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Post by rallybiker on Nov 2, 2014 14:08:47 GMT
Great weekend away of MTBing and in my case a bit of road biking and extreme sports. Thanks Bird for an exhilarating weekend. :-)
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Post by bird on Nov 2, 2014 21:06:35 GMT
Well another fantastic weekend away in Scotland. Great company, accommodation, some strange ghostly encounters and riding in T shirts in November?  8 of us, Aled, Gareth, Sam, Adam. Grace, Ray, Jake and I met at Tebay Services on Friday at 10ish for breakfast and once fed and watered we headed over to ride Ae. We got there around 12.30pm and once we'd got ready we set off but strange things happened along the way. We meet some ghouls in the car park and the weather was warm, so warm in fact after the first bit of climbing there were several stops whilst people took a layer off, this was definitely not normal for this time of year. A bit further into the ride we meet some ghost riders in the forest and Aled was there one minute and gone the next. In fact if Ray hadn't seen him climbing back up the bank and helped haul his bike back onto the track we may never had realised he'd even disappeared in the first place as most everyone else had ridden past him not even realising that he'd flown straight off the trail and rolled a good 10ft down the hill managing to dodge several large and dangerous tree stumps on the way. After pulling the moss out of his helmet we set off again without further damage to man or steed! We got back to the centre, packed away grabbed a coffee at the cafe and headed over to Innerleithen. Ae is a great little trail, packs in everything, not too technical and ideal for a leg warmer on day 1 Well we got to Innerleithen and found the accommodation, really nice place, everything we needed and more, Grace and I grabbed the ensuite room but In hindsight we acted in haste, started to unpack and grab showers when we realised that something was missing hmmmmm what could it be?? This time it was Sam and Adams turn to have disappeared but we soon found them in the pub something else that's not normal either.... ye ok I know you all know that this is more normal than normal for one of our weekends away. So once everyone had regrouped starvation ensued and dinner in the hotel bar with a few drinks was called for. Whilst a few headed back a couple of us stayed out for another drink and then some of the guys, I bet you can't guess who, stayed out for a few more, then came back for a few more with cheese and biscuits and hangovers in the making  Now Gareth had forewarned the group to bring industrial quality earplugs due to his infamous snoring and Ray thought he'd pulled a flanker by bagging the other bed in the room with Aled leaving Adam to share with Gareth, but little did he know that Gareth had major competition and finally decamped into the lounge during the night in the hope of some escape from the noise..... Sorry Ray, didn't hear a thing  Saturday saw us up, some looking more tired than others, breakfast done, bikes at the ready and heading to Glentress down the cycle path from Inners, we headed straight up the trail and again the weather was warm and we got to the fire road climb with the bench on it just after the split for the new blue and the sun was positively warm and the view was great. We carried on up to spooky woods took 5 mins to gather our thoughts..... In the sun!! and of course it delivered as always, there was a slight diversion that actually showed me a bit of Glentress trail that I hadn't seen before so it was actually a bonus. Aled had another off but a gentle one compared to the day before daredevil stunt, he patted his elbow pads and thanked them for saving him again. Once back down we grabbed food and cycled back to Inners, we had a small rain shower but that was the only bad bit of the day. Of course the pub called and after a pint for a couple of us, we headed back to the digs. Now the big decision, curry in Inners or venture over to Peebles. So after a clean up and vote most of us jumped on the bus into pebbles and pub and curry was the evening sorted out. Aled was the most excited I'd seen him in a while as he got to sit right at the front on the upstairs of a double decker bus, something he'd never done before  the weekend just kept delivering well the curry house was interesting and with India's version of Manuel from faulty towers it brought its own level of entertainment. Today saw Gareth's birthday, and rain  but not for long and the sun was out again Aled was up and off at the crack of dawn on his roadie as Inners had diversions on that cut the xc trail down by half, Ray headed home back to the family, Grace back over to Glentress to do the new blue, so me, Jake, Adam & Sam helped Gareth eat his birthday cake and tidy up. Sam had checked in at the local bike shop and figured out that they could still ride Minch Moor by riding up the fire road so that's what they did and from what I hear Gareth cleared the drops on Caddon Bank a fitting achievement on your 48th bday. Well done old man All together another fab weekend away. Thanks to everyone new friends and old that made it so good Ok some photos to follow sorry about quality of some and the order of them me and photo bucket just don't get on ! |
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Post by sam on Nov 2, 2014 21:58:21 GMT
Thanks for organizing that weekend bird. can't wait for the next one!!
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Post by adlewis90 on Nov 2, 2014 22:08:17 GMT
Thanks for a top weekend guys! Had a fantastic time
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Post by bird on Nov 2, 2014 23:08:08 GMT
Grrrrr photobucket. Here you go 3 at a time |
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Post by bird on Nov 2, 2014 23:09:27 GMT
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Post by bird on Nov 2, 2014 23:10:43 GMT
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Post by bird on Nov 2, 2014 23:12:17 GMT
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Post by bird on Nov 2, 2014 23:13:39 GMT
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Post by bird on Nov 2, 2014 23:15:16 GMT
Accommodation for the weekend |
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Post by bird on Nov 2, 2014 23:16:33 GMT
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Post by Tarbo on Nov 3, 2014 15:25:30 GMT
Great write up Sue, gutted we couldn't make it as it sounded a blast. There is one thing you have written that I don't understand though, Gareth only 48 C'mon ! Looking forward to lots more of these weekends next year, not forgetting we have our last one of the year later this month |
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Post by Sandi on Nov 3, 2014 19:13:02 GMT
Brilliant report Sue, good to see Aled wasn't too rattled by his tumble......(voodoopiles' Hebog ride comes to mind  )Glad the weather held out for you all  |
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Post by Dan B on Nov 3, 2014 21:27:32 GMT
Looks like you all had a good time and happy birthday Gareth. Was there much closed at Gentress due to the felling? And I'm assuming it's the quarry area being felled at Inners? I'm up there on the 21st and wondered if I need to break out the maps |
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Post by bird on Nov 3, 2014 21:49:22 GMT
Hi Dan. Only a very small section at Glentress near the end but you can go through a section with roots and boards in it that I don't remember doing before but it might be different when you go but can't see it moving that fast. You could still ride minch moor at inners you just went up the fire road. Sam got directions from the bike shop on the high street Hope you get the weather we did |
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the weekend just kept delivering 
but not for long and the sun was out again 
)Glad the weather held out for you all 
