The younger branch of the family keep up the biking!

Down to Cardiff for a family visit and what better way to spend an hour or so than a bike ride with some of the younger members of the clan riding along whats known as the Taff Trail. This goes along the side of the River Taff in Cardiff with some interesting little tracks here and there and the odd bomb hole which with the recent weather turned out to be quite muddy in the bottom. 

Two of the young members of the family here with a friend were undecided until their father took the plunge and emerged unscathed from the mud........they all had a go then! 

The youngest here with his dad was beginning to complain near the end of our 8.5 mile trip but its hardly surprising as his bike was probably nearly twice the weight of ours, why do they put these ridiculous heavy springs on kids bikes, they provide sod all suspension!

Saw the sun today....makes a change!

They say the sun shines on the righteous, well it made a mistake today and shone on us instead. Its been a week or so since it last graced us with a visit so we made the most of its appearance today with a 27 miler up the Pentlands on a slightly varied route from normal.

Dougie and Baz attempt to tighten Baz's rear mud-guard, the sun might have been shining but after last weeks rain there was a lot of mud about.

An unusual combination of gloves, apparently he has another pair the very same back home.....

We used to be able to cycle through this bit but after all the rain its turned into a river.

Its all downhill, (more or less), from here till we get back home.

A good afternoons biking with a change of route going down by Bonaly reservoir taking in some rooty sections and some minor back roads till we got back along to Harlaw. No mishaps today but the weeks mileage is going to be down a bit I fear due to the weather, c,mon it has been pretty hellish lately!!!!!

That's the rain on again!

And chucking it down at that! After about a week of reasonably settled weather, i.e. no wind, no rain and a bit of sunshine, we're back to heavy rain through the day followed by clearing up late afternoon and a touch of frost at night. This hasn't really held my mileage back too much but the washing machine's been going non stop separating the riding clothes from the muck. An addition to my riding gear has been a merino wool base layer, it has a polo neck with a zip, handy for climbs and descents, long sleeves, also handy for going up and down, and best of all doesn't need washing too often, at least nobody's complained of the smell yet......
The lights are now fitted for every ride and before too long every ride will be in total darkness, only the brave (or is it the nutters) venture out now! Last night three of us were out and saw no-one else in 23 miles of riding, mind you at one point I rode through 18 inches of water where the river had burst its banks!

First real frost since last winter

Baz demonstrating how you should concentrate the whole time, he even managed to land in some sheep dung!

The sun had just appeared to give a great view across Threapmuir Reservoir.

After all the climbing the descent down past Eastside Farm is worth waiting for

An old bridge that I particularly like in the grounds of Penicuik House.

Frosty but calm at 6 am this morning when Baz and me set off to do a repeat of a route I did solo through the day last Friday. We added a couple of extra miles on today for good measure and ended up with just over 32 miles all in. Tremendous views today when we were well up in the hills, we even encountered a young guy who'd been camping on his own all night, "Great fun" he said though I failed to see what was great fun huddled in a one man tent on your own with temperature below freezing.Ah well it takes all kinds to make the world go round, some folk even go out on their bikes in pitch darkness in the frost. 

Autumn in the Pentlands (it's not any different from summer actually)

This photo taken this afternoon is as good as its got all year beside us. Apart from the (very) odd day its been a pretty poor summer and I noticed today on my travels that there's still a bit of wheat and barley to combine yet with evidence in the shape of deep tracks that the ground is just too wet at bits. Next years main event we've decided is to be the Isle of Man "End to End Race" which is just what it says on the tin in that it's a race from one end of the island to the other! Just so I'm prepared I've started my training already (the race isn't till next September!) you never know something else might come up before then. Today's Friday route covered just over 30 miles with over 2500 feet of climbing and I arrived home with a fairish amount of Pentland mud attached to my bike!

Tour de Ben Nevis:- Kinlochleven back to Fort William

Mark approaching the feed station after the first climb from Kinlochleven, this was followed by an even steeper climb on a rough Landrover track, at one point we had to pull a rider up out the bushes after he fell off the track and he couldn't unclip from the pedals. Hilarious, though for some reason he didn't seem to think so!

Baz doing the river crossing which was just before the 2 mile hike a bike. The river was well down on last year (god knows how with the summer we've had) but still bloody cold. Nobody bothered changing into dry socks as there was plenty of water, muck and bog to plough through on the bike push which was still to come.

Mark arriving at the timing point after what he must have felt was "Hell on Earth", the 2 mile hike a bike followed by some of the roughest terrain imaginable before eventually reaching the feed station situated in the middle of nowhere! Two young guys barbequeing sausages without tongs etc. which they'd forgotten to bring   but never did sausages taste better, even if we weren't sure if they were properly cooked!

The final leg along the cycle path to Fort William let us get a photo opportunity with Ben Nevis in the background, though as usual there was a cloud hiding the summit!

Would I do it again? Don't think so, that's twice I've done it now and twice I've been really lucky with the weather on the day, I think it would be tempting fate to try it again, I don't fancy getting stuck up in the wilderness section in a howling gale and torrential rain.

The Tour de Ben Nevis.. the weather couldn't have been better!

Our crude but effective living quarters for the event!

Posing confidently(?) before the start...

The tracks so rough at bits you have to stop to take in the views like this.

This view takes your breath away, and no rain either!!

If someone ordered the weather for the Tour De Ben Nevis they couldn't have made a better job! The morning started with a sharp frost and mist on the mountains but cleared by about 8.30 am. by which time we were in Fort William looking for breakfast. Unfortunately so were another 300 or so mountain bikers so the cooked breakfast was substituted by sandwiches and coffee/tea. After being piped along the High Street of Fort William by the local pipe band it was all systems go and the climbing started almost at once. It's amazing how many folk start near the front of these events and get off to push at some of the first hills they encounter. The route along to Kinlochleven takes in the West Highland Way and the scenery is breathtaking though the track is so rough that you have to keep your eyes on it the whole way. The actual final descent to Kinlochleven is manic, with drop offs, water drainage crossings and every conceivable thing to induce punctures the whole way down, but somehow the three of us, Baz, Mark and myself made it without one between us, the strategy of tyres at high pressure paid off! The last photo shows the view back down from the climb back up the leg killer from Kinlochleven, just about makes it worthwhile!

More another day!!

Last ride and the bikes started playing up (as usual!)

Tonight at the top of the Seven Steps just before Maidens Cleugh descent.

The last big(ish) ride tonight before Saturday's event at Fort William and as usual the bike starts playing up! The drive train,as I feared, is on its last legs and started to jump about when its on the big chain ring up front and the smallest at the back! Luckily these gears wont be used a lot this weekend and as there isn't time to order new bits and pieces I'll just have to nurse it round the course, wont be the first time (or probably the last!)

24 miles tonight to round things off before the Tour!