Yesterday was quite a short ride, mostly because I'd been planning a longer ride today. Forgoing some of the booze the night before, I got an early night but found that I couldn't sleep anyway. I'd been planning a ride over Carter Bar and into Scotland but I was a little worried about being in such a remote location on my bicycle by myself. So I managed to fall asleep about 1am and then wake up again at about 5am. But as my alarm went off at 7am I found myself being able to jump out of bed and eat a big breakfast before getting ready and press-ganging my brother into giving me a lift over to near Otterburn in the Northumbrian Borders.
Arriving at Catclough Reservoir it was pouring with rain, and grim. Dreich, it's called in this part of the world. So I put the wheels on my bike, put on my rain gear and set off up to Carter Bar with my wheels sucking at the standing water on the road. Turning round to see my brother making a joke about me probably needing to cycle a bit faster I wondered for a second why I was doing this, but it only took me a few minutes to really get into the ride. Sometimes I'm not really into it but today I immediately loved the crank up the slope to the border of Scotland and even the snow on the hills didn't even make me feel cold, although I didn't stop long on the top to take a photograph!
Speeding down the other side into Jedburgh I only shared the road with a few cars, all of whom seemed to pass nice and slowly, although I suspect it was because I was descending at a decent pace. I really enjoyed the hairpins on the descent, weighting the bike nice and low and leaning into the corners. Because I was descending and not breathing too heavily I pulled my neck roll over my face to reduce the impact of the stinging sleet.
I had planned to photograph the old tree near Jedburgh but my desire to find a loo must have meant I forgot to look properly and I was soon at the salubrious location of the tourist office using their facilities. But soon I was off on my way up towards Bonjedward and from there to Yetholm and around, back into England, and past Wooler.
The entire country around The Borders has a certain feeling to it, much like many border areas and between the 13th and the 17th centuries some people you may meet in this area would be Border Reivers. The Border Reivers were raiders along the border and included both Scottish and English families who raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality, wearing their shepherd's plaid, the oldest tartan in existence. The name probably comes from the Old Endlish 'reive' or 'to rob'. In fact my surname, Anderson, is a 'Middle March' Reiver name. It's said that due to Scotland and England being at war during this period, people relied on their own strength and cunning and in more modern times the Border Reivers have been glamourised in many folk tales and songs including in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (a song book I learned from while learning the Northumbrian Pipes).
The Border Reivers really deserve much more attention but I can only ask you to read the links to get a full idea of these people in this wonderful part of the world. Although they were relative late-comers to the area. I also passed through Yeavering on my return through Northumberland which is a small hamlet but the site of a huge Anglo-Saxon settlement that archaeologists say was one of the seats of royal power held by the kings of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernicia">Bernicia in the 7th century but also evidence has been found of settlements from the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.
Although it was really tough, it was one of my favourite rides I can remember. I covered 112km in 4 hours and 37 minutes with an average speed of over 24kph. It was very moving and special to be in the middle of such a beautiful part of the world; a place that wherever I go is always in my heart.
Distance: 112km
Remaining: 146km
Strava Ride Data
Glad I had: Rapha Rain Jacket