Only fools and the brave (guess which one I am) venture south of the Edinburgh by-pass … and so it was that Marc (Run Leader) and I (TEC), partnered-up for a sunny, 75-mile evening run on scenic, bendy roads to Peebles.
In fairness, the run was announced at short-notice but, hey, carpe diem folks …! Assembling at Greggs Bonnyrigg, off the A7, Marc was on an energetic BMW F900R Sport, courtesy of Motorrad. I was on my capable, if somewhat more subdued, Yamaha XJ6.
The clockwise route took us south on the A7 and then south-west on the lovely, rolling B7007 over and beneath the hills to Innerleithen. From there it was but a short blast west on A72 into Peebles, for a great fish supper from ‘Sully’s’ on the High Street.
Mentioning how appealling I felt the Innerleithen golf course was, I learned that advanced motorcycling instructor Marc is not-only a former Olympic skier (which I knew), but also a near-scratch golfer (which I didn’t). And those are just his hobbies …
Riding north on the A703, the blazing evening sunshine turned cooler as we went east, up and over the moorland road to Gladhouse. A faint coastal ‘harr’ felt refreshing. Caution was warranted among free-ranging sheep and lambs between cattle-grids on the hilltop. Indeed, a lamb jumped out in front of me but it was too fast and, in anticipation, I was just a bit too slow for a collision.
Our homeward route on the B6372 took us north-east to Penicuik and then north on the A701 to and through Edinburgh. A cleverly simple, scenic route and, with wonderful weather, thoroughly enjoyed.
Thank you Marc 🙂