Kirkcudbright Picnic

Kirkcudbright Picnic Monthly Club Run – Sunday 27 July 2025

Although it was what should be regarded as the height of summer, the day started out in a typically Scottish ‘height of summer’ way …. 13°C and raining! Nevertheless, I’d only added my name to the Club Calendar late the previous evening, so my ‘committed’ threshold had been reached. Besides, after an unusually early alarm call, my getting-ready-for-departure routine was well under way before I’d taken a look out of the window. As I’m sure most bikers would acknowledge, once you’ve got your gear on, have swung your leg over your bike and started it up, the miserable weather occupies a much smaller part of your psyche than before. I was looking forward to a ‘big miles’ day out, not having had much use of my bike over the previous couple of months.
I eagerly headed off on the 50 mile ride to the Club Run starting point at Abington Services, where departure was scheduled for 09:30hr. When I arrived, I met Peter, who had planned and was going to lead the run. A short time later we were joined by Ali Lazizi and Brian Torley. The group’s four bikes comprised two BMWs, a Honda and a Triumph – a nice mix of manufacturers. Peter had explained that for various reasons the group size showing on the Runs Calendar had shrunk a bit, but we waited a while beyond the posted departure time just in case there were any late arrivals.
As the four of us set off southward, the weather quickly improved. It was still cold and grey but the rain stopped. Peter had incorporated ticking off three Challenge Sites on today’s run. The first 50 mile chunk of the route was to the first of those sites – Caerlaverock Castle, close to the Solway Firth. When we arrived at the boundary to the Castle grounds, we found ourselves in a big traffic jam of cars trying to access the carpark. Peter explained to the guy controlling entry why we were there but he wasn’t impressed! He grudgingly gave us a few seconds to photograph our bikes beside the Caerlaverock Castle sign at the driveway entrance, next to the big yellow AA tourist sign directing traffic to the Spectacular Jousting Event being held over that weekend. A very popular event, apparently!
Due to the heavy traffic around the Jousting event, Peter decided to continue along a different road for the start to the 45 mile stint to our next Challenge Site – Dundrennan Abbey. It turned out that the road could only very loosely be defined as a road! There had, in the dim and distant past, been an attempt at resurfacing it, using the quaint method of dumping a load of gravel on the surface and waiting for it to miraculously morph in to a safe usable route. To be fair, it looked like the biggest flaw in that plan had been the sparse amount of traffic using the track. The narrow, nadgery lane had moss and grass growing up between the tyre tracks on either side, with a buildup of what looked like all the gravel still lying loose over most of the path. After our little diversion we got back onto a better road and stopped for a leg stretch around the half way mark, near Sandyhills beach.
Dundrennan Abbey was an imposing sight, despite the deterioration which has taken place over hundreds of years of neglect. We had a photo session and short walk around before taking a quick hop to Kirkcudbright for our lunch stop.
Although the southwest corner of Scotland appears to be a bit off of the tourist map, Kirkcudbright seemed to be a vibrant, bustling place. We found a nice spot for lunch on the banks of the River Dee, next to a row of moored up fishing boats.
A key part of the description of this SMC Run, Kirkcudbright Picnic, was the word picnic. Having signed up for the run only the previous night, I hadn’t paid enough attention to that detail, having thought vaguely there will be a shop or café around. There probably was, but since I was so poorly prepared Ali came to the rescue and insisted that I had half of his lunch. A very generous and tasty outcome!
We didn’t take too long over our lunch stop, aware that we still had a lot of miles to do. It’s a pity we didn’t have a chance to have a proper look around Kirkcudbright. It definitely looked like it would have been worthwhile.
Our third and final Challenge site was the War Memorial in Straiton, South Ayrshire. This was another 50 mile ride, taking a little more than an hour. After a brief stop to record our Challenge achievement, it was time to head to our finishing point, Lanark.
A slightly longer distance for the final stretch, expected to take about 1.5 hours. The weather deteriorated as we got further north, with a noticeable fall in temperature accompanied by drizzle. A pity, because it took the edge off riding the lovely Muirkirk Road.
Thankfully, the temperature improved and drizzle stopped as we got closer to Lanark. We had intended making a last stop there but because of the tea-time traffic we rode through the town, where the group then split up, riders dispersing in appropriate directions.
For me, it was a door-to-door ride of almost 300 miles. A very enjoyable day out, with the usual great company that you come to expect on an SMC Run. Thanks to Peter for planning and leading a great marathon run, Brian for being informal TEC and a special thank you to Ali for sharing his lunch with me.