Sunday July 9, 2017, 25 miles (40 km) – Total so far: 138 miles (222 km)

Berwick is a lovely place and we wished we could stay another day. Sadly we were booked into Kelso so after a filling breakfast we set sail westward, into the wind, up the hill, with the brakes stuck on ! Actually that last bit is a lie, the brakes were fine, it just seemed like that. Anyway we pootled along, crossing the A1 a couple of times and zipping into and out of Scotland each time we crossed the Tweed.

We stopped in a lovely pub for a cup of tea in Norham, and chatted to a lady who recommended we went to The Hirsel Country Park for lunch, which was in Coldstream. Since we had no better plan we followed her advice, left the route and had a superb sandwich and baked potato for lunch. There was also a range of pretentious crafty shops which we looked at, and some rather dodgy art, but it was a nice break.

We left the Park and rejoined the road on a rather steep incline. We were in the wrong gear, we were turning at a sharp angle and we were pushing hard on the pedals when disaster struck — The chain snapped !! Luckily we were able to get the bike to the pavement without further mishap, but it was a scary moment indeed.

I had a chain tool, and a “quick link”, so after fumbling around for 30 minutes, and with very oily hands, we were able to get going again. But, neither of us had much faith in the fix so we rode gingerly to Kelso, about 9 miles away hoping there would be a bike shop open tomorrow morning …

We ate well, although the worry about the chain was ever present. Didn’t stop Belinda quaffing a cider though !

Total climbbing : 1650ft