Day 5 Kinross to Moffat

Another early morning but this time accompanied by frost on the ground. Pat from the Pascaig B&B made a delicious breakfast including our first bowl of porridge of the trip and sandwiches for the journey. We left a chilly Kinross and headed down quiet lanes to the Bridges over the Firth of Forth. The farmers were gathering their cereal crops in between showers and we watched the tractors scurrying backwards and forwards whilst steadily heading south. Does anyone know why some hay bales are made into cylinders and some into oblongs? We arrived at the north bank after a fast descent to see the bridges bathed in glorious sunlight.

After taking photos of the rail bridge and crossing the road bridge we had the far less than simple task of negotiating around Edinburgh. Unfortunately we planned to cycle around a quarter of the ring road, a necessary evil to get to the road we needed quickly. Edinburgh's town planners were keen to thwart our plans however and have decreed that the 50mph road is off limits to cyclists. Instead we wasted over an hour travelling through the numerous industrial estates until we had managed to inch our way around.

Once clear of the city we climbed to Pencuik through remarkably Kent like villages and stopped for a cup of tea and cake in a cafe called little Italy. The cake slice thing deserves special mention due to it's fantastic recuperation properties. It was chocolate with marshmallows and broken biscuits melted into it. Nom, nom and dare I say it Nom!

After a short break we hit the road for the second half of the day and the 40 miles to the night stop at Moffat. The landscape became more rugged with steep hills covered in heather and gorse. As we climbed the air got colder and our breath turned into mist as we ground up the hills. The ascents left us sweaty and the bitter wind we were heading into froze us on the shorter descents. I must have taken my jacket on and off a dozen times, doing it on the bike whilst cycling to save time in the end. The road was roughly surfaced, the vibration turned my fingers numb and I had to stop and resecure the aero bars after a number of big potholes.

Towards the top of the climb we were soaked twice by cold sharp showers alleviated somewhat by a skittle consuming session. The views from the top with a pair of rainbows to the East and turbines turning in the sunshine and drizzle on the skyline to the west were worth every mile. The six mile descent was along much better blacktop on the edge of the valley side with sheer drops and drying roads. It was addictively exhilarating, the speed down the slight gradient building relentlessly. Every opportunity to take our eyes off the road was met with majestic views across the valley and the sight of Moffat nestling at its foot. Faster and faster until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of crashing! If you like driving cars, motorbikes or cycling I implore you to try the A701 from Penicuik to Moffat.

We've a room in the Bonnington Hotel and have just been very well fed. Tomorrow looks to be very wet indeed so instead of the 85 miles we achieved today our sights are set on Carlisle 41 miles away. Still, we shall see in the morning...