The Final Day

It was another long one! We had rested well on Tuesday night in the comfy B&B and after a good breakfast, we set off in much more variable weather conditions; a mix of hail showers with the odd patch of sun and, thankfully, a lot less wind! The first leg was to cross the hills between Denholm and Melrose, which turned out to be a significant climb and about 15 miles in length. I couldn't help but think about how much harder Tuesday would have been if we had stayed at our original venue in Melrose and had to do the extra distance and climbing!

Arriving in the quaint town of Melrose, we stopped in a cafe where I was served a rather ridiculous contraption which is apparently traditional; a three tier tower with a cake on the top, a scone in the middle and sandwiches at the bottom. While the (rather diminutive) contents were nice, there were practical issues as I couldn't see past the thing to find my tea.

Departing Melrose, there was a pleasantly undulating road to Galashiels before turning up the A7, where we had 'just one more big climb'. The enthusiasm was then damped by a sign kindly informing us it was 30 miles to Edinburgh. Hmmm. The weather also decided to do a Scottish uplands version of an April shower; hard wet snow and strong winds, but fortunately this was short-lived.

A fair amount of toiling later we arrived at the highest point and began the rather gradual descent towards Edinburgh. Our destination was still 16 miles away but the frequent signs showed how quickly we were descending. All was going smoothly until I hit a large depression in the road and managed to liberate the load from the back of the bike. Fortunately I realised this had happened and having strapped it all back on again, we resumed.

As we entered Edinburgh my knees were getting somewhat painful, no doubt exacerbated by the long climb, but we steadily rolled into the city and to the hostel. That night we enjoyed a feast at a superb Indian restaurant, tired but happy the challenge had been completed.

Macclesfield to Edinburgh on a folding bike...who'd have thought it?!