After a winter that wouldn't go away, even our ankles are getting sunburnt now.....

Last Tuesday out with Mark who's still recovering from a big shoulder operation so we kept it easy, don't want any set backs now!

Roger on Wednesday night and he discovered the grassy climb to Hare Hill summit isn't easy into a head wind

Roger enjoyed the cool down doing the water crossing which is down to a dribble now

Saturday morning and Dougie had lined up a big Pentlands ride for himself Barrie and me, Barrie tried to hide in the oil seed rape for a rest!

Bank Holiday Monday and Barrie and i were back down at Glentress bright and early before the sun was too high for one of the best rides I've ever enjoyed there, everything was perfect, the weather, the trails we did and the bikes went like a dream!

The weather gods are certainly making up for the horrendous spring we had and the trails everywhere are unbelievably dry, I'm going down stuff I thought was way too steep and hard for me, and probably will be once the rain returns!!

How to celebrate a royal wedding......visit Glentress on a sunny warm dry day!!

The camera's carefully(?) positioned and catches first of all Barrie and then me.

The start of Red Peril a trail we've never done before, steep and twisty it brought us out near the bottom of Deliverance, meaning there was a long climb back up to the mast again!

Barrie finishing Broon Troot and not a happy bunny as he'd gone for a fast time in ideal conditions but overshot a corner and reckoned he lost over 20 seconds

On Wednesday night Roger and I puffed our way up the long climb to the top of Black Hill, the first time up there this year.

A week of great weather and good biking, a first trip of the year up Black Hill in the Pentlands and then a Saturday morning visit to Glentress to escape Royal Wedding fever, new trails ridden in perfect conditions.

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More fun at Glentress

The sign on the road said "slow", was this an indication of my ascending ability yesterday?

Barrie "showing off" his skinny log riding skills, annoyingly he didn't fall off!

The snow will still be there for a week or two yet but it looks like it could do with a bit of spit and polish.

Barrie's jump looked better than mine so to avoid embarrassment I wont show my one!

And finally...Madeleine my next door neighbour got her self a gravel bike and I had a pedal in her back garden to convince myself drop handle bars were not for me.

Another May holiday trip to Glentress for Barrie and me with Barrie excelling himself with his bike handling skills on some of the enduro sections, especially as his bike isn't really enduro specific.

Back to Glentress

Glentress on a sunny dry day takes a bit of beating 

Time for an energy replenishing banana after a bit of hard climbing

Down Deliverance, first time for more than 5 years

A visit to Glentress today and a trip round the Black Route which we haven’t done for a few years, I’d forgotten how hard the climb back up Redemption was, especially when you can’t use your lowest gear! A great day with over3500 feet of hard climbing.

Good riddance to April...though it was at least better than March!

Hello May! Here's hoping it's an improvement on April which to be honest was at least an improvement on the 3 previous months, mind you that wasn't hard. Out with Roger on Wednesday night for our usual pootle round the Pentlands and it started off nice and sunny though a bit breezy. 

An old blackface ewe has obviously heard all about Rogers reputation and makes a hurried getaway as he cycles past! 

It wasn't all plain sailing (or biking) though, first of all Roger had a puncture which his tubeless tyre sealant refused to seal so we had to stick a tube in the tyre, then his dropper post stopped dropping or to be correct stopped raising and to finish it off the temperature fell to nearly zero, so we could hardly feel our fingers by the time we'd finished.....apart from that everything was great!!!

Things can only get better, how often have I said that this year already?