Mark gets some help from the Beatles.....

A wee jaunt on a cold Wednesday afternoon up the Pentland Hills

Never the twain shall meet......well they did today!

Came across this roadie today who rejoices under the name of Black Wind on Strava. He'd unfortunately had a chain snap going up the Bavelaw road climb and like all good roadies had forgotten to strap his spare bike onto his back! Having been caught out myself on the odd occasion I now carry quite a comprehensive supply of spares and was able to fix the 10 speed chain with an old KMC 9 speed link, ( being a thrifty Scot I wasn't going to put a new 10 speed one on!!)  The chain appeared to have been submerged in black oil for about 3 weeks by the state it was in, I think I should change my Strava moniker to Black Hands now. Anyway it was good to do a fellow biker a good turn on a cold day and show him we Scots aren't all miserable nationalists, (we're just miserable!!) 

Soon after the broken chain nonsense Kathy was charging through the river crossing like a woman possessed!

Sunday morning with Baz at the side of West Kip and we both managed to stop shivering in a mini snow shower long enough to get a selfie taken.

From skinny tyres to fat tyres and a biker I met just up from Harlaw on his fat bike. He gave me a ride on it but as he was about 10 inches taller than me I never really managed to come to terms with it, however he wasn't able to cycle through a particularly gluey muddy section further up the track and failed to convince me that the future is fat, I'll stick to my 2.35s for now!

Pentland Hills, end of January 2017..... a wee trip on a cold day

A wee video taken last Sunday afternoon with a bit of the Proclaimers to accompany it!

Hard frost one day.....mucky trails the next

Monday 23rd January, hard frost and no wind makes for good photos!

Tuesday and out on my own with the iphone timer getting used after some difficulty!

Friday and out  with Kathy again and its hard frost again after crappy mud the day before!

The river's running really low just now due to very low rainfall and snow so the crossing's a piece of cake!  

Sunday afternoon and we find two spent (we hope) bullets presumably left after some army manoeuvre, we didn't bother keeping them just in case!

The view from the top of Black Hill looking over to West and East Kip and Scald Law

The three amigos having a photo break or as Baz puts it "a rest!" Probably the truth!

A good weeks riding in cold conditions every day but at least it's been mainly dry with only the occasional wind higher up in the hills, some snow added to the beauty but not enough to make riding too hard.

Up Black Hill in darkness and snow......not much snow addmittedly!

Strange weather for Central Scotland just now, instead of the usual gale force winds accompanied by rain or snow we're having virtually no wind, very slight frosts but cold none the less.

This was Baz this morning nearing the end of a 25 miler when his hands were so cold he had to change gloves (wimp!).I have to admit I'd probably have changed mine if I'd had a spare pair!

Monday, and out with Kathy who appears to know every runner we meet up the Pentlands, either that or she fancies a breather and a blether!

The two riders of the Apocalypse who we meet quite often on a Monday morning up the Pentland hills, when I'm too old for my bike it's either an e-bike or a horse for me, though I don't know what would be the more expensive!

Baz and I took on Black Hill in the darkness this morning and there was a slight covering of snow as we got higher. It was -2.5C along the summit though the frost helped rather than hindered us. The descent down the notorious "back passage" was pretty hairy with the darkness and frozen ground and a few descriptive words were heard at times, mainly from me, however we got to the bottom unscathed and surprisingly when we reached home I discovered my weekly total was 100 miles exactly!

The promised snow storm proved to be a disappointment, at least it was round our way!

This was about as snowy as it got beside us this weekend, I had visions of multiple snow photos and videos with the new Gopro, but "the best laid plans ect" as Robert Burns wrote a few hundred years ago! 

This was Monday and don't be fooled by the blue sky....it chucked down freezing rain not long after this!

The road to the Pentlands and Kathy leads the way.

The weather was so wet and windy that Clive was reduced to building his re-found model railway in his garage, by the look of that track there's only so long you can watch a small train go round and round on it.....

The Gopro I've discovered is excellent for photographing the birds that come to my peanut feeder, this blue tit looks slightly annoyed at being disturbed mid feed.

A wild and windy week up until Wednesday after which it calmed down a bit, I'd hoped the frost would continue through till our Sunday morning ride for some good photos and clean clothes as well but it rained overnight and we were back to muck and mire again though there were some cunningly concealed icy bits higher up in the hills. 

2017.....no mileage targets getting set this year!

Equipped with my new Gopro camera I set off on Tuesday to try it out and discover if the voice recognition it boasted on having could recognise a Central Scotland accent! Surprisingly it can though it remains to be seen if it will react to some rougher language when I come to grief now and again.  

Clive was there as well and posed for an obligatory picture.

Wednesday night and Marks last ride for some time, he's off to pursue his dream of becoming a microlight flying instructor, good luck to him and here's hoping he's ready for a tough Pentlands ride when he returns!

A start of another year and there'll be no targets set this year as last year the target kept getting extended until it actually became unenjoyable going out merely to get mileage rather than having fun!

2016......that's it gone, but not forgotten!

Monday on the final week of the year and Clive resorts to rollers as the weather is absolutely horrendous in a bid to reach his 8000 mile target, personally Barrie and I thought it was a bit underhand and he should have been out braving the elements!!!

Tuesday dawned and a much better day made a trip up the Pentlands possible though some of the descents were verging on the scary they were so greasy.

This was as much snow as we could find on Tuesday, it's been really mild most of the time.

Friday and Clive, Barrie and I are out to wrap up the yearly targets, we didn't actually bike through this quagmire though it gives an indication of the ground conditions in places.

Made it! Managed to reach the 6500 mile off road (mostly) all done on a mountain bike target I aimed for with a day to spare and Clive reached his target several miles later, though he wont thank me for pointing out that most of his miles were done on a poncey road bike!!!

A new Schwalbe Hans Damph 2.35 was fitted to the front of my steed today, I'm assured by those in the know that my front end grip will be phenomenal now...time will tell!

To anybody who reads this nonsensical witterings of a deranged Scotsman......

Happy New Year, have a good 2017