It was misty and dull morning with some light drizzle as I rode away from the house just after 9am with the final destination, my parents house in Austria 13 days and 1600km away.
The early miles were on roads and tracks very familiar to me as I headed for Garvald and the Lammermuir Hills. Climbing up towards Garvald visibility got pretty poor in the thick mist.
The Lammermuir Hills were going to be my first real test with a fully laden bike. I managed to ride up the 15+% gradients and that filled me with confidence for what lay ahead over the coming days. Even though it was raining lightly it was also pretty warm so it was down to just the short sleeve Jersey for most of the day.
My hope of some views as I moved further inland came to nothing. The cloud really only lifted late afternoon but riding visibility was good enough for most of the day.
I stopped for lunch outside a Café in Duns. I would have gone inside if there had been some room but the soup tasted just as good outside.
I’d mostly let Komoot plot the route for me with me making choices as to what needed to be included and making minor changes after I had my initial draft.
The route it gave through the Scottish Borders and Northumberland was excellent keeping me on quiet backcountry roads throughout except when I needed to get over the A1 later in the day.
This also meant that I came through very few towns and villages. Those of note are Duns, the border town of Norham, Ford Castle and Alnwick.
With the weather being rather dull and it being Monday there were very few cyclists about and those that I did see were cycle touring like myself.
I rolled into Amble, my final destination for day just before 6pm. 6pm became my got target finishing time over the coming.
I chose to stay in Amble that to spend the first night of the journey with my sister in law, Alison.
It was a good first day although it felt long, but with an easy 2nd to come I felt pretty relaxed.
Stats for the day:
Planned Distance: 147km
Actual Distance: 146.52km
Ascent: 1572m
Riding time: 7:42:58 hrs
Elapsed time: 9:01:17 hrs
Click here for Day 2
