Breeze - 30 Days of Biking Day 30 - The Grand Finale - a ride to The Devils Porridge

This route has been a long time in the planning - ever since my mum introduced me to the 'service road' last year, connecting England to Scotland, I've been trying to figure out where was the best place to start a ride from. After giving up trying to find suitable free on-road parking, I've opted for the start position as The Sands Centre - yes we will have to pay for parking, but as a paid car park it at least should provide us with some security for our vehicles.

At time of typing, the route has been plotted using Google Maps and Strava - I will ride it next weekend and update/adjust as necessary. We we will be following National Cycle Route 7. From The Sands Centre we will use the underpass underneath the roundabout to access the right side of the road. We may well not cycle on the extremely busy road, but walk our bikes the short distance to where we turn left onto Cavendish Terrace, where the roads are more residential, so we will still see some traffic. Our route then takes us into the countryside as we head down to Rockcliffe before getting to the aforementioned 'service road. This road runs parallel to the M6, and is a very popular route with cyclists. We will see some cars on this road, so some high viz and working lights to make us nice and visible will be an advantage. The next place we go through is Gretna - we sill see some traffic here as we will pass by Caledonia Park, but no shopping for us today as we turn left to head to Eastriggs. Passing through Gretna to Eastriggs will keep us on back roads, but they can be busy. As we get to Eastriggs we will see The Devils Porridge on the right hand side.

The Devils Porridge is an award winning museum. It tells the story of HM Factory Gretna, the greatest munitions factory on earth in World War One. There is a cafe at the museum where we will be able to get drinks and food (I just need to check that we can go into the cafe without having to pay the entrance fee to the museum - will update after I complete the recce). After refreshing ourselves we will return to Carlisle along the same route.

You must be wearing a helmet - whilst I would always advise this anyway, as we will be on busier roads than my normal routes, they really are essential. Some high viz and working lights are recommended. A bike lock and money for the cafe stop - and don't forget that spare inner tyre!

First-timers welcome!