Day 90.
Peebles.
Suddenly my odyssey is at an end. The weather yesterday scuppered my plan to visit the Lake of Menteith and finding myself in Stirling meant I was in striking distance of Edinburgh where Ian could meet me. So that is what has happened and here I am back where I started in Peebles, enjoying a glass of wine on the patio with the wood burning stove keeping us warm and the midges away.
This morning I was chatting with a charming American lady on a tour of Scotland with her daughter and we discussed the perils of driving in a foreign country and remembering which side of the road to be on.
I eventually found my way out of Stirling passing Plane castle (where I celebrated my 50th birthday) and coming to the House of the Binns the ancestoral home of the Dalyell family and was privileged to meet Tam himself who still lives there even though the house was given to the National Trust for Scotland in 1944. The house is splendid and is made more interesting by still being lived in. The view from the grounds over the Forth to Culross, Rosyth and the bridges is impressive.
Then on to Edinburgh where I cycled along with a chap from Teesdale who had cycled roundcthe 4 corners of Britain (Lands End, Dover, John O'Groats and Durness) covering about 60-70 miles a day, seriously hard work.
One last long uphill stretch through Morningside and I reached my destination at Hillend. Journey over.
No punctures in 2100 miles of cycling, no serious injuries or really dangerous incidents and mercifully no saddle-soreness. Relieved.
I shall keep the blog going to report on the progress (or lack of) towards producing a book about the trip, I have only been able to recount in the blog about half of the interesting places, people and things I have encountered, watch this space.
Good night.

Peacock at House of the Binns and Forth rail bridge from Queensferry.