Progress is not an illusion, it happens, but it is slow and invariably disappointing - George Orwell
Day Four - Edinburgh - Jedburgh
Thursday 29th July 2010
I followed a cycle route into Edinburgh. Like many urban cycle routes they are thoughtfully designed to keep you away from busy main roads. The downside is that they often go a bit 'round the houses'; with lots of stops and starts as you dogleg across junctions. This all makes for a slow pace of travel. However, there was a very welcome long section of disused railway that took me traffic free into the city centre. Once in the city some of the roads are cobbled which makes for an interesting ride.
St Gile's Cathedral
Edinburgh Castle
I paused and noted that I had barely covered 10 miles (16km) so far and it was 12:30. More delays were to follow as I struggled to find a route out of Edinburgh. On the road I kept coming up against the city circular road with no cycling signs. Equally my attempts to find a national cycle route out had also come up against poor signage. Eventually, by some means I found myself in Dalkieth. I stopped to pick up a salad from a Subway in the town centre and then checked the map to make sure the road I was on would take me to the A68 and south.
On reaching the A68 I was met with road signs stating that it was one of the most dangerous roads in the country and listed the number of fatalities in the previous 3 years. It was a long 'lumpy' road with many steep blind summits that I struggled with. Often I needed to get off and push the bike up and this was at times exhausting. This went on for 40 miles until I reached Jedburgh.
A68
Jedburgh Abbey
I stopped near the Abbey and bought a lemonade from a pub. I downed this quickly and used the customer loos. I wanted to order some food but there was over an hour delay in the pub. Instead I tried the nearby fish and chips shop. I was tempted by the haggis burgers on the menu and thought I'd try this 'Scottish dish' before leaving Scotland. It came with two deep fried haggis burgers but I found them much too rich to finish the second. I cheekily nipped back into the pub to use the toilet again before setting off.
