Cycling day 24: Kirkoswald to Moffat
I had quite a bit of cycling planned for today, so knew that it would take a fair amount of time. After a while I reached National Cycle Route 72 (The Hadrian’s Cycleway), and Regional Cycle 30 which was also following the same route. I noticed from glancing down at my GPS that it appears OSM doesn’t have coverage of all of this yet, so took a diversion for a mile or so following the route away from my intended direction before returning to follow the portion of NCR72 that I’d planned to cover.
I left NCR72 near Carlisle with the intention of making my way towards NCR7. Unfortunately this involved using short stretches of the A689 and A7, both of which weren’t particularly cycle friendly. I diverted off of NCR7 for a short while past an MOD base which appears to be a weapons storage depot. Shortly thereafter I crossed the border into Scotland and shortly after that rejoined NCR7. I followed NCR7 for a little while and gathered what looks like it’ll be new mapping, then started on following NCR74. It starts out of a quiet country road, gradually working its way towards the A74(M). It eventually reaches the B7074 (the former A74), and uses that for miles upon miles with a mandatory cycle lane. Unfortunately the route runs almost parallel to the A74(M), so despite it being a relatively quiet road there’s plenty of road noise from the motorway. Also, quite a few logging lorries use the route, so it’s not quite as pleasant as I’d hoped. It goes on for so many miles that it gets a little monotonous after a while. The hills beside the route gradually got steeper, and they should get steeper still when I continue to follow the route further.
Tomorrow I’ve got as a rest day, which should allow me to catch up on things and relax a little before the next leg of my journey. John O’Groats is still some way off yet.
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Gregory Williams
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Many congratulations on reaching Scotland! I guess that you have now completed about 40% of your total expected distance. Over the next 20 or so days, you’ll find out just how big Scotland really is, as you are now about as far from John O’Groats as you are from London. I hope that you manage to catch up on your backlog of data entry today and to relax a little, before continuing your journey.
Congratulations again!
Yes I realise that Scotland is bigger than it first appears on the maps (especially the BBC’s weather map) because of the projection used. My route through Scotland is certainly not direct either, both following the National Cycle Network and skirting around the hills. I’m also taking it slightly slower to give me a chance to absorb the scenery.
Internet connectivity here is on and off. I’m told that Moffat is connected via a satellite link which is then relayed to various users across the town. This has been intermittent. Plus it looks like the OSM API server was temporarily offline a little earlier (back online now though). I’m back to about ten days of backlog, so I doubt that I’ll clear it all before I set off again, but I’m give it a good effort.