Sunday 05/06/11

Finally set off about 2pm on Sunday - much later than planned - mostly because of my lack of organisation and poor packing skills and then Nige decided to check if my chain was decreased and oiled enough - which it wasn`t and he kindly did it for (that bit of planning did work!!).

Went to Falkirk and then picked up the canal tow path to Edinburgh - not very fast going as the path was quite busy and forgot about manoeuvring through the various "z" gates with a heavily loaded bike - however saw lots of wildflowers and it got quite exciting when I was dive bombed by a lapwing!!!

Got a wee bit lost in the middle of Edinburgh - not helped by managing to lose the appropriate bit of map but eventually managed to find my way to the south side of Edinburgh and then picking up the A7 south.

Dry most of the day but when I stopped at Newton Grange for the night, the rain had come on quite heavy so got the tent up as quick as I could, which probably wasn`t very quick.

Warm and cosy in my new tent and sleeping bag

50 miles today - not as much as intended - but a good start.