Day 10 Nr. Dumfries to Troutbeck

England! Oh how we love thee.

We awoke warm for the first time, our last night in scotland. A fantastic goodbye to an often bleak but always wonderful country. If only every stay had been this way. The day began with an apparent 500 foot climb, but we required breakfast and so detoured slightly to the Auldgirth Tea room down the hill for bacon rolls. And a gps battery change.
Once satisfied we were actually fed and rolling by 9.15, pretty darn good by our standards.  We headed out into yet more rolling scenery, with the weather on our side and legs out once more. With such easy climbs and smooth descents we were able to sustain a good pace and broke the first 15 miles before elevensies, and the second by lunchtime. Reaching dumfries and several smaller towns. Chips and meths were found in Annan and we sat in the sun enjoying the bustle around us for a while.
Soon after we reached Gretna and took the obliguratory photographs of the last/first wedding house in scotland before joyously worshipping the sign for england. We laid on the grass here at the side of the road for 15 minutes before heading to our homeland. It is here that Rachel reached her goal of completing the scottish part of the trip, so congrats go to her and we hope she will go all the way with us (not like that!)
Almost immediately we found ourself on the A6 parallel to the M6, and whilst it was not particularly pleasant with drivers blasting past at great speed and a motorway just the other side of a fence, it was reasonably flat and easy to ride on. Whilst on the subject, being back on crap english roads is luxuriously smooth compared to the diabolical excuse for a road system the scots have. Im travelling on 40c tyres at about 60 psi and at times I have been sure the bike, me or both are about to give out from the shaking. But english roads, with their questionable surfaces and occasional pot holed areas are bliss!
After a while we passed through carlisle, a city that I was convinced was scottish but apparently is in england!
The urban sprawl became more persistent, and instead of our usual 2-3 shops a day, were were seeing them every 20 minutes.
We only had another 15 miles to go, but we knew were would have to climb several hundred feet when entering the lake district. We were still on target to reach camp by 6 or 7 pm, amazingly.
A toilet stop was needed as the areas became a little more rural, and after a but aday small town presented us with the required amenities, but chris being Chris, he had taken the lead and continued to cycle off into the distance. Rachel and I did what any self respecting family member would do; we let him. Once we had sorted ourselves out and rested a bit, we eventually saw little Chris's blue hat appear. An ice cream may have been had from the coop, and lucozade sport orange decanted into an empty water bottle. (Never had before but nectar of the gods from now on! Lovely stuff). That was three sies done, now for the final leg.
The climbing in lake district was exactly as expected, hard but doable. It went up, then up steep, then up a bit more, then down down, then up. Then it repeated this 4 or 5 times relentlessly. Similar to climbing in the highlands just not on the same scale.
On the 4th repetition; something in Rachel broke. We still dont know what, her determination, her target finished,her spirit or her will to live. But whatever it was it made her eye sockets leak and reduced her cycling ability to past memories. We had to stop and regroup with only 8 miles to go. We, as it happened had reached a sleepy little village called hesket new market. A quick query to a local and the tea room / shop wad located. The breakage was pretty severe, but after 45 minutes fueling and toileting we were ok to tackle the final climb to over 850 foot and head off. We took an easier pace and made it to camp for a little after 7. Unsure if Rachel will continue on wednesday, but sure chris will complain about everything.
We checked in, Got shown to the tent area MILES from the toilet block, bought alcohol for the first time on this trip, and set camp. The surroundings are extremely picturesque and there are many views all around. And I would say, the best showers of the trip,  hot, powerful, music playing, and free!

Tomorrow a proper day of rest (apart from clothes washing anyway ) to recoup legs and give our bodies a way to catch up. Only after tomorrow will we know what Rachel will decide.

Miles cycled: 70
Lucozade sports drunk: 3
Square meals had:3 (plus a million snacks)
Jellies eaten :1 (each)
Emotional breakdowns : 1