LEJOG Day 10 - Watermillock to Dumfries

Today was a nice day - no rain (well almost) and plenty of sunshine.

There were only two climbs and they were both fairly short and in the first 10 miles of the ride.

After that it was fairly easy going as I headed through open country and north towards Carlisle. As I reached Carlisle racecourse the sky darkened and I stopped for a few minutes to shelter as a brief shower passed over.

I then rode slowly to avoid any spray but the roads were dry within a mile and I reached the centre of Carlisle using a combination of cycle paths and quiet roads.

Jan was waiting for me in the central square and we had a light lunch at a cafe there. It was very pleasant sitting in the sunshine but after a while I had to get going again - I had nearly another 40 (fairly flat) miles to go!

Once again I used a combination of cycle routes and quiet roads and was soon heading across the River Eden and then the River Esk before finally crossing the River Sark to enter Scotland.

From Gretna Green I kept to a B Road and headed due West for about a dozen miles before taking my last photo of the mountains of the Lake District over the Solway Firth on my left and turned north to head into the Southern Uplands of Scotland.

A gentle up gradient followed for the next 7 miles or so and then a lovely little downhill into Dumfries. It was really sunny now and I took several photos of the River Nith as it flowed through the centre of the town. Jan had sent me a message detailing how to get to the B&B and I just had to cross the second road bridge and head a quarter mile up to the Edenbank Hotel.

The Yellow Car Boom! count has now reached 99 and I’ve decided to have a competition - although I haven’t decided on what the prize will be as yet. All you have to do is guess what make and model of car will be the 100th Yellow Car I see - just comment on this post with your guess and I’ll award the prize accordingly.

Todays stats:
Distance: 63.44 miles
Avg. Speed: 11.4 mph
Max Speed: 27.7 mph
Climbing: 2326 feet
Accumulated mileage: 573 miles