Monday 6 September

Hope Dorothy got to work in Dublin on time!! And Paul is working his socks off at the workshops in Manchester.

We left Abington at 8.30 am as we had a good few miles to do today to get to Glasgow. It is very windy today but, in spite of the forecast, no rain! We went across the bridge across the motorway, leading from the services and nearly got blown into the barriers at the side, it was so windy. Luckily we turned right at the roundabout and that put the wind at our backs - thank goodness for a tail wind. We were getting blown up some of the smaller hills. Peter made a comment at one time, 'we're travelling at 20 miles an hour, and a feather has just overtaken us' ! We did see someone cycling the other direction and he looked as though he was really struggling.

Onto the B7078, again running alongside the motorway, so much the same as yesterday - empty. We have changed route again (we didn't go into Lanark) as we are getting soft and don't want to tackle hills anymore than we have to and this has cut our journey by about 6 miles today. The B7078 was obviously the main road north until the motorway was built, and there are parts that used to be dual carriageway. The southbound two lanes have been changed into single carriageway (a lane in each direction) and the northbound lanes have been changed so that one lane has been left to grass in and the other lane is used as a cycle track - it's great!

We were cycling down one hill into a town, when the wind threw a piece of plastic at my wheel. It wrapped round the spokes and made a noise just like when you were a kid and clipped a piece of cardboard onto the fork of your bike with a peg, so it caught against the spokes as you rode (why DID we do that?!!!!). Anyway, I plucked it out on the move (don't try this at home kids).

We went through Larkhall and stopped for a tea/coffee. There was a sign for a cafe on an industrial estate so we went in. Couldn't see the cafe anywhere - I asked a man washing cars and he said it was behind the car in the next bay. We went down into the depths a bit dubiously, but no, there was a corridor leading down behind the car and at the end was a CAFE!! It had no windows, but had nice wooden tables and was clean and brightly lit. The man behind the counter was welcoming, and it was very reasonably priced. A good place to stop, if you can find it!! Mind you, be careful with the soap in the ladies' - the container was stiff and I pressed it hard - only to squirt soap all over my cycle shorts!! Just as well it didn't rain - I'd have been frothing all the way down the road :-)

We had just started off from there when Kevin rang. I missed that call, as we were on a busy road, so we stopped outside a Co-op. Peter went in to get supplies and I phoned Kevin back. Before I did, two women stopped and started chatting about the trip we were doing, and had I seen any nice places on the way. I told them I was doing a blog and they said to say how nice Larkhall was. I have to agree - at least the people are friendly anyway - I tried twice to phone Kevin, and both times had to cut the conversation short (sorry Kevin) as each time I had people start asking if I was collecting for charity for the trip I was doing! A man gave me some money, then another two ladies gave me some more!! All the people that have just spontaneously given have been older people. Although I have to say that Luke and Michael (yesterday) were collecting for a charity too. A bit further on we stopped at an Asda, as Peter couldn't find what he needed in the Co-op. He went in, bought what he needed and then, just as we were about to cycle off, a man stopped us and said, 'You cycled passed when I was waiting at the bus stop, and I've just got here'. Moral of the story - Get a bike!

Carried on - stopped in Newton for lunch at a very dull looking pub, but got a very well prepared, and delicious tasting lunch. The man behind the bar didn't seem very friendly, but was extremely helpful - although his face gave nothing away!

Got onto the cycle track that follows the Clyde all the way into Glasgow and has an extremely good tarmac surface. We would have followed it all the way, except it came to a stop at one point, and we had to follow a diversion round a huge building site. Got back on at the other side and carried right on into Glasgow - what a great way to cycle through a city. The city looks really smart - alongside the river, anyway.

Got to Jane's earlier than we had expected, as the cycling was so gentle. She took time out from the Marie Curie shop to get us settled into her place, then went back to finish her shift.

Quiz time: I can't really view my blog on my phone, as the screen is too small, and as I'm on Jane's computer now, I see that my pictures are not getting any titles added to them. The picture of the sheep (Thursday 2 Sept) had a caption that was an attempt to keep you (dear follower) interested, in case you were getting bored with this blog by now!! The question that went with the sheep was, 'What breed is this?'

Mileage: 45.50
Current height: 124 ft
Maximum height: 994 ft
Ascent: 2,404 ft