Wet Wet Wet

Well we got 3 dry miles in! And 81 wet ones! The rain alternated between drizzle and some really heavy showers. The road surface also alternated significantly. Drizzle and great tarmac was good, heavy rain and a poor road surface, with potholes, not good. Difficult to get excited by the scenery in those conditions, especially when you can only see the rain spots on your glasses!

Breakfast at the Oyster Inn at Connel was the best so far and we were on the road before 9am which was good for us. We had a lunch appointment with some of Steve's friends at 1pm 50 miles away and so we had to keep moving. We made it slightly early which was good considering the conditions. I'm not sure the pub quite appreciated three drowned rats arriving in their lovely restaurant. We used part of the bar as a changing room to get some dry socks and shirts on whilst using all radiators to dry our clothes! Perhaps not too unreasonable bu

maybe we took it too far when spraying the rather smelly ralgex to our tired and cold muscles! We left shortly after that!

The rain had got worse and so the 25 miles to the ferry over the Clyde was tough. The temperature was less than 10 degrees and in the wind chill and we had to pedal fast just to keep keep warm.

We arrived at Largs and are staying in a lovely B&B. Una , bless her, welcomed us in despite the state we were in and washed and dried some of our clothes. All much appreciated. Dinner in Largs was fine although the choice of restaurant was very limited. Ye Olde Anchor sold a fine pint though which was well deserved after the day we've had!

Now for the facts:

Stats of the day - 84 miles at an average speed of 14 mph meaning six hours in the saddle. Feet climbed was just less than 4,000 feet.

Ale and Arse report - the Ember 80 shillings was excellent and puts a marker down for the beers yet to be drunk! Admittedly it didn't have much to beat but I'm hoping that it will be beaten as we move south! The other boys have gone for two pairs of cycling shorts to protect their derrieres, not at that point yet but unlikely to be long before I try that out!

Porridge report - great, good consistency, no salt but sugar and honey. Might not be beaten that one!

Nature Watch - given I see that Spring Watch is off the air now I think Nature Watch will be discontinued. Just more road kill today!

Forecast for tomorrow - less rain hopefully! We are aiming for near Dumfries. Four days in and still hanging in there but a long way to go!

PS - I know some of you have had trouble leaving comments. Well done JT, the only one who managed it! I've changed the settings now to make it easier so comment away!