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Pictish Trail, Scotland – September 23rd (Day 7)

We woke up early although we went to sleep very late. While leaving the park, we heard a woman’s voice: “you can’t ride your bikes here. You can only walk”. We turned around, apologized and dismounted the bikes. If only she knew we both rode and slept here. We muffled giggles. Chris started his tale of our trek, hoping she would be more sympathetic. She was serious, but not wary. We walked until we were out of her sight. Then we mounted our bikes and out of the park, we sprinted. We laughed later. It was time to finish our adventure.

We knew we could finish it, but it didn’t happen fast. Our journey still involved climbing many miles. Our first climb was to reach a trail leading to a Pictish stone and ruins. We skipped the hiking to it however. We asked someone if the hike was interesting and they claimed the ruins were visible from the hill. There were no visible remains of the ancient fort pictured on the board. We passed the ruins on our way down on the double single track. The distance was too great to walk, so people climbed the hill to see them.

The downhill continued on the farmland by a damn. Sheep droppings covered the area and smeared my tires by the time I reached the gate. We had lifted our bikes over fencing, as the gate was only designed for walkers. The issue reoccurred on the opposite side of the lake. I realized then how much heavier my bike was compared to Chris’s. We continued on a single track and even encountered hiking families. The path was more technical and fun. It was real mountain biking then.

After I descended to the end of the trail, we entered a flat, twisty path in the woods. It was enjoyable to ride, even with more people present. It transformed into a paved path and I discovered that my front tire lost some air. We stopped and re-patched it. We were just 30 miles away from finishing the trip.

The route proceeded on the paved roads and arrived in Edinburgh via a lengthy bridge. Our destination was within reach, but we had to pass through more farmlands and unpaved trails on the route. Our impatience grew as the sun set slowly. We reached Edinburgh Castle at around 9pm and searched for a restaurant with Wi-Fi to stop by stop by. Burger King was nearby and we hung out there for a few of hours and charged our electronics. The spot for night rest was the storage unit. We set up our sleeping pads and bags inside it next to our bikes and fell asleep. The next day, we disassembled the bikes and went for a walk around Edinburgh. We wanted to see the castle, but the tickets had already been sold out. Later that afternoon, we called for a taxi to take us to the train station. Our train to London arrived, but the conductor said I can’t take my bike case because I didn’t book an excess baggage ticket. I begged him to find space as our flight left the next morning. He called his manager, and they found space for my bag in the first class. With his assistance, we caught the train to London, but regrettably, we missed the final train to the airport and had to take an expensive taxi. I hoped the driver needed the funds, as the charge stung my ego. We waited in the airport for our flight overnight and landed in Boston. Picked our car from the parking lot and stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a meal. It felt strange to be back home…