Day 1 the Tour of the Borders

A fantastic first day cycling the Tour of the Borders. Wow! The scenery has been amazing with purple heather splattering the hillsides. We went to the Dawyck Botanical Garden Cafe where we met Sue and Tony, we haven’t seen them in 25 years or so! They gave us some superb local route knowledge, and after lunch we went on our separate ways.

We cycled along beautiful valleys, one especially along the Talla reservoir until we came to the Talla Wall Climb. I recorded 16% but the sign at the top said 20%. Needless to say I walked the steepest part.

We took our chances along a closed road (closed for tree felling) and when we asked the lumberjack if we could get through. He replied well if you get killed don’t blame us! We said we wouldn’t and we were happy to take our chances. I am glad we did as that road was gorgeous.
The weather stayed dry-ish, so in all a fab day. Oh and by the way there was a bit of rough track!