Oh flower of Scotland

We said goodbye to England this afternoon, crossing the border at Gretna. The day started short ride to Kendal, where we bought some more gear, sunglasses to replace Matt's broken ones and another waterproof for Iain. Leaving Kendal we were faced with a long, long climb up Shap Fell, to a height of 1400 feet and after criss crossing the M6 for a while we dropped into Penrith. We met Claire and Dan on the A6 just north of Penrith and then carried on to Carlisle and closer to the border. Cyclists were barred from the A74 so we had a bit of a detour to get to Gretna. As is traditional in Scotland it was a this point that the heavans opened again, this time with kind of miserable rain that only falls in Scotland. We stopped at a garage to get some sweets and it while we talked about the horrible conditions a man returning to his car told us it was Scotch mist, reminded me of my Grandad as that was how he described it. Claire had problems getting a campsite that wasn't full so we have ended up in a place called Powfoot just west of Annan, which has put us about 10 miles out of our way. At the time of writing we ar huddled up in Gert while it pours down outside.

A new series of Matt's top cycling tips - chafeze on the nipples can make for a comfortable cycling experience

Dans top tip - in this weather you might want to leave the top up on your convertible.

Peace
Iain, Alan and Matt
Claire and Dan