It was supposed to be an easy day to recover from the long drive. I know I could have just not gone out. But that isn’t me.

I planned a shorter route, just forty miles. To be precise I asked the Garmin app for a gravel route of around forty to fifty miles. And this was what it came up with. It looked a bit hilly, but not too bad. So after a big breakfast off I went.

It started well, along the lane from my walk yesterday evening. And then onto gravel trails along the river.

The path then took me onto a raised path into an avenue of trees.

The theme for today was one of cycling beside a river. I’d climb away, then return. Going from firm, tracks to sometimes very soft bog. But it was a very peaseful environment.

I could have stopped repeatidly to capture the scene, but I’d likely still be out on my bike. Well maybe not, but I hope you get what I mean.

Below I just missed a heron fishing. It took off as I arrived. If you look closely you can see it flying away.

Some of the climbs were very steep, I had to get off and push the bike, both up and down.

Parts were very muddy, almost waterlogged.

And not just by the river. One section of meadow, way above the river, was the worst. It looked okay, but the boggy parts were fairly deep.

The initial part was easy going though, firm and dryish so pretty quick.

A lot of downed trees, meant frequent detours off the path.

This lead to a long road section and a realisation. I had the route on my Garmin cycling computer. It’s how I navigate all of my cycling. I realised I was riding the loop the wrong way, once on to the road it should have anounced the junctions, but it wasn’t do this. I was travelling the wrong way. Not a big deal, I could see the way to follow, I did miss a few turnings though and had to turn around. Plus it couldn’t tell me how far until the end.

I would have been faster, except for the strong headwind. I hoped that being a circular route would soon mean a tailwind to take me home.

I tested that theory after passing through Mauchline, I was now headed east.

he National Burns Memorial Homes

Of course the headwind moved and I was still facing it.

A characteristic of this third of the day was decents into valleys with climbs out of the other side of the valley.

I was beginning to think I’d be home quickly, if I stayed on the road.

a gravel/mountain bike “rule” take a picture with a log pile. Bunus point I think for the wind turbine.

And for a while I made good time.

Then I went off-road again.

And for a while it was okay. The river became increasingly meandering, and the path followed it. More uneven and muddy, as well. I knew I had about twelve miles to go, but my pace was very slow. The clouds were becoming more threatening, and the wind was increasing. Thoughts of an early finish were deminishing. I took me over and hour to cover just four or five miles.

It must be said my bike was tacking a beating again, as it had in Wales. But I have no complaints.

I love my bike.

The path was now very near a road. One that would lead almost straight home. I decided this would be a great idea and turned off the navigation promopts.

Couldn’t resist one last picture.

I adopted an aero a position, got my head down and pushed as hard as I could.

I was rewarded with a big increase in speed. Averaging over twenty miles per hour for the last three miles.

It was a very good decision. As I was eating a late lunch the rain arrived. It was torrential.