12 November 2013 – Stow and back

12Nov13_mapWe woke to another sunny autumn day and wondered if we had time for a cycle. A quick look at the forecast was promising, so the current redecorating project was going to have to take a wee break.

The plan we decided on was to cycle to Stow, stop for a cuppa, then come back home. The A7 would take us as far as Heriot, then we would use the back road from there. As it turned out, the traffic on the A7 was a bit lighter than we expected. In the time taken to do 300 full pedal strokes, we were overtaken by just 3 trucks and 3 cars. So by the time we reached the Heriot turnoff, we decided to stay on the A7 all the way there.

That meant we had to wait a few minutes at the traffic lights for the road works at Heriot. With a queue of cars behind, we pedalled hard through the road works then relaxed into our more usual sedate pace on the other side, when the traffic could then overtake. Actually, we appear to have averaged over 15mph from this point, which must mean that we were going downhill, even though it looked pretty flat.

After Fountainhall, we ran into a light sun shower. My glasses got covered in a mist of water droplets, and as we rode towards the low sun, it was hard to see very far ahead. Luckily the shower didn’t last and visibility was restored for the run-in to Stow.

Just as we entered the town/village (Stow is one of those inbetween places in terms of size), a lorry overtook Colette and was trying to overtake me. I squeezed past a parked van against a long line of oncoming traffic, but the lorry had to wait, holding up all the traffic behind (including Colette). So I had a bit of a wait for Colette to reappear where I was waiting at the Lauder Road turnoff. We then continued uphill for a few yards till we reached the Cloud House Cafe. It had only taken just over an hour to get there.

We ordered tea for two and some hot filled rolls. Colette fancied the egg and potato scone combo, while I went for black pudding. They both went down a treat. We also chatted to the owner who was interested in how we found the trip out along the A7. She said that it has been much quieter of late, with the cafe being empty at some times when it is normally very busy. The Borders Railway works got the blame, and we all had a good moan about how it was affecting us. At least Stow will be getting a station, which should hopefully be good for business in the long term.

The back road with the A7 on the right and Borders railway inbetween

The back road with the A7 on the right and Borders railway inbetween

For the return leg, we took the quiet back road instead of the A7, making it into a circular route. We prefer circular routes, even though this one was technically rather than literally circular! But that meant a steep climb up past the primary school then onwards in the direction of Fountainhall. In contrast to the seemingly flat A7, the back road is distinctly undulating, but it makes up for that by being very quiet. That meant it was more conducive to stop for photo taking (of which there was none along the A7). It was interesting to observe the activity on the Border Railway line construction that cuts a path between the back road and the A7.

There was construction activity all the way along the railway

There was construction activity all the way along the railway

The stiff westerly breeze made its presence felt along this part of the trip, slowing us down on several occasions, but not as much as some of the steep hills. I’ve given up trying to get up hills as fast as possible now, and just select a low gear and enjoy the ride.

Looking forward to some uphill action!

Looking forward to some uphill action!

We reached Heriot then turned left back onto the A7 for the final few miles. Once home, we had a small second lunch and I had a long snooze – the joys of being retired!

 

 

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *