Clive steals the show today!

"Thats where we're going", Clive points the way to Allermuir Hill

Me with a herd of bikes (or what ever you call them)

Baz on the point of losing control before the multiple collision!

(note the interested hiker)

Clive just after one of his many offs today!

(note the hiker has lost interest now!)

A Saturday ride this weekend starting in daylight at 2 pm and taking in the full Castlelaw climb, where I had a puncture, and then continuing up to the top of Allermuir Hill. The descent from there was terrific with frozen ground, the odd patch of ice and some snow. Clives first off was here followed at regular intervals with a few more, makes a change as it's usually me! The temperature was below freezing for the 28 mile ride which we finished in the dark at 6 pm ish. My total for the week so far is 92 miles, not bad for the depths of winter!

Thats the 10000 miles up on the Trek....and still going strong

Last night saw the magic 10000 miles recorded on the odometer on the Trek ex8 since new from 1st May 2009. Around 90% of that has to be off road with roughly the other 10% spent on my backside. To witness the momentous occasion with me last night were Clive, Dougie and Roger who provided the tasty tablet we toasted the event with in the pouring rain at the top of the torturous seven steps. We made a rough calculation that I'll be about 97 when I reach the 100000 mile mark, not so sure some of them will make it till then though.......

Nearly at the 10000 mile mark for the Trek

Water running down the track after the heavy rain overnight.

Allegedly you can hear magical sounds by putting your ear to this device, I heard sod all!!

The North Esk in spate over the weir after the heavy rain.

Needing 48 miles for the 10000 miles on my Trek since new, I managed to reduce that by another 27 miles this morning after our ride in the Pentlands today. It was a rain jacket day today something I'm not keen on as I tend to overheat with too much clothes but was glad I had it on as it chucked it down for half the trip this morning as well as the wind  blowing at gale force. We're hoping all this bad weather traning stands us in good stead when the Spring eventually arrives, though in Scotland its hard to tell the seasons apart sometimes!

The magic figure should be achieved this week and the complete drive chain will  be renewed then as its on its last legs, jumping and occasionally chain sucking into the bargain. And I thought this was a cheap sport when I first started........  

There should be a law against this....

And that law should be that every time a hawthorn or for that measure any prickly hedge is trimmed with a mechanical cutter the debris should be brushed and then gathered up and safely disposed of, I'm totally hacked off with punctures at this time of year with irresponsible hedge cutting!!!!! (Rant over for the time being)

There's a first time for everthing (even Baz and Clive agreeing)!

We were hoping for a crash in the icy mud but Clive made it through successfully!

This morning started off with Clive not even being able to get the padlock on his bike shed open but a mixture of de-icer, release oil and some heavy breathing (from me) got it to work eventually! We then had varying degrees of difficulty with frozen derailleurs, Baz's in fact lasted the whole morning, his legs spinning furiously for 4 hours, much to our amusement! I managed to come by a puncture about two minutes after confidently announcing we'd be back home earlier than we thought we'd be. I'll keep my mouth shut next time I'm out, thats the second time that's happened! Slightly different route today with a detour round Harbour Hill before the descent to Glencorse. Just over 26 miles today to bring my weekly total to a modest 50 plus miles.
By the way, Baz and Clive, for about the first time ever, agreed in a political debate (which is quite common on our bike rides!)  that Scotland would be daft to seperate from the rest of the UK, and I must say I have to agree myself!! All this agreement has to stop or the rides will become boooooooring!!!!

Never been on my backside as often as today!

More or less all downhill from here.

Fording the burn near the bottom of the glen.

Off at 6am this morning and with daylight not until about 8.30 there was some tricky riding on some of the muddy section we did today in the darkness. I may not have covered myself in glory but I managed to cover myself in a fair bit of mud as I went for the world record of coming off in slow motion crashes. My sense of balance in the darkness is certainly not the best! Luckily all the offs were onto soft and pliable muck which while not doing much for my cleanliness didn't damage me much either!

No rain or wind to speak of today and with temperatures in the high 30's F it made for a good morning's riding.

Too many mishaps today!

Near the top of Loganlea reservoir and its bloody cold!

On the track up from the Howe.

My three riding buddies this morning.

Mishaps aplenty this morning but nothing too serious thank goodness because it was goddamn cold but at least dry. First Clive's chain parted company with his bike and left him pedalling furiously but going nowhere. A joining link fixed that and we were soon on our way again though Clive suspected there was more wrong with his bike, he gets a bit paranoid when he has problems, but he was later proven to be correct! Then Baz developed a puncture and that took up a bit more time with a tube change before we got going again. About 4 miles to go and Clive had disappeared off the back of the other three of us so we stopped and he appeared limping if that's possible on a bike with something obviously wrong. A quick look revealed the front derailleur was broken and causing the chain to rub against the guide making the sound he thought was some catastrophic frame failure (or worse!). He wasn't amused when I told him I thought there was a "LINK" with his chain breaking and this breakage! However we managed home with 24 miles and no crashes on what started out as very icy roads.