seeing as the whole message of the Commonwealth Games is about new opportunities for the local people; I wonder what the impact will be in the medium and long term? As you might imagine, Glasgow was awash with people getting to and from the various venues, and my planned route was sent askew by diversions. By a strange coincidence, I almost ran over a former colleague from a previous life as she crossed the street in the city centre, proof yet again that this is a very small world and our past is never too far away.
Thank you to all of those who have been generous to sponsor me in recent days; apologies for not yet doing so. I will contact you all personally once this jaunt is over.
Tomorrow is Fort William via the glen of weeping, and the forecast is for some rain, which will be a relief after the temperatures of the last few days. Onward and upward.
Mileage: 100.4
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/549347350
https://www.justgiving.com/Sean-Bonnington/
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