The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul
November 2nd and 3rd 2019
Saturday 2nd November: The Long Dark Teatime…
In Scotland it’s the back-end of the audax season. The forecast is for light rain, improving, with light wind from the north, daytime temperature hovering around 7*c. Our plan is to ride back-to-back 200s; a calendar event from the Focus Centre in Galashiels on Saturday, then a permanent event, the ‘Border Hills’ starting up the road from Innerleithen on Sunday; the first is pretty flat and the second, well it’s the Border Hills…although, with a little over 2000m of ascent, nothing serious.
Call me biased, the Scottish Borders is indisputably one of my favourite areas to ride a bike; steady climbs, stunning varied scenery, great cafes and quiet, often deserted, roads.
The Long Dark Teatime of an Audax Soul
Riders arrive and talk turns to last years ride with the wall of wind and rain sapping speed, energy and any will to continue. With the better forecast this year’s turnout is pretty good, with a few riders entering their first audax. As we leave its dry although on the way into Selkirk, after only 10km, those who set off without are stopping to don rain capes.
The field spreads quickly as the rain eases and the road rises gently on the long climb towards Tima and the first control at the welcoming friendly Eskdalemuir Hub Café, @RoomforAll, who have arranged a special audax menu.
We meet Aiden and Dick, who are riding Rufus the tandem trike, with their wheel off at the roadside. The rim tape has peeled away and it’s their second puncture of the ride. “Try gaffer tape…” Some tape is produced, applied and seems to do the trick.
Tima from the east
Heading out of the control most of riders follow the main road to Langholm. We choose the scenic Castle O’er road though the forest; it’s longer but has less climbing and virtually no traffic. The rain stops…
Due to a road closure we’re left with little choice other than to follow the A7 into Longtown and the turn at the Garden Centre. It’s mid-day and really busy, service for our tea and cake seems to take forever but is worth the wait.
The route is out and back so we retrace along the main road although with a tail wind, sunshine and cycle-path diversion we’re soon climbing back over Castle O’er to beef stew and dumplings at the Hub.
Game birds abound and the roads are littered with kill. A rider stops to pick up a pheasant and packs it away in his Carradice; by the end of the ride he is toting three of them…
We hook up with the trike and our pace quickens but they’re pushing strongly and we slip back, their rear lights disappear up the road. As we make our way eastwards over Tima the light fades, mist swirls across the road diffusing bright rear lights and the cold starts to penetrate. We shake out numb fingers.
We talk and the kilometres pass quietly under our wheels, the night is cool, rain stays away; before long we’re dropping into Gala, hot soup, sandwiches, tea and (unusually for audax) a medal…
Sunday 3rd November: Border Hills
Innerleithen
Parked in the big forestry commission car park with a few other vans, it rains heavily throughout the night. Dressed for the rain, despite the brightening blue patches hinting it may stop, we control in Innerleithen at 8am. Following the Tweed valley west along the old railway rising gently into Peebles is a surprise. Now a pleasant, flat, well-surfaced bike path it makes for a gentle start. We pass early risers getting the weekend papers and briefly join the main road above the swollen brown river cutting deeply through a deep impressive gorge, before swinging off onto the first of a series of short climbs at 25km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2839870826/segme...
Biggar 38km
Overhung by trees draped in fading autumn gold the leaf strewn roads lead through Broughton then, between walled fields, along the valley into Biggar.
The Tea Spot provides a ‘Biggar Breakfast’ and is a welcome refuge from the rain. All too soon we need to get moving and retrace to Broughton to join the main road south to Moffat and the days major climb - the Devil’s Beeftub; no big gradients yet an uphill 16km, 50 minute grind on a busy A road.
The Devil’s Beeftub going south
Moffat 86km Ascent: 670m
We swoop into Moffat at 1:30pm and lunch seems appropriate given the fact that this will be the last opportunity for a sit down meal. Pie and beans hits the spot and as we leave I notice how much climbing we still have to complete. The route is back loaded and we have eight or nine leg stingers before the finish, the main lump is Whamphrey Glen. Somewhere between Moffat and Langholm the rain finally stops and by 3:30pm the sun is shining, although it will be dark in a little over an hour.
Langholm 132km
Beside Londis we huddle in an alley out of the wind. Our tea table is a filthy blue skip notably covered in green grime and rat droppings. Alan says he’ll meet us up the road and we mince around looking cold and odd as folk pick up the sundries forgotten in their weeks shop together with sweets, pop and crisps for the kids. It’s dark now but the road to Eskdalemuir is quiet and known as we’re repeating yesterdays ride back towards Selkirk and Galashiels.
At the Castle O’er turning we follow the main road over the hill towards the rain, following the ring of light carefully watching the shiny black tarmac for ruts and holes. Its less fun than Castle O’er. The gentle climb over Tima passes, dim light seen through the cloud and mist from the few farms, the summit copse rolling by in the dark and, as we descend towards Ettrick, the rain kicks in and it starts to get cold, uncomfortably cold.
Tima summit Sunday evening
“I’m stopping to put my jacket on…” We all stop. Alan puts another layer on; the other two are already wearing all their clothes. We continue to the turn onto Berrybush, 3.5km @ 4%, the first of the two final climbs, the rain now properly set in. We re-group at the summit bend, although waiting at 350m the cold wind chills. In the dip the yellow lights of the Gordon Arms tempt us… we carry on up Paddy Slacks, the final climb, although longer than Berrybush its easier gradient ticks by at a steady cadence and warms. Niall is spooked by a fast car descending on full beam and stops dead in the middle of the road. The car swishes by… We move on up, the 13% kick unnoticed in the dismal darkness. In Kirkbryde, caught in the beam of our lights, a big dog fox runs off… 12 hours after starting with 10 hours of riding we’re nearly done; 204km with ten categorised climbs - Paddy Slacks, for some reason, isn’t!
Back in the van, the brew’s on and dry clothes warm us quickly; what a great route…
Riders: Russell Carson, Steve Scott, Alan Steele, Niall Wallace
Unaccredited images: Niall Wallace
Steve Scott