It's like waiting for the rest of series 3 of Lost isn't it....well I've been on Holiday so here's the rest of the action..

Friday 25th May

I'd spoken to the People of the Bike Hire shop in Kielder about the way paths are marked in black dashes on the map and they'd had a look at their map. Some of the paths were there, some weren't, some were only partially there.

I was heading into Scotland and I didn't have a clue how the rights of access worked in Scotland and really, I still don't, so I thought I'd give one path a go, if it worked fine if not then I'd avoid the black dashes.

I set off in the morning with my packed lunch prepared for me by the owners of No 27, the B&B at Kielder, rode up the main road slightly before dropping onto the bridleway that followed the west side of the road and carried on to Deadwater where I crossed the border, Scotland at last. To the west was a couple of small ruined buildings, the Kielder bike shop map showed a path to but not beyond the ruins, my map showed a path through. I headed through the ruins and looked along the line of a fence but there wasn't any way through and so I decided to stuff the paths and stick to what I knew.

I headed back to the bridleway and carried on to Hob Knowe and around to the west following the brook before heading north again to the dismantled railway. You start up onto the railway, turning west again and start to wonder if it's right until you see an old carriage there and an old station building and just a few old tracks but not enough to move the carriage anywhere.

I carried along the track and met up with a shepherd who'd been pulling a limb out of a hollow, he let me through the gate and shut it behind me so I thought the path was quite often used, especially as the people at Kielder had mentioned what a good run it was.

Well, I carried on into a cutting and the ground got very wet, water sat on the surface from both sides of the cut but you could just about ride through it until I reached a gate which was padlocked. The first words that jumped into my head were 'sod it', or something slightly similar, and I turned back and went up the cutting banking but there was no chance of getting through that way so I had to go back, got wet feet again and simply climbed over the gate. The ride through to Riccarton Junction was simple after that, an old railway with a few sections where you meandered through small saplings.

When I reached the junction there was a well signposted route out into the forest or there was the clearly visible old railway line. I carried on along the old line and around a padlocked gate that said don't go any further, or else...

Well, I ignored it, you would wouldn't you, carried on and ended up riding through a site where they were relaying the tracks, it was still early, before 9 am so I continued hoping to plead ignorance. I came out at Whitrope Cottages which looked like an old station, worked my way past the workers' caravans which weren't occupied and got out on the main road again heading north to Shankend Farm.

At the farm I went under the viaduct and picked up a trail from Hawes, I headed west and then south around the outside of the forest before entering it and having a fun little ride on fire roads all the way down and then back up the east side of Hawk Hill before leaving the forest to ride over White Hill.

Sod's Law really isn't it that just as I left the forest it started to spit but it wasn't too bad and I managed to look at the map at the crest of the hill without the wind damaging it. Within minutes the weather was fine again and I found myself looking over some great scenery.




On the decent I noticed another view, the grass seemed to be a very rich green, maybe it was a reaction to the end of the forest riding.




I dropped down and straight into Hawick to rest and eat, I ate at a small park beside the river and looked to plan the rest of my days route. I'd decided to give up on the black dashed paths and to use other routes instead that I knew I could trust so when I left Hawick I head west along the B711 and then north past Old Harden. This was a b-road route but a nice ride and I made may way up the hill past Esdale Law to Burnfoot and Ashkirktown then along Wool Rig before heading into Selkirk and then out to Broadmeadows.

When I was along the A708 I came across a wooded section that looked rideable and headed in to find I was in an area open to the public called Bowhill with a small house and restaurant, and I was able to find a marked route to Duchess Drive which I had initially wanted to ride but wasn't sure about because of the confucion with the dashed paths.

Bonus time, I made my way through the forest and then the hard grind up over the top of the hill along the drive, as you clear the hill it's a lovely decent down into the wood and eventually to Broadmeadow. When I got there it was locked, I rang the SYHA and found out that it didn't open until 5pm, an hour to go. I went looking for somewhere to eat, there wasn't a pub anywhere near. In fact, since I'd got close to Hawes I'd noticed a hell of a lot of Christian retreats and a significant lack of pubs so I had to ride back to Selkirk to get something to eat.

I got some fish & chips, sat and ate them and cycled back to Broadmeadows, about 5 miles. When I got there the house manager was there and so was the German I'd shared with at Greenhead, complete with all his bags. The manager was a nice fellow, full of stories and was very friendly with a peacock that he fed from his hand.

One more day to go then I could have a bath......


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