Derek: cycling trips: COP26 - Day 7 - Dumfries to East Kilbride

Day 7 dawned bright and early, too early for a hotel breakfast as that was at 8am, it being a Saturday, and we already wanted to be at bag drop off by then. There were 5 bicycles in a small ante-room off the entrance hall of the hotel, which was helpful of them. Penny & I had both bought our breakfast at a small convenience store in the middle of Dumfries after dinner which had been taken in this large pub where the food was fair and the staff were very friendly and helpful.

Penny had the genius idea of buying porridge pots for breakfast as our rooms had kettles and it is a low GI food so perfect for a long cycle. Only two allowed in the shop at once so in she went, masked up and I asked her to get a pot for me. They didn't have any, in Scotland!? I had to go in and chose an egg mayo roll for breakfast. I had under-catered.

Kristien was already down at the start when we got there and that was one of the good things about the Barnet posse and why we got on well, there wasn't anyone who didn't stick to the agreed timetable, they were unfailingly on time which in my book means being at least 5 minutes early although exact time will do. We had a quick look at the depleted food reserves which were on the table each morning, no bananas left but lots of pears and a few little packets of dried fruit or cashews. I think it was here that I stumbled on the Divine chocolate bars but all days were now morphing into one so I can't be certain of that. A 70+ mile day stretched ahead so off we went, still using lights on our bike for safety in the early morning. The route out was along the river as I recall.

To get the lovely view below, we had to cycle up from the bottom of the valley, well worth it.

More lovely views

At one wind farm a dozen people stopped as they had designed the wind farm and only seen it on computer from their distant office so a photo of great pride was taken. We cycled on.

Our official photographers worked very hard and snapped us when we weren't looking. Here Ellie (I think) was being all Tour de France Race Director like and getting us as we cycled along. She also took videos of us. I asked her in East Kilbride 'how much' for the video footage of me pushing my bike up Shap Fell from day 5 and back came the answer 'a million pounds' which is from Austin Powers (dollars in that case). I haven't seen the footage published yet.

Emergency backup also helped if a rider was stuck although pretty much all punctures were fixed by the rider or a passing rider who stopped to help. What they couldn't fix was the broken pedal, the exploded derailleur (the rider had put the bike into the hedge) and a buckled wheel that I saw which the rider was giving a good kicking to (I don't think he was having a good day or helping himself) and bike shops were a bit further apart in Scotland but each morning and evening we were near to one.

Lunch was at the fabulous Crawick Multiverse. Kristien and I are not in the group shots as we had shot off up the road before the photocall was announced.

There was a bit of a climb up to the lunch break but it was going to be well worth it. The leading man in this first picture is Julian Sayarer a round the world record holding cyclist, an affable chap, he didn't seem to struggle with this short ride.

Next to me in this photo is Steve of Bristol who I had spoken to as we queued up at the start of day 1 to check in and get our wristbands etc. A very nice chap, he cycles everywhere as he doesn't drive, he got added to the Barnet posse at dinner on any day that he wanted. His nickname is Mungo Hatstand, always a character about when you are out cycling.

Look how the sun is trying to come out during lunch, a lunch which was excellent. Free ice cream was provided by a local Abel & Cole supplying farm.

The backup team erected and dismantled these bike racks 3 times a time, never once were they late.

I had no legs on day 7, perhaps because of the efforts of days 1-6 but more likely because my breakfast had been a bit light. The route we were following was B roads and smaller ones so we didn't see many town or village centres and cafes were hard to find. Although Kristien was on her e-bike, on the flat she has to cycle harder than everyone else as there is extra weight to shift. She kindly slowed down a little after lunch to let me recover. We agreed we needed an afternoon tea and cake stop. We stopped at a junction and opened google maps, look, a diner, in a small place, let's see if it is open. It was and had no customers. Once our bikes were spotted outside every table was soon full of cyclists. We got our Belgian waffle order in first and Kristien, who is Belgian, pronounced them as being the proper article. Once the chocolate (ice cream, sauce & buttons) kicked in I was as right as ninepence and suddenly able to kick on again. I even tried a race or two against the e-bike uphill but every time the extra support button would be pressed and whoosh, there goes the e-bike, a right laugh though.

Thus we made it smiling to East Kilbride which just left me with the onward ride to Rutherglen, the nearest hotel I could find, a fairly hazardous trip along a dual carriageway in the dark. Miles from anywhere, I stayed within the hotel. My starter of prawn cocktail was unlike any I have ever had and hopefully never again

Luckily the battered Haddock which followed was great and the red wine was perfect, I pushed the boat out and had two glasses, I had earnt them.

So that was it, basically I was in Glasgow with just a short procession to the official end point to come in the morning. I was going to miss cycling a long way each day and the people.