Right ... thanks to
@dimrub 's posting which was a reminder I'd ridden this, there is a short ride travelogue below:
Firstly, getting to Stranraer was an issue. If I'd driven there then I'd have had to get back to the start - which wasn't appealing.
My pre-ride travel on the Monday was facilitated via a one-way van hire (thanks Enterprise) to Ayr and a train to Stranraer. That particular route didn't need a bike space booking and started from Ayr station on a trundling train that eventually got there. A decent evening fish & chip meal in the Central Cafe to get me started and I stayed in a lovely AirBnB cottage on King Street just by the start point. There were weather warnings in place for the next morning but everything was booked so off I had to go.
Day 1: the muddy and wet one
Tuesday morning arrived and an early start just in case. The rain was looming but my bike was by the start point for 8.30am and off I went. Lots of packing preparation had been done but it turned out I'd brought two left-hand long-fingered gloves, so mitts it was for the ride ...
The route goes out towards the Isle of Whithorn and here the nasty forecast weather kicked in; face-first into a gale with pouring rain before turning left to Wigtown. A necessary stop there in a café bookshop (just why are there so many bookshops in Wigtown?) before heading north to Newtown Stewart and a turn back into the gale at Creetown. By now I'm utterly soaked and it's only the start of Day 1.
A lunch stop at Gatehouse of Fleet in a slow-service café, but the only one that was open, and there was a couple doing the same ride but over seven days. That seemed more sensible.
After this the route took a decidedly rural twist; out through Cally Park and onto a very narrow muddy trail preceded by a gravel track. On a treaded MTB/gravel bike those might have been OK but I'd got 25mm road tyres. It took all my effort not to end up in a nettle patch! Oh, and it was still raining heavily at this point and the GPX track wasn't accurate due to the tree cover.
By now I'm questioning the sense of what I'm doing, taking another gravel trail to Kirkcudbright and needing to get a shift on as I was now behind time. I'd guessed as to where the overnight stops would be and had mis-calculated the distance for the first day, thinking it'd be about 80 miles when in reality it was 98. The weather and slow lunch service at Gatehouse of Fleet (in Galloway Lodge Preserves - the only place open and very busy) meant me pushing on through a planned afternoon café in Castle Douglas, passing several riders on MTB's. I was to see them again later on in the ride ...
I made it to a shepherd's hut I'd rented for the evening near Lochfoot and, once washed and changed, had a lovely meal in the Cavens Arms in Dumfries.
Day 2: the hilly one
Up early due to cows and an interesting sleep situation I'm back on the road towards Dumfries shortly after 8am. The route now took cycle paths around Dumfries and quiet, if lumpy, back roads to Lockerbie. I passed the MTB riders shortly after Dumfries, realising then that they were probably on the same route as me. There came a quick snack stop at Cafe 91 (two cakes: I know what's coming) and it's a series of hard climbs to Langholm. The guide warns about these and I was on a 36 x 28 bottom gear. Not sensible, but I made it over each one without walking. The day was really sunny and warm, which I'm grateful for although ended up a little cooked by the finish.
Into Langholm and the lovely Buccleugh Centre was open for lunch - that got me ready for the next set of climbs over Langholm Moor with the descent to Tarras Water - I'm at the top, have to go down there to the green valley, and back over the top in the distance:
Then the climb up from Tarras Water, over the top, and down to Newcastleton. Oh look, I came from the pointy sticks in the distance (the MacDiarmid Memorial), down, then back up again! An afternoon stop at Copshaw Kitchen in Newcastleton was very welcome and extremely reasonably priced.
The final bit of this day was a long, slow climb up towards Hawick which I'd done on last year's Longtown Way Round 300km audax and knew it'd be a slow one. Then a descent into Hawick and off to my accommodation just outside the town. Dinner was at Adam's Kitchen in Dumfries and was lovely; it's highly recommended.
Day 3: the I thought this bit was flat one
A late start, partly due to my B&B serving breakfast later, meant I was behind time a bit. Here the weather turned to rain once again and I held off starting until the worst had cleared. Through Hawick and an unplanned stop at The Peony Rose in Selkirk: I was intending to stop at Melrose but it was pouring again. Drip-drying inside until another rain storm had blown through the route then heads towards Tweedback and into Melrose: decent towns. Here I nearly had a first fairy visit but heard a large piece of glass in the front tyre before it went completely through.
From there it was up on a quiet set of paths to Dryburgh, where I had to take a stop of the Temple of the Muses over-looking Dryburgh Suspension Bridge - as it was raining again:
Then time to get a proper shift on, helped by some long descents on quiet roads, into Kelso where the heavens opened and I sheltered for lunch in the quirky but very friendly Sook Jai Coffee Shop. That set me up for a series of steady climbs / descents cris-crossing the River Tweed with a brief afternoon stop in Norham. From there it was over the Union Bridge (a chain suspension bridge) back into Scotland and a
very long climb up to Ayton.
Finally, a drop down into Eyemouth and the finish. But where is it? The GPX trail simply stops and, unlike at the start, there was no finishing board. That was a bit disappointing so I found my own:
A celebratory ice cream and a chat to two of the MTB riders who were also riding it in three (very long) days, but with a support van. They'd given up at Kelso but two were still on the road, although quite a way behind.
An evening meal out at the New Inn in Coldingham, which was where my B&B for that night was, and a short ride to the station at Reston the next morning for a trip home with reserved bike spaces.
Overall it was an enjoyable three days; brilliant scenery and a lovely route. It's better ridden with wider tyres that have tread and low gearing but well worth doing. My aim was to ride between about 9am and 5pm each day and, apart from Day 1, I mostly achieved this leaving an evening for rest and recuperation.
