In the morning we found that it was raining but by the time we left at 10:00 it had eased off. For the first 100m we heard a terrible grinding noise, a little like a bag of nails being scrunched around. It didn't take us long to trace this to Bert’s back wheel which had two broken spokes.
We went to a bus stop on the main road were we found a drain cover with the correct spacing for our block removal tool. After an hour of fiddling and a few grazed knuckles the wheel had a full set of spokes and was round. While we were doing this a man came to clean the bus stop and recommended a pub in Bonchester Bridge. So without further ceremony we made our way there, stopping only for the obligatory photo at Carter Bar, and were soon ensconced in the Horse and Hounds with a pub lunch and an excellent pint of MacEwans 80/-. Outside it had started to rain again.
When the rain stopped we resisted the temptation of further beer and took the B6357 to Jedburgh where Bert did the shopping and we rested in the brightening sunshine.
The last couple of miles in to Jedburgh were on the A68 and pretty unpleasant so we were pleased to find an alternative route north which runs on the east side of the river. It is signposted as Sustrans route 4. We followed the main roads to Morebattle where we found the curiously named ‘Teapot Street’, and happily there was a shop selling ice cream.
It didn't take long to reach the Youth Hostel at Kirk Yetholm where we found two volunteer wardens in charge. While the rest of us showered etc., Bert cooked the best meal of the tour, lasagne. Now everyone knows that cyclists get hungry and eat big meals, but Bert was taking no chances with us being left hungry. The salad would have been a meal in itself, but when the Lasagne arrived it was clear that we were beat. The wardens were sharing our table in the fairly cramped kitchen, and it wasn't long before they were sharing our meal as well. There was enough for eight, but the four of us and the two wardens managed to finish it all eventually. We all agreed it was the best lasagne we had ever tasted.
It was a quiet night in the pub for us that night as we had left little room for beer, it was in the pub that we heard about the Concorde crash in Paris which had happened earlier that day.