A very similar route to this one was featured in the blog a year or so ago (see here), but this time we did it with the Lothian Cyclists and it was, well, a bit more eventful!
We started off from North Middleton with our full quota of 14 cyclists and headed to Borthwick, with a steep climb waiting at the far side to take us over the Borders Railway (which is about to open very soon). The route took us to Newlandrigg, where we came out at the Vogrie road, turning right. The road is very rough and potholed at the moment, but the sight of spray painted markings outlining the worst of the potholes makes me hopeful that some patching might occur soon. A proper resurfacing would be even more welcome though.
At the end of the road, we turned right onto the A68 for a minute before turning left and back into the peace and tranquility of the side roads. We then wound our way through the countryside, enjoying the warm sunshine till we reached Peaston where we stopped to wait for the back markers. Then it was onwards again heading towards Humbie, with me leading the way.
Pretty soon, we reached the steep drop to Keith Water and the equally steep climb at the other side. Scott was well aware of the terrain and zoomed past as he attacked the hill. Lesley then came alongside and we chatted as we made our way upwards, keeping Scott in our sights. We three paused at the top of the rise to wait for the others. Keith arrived, feeling a little aggrieved that a wasp had singled him out for a sting on the neck, and as the next few arrived they brought with them the news that Fiona had fallen off her bike.
That was worrying, especially as she had only just started cycling again after a hip replacement. However, they said it looked like a low speed tumble so she had only skinned her knee, and she was on her way, pushing her bike up the hill.
It’s never easy to tell how a fall is going to affect you, so I wasn’t sure whether Fiona was going to be fit to continue all the way or turn back. We waited what felt like ten minutes or more but there was no sign of Fiona or the others, so I thought I’d better go back down and check. I got all the way to the bottom of the hill and didn’t see anyone, so I wondered if they had backtracked and gone back up the way we came. I tried phoning but only got voicemail so I cycled on for another half mile or so before giving up and heading back to the waiting group, wondering what on earth had happened to the missing cyclists.
Then, as I got close to the top of the hill again, there they were! They had left the road and gone into a field for Fiona to sit down with Colette and Norah, to get her wound cleaned up and plaster attached. That gave her time to get over the initial shock and decide how she was really feeling. Thankfully she was feeling good and up for continuing, so off we went.
Poor wounded Fiona, being tended to by Norah
But not so fast, Norah’s bike now had a brake problem. Her hydraulic disk brake was permanently slightly on, which had been slowing her down. After a bit of faffing, Scott came up with the solution and we were finally back on the road.
The sun had gone in by this time and there were spits and spots of rain in the air. Some of group donned their waterproofs and off we went, with just a few miles to go before lunch at the House of Soutra cafe.
We arrived at the cafe without any more rain, and in fact it was quite warm so we decided to eat outside. In the past we have found the inside to get oppressively hot and it was quite busy anyway, so eating outside seemed like a good decision. Halfway through lunchtime though, it started to rain steadily and we reluctantly picked up our plates and headed indoors. Luckily, a number of tables had freed up by this time, so we could all be accommodated.
Thumbs up for the sandwiches from Angus. I immediately regretted opting for the soup.
Colette and I had managed to get served first and were finished well before the others, so any ideas of skipping cake had to be put aside. We filled the time and our tummies with some lovely home baking and after a nice relaxing break we were all ready to head up the hill to Soutra Aisle.
After a brief dalliance with the A68 again, we made our way onto the Soutra Aisle road and up the initial stiff climb that takes you to the historic site. There was a medieval hospital at this location, and the recently renewed information boards explained all we needed to know about the history and geography.
Susan and Norah arriving at the top of the Soutra climb.
We all had a good look around then got back on the bikes for the downhill “reward” after the climb. Unfortunately, after rounding the next corner we ran straight into a strong headwind, so we had to pedal hard to make a decent speed even going downhill. The scenery was still magnificent, keeping the spirits up. That was important when the heavens opened up and we were suddenly cycling into stinging rain.
The rain had stopped by the time we reached the A7, but Norah wasn’t having a good day and at that point she and Colette decided to cycle directly back to the start point along the A7, while the rest of us we going to go a longer and hillier route via Heriot.
I always feel a bit unsure when talking about Heriot, as it consists of two separate groups of houses. There is one near the A7 and another about a mile away, including the school, with the village hall all by itself inbetween. The rerouting of the roads associated with the Borders Railway project has effectively made the part of the village by the A7 into a dead end so we no longer go through that part, but still go past the school part. The sun was again shining brightly as we made our way through and out of that part of Heriot, past the entrance to Borthwick Hall (which to further confuse matters is nowhere near the Borthwick that we passed through earlier) and crossed over Heriot Water. Shortly after that, we came face to face with one of the strongest headwinds that I’d ever encountered, even stronger than earlier.
The wind was channelled right down the valley that we were cycling up, making progress terribly slow. We all made it eventually, and having gathered together, we now faced a two mile climb up to the highest point of our ride. Normally that would be quite a prospect at this stage in a ride, but the wind was now at our backs, positively blowing us uphill. We couldn’t believe how easy it was. What’s more, the wind was still at our backs for the two mile downhill that followed and there were quite a few of us reporting record speeds as we rocketed downhill!
It wasn’t long before we reached North Middleton again, at which point Lynne invited us back for coffee, cake and chat, allowing us to prolong the fun for another couple of hours. In some ways it had been the perfect day out (apart from Norah, sorry), mixing some great cycling country with a bit of adversity, some extremes of weather and loads of fun!