The last bit – and what I avoided

It is Sunday evening, I am still at home after five days, but I now have a plan to get to Dull. It involves getting a train (three, in fact) from Hathersage to Gourock on Tuesday, then an early ferry on Wednesday morning, and then cycling all of Wednesday and Thursday morning to reach Dull around lunchtime on Thursday 12th October, the ten year anniversary of the first Boring and Dull celebrations. That feels right. It also feels sensible in light of the recent apocalyptic Scottish weather, and the current forecast.

Timing is everything, especially for the long distance adventure cyclist. I had glorious weather for weeks as I slowly approached New York City, and then two days after I arrived they suffered terrible floods and wet weather. I made it to Ireland just in time to arrive in Islay by boat in good weather; but not in time to reach Dull from there. Now I have just enough time to reach Dull by 12th October – my aim when I set off from Boring on 9th August – without getting comprehensively soaked or blown away (I had enough of that in Iceland).

I’m happy that I should now be able to complete this big cycling trip in an enjoyable way. Attempting it over the last five days would have been really unpleasant and inadvisable to the point of dangerous. While I have been enjoying unseasonably warm and sunny weather here at home, Scotland has been suffering rain in biblical quantities. There have been floods, road closures, mud slides, helicopter rescues, many train cancellations and police warnings not to travel. Rivers are at dangerous levels. Some areas have seen a month of rain in a day!

Yesterday both railway lines between Scotland and England were closed, as was the main line between Glasgow and Edinburgh. There is a further weather warning in place for Tuesday, not because the expected rain is likely to be excessive; but because everywhere is already completely sodden. But overall, starting tomorrow (Monday), things calm down and dry out significantly. Cycling, it seems, will once again be a possibility. Hopefully by Wednesday things may have returned to something a little closer to normal.

So, I made a good decision to come home! It has also been a chance to see family, mow lawns, catch up with a couple of friends, cycle a bit in my own local area and generally enjoy some sunshine while the chance lasts. It’s weird; but after Iceland and Islay, the Peak District feels lush and almost summery still. Autumn has yet to take hold. Who knows how Dull will feel after this week. I suppose if it is above water we should all be thankful.