I’ve combined two days in this post. Thursday’s weather forecast promised rain in the afternoon. So I set out on a short loop to be back for lunch time. I’d have been finished earlier if I didn’t stop so often to take pictures. I vowed to just press on and not stop. But, as you can see, I couldn’t help myeslf. It’s definitely the theme of this weeks rides’.

I also wasn’t going to pause for food, but I rode past The Douglas Bakery on my way out. It smelt great. So when I had a choice to make at a t junction; left was home, right was a fifteen minute ride to the freshly cooked bread. It was an easy decision. Not happy to discover no cows milk alternative and carrot soup the only vegan food. The americano coffee was delicious and the soup with a crusty roll was tasty though, so almost forgiven.

The views continue to be incredible. I even stopped on a climb to look back and take this one.

I had a couple of suggestions from Alex, he follows me on Strava, about distinations. One of them was the radar station at Lowther. That was my plan for Friday. I awoke to heavy rain and strong winds. On previous days this had stopped by early morning. So I waited, but it was nearly 11 am by the time it started to clear. Plan b was a community hub cafe in Ochiltree for coffee. It looked like a nice place, and likely to be busy at lunchtime. 

The place was a hive of activity, I didn’t start a conversation with anyone, they were all chatting in small groups. But it was comfortable to be around people. Certainly better than had I stayed at my lodgings.

I have seen many monuments to mining this week. I past a couple today.

Of course I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the landscape on the way home.

One more ride possible tomorrow. Will I go to the radar station? You’ll have to come back to find out.