Glentress Black Saturday

Just a quick post.

Anyone who fancies a ride at Glentress, this Saturday 29th Aug, feel free to join us.

No racing here, just a gentle ride to get out and have some fun!

Meeting Hub carpark 10.30am to do the Black route.

Check MTB Borders Forum for more info or changes.

Cliff Bars!

No biking for me today as all my stuff is still drying out from yesterday's drenching! However, opting for a spot of retail therapy to lessen the withdrawal symptoms from biking endorphins, I found myself in a shop called Home Bargains which has recently opened in Galashiels. There's the usual end of line and bankruptcy products but I found a couple of good things.

Firstly a bike pump going for £1.50 that fits both valve types without having to unscrew everything - how long it will last I don't know but it seemed sturdy enough.

The second, and these really is a bargain, are Cliff Bars going for 29p each! I bought a box, but am already thinking I should have got more, especially as the use by date is sometime in 2010! I really don't think these will be in stock for very long at this price, but I'm sure Dave at the Gala bike shop also stocks them along with Honeystinger bars and gels ;-)

Right, off to wash the bike, and maybe quality control check a Cliff bar ;-)

Innerleithen

I managed to get out on my bike yet again today, life is good! We headed for the biking Mecca of Scotland that is Innerleithen ;-) and had a bit of a dilemma as to whether we should ride the Innerleithen XC route or the Rockies, a steep and rocky (obviously!) route that runs down a ridge from Caberston Forest back into Innerleithen. I have never ridden the Rockies and was keen to give it a go, but it's not one for wet weather and with a forecast of showers we decided on a speedy blast round the XC route instead. "Where's this spirit of adventure you were harping on about in the last entry!" I hear you mutter under your breath, but it turned out to be a very good move.

Inners car park was surprisingly busy for a Tuesday, although mostly with mad down-hillers with their boiler suits and big hit bikes. I have to admit I would like to give DH a shot, on a bike with about 3 miles of travel and all the appropriate padding of course! I have ridden some of the tamer DH trails at Inners and at Ae, most memorably on my hardtail dressed as an angel, but really I'm very much a nervous novice. I have a lot of respect for the top guys and gals who fearlessly hurtled past me doing about mach 10 at the British Champs last month and a wee part of me would love to be able to do it too, well we can all dream ;-)

The first climb out of the car park is always a killer with no warm up to remind your muscles how to ride a bike, and by the time we'd reached the top of the switch backs it has started to spit with rain too. Wanting to keep as dry as possible we opted to follow the old XC route through the trees and so missing out all but one of the slippy rock steps on the official trail. The bit beyond the forest road through the mousetrap is one of my favourites but although I still enjoyed it I wasn't really feeling the love today, my reactions slow and sluggish and generally I was not feeling at one with the bike. The rain gradually got heavier and heavier as we continued the climb towards Minch Moor until I gave in and put on my waterproof. It's always a dilemma when you're climbing in the rain, coat off and get wet or coat on and sweat! I'm glad I did put it on though as the midges came out in full force until we cleared the trees.

When we reached the summit it was lashing down and blowing quite hard so we didn't stop to admire the view, in fact we didn't stop again until we got back to the car! We were absolutely soaked to the skin by the time we hit the first forest road and although the forestry workers have been cutting away the hillside to allow the puddles to drain on Plora Craig, there were still so many that we gave up trying to avoid them. As we neared Janes Lane the rain started to easy and by the time we got back to the car it stopped all together - typical! Ah well, I guess riding in the rain makes you appreciate the dry even more, lets hope we see the sun and dusty trails again before the Autumn hits with a vengeance.

Saturday 8th August 09

Like loads of bikers Saturday is my main day for heading to the hills and I always look forwards to it. My riding buddy and I didn't have any set plans, but decided when we met up to try out some new trails - you know the ones you always see on the way to somewhere else and say to yourself - I wonder where that goes?! Plus when the sun is shining and the trails are dry it would be a sin to head for a trail centre.

I love exploring but it's always like playing Russian Roulet when you try to find new trails, sometimes you find a gem and sometimes you end up walking for miles through a bog! With than in mind you have to take your spirit of adventure and sense of humour with you, and don't forget plenty of emergency Jellybabies for when the going gets really tough!

The start of our journey into the unknown wasn't so good when the newly cut trail heading up a local hillside turned out to be a newly dug ditch! Oh well, I'm sure our half hour trudge through the wet moorland was good cross training!

We were very glad to get back on our bikes and head down a nice wee bit of singletrack we'd found on an earlier ride. We passed into new territory again as the trail became less defined and it started to ascend up a tough but ridable sheep track through the bracken. By the top we had to open the Jellybabies to recover and were left feeling, all in all, it would be a better descent!

Happy to be at the top of the hill we started down a lovely bit of twisty narrow singletrack that flowed almost the entire way back to the valley floor before joining up with part of the Merida marathon route. This was another nice trail but yet again, with more up than down, we felt it would be much better ridden in the opposite direction! Our final descent was a blast down a rocky access track back to the cars. With a good day in the hills behind us we were left tired but happy and with some good ideas for the forum funday route and potentially a new format for how it would run.

Watch this space and I'll try to keep you updated :-)

GT Red Route

THURSDAY EVENING

I wasn't sure about riding today after yesterday's wee adventure, but when two hot biking chicks invite you for a quick tour of Glentress Red route how can you say no? The weather was glorious again and I figured I could always turn back if my injuries were too sore - ha! Like that was gonna happen! As soon as I was on the bike my smile returned and any minor twinges were quickly forgotten as I caught up on all the juicy gossip on the first climb. I always think it's amazing how fast climbs go when you're having a chat ;-)

We had an absolute blast all the way round the red. Lots of stopping to admire the stunning views and chat, but these girls are fast on the bikes, especially down the well known GT trails. We took turns leading the way and daring each other to ride the techy bits. It's so much fun riding closely with other people and we were all grinning like maniacs by the time we got back to the cars.

We did have one debate that ran for the whole ride.

• Which is better - SPD's or flats?

I'm an SPD person all the way and have yet to be convinced by anyone that flats aren't a waste of energy. I wonder what everyone else thinks? Is this a debate for the forum?

Glentress Black

I've been following the thread on the forum about the black route at Glentress with interest and occasional disbelief ;-) but for a while now I've been thinking really I should have a crack at the time trial myself. Up until now I've only ridden the route with others and we've always made sure there has been plenty of time to have a chat, eat lots of flapjack, admire the view from one (or all) of the many shelters and occasionally session a hair-raising bit if we're feeling very brave or stupid. Average time for the route - a conservative 3.5 hours, not very impressive compared with the sub 2 hour brigade but always good fun!

I'm on holiday for a couple of weeks and with almost perfect weather I decided today was the day for the BIG ATTEMPT! The bike was working more or less, I'd packed the Jellybabies, decided against shaving my legs (or wearing lycra) and eaten my Wheatabix - I was ready! On the drive there I decided there was no way I was going to beat the route record from the forum, but if I could ride it in anything under 2 hours 30 mins I would be very pleased with myself.

I started my stopwatch as I passed under the trailhead sign and I was off! Although I thought it's probably quicker not to ride the wee rocky bits on the way up to the Buzzards nest carpark I couldn't resist - why is it that when you overtake someone right before a bit like that you then don't clean the section? Or is that just me? LOL. I also discovered I'm quite competitive and whenever I see someone in the distance I feel the need to catch them. This happened quite a few times resulting in my average heart rate being about 180 - woops, maybe not sustainable for the whole black route. I backed off once I'd passed the free-ride area packed to the gunwales with uber-cool big-hitting types wearing their baseball caps sideways and their jeans round their knees.

I had a good run through the next few sections, although I still haven't figured out how to clean Russell's rock without smacking my chainring, I know there's a gap but I just can't persuade my wheels to go through it while keeping my feet on the pedals! I made good time up to the first shelter reaching it in exactly an hour. I stopped to get something to eat and look at the view (I can multi-task!) Then set off down Brittany Spears, I love that wee section, but not the climb up to the aerial - booo, there's one steep bit that kills me for the whole climb! However once you're there it's all downhill - he he he! The boundary trail had lots of puddles as usual but I didn't see them, not because I was going so fast, more down to wearing shades - couldn't see a thing in the woods LOL!

I reached the top of the Deliverance descent at 1 hour 30 mins and was feeling pretty good. I had a blast on that descent, I didn't use to like it on my hardtail but now I have my full sus I think it's great! Or I did right up to the point I came round a corner and was faced with two loose rocks (boulders!) right in my line. What is it they say about not looking at the things you want to miss - it's so true! One minute I was grinning about how good the trail was, the next second I was doing a superman impression. It was a good crash, my left hand was cut through my glove and very sore, my right arm had gravel rash and there was grass sticking out between the rim and tyre of my front wheel - I was impressed my tyre still had any pressure left as I run tubeless. Still, everything appeared to be working and after putting some more air in my front tyre I was off again - all be it quite a bit more cautiously. I decided to cut back onto the red route after Ewok village, partly because my hand and wrist was so sore I was having trouble changing gear and partly because I'm scared of the wormhole LOL.

I'd kind of given up on my time trial, but checked my watch at the Tourist Trap and was surprised to see the time was 2hours 20mins, I could still make it! Suddenly my competitive spirit kicked in again, the pain ebbed into the background and I pushed for the finish! I love the last red section and rode as fast as I could. I popped out onto the fireroad at the bottom and checked my watch - 2h 29m 45s - aaagh I wasn't going to make it! I sprinted back to the hub, just my luck there was a guy walking (?) his bike along the bit just before the trailhead - get out my way! Can't you see I'm in a hurry! And I finished in 2hours 30mins and 20secs - gutted! Oh well, there's always next time :-)

New Blogger!!!

After a long long wait, MTB Borders Blogg will be getting updated! We have a new and improved Blogger who is gonna take us to a new level and keep all you blogg fans happy and informed.