How to go up through Black Springs gate....... courtesy of Dougie!

The approach to the gate is all important!

Front wheel up, now to change weight to get the back up!

Successfully done! Now for the tricky little climb!

Last nights ride wasn't the warmest this year but at least it was dry.

Dougie was a bit miffed that I hadn't put the pictures on the blog of him doing , the first for us anyway, the climb up through Black Springs gate which he duly acclomplished last week! To be fair it's a tricky ride into it coming along the side of the reservoir but do it he did! What's really annoying is the fact that last night Neil did it as well and more or less in slow motion into the bargain!

A good 25 miler last night with the weather reasonable for a change!

Kathy in training for her first off road triathlon

Out with Kathy a couple of weeks back, it had been a week or two since she last did some off road stuff.

Up the Pentlands today for some tougher trails and we met up with two other girls out on their bikes.

Kathy who stays near me is an endurance runner who fancies a go at triathlons now. She's entered a race at Oban in September which has an open water sea swim (brave girl) and a mountain bike stage. She's a good roadie but lacks a bit of courage on the rougher stuff so I've be going out with her up the Pentlands and slowly but surely we're doing slightly more difficult terrain. She's obviously following in my footsteps (or should it be pedals?) as she fell off twice today but no damage was done! I'm sure by September she'll be ready for anything!

Every cloud (or mishap) has a silver lining!

Me and Baz's 29er

Me and Baz's 29er yet again!

Baz, Rebus his faithful pooch and his moon boots which he'll be wearing for about the next 2 months!

As a result of trying to relive his youth and show a workmate how he was once one of the best young badminton players in Britain, Baz managed to rupture not one but both achilles tendons at the same time. This is virtually unheard of but Baz being Baz managed to do both! The upshot of this is he'll not be on a mountain bike for 6 months at least maybe longer so he's kindly given me his Giant Anthem 29er to ride on until he's recovered. I'm already a convert to the 29er wheels and this morning had a PR down a descent I've been doing for the last 3 or 4 years. Already I'm wondering how I'm going to manage back on a 26er once he's recovered, Watch this space........  

Back in Bonny Wee Scotland! And a bit of rear end bother.....

Testing out the camera before Clive and I set off at 6.30am ish!

Looking for inspiration (we didn't find any)

A view to die for, looking down to the Howe.

Back home and back to the Pentland Hills. Unknown to me my shorts had a tear in the backside and I managed to cycle 27.5 miles with the tear gradually increasing until my whole rear end was nearly out the shorts. Thank goodness for chamois pads!

A bit o' biking in Wales

Dave and me have arrived at the Bikepark Wales car park and discovered the cars quite high and getting the bikes down is no laughing matter (and they've still to be put back up after the ride!)

The trail centre, an impressive shop and cafe.

Dave found some of the climb to the trailhead quite hard!

The track along to the trailhead, perfect weather and some cracking views.

A stop for a quick drink on the descent first time round

Second time back up the climb and time for a photo as I waited on Dave

The start of "Vicious Valley" a red graded descent.

A weeks visit to family in Cardiff accompanied by one of my bikes! I did a couple of local slightly uninspiring rides on my own but on Friday Dave took me to Wales's newest bike trail centre, Bikepark Wales for a few hours riding. It's a highly impressive set up and well worth a visit with a terrific variety of trails ranging from beginner to professional only tracks. The weather obliged as well to make it a good day out.