THIS IS IT! The first club ‘away day’ for 2022! Exciting or what? On Saturday 21st May Durham City Velo is offering a 74-mile circuit through the beautiful hills and forests of the Scottish Borders starting and finishing (with a steep descent) at Newcastleton and proceeding via Hawick, Ettrick, Craik Forest, Eskdalemuir (past the Kagyu Samye Ling Buddhist monastery), Langholm and Burrowstown Moss.
You should plan to arrive for a 9.30 start from Douglas Square, in the village centre (TD9 0QD) around which there’s normally plenty of free parking. It’s likely there will be 2 groups – steady and a bit faster – so if you’re car-sharing it might be a good idea to travel with someone you’ll be riding with if you’ll need immediate access to the vehicle (or make some ad-hoc arrangement – the groups shouldn’t be too far apart).
Dave will lead the ‘steady’ group and Chris will take the faster group on an 84-mile circuit to even timings out. It’s planned that both groups will stop in Hawick (20 miles) for morning coffee and at Eskdalemuir Community Hub & Old School Cafe (50 miles) as pictured above for lunch though whether they see each other is another matter.
These are beautifully quiet roads that will provide unique experiences to be shared in the Kingslodge Inn on cold, winter nights long after the legs have recovered. A word to the wise though: they’re hilly and it might be advisable to bring something to keep the midges and clegs at bay. It’s about this time of the year that the little critters are starting to get hungry! The ride is open to members and non-members alike but please let us know by Monday 16th May that you’re coming.
