Autumns arrived, who put out the lights?

Monday, and the weather's brilliant and the tracks are bone dry.

Kathy doing her model pose beside the mare and, as I managed to discover, the filly foal.

When I eventually move on to an e-bike I might struggle to lift it over this barbed wire fence.

That track is a helluva lot steeper than this photo makes out!

The wall crossing...though it's not really much of a challenge any more

Baz thinks I should enter this for the Turner Prize, probably in the most pointless picture slot 

And finally, today trying to prove we've still got "it"...but I doubt "it"!

The equinox came and went mid week and suddenly the nights seemed to start quicker and the temperature drop by several degrees but the tracks still remain in good nick and with the forecast reasonable for the week ahead there's no reason to keep my mileage on track for the 6000 off road miles before the end of the year, it's presently standing at just over 4800 so there's still a bit of pedalling to do!

One day repairing a dropper post, next day using my own one on the descent to the Howe on greasy grass

Clive's dropper post which had lost pressure and needed a rebuild with a new seal kit. After studying you tube and buying some essential tools for the job it was rebuilt successfully.  

I used to drive a combine harvester at harvest time many years ago but nothing as sophisticated as this one!

This morning and top of Castlelaw cottage climb just as the sun comes up.

Time for a biscuit halfway up the valley from the Howe.

Ready to start the descent to the Howe on the Kirk Road, it gets a bit greasy on the grass further down.

Baz is off, but not off the bike!

The mare we haven't seen for a month or so and standing beside her is the reason...no not Baz!!!

A good weeks riding and repairing! Clive's dropper post was eventually put back together again after a few vital parts were acquired and the week finished on a high, literally with the trip over the Kirk Road track.

Ending the week on a high.....quite high!

First stop, predictably, for Baz was the toilets at the Squirrel car park at Glentress!

The top of the Black route at Glentress and time to show a bit of leg...

About half way down the ridiculously fast 2.5 mile descent to Leithen Water

Couldn't help but admire the flower bed display as Baz nipped into a cafe in Innerleithen for a buttered scone with raspberry jam (and very tasty it was!) 

A biscuit stop at the cairn before the final descent to Gypsy Glen and Peebles

Me trying to look fresh after some hard climbing!

This was some of the hard climbing, up fairly steep grassy tracks, note the helmet removed, it was quite warm, even for Scotland!

For Baz's birthday ride he chose the Glentress, Innerleithen, Gypsy Glen loop back to Peebles where we'd started from just after 7 this morning. The climb to the mast at Glentress is hard and it was good to have it interupted when we met Craig who'd been out with us a week or two back. The descent from the mast down to Leithen Water is manic with the odd sheep dicing with death by running across in front of the bikes! After a stop at Innerleithen where I managed to convince Baz that a greasy bacon roll was no good for a couple of highly trained athletes (?) with still a lot of hard climbing to do he opted for a raspberry jam scone and sportingly shared it with me! The climb up first of all grassy tracks and then rough rocky ones is worth it for the final descent down through Gypsy Glen into Peebles. Much better than a birthday party in a pub with a sore head the next day!!

Lounge lizards up the Pentlands......or was it couch potatoes?

It was blowing a gale at the top of Allermuir but the view over Edinburgh to the Firth of Forth was spectacular.

As was the view back along the Pentland hills

The start of the track known as The Goat Track which is fast and dry just now

The track down the side of the Shelter Belt, fast and loose

Had to stop for this photo of the bridge at the bottom of the track down from Carnethy Hill

Kathy and I came across this discarded but in perfect condition sofa at the bottom of the climb up to Castlelaw and decided we might as well have a seat on it!

Kathy halfway down the track known for some unknown reason as "Run sheepie run"!!

Sunday afternoon and the bee hives are buzzing, should be plenty heather honey this year, though none of us were brave enough to look in and see!

Baz, Clive and myself thought we might as well sample the sofa as well!

A week of fairly settled weather with a sofa providing some fun and games and Sunday providing a big Pentland ride with a lot of hard climbing, more weather like this would be very welcome.