"Are you gentlemen really going to cycle in this weather?" was the hotel lady's question, but what she was really saying was "Ye mist be aff yir heids". Later on, a whole bunch of ducks seemed to be laughing at us.
Our plans have changed so many times over the last couple of days. We were watching the news last night with pictures from Adrossan, where the waves were crashing over the front. We were glad to have abandoned going there as a plan.
We had a look at the forecast for Scotland. In general, winds in the east seemed to be 10mph slower than those in the west. We therefore plotted a north-easterly course and set off.
Now without maps, we needed to rely on my phone for directions, which worked well. We started off on some single track roads where the damage done during the night was evident. There were branches and leaf debris everywhere. On a couple of occasions as we rode, there was a freshly sawn tree trunk on one side of the road and a canopy of leaves and branches on the other. In between, the remains of the fallen tree had been cleared. The fallen tree trunks were huge, 3-4 feet diameter.
At last we had a tail wind going up to Strathaven that sped us on our way. After that we navigated the built up area between Hamilton and Cumbernauld. That required a lot of concentration and attention. Our next stop was to visit my sister in law, who had made us a roll and square sausage. Thanks Dawn, that was magnificent. We also washed down the bikes. One of our roads this morning was downhill from a field that had recently had the muckspreader over it. The rain was washing some lovely fragrant muck down the road, and so we got splashed with it as our tyres passed through it.
On then round the Stirling bypass to the Ochil hills. That's when the scenic part of the day really started. As we climbed, we got a great view of the Stirling valley. Once over the moor, then we could see the perthshire valley and watch as the next band of rain swept towards us.
Every river was very full, and, with the mud they were carrying, they were like rivers of chocolate milk.
Our weather was typical Scotland. We had sunshine, wind, rain and even hailstones.
A good day, with about another 84 miles behind us.
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