Day 7: The North Wind doth blow.....

Another demanding day today - 53 miles! But it was a good day in many ways. Sitting here in a Holiday Inn-type hotel in Livingston, near Edinburgh, I feel surprisingly fine, despite the rigours of the day.

We had a very good stay at Moffat with a friendly landlady. The town is so nice and very popular that we couldn't get an evening meal anywhere - having not booked. We ended up having veggie burgers, chips and salad in a basic cafe and it was nice food and staff were friendly.

I must admit to not looking forward to today, as I knew it would be gruelling, and it was. The North wind blew against us every inch of the way. Most of the countryside was mountains and glens, with little sign of civilisation. Rather beautiful. However, Prajnakara thinks we did well over 20 miles of pure hill-climbing today. It certainly felt like it.

The hills just went on and on. The good news is that we did it, and it wasn't that bad. Or I should say that I did it, because there was never any doubt that Prajnakara would complete the ride on time. It is me who is the weak link in this cycling team, but as Prajnakara says, I am improving. Perhaps I really am getting fitter.....

As we passed into the outskirts of Livingston, it seemed quite posh. Then we found ourselves in just about the roughest housing scheme I have ever seen. It was really deprived and we didn't feel safe cycling through it. Thankfully, our large chain hotel is really quite nice and luxury of luxuries, I even had a bath! Just about the most welcome bath ever. Before I did that, Prajnakara photographed the extraordinary 'helmet hair' that I sport at the end of the day.

Perth tomorrow, 49 miles. Perhaps we'll be lucky and the wind will change.