The Pentland Hills circumnavigated (well sort of)

First mishap today was Baz sleeping in. I had to phone him when he hadn't arrived at his usual ungodly hour only to be answered by an obviously still in bed biker! However to his credit he arrived in half an hour and we set off at just after 6am to try a new course for us, a mixture of road and cross country, cycling by road to Flotterstone and then up the track by the reservoirs to finally follow the footpath over the Pentland Hills to Balerno. Second mishap was my sense of direction when I led us all astray by about 2 miles! However we eventually got to Flotterstone and started the long haul into the gale force wind up into the Pentlands. At one point all three of us were blown of the track by the force of the wind which seemed to blow into our faces no matter which way we were going.Eventually we reached the top and it was some relief to get the downhill road to Balerno where we got onto the Water of Leith cycleway to keep us of the main road.We got back to base at about 9.30am to be greeted with calls of "what are you doing back already?". Some folk are never pleased..... The trip including the wayward part was just over 30 miles, not bad for a January morning as most of my neighbours were still in bed when we returned!

Strong winds over Edinburgh!

Baz and Clive struggle to stand in the wind near the end of the ride

Good job done with full 5 minute guarantee

Clive's old Giant Xtc which he uses to cycle to work when the weather allows was getting slightly the worse for wear so a refurbish was required. Onto the Internet, a quick search and soon the credit card was being abused again! The parts arrived within 2 days, and the past 2 nights my garage has been a hive of activity as we replaced the headset bearings, the bottom bracket, the cassette and chain and re greased everything that moved! The warranty expires the minute the bike crosses the garage door on the way out but I'm confident he'll get through the summer, if it ever comes this year, with no problems at all. If he does have any I'll plead the fifth amendment (whatever that means!)

The finished machine with new chain rings and cranks, new bottom bracket, new cassette,new chain and new headset bearings.

Clives Giant XTC rides again!

Clive hard at work in amongst the clutter!

The new rear cassette

The new front chain rings and cranks

I know the picture's crap!!

The picture's poor but the conditions were pretty awful when I took it, it was about 8pm. It was heavy snow and it was about halfway up Glentress Red route. Baz had phoned me about 3 pm to say did I fancy a trip to Glentress at night, as if I would turn down the chance, so we set off at 6.30 pm with the odd small snowflake here and there. Halfway down and the temperature dropped to zero and it started snowing in earnest. By the time we reached Glentress there would be an inch and a half of snow at the bottom car park where we parked. We decided against the Black route (a wise choice as it turned out) and stuck to the Red, but the higher we went the deeper the snow became until it was almost impossible to cycle in it. Only other mountain bikers will know how much fun this is (I think!!), I know my sanity is frequently called into question. Anyway, good training for Baz and good acclimatisation for the Strathpuffer Challenge!!

My two desperado companions on our 25 miler this morning

Feeling slightly knackered

Thank goodness it's back to work tomorrow, all this festive eating and drinking has taken its toll on me. I've never done so much exercising over the Christmas holiday period in the belief that I could then eat (and drink) to my hearts content. My weight has fluctuated up and down by a few pounds from day to day, but appears to have stabilised around what I normally weigh. This last week has seen a fair bit of biking with around 120 miles from Sunday to Sunday, with around 75 miles off road (hence the knackered feeling). Two weeks till the Strathpuffer challenge and Baz has stepped up his training a bit, should be a good weekend then!