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<\/a><\/p>\nI followed the signposted cycle route on back lanes tracking the Tweed downriver to Innerleithen and on to the confluence with Eltrick Water, then up river to Selkirk for lunch and a tour of Sir Walter Scott’s courthouse. I diligently locked my bike to a railing outside the Courthouse and recklessly lost the key. Lynnette from the courthouse came to my rescue, finding the key where I’d stopped to take a photo of Sir Walter’s statue in the town square.<\/p>\n
Steep climb out of Selkirk to Midlem. Sunshine and clear skies making it thirsty work. My bottle was empty by the time I reached Hawick (That’s Haw-ick, or Hoik to the locals) another bustling mill town.<\/p>\n The last leg of the day was the hardest. 17 miles to Bonchester Bridge then up, up, up through the hills towards the border. At a little row of cottages in the middle of nowhere, a kind resident agreed to fill my empty bottle and wished me luck for the climb.<\/p>\n The road went up again. I passed an alpine centre! The views were glorious and the rain started as I began to drop to Saughtree. And what a gem Saughtree Station<\/a> is. What a find. A restored former borders station where the owners run a B&B and their own train!<\/p>\n Warm and dry, knowing I was a spit from the border I settled in for my last night in Scotland.<\/p>\n 55 miles; 3,813ft of hills<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n