Come ride in the Scottish Borders they said. We did and it was amazing!

Join us for this the first of two memorable rides in the Scottish Borders.
In September 2023, we took a few days off work to travel up to Moffat in the Scottish Borders where we planned to do two rides exploring some of the back roads in this lovely part of the UK.
The weather was horrible the day we rode up to Scotland with strong winds and driving rain battering us the whole way. We arrived at our guest house thoroughly soaked and spent much of our first evening drying out our kit. The next morning we woke to sunshine, however the sky was laden with rain clouds. Our route for the day was to take us south west through New Cumnock and on to Loch Doon and Loch Doon Castle.
We headed out and crossed the motorway into Galloway Forest riding through scenic hills and valleys. Then, the inevitable rain started and we stopped to suit up with our waterproofs. Somehow, while getting changed, we managed to bugger up our new Cardo Mesh coms so we continued onwards being unable to chat with each other. It was a shame really as the valleys we road through were simply stunning. Our next 'fly in the ointment' was the road we had planned to ride had been closed to replace telegraph poles. If you ride using preplanned routes on a sat nav, you'll know how much they hate being 'diverted'.
We decided to stop at a cafe and google the problem with the Cardo devices and we quickly had them back working properly again. We also had what was quite possibly the worst baclava we've ever had.
Back on the road again, we used a combination of sat nav and Google Maps to find us a reliable route to Loch Doon and 30 minutes later... we were there. The single-track road to the castle twists and turns its way alongside the loch with amazing views all around. We reached the castle and had few minutes to take some photographs before the heavens opened and it hammered down with rain. We tried to continue on but the compacted gravel road was becoming treacherous, so we decided to turn around and head back to the main road.
As if my magic, the rain suddenly stopped and the sun broke its way though the rain clouds bathing the area in yellow sun beams and casting a perfect rainbow over the loch. It was a special moment. We rode back along the loch side road in awe of the beauty that surrounded us.
Back on the main road, we keyed in the route and set of again. Two miles later and the rain started hammering down again. There was nothing left for us to do but to admit defeat, turn off our cameras and head back to our warm and dry guest house in Moffat.
In the next pert of this two-part series we ride the back roads heading east, through yet more amazing landscapes to the popular biker cafe at St. Mary's Loch. We do hope you'll join us.
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