Day 8. Kilmarnock to Burgh by Sands.

Today was a long day in terms of mileage. Last night I had discussed with Alice the reality of having to cover more miles each day in order to make it far enough south by the following Wednesday so that we could meet up. My knee had started spasming last night and whilst I was a bit worried about that, I also knew that the second half of the journey was along flat roads, and headwind permitting, I could make good time and try to finish for the day earlier than usual – I was also really looking forward to a shower, and hopefully clothes washing too!

I set off from my campsite early and made my way into Kilmarnock, which was only a mile away to the south. McDonalds for breakfast might not have been high dining, but certainly filled a hole and got me whizzing along.

The roads south of Kilmarnock rose up into the southern uplands of Scotland – nothing too severe though, just nice and steady, and thankfully my knee was holding up too. The clouds were low today, and whilst it didn’t rain, it certainly looked likely. I knew the area of the south west of Scotland quite well, having holidayed there for many years as a child, and so I didn’t linger long anywhere – constantly aware that I needed to make the day’s mileage.

South of Dumfries the road flattened out, to the extent that without the sheep populating the fields it could easily have been the fens of East Anglia! My keen weather watching paid off and I was rewarded with a great tailwind along the coastal road between Dumfries and Annan, and the sun came out to play too! I stopped at Tesco in Annan for supplies and then made my way along the last few flat miles of Scotland.

At the border sign I stopped and chatted to a fellow “end to ender” heading north, we swapped stories and route planning before going our separate ways again – I was determined to get to my campsite before dark for a change, and whilst it was still only the early evening, I knew from experience that the last miles can be pretty tough, even on the flat, as energy levels can dip and suddenly all the joy of cycling and looking at the scenery can vanish leaving only sore and achy limbs behind.

I arrived at the campsite with over an hour of warm daylight left, which was great as I could actually air out my tent and dry a few items in the sun. The campsite had sold itself as an upmarket “glamp-site” and I was really looking forward to a lovely and luxurious shower. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the site was nothing of the sort – just a family trying to squeeze some extra cash  out of their farm and horse riding business. As a result the facilities were actually pretty basic, and some way away from the camping field – the shower was lovely and hot though, and the owner did agree to wash my dirty cycling clothes after I bribed her with offering to give her the rest of my detergent as a thank you – no problem for me, and it was so nice to wear clean clothes for the next few days too!

Camping early enough to watch the sun set was great, especially as I was clean for the first time in days. Being able to cook my dinner without having to resort to torch-light was pretty good too, along with the ability to charge my phones too – maybe it was a glamp-site after all?