Day 32 - Crawford to Boghead (20.5 miles)

The road out of Crawford was much the same as the one I came in on, in that nothing seemed to use the road, no one was around, and I passed 1 cyclist again.

Leaving the excellent Holmlands Country House (not Holmelands as I previously put) I decided it was going to be a headphones day. I was delighted that not only was it dry but the wind had dropped to near nothing. A T-Shirt day. Headphones and t-shirt. Great.

The only interesting thing up until the 10th mile today was a two seater open carriage with 2 wheels, being drawn by a single horse. I'm not sure what they're called (a Stanhope?) The driver and passenger were just taking the horse for a run out and chose to turn around in front of me. They then disappeared into the distance. Pretty uninteresting until about a half hour after this event. I was answering a text, head down, headphones in, largely oblivious to the World around me. I glanced up and to my utter surprise the horse pulling the carriage was running straight towards me. The carriage was still being pulled but it was on it's side, dragging behind the frightened horse. I put my hands up to try stopping the horse but I'm no horse whisperer. It was trying to gallop but was being slowed by the carriage smashing around behind it. It wasnt interested in me, it just wanted to get away from the noise behind it. I decided very quickly that getting out of the way would probably be my best bet in this situation. I legged it up a bank and the commotion barrelled pass me.

I did call 999 (who else would you call?) because the out of control horse and cart were heading toward the motorway. As I tried to explain the situation to the emergency services I saw that the horse was being brought back under control off on the distance. Disaster averted, I advised the authorities and moved on.

The scenery is starting to become more picturesque and undulating. I've also noticed the traffic is thinning out. I know I have Glasgow to go through but already I can go a few miles and see no one. The few people I do see have all said how amazing the scenery is 'up there' so I'm really looking forward to indulging in delightful Scotland.

My only issue that I'm experiencing at the moment is the pain in my feet. The rest of my body seems to have got used to the extra work and extra load I have put it under but my feet... ouch! I think it has something to do with the fact my shoes are just about worn out. I have a second pair but they are very hard soled so both pairs ate giving my feet a battering. Still, Glasgow beckons and the promise of new 'treads'. I can't wait! The pain killers just don't work at the moment.

Tomorrow I stride into the last large populated area, Glasgow.