Shout out if you’re taking part.

I’m just back from dropping the van off in Dumfries. Route signposting looks great (loads of arrows at junctions) though a bit confusing approaching Dock Park. In fact, I’m still not quite sure of how that bit works given we’re going round it twice. Hopefully, there will be some good marshalling tomorrow.

Oh – and the Peel Cafe at Glentress is opening at 7am for us, so there’s time for a last minute coffee, cake, bacon roll…..

I think I will come down and have a look at this- I am intrigued as to how it is all going to work along there seeing as the finish is on a busy junction- not being on closed roads there are red lights, feeder lanes and pedestrains to deal with. The Dumfries drivers are not the best with stopping at red lights along that stretch of road.

If the car park is full of cars, where is the finish line going to be? I thought it was going to be along the main road (Whitesands) adjacent to the river. I know Dock Park pretty well, very surprised I didn’t hear about the sportive finishing there.

Good luck to anyone riding tomorrow, hopefully the weather will be better than it has been here today!

The finish line appears to be alongside the river as you say, but approaching from the South – off Kingholm Road. that means a lot of junctions and funny turns though 😕

On the left -hand path…

http://g.co/maps/mne9

That’s not what it is saying on the tourride website:
Tourride map

That shows you coming in from the north for the first lap (turning right over St. Michael’s Bridge for the extra loop), then on the final lap following the same stretch alongside the river from the north. On a Saturday that section of road beside the river is slow moving cars. To cross into Dock Park you then have to negotiate a 4 lane junction with traffic lights at the bottom of St. Michael’s Bridge. I tried adding in a streetview picture, but it kept reverting to the same picture you linked to.

The link you sent is the southern entrance into the park, according to the tourride map you don’t go on that road. Unless you have some kind of information pack that is different to the website!? Either way, it could be an interesting finish for tomorrow! Won’t be a problem when the road is closed next week, but take it easy tomorrow!

Streetview of Dock Park junction

As the original post says, I was in Dumfries parking the van earlier today, so just reporting what I saw “on the ground”. It’s not the only change to the published route either, I had to get them to pull the original one as it had us going over an unsurfaced far track into Tinwald 🙄

I did the loop from Moffat round St Mary’s loch to Meggethead-tweedsmuir a few weeks ago and its a great cycle, 45 miles or so. Cant believe the times the pros will be doing it in.

I was tempted to do the full run tomorrow but its really a step too far for my fitness level well prbably 5 or 6 steps too far!!!

Good luck tomorrow, its a great route! Be careful coming down the decent after Megget, before Talla. Its very steep and the surface wasnt great last time I was on it, a mate came off and was very lucky not to end up in the dyke.

Thats a great decent Be ware of sheep!!!