Dumfries and Galloway cycle trip June 2011 - Day 1

With our trip to Orkney confirmed for the end of June, we had been looking for an opportunity to test the bikes and kit out on a three day camping trip. The weather having been so dismal on the last Bank Holiday weekend in May, we decided on a cycle between Stranraer and Dumfries in Dumfries and Galloway in south west Scotland. This trip would take us three days, a journey of approximately 115 miles, so a Monday holiday was booked and we were all set. The weather forecast didn’t look too great but our theory was that it would ‘test our mettle’ and really give us an idea of what a trip like this could throw at us. As the wind direction was set to blow from the east we decided to give ourselves a fighting chance and travel west from Dumfries to Stranraer. Faced with the prospect of showers and some pretty prolonged climbs this seemed like the best plan to keep the wind at our backs as much as possible.


Saturday 4th June - Dumfries to Ross ( 38 miles )

Dedicated cycle space on the train!

Slightly bleary eyed, we set off for Dumfries by train at 7am on the Saturday morning. The train was tiny, only two carriages, but had a dedicated cycle area to the rear ( for up to 6 bikes ) where we could hang our bikes up.
With the bikes duly strapped in we settled down for the two hour journey. Arriving in Dumfries we quickly got everything off the train (thankfully the train was pretty quiet but was continuing its route onwards to Newcastle), checked the maps, and headed down towards the river to pick up the cycle route (National Cycle Route 7). We got a few cheery waves from some road cyclists out for their Saturday run, and found the signs for the route without too much difficulty.

Route 7 takes you along minor roads, this one an old Military Road, all the way from Dumfries to our first real stop at Castle Douglas. The countryside is pretty rural with rolling hills, which tested out tired morning legs but gave us regular freewheeling opportunities which were much appreciated! At some point on this leg, my bike stand decided to shear off completely, leaving me with no option but to lean my heavy bike against a wall etc for the rest of the trip. Note to self – look at buying a Pletscher twin leg stand when I get back.

There had to be at least 1000 calories
in this piece of cake!

By the time we reached Castle Douglas the clouds had cleared to give us patches or warm sunshine, so we decided on a coffee stop where Al managed to consume single handily a calorie laden piece of cake. Think ‘Death by Chocolate’ filled with slightly salty runny tablet, and then covered in single cream! God knows how many grams of fat it contained but skinny ones like him can afford to eat this kind of stuff. Even on a cycle trip this would have made me put on a couple of pounds instantly.


Castle Douglas is a lovely wee market town, and well worth a visit if you like individual and quirky wee shops, particularly good for jewellery and house wares etc. It also has a pretty good cycle shop, and a Tesco which you pass on the way into town if you’re needing to stock up. On this occasion we weren’t stopping to shop, so headed on towards Kirkudbright on the coast, roughly another 15 miles away.

Once again the roads were really quiet and our reward for a fairly long climb was a lovely descent through almost ‘tropical’ woods down into the town itself. Dumfries and Galloway really is big tree country and is beautifully lush at this time of year.


Our second pit stop of the day saw us now sitting in bright warm sunshine for half an hour, eating a sausage supper on a park bench ( lovely! ) and unhappily burning our peely-wally Scottish legs in the process. Scotland’s sunshine isn’t really that warm but it taught us a lesson that sunscreen should always be applied even if you think it’s not that hot! Kirkudbright, which we’ve visited before, is also worth spending an afternoon in.

Fishing boats at the harbour, and plenty of little art galleries give this small artists town a faintly bohemian air. We sat and watched kids excitedly catching crabs on the harbour front before heading off to the ubiquitous Tesco to stock up on supplies for dinner and breakfast the next morning.

Heading for Ross bay before we had to turn back!

Our destination was a campsite south of Kirkudbright, continuing on via the minor coast road. I had seen this site on the internet and thought it sounded ideal. Reaching it involved a run down a long hill, by a single track road which I couldn’t imagine anyone taking a caravan along with any ease. When we reached the site we were reliably informed by the slightly offhand owner that it was open to Caravan and Camping Club members only, and that we could only stay if we paid the annual membership fee of £39.50!! Al and I have been camping for years and have never, ever had to join this to find a decent site, in fact any camper worth his or her salt wouldn’t bother as there are plenty of lovely sites in Scotland to choose from without resorting to these kind of archaic rules. So our answer was a swift no thanks, and we headed off back up the hill towards the next one. This site’s restrictions seemed like commercial suicide to me, and I wouldn’t have wanted arrive with my caravan only to have to turn round and head back as we did.


Eventually we found the ‘Holiday Park’ at Brighouse Bay about a mile or two further on. Crossing fingers we went into reception and luckily they took tents and had plenty of space for us. As a rule we try to avoid these kinds of places, preferring to go for the more basic ones where you really feel you’re getting away from everyday life. That said this site was lovely. Well landscaped areas hid the fact that you were staying on a huge site, and our pitch was fairly sheltered and came with a handy picnic table, perfect when you’re on a bike. Our only gripe was that it cost £21 for the night which we thought was a bit steep for a tiny tent and two bikes. The chap at reception said they were trying to encourage cyclists, and I nearly said that lowering their prices would be a good place to start.

Our tent was up and pitched in minutes ( more on the tent tomorrow night ) and after a wee walk to stretch our bike legs we got tea on the go. In hindsight risotto on a tiny gas stove on a breezy campsite was perhaps not the best idea! We used up way too much gas, and it took an absolute age to cook, but you live and learn, and it was at least very tasty when it was finally finished! We climbed into our sleeping bags at about 10pm after a few beers and slept snugly for about 10 hours, despite the overnight temperature dropping to about 6 degrees. I'm sure there's a knack to sleeping in these small tents that I'll get used to eventually.....