MOFFAT

Sheila rode into Moffat at around 9.10 am.
It is “only” 49 miles from Moffat to Edinburgh, the problem being that most of it is over hills and some of them are quite steep. Sheila has now ridden 393 miles and, along the way, climbed nearly 12,500 feet. Over the next 49 miles, she will have to climb another 2,400 feet and some of it is at a gradient of over 7%.
Almost straight outside Moffat is the Devil’s Beef Tub, “one of the south of Scotland’s most striking landmarks”. Sir Walter Scott described the Beef Tub in one of his novels: “It looks as if four hills were laying their heads together, to shut out daylight from the dark hollow space between them. A damned deep, black, blackguard-looking abyss of a hole it is.”
The landmark’s unusual name is derived from its use as the hiding place for cattle stolen by the notorious Border Reivers, otherwise known as the Johnstone clan, who were commonly referred to by their enemies as ‘devils’.
William Wallace is reputed to have used the concealed hollows of the Devil’s Beef Tub for covert gatherings ahead of his first attack against the English in 1297 before he was hung, drawn and quartered for seeking a second once-in-every-lifetime referendum.
The ascent over the Devil’s Beef Tub has been listed by The Guardian as one of the Top Ten cycle climbs in Britain. This is what they had to say:
“What's remarkable about this climb is its unnerving ability to stick to virtually the same gradient from base to summit, all 10km of it. You will hardly notice the rise at first: pick your gear and begin to wind through countless gentle bends. The road sways left and right, never changing direction, just meandering onwards and upwards. At the junction with the B719 there's the only real change in the slope, a levelling up to a pair of bends, right and then left. Through these and up ahead the beautiful hills line the horizon, rolling, effortlessly morphing into one another and as soft and smooth as giant green pillows. The equally smooth road continues to snake along, continuously climbing, steeper round the side of the hill overlooking the Beef Tub, then gradually evaporating to level and finish”.
Good luck with "the giant green pillows”, Sheila. After the summit, it is more or less a flat run into Edinburgh and then you can turn around and start making your way home!