Travel Reference
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'Rubbish, isn't it?'
'Yes. It never stops raining.'
We posed for a photograph by the sign (again, compulsory), and then set off again. We
followedafairlyquietroadthatranparalleltothebusyA75,butthecyclingwasincredibly
unpleasant. The rain had collected on the road so much that we were cycling through an
inch deep puddle that stretched all the way from Gretna to Dumfries.
'Ben, do you remember that ear stud that Eric gave me back in Cornwall?' I said as I
cycled alongside him to avoid being sprayed by his back wheel.
'Yeah, why?'
'I've lost it. It's been attached to my t-shirt all this time, and now it's gone. It must have
got knocked off by the bin liner.'
'Oh well. It looked stupid anyway.'
'That's not the point. He gave it to us for good luck.'
'And?'
'Maybe our luck has run out.'
'Cheer up. You're becoming as miserable as me.'
On the way into Dumfries a car pulled out of a side road right in front of me. I applied
the brakes, which were ineffective at the best of times. In water, and at high speed, they
were completely useless. I was half off the bike by the time I hit the car. The Falcon's ped-
als and frame slammed into the back driver-side corner of the car, leaving a hefty scratch
andaslightdent.Mostoftheskinwasmissingfrommyrightknee,butotherthanthat,The
Falcon and I had come away quite lightly. The lady's car (I'm not being sexist - she was
a female driver) definitely came off worse. She pulled to a stop and got out of her car to
inspect the damage. Not to me, but to her car.
'What have you done, you idiot?' she shouted. By this point I had picked The Falcon
up off the floor, and was cycling as fast as I could down the hill to catch up with Ben. Yes,
technicallyIwasleavingthesceneofanaccident,butthereisnodoubtthatitwasherfault.
After all, she did pull out in front ofme. But Ialso knew that my bike didn't have adequate
brakes, and when it comes to driving they say that if somebody hits you from behind, it is
alwaystheirfault.Iassumedthisprobablyappliedtocyclists,too,butIdidn'twanttohang
around to find out.
'What happened to you back there?' asked Ben as we pulled into a side road.
'I just had a bit of a run in with a car. I told you our luck had run out.'
'If your luck had run out then you would have come off a lot worse. Are you ok?'
'Yeah, I'm fine thanks,' I said. 'It was a bit scary. I think that's my first ever bike acci-
dent involving a car.'
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