Saturday night (biking) fever

A bit of fun this afternoon with Baz, Clive and Mark as I videoed them coming through the gate at the side of Black Hill reservoir, much as I'd hoped for someone to go over the bars and into the water they managed to stay upright.......bugger!!

A 27 miler that finished, after 4 hours of riding, in the dark, but the good news is the clocks go forward an hour tonight so that gives us an extra hour of daylight from tomorrow for the next 6 months ( it actually doesn't increase the hours of daylight, but it feels like it!)

It's all downhill from here,more or less, till we get home. The video and photo today were taken with my new toy, a Muvi HD camcorder which will be a lot better, I hope, when the chest mount I've ordered arrives, at the moment I've got it on top of my helmet and it looks as though I've the Eiffel Tower strapped to the top of my head, not handy for going under overhanging branches!

Flat pedals can be dangerous!!!

These things should be banned....or idiots like me should be banned from using them maybe! 

The result of using a set of flats for the first time and not realising how bloody dangerous they are. 

A short stop on tonight's ride at Black Hill with Neil apparently either giving directions or asking for them!

Went out through the day today on the Trek which I had fitted a pair of flat pedals to, for a short ride. I'd never ridden with flats before and fancied a go with them not realising that the buggers would attack me and draw blood! You have to be very careful apparently when dismounting in a hurry to make sure your legs are well out of range or they'll attack with the ferocity of a mad crocodile, thank God it wasn't my neck!

It didn't stop 5 of us going out tonight though and even if the ride might have been a mile or so shorter than usual at least it was a bit different.

From warm to freezing in 5 minutes

Just look at that sky! At this point it wasn't exactly boiling hot but more pleasantly warm and the views were spectacular in the clear air and.......believe it or not....the wind wasn't gale force.

Baz sets off down the descent towards Phantoms Cleugh with me in hot pursuit.

Going over the track from Harelaw Reservoir to Black Hill and the suns still shining!

The self timer was working overtime today, this was us near the end of the track along Black Hill.

Glencorse Reservoir is undergoing work on the dam just now and the water is at an all time low. By the time this photo was taken we were out of the sun and the temperature dropped like a stone below freezing.

A late afternoon ride today in brilliant sunshine when we started and me laughing at Baz wearing his jacket and tights.....the boot was on the other foot by time we had finished, the sun disappeared behind the hills and the temperature plummeted below zero! A great 23.5 mile ride with the highlight probably the track along Black Hill which was drier than we thought it could possibly be. This is us into the fourth day of spring and by the end of the ride I was probably the coldest I've been since the start of the winter! 

Another one bites the dust....or actually slimy water...

When will they ever learn.......not to try and cycle over a cobbled reservoir overflow even though the water is only less than two inches deep? Baz and Clive did it today and although Baz made it across the trickle Clive wasn't so successful and went down with a thud into the slimy water and refused to lie there till I took his photograph! A blatant abuse of protocol whereby you have to lie until you're pictured in your misery.....unless it's me......cause I've got the camera! Anyway he emerged  unscathed with only his dignity slightly dented and got absolutely no sympathy from either Baz or me, to be honest he knew he wouldn't get any anyway!  

32 miles today and the tracks are drying fast with the strong winds that have returned, it was a relief to finally turn for home and get the wind in our backs.

                                                                 

A bite to eat for Clive at the foot of West Kip with the sheep running away from Baz's attempts to lure them closer! 

Spring's arrived with a bang....might leave again just as quick

Spring's sprung on top of us before we knew it, the weather's gone from ridiculously windy and wet to calm and sunny, though its still frosty at night. I did a 26 mile solo on Monday up in the hills and a 31 miler with Dougie on Tuesday when we went over the Pentlands and down into Edinburgh along cycle paths I never knew existed eventually being spat out less than half a mile from home and nearly on time for my tea! Wednesday night it was back up the Pentlands again for the winter loop and shorts were the order of the day. Today after a bit of wheel bearing fiddling and chain swapping I went out for a leisurely 13 miler.

The start of Bluebell Wood and wide bars can be a problem

Beginning to get the hang of the self timer on the camera

Another "selfie" probably my better side

Innerleithen/Glentress/Caberston/Innerleithen again

All parked up and ready to go.

Top of the black at Glentress.

The start of the climb at the golf course at Caberston and time for a drink.

Nearly at the top of Caberston and time for another break!

Clive descends the finish of a technical section of Caberston.

Six of us out for a loop from Innerleithen to Glentress along the path along the Tweed, then up the black route to the top at the radio mast. From there it was hard left down a landrover track and a hair raising descent of over a mile at high speed on a greasy track back down to the road that's known as the Granites (I think)! From there a pedal into a strong headwind until we came to the golf course outside Innerleithen where we turned up into Caberston Forest. After a climb of a mile or so we had a good technical descent back down to Innerleithen and then had the dodgiest section of the day, cycling back along the main street of Innerleithen in a gale force blustery wind that threatened to blow you in front of a car!

A great days biking on some new bits of route for us all. 

Could this be the last snow of the winter?

Daylight at 6.53am, it's chilly but dry.

A bit more snow higher up in the hills.

Looking back down the track as the sun rises, always amazed at the difference the sun makes to everything.

A 29 miler yesterday morning, when the temperature never rose above freezing but the lack of a strong wind, for a change, meant it never felt very cold. We passed a troop of soldiers out on a training march going up Castlelaw at 6am with massive backpacks, it seemed to make the climb to the summit much easier on us!