[Closed] Organised Wednesday Pentlands/GT ride ?

Hmmmmmm

Where are the TBC boys? We have had one very wed for a year or so so yes I would think so but nowt that I have seen from them yet

I'd certainly join in as far as Bonaly, on the s/s cross bike though so would probably then head off to skulk around the foothills for an hour or so.

Looks like it's going to be a great night, according to the BBC, clear skies and low winds... Cold obviously. Sounds lovely. Bet there's a bit of mud on though.

WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN US O BIKECHAIN?1!??!ONE!

I'm meeting a couple of mates at Bonaly store at 7pm. Hopefully there will be others joining us from here/TBC.

Ok 6.15 leave TBC. 7 pm at bonally as usual. I'll be there unless a last minute call to work

Aye aye what's with all the keen'ness.

Usual story. See you there.

Jeez - I take a couple of days off and things are slacking already.
Count me out tomorrow - I will be driving back from the (not so) frozen north.

im out this week...Thursday night locally too as got the lergy 🙁
will be out for E.L Sunday ride whatever 😮

Be sure to ride by Colinton surgery & wave as I learn all about massaging away the pain of childbirth.... or not.

Onion- insolence like that earns p45's. Want me to prep one for your return?

(Got that matrix thing fixed btw... the one you text me about the other night... drop me a text if you aint in a tent somewhere)

Can I have his job?

I feel we have been robbed an awesome thread title!

Damn you Grant damn you!

Where exactly is the store you meet up at? I haven't done this before and fancy it...

It's quite funny that everyone has come to rely on TBC, as if the Pentlands cease to exist when they're not present...

Not for me tonight, jelly legs already this week so don't want to destroy myself completely.

7hz - Member

Where exactly is the store you meet up at? I haven't done this before and fancy it...

Two meet point - "the bike chain" on rodney street ( near cannonmills) at 6.15 or the small general store in bonally at 7 pm

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=55.901231,-3.259506&spn=0.011597,0.027595&z=15&layer=c&cbll=55.901232,-3.259337&panoid=dFfDHKBZIrYfb0sBlEd2zA&cbp=12,199.54,,0,5

Thanks TJ!

Meet you all at Bonaly.

Was up the Pentlands today for a wee spin .(Castlelaw over hill >Capelaw nth >Bonaly res > Scalextrix > Clubbiedean > Pistachio > Maidens to Flotterstone > Castlelaw). Stunning day but conditions were to say the least wet , On the high ground you were getting nice frozen paths then a thawed out 6" deep puddle of mud so be careful tonight folks . Enjoy.
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Spoken, and photographed, like a native, Paul. Nice photaes.

I was up in similar on Sunday stanfree - so wet it was unreal.

Bonaly road near the scoutcamp was totally flooded. Wet feet in the first 5 mins of the ride.

looks stunning Stan, bet it was baltic though! 🙂

My legs hurt today and it's cold. Can we go slow?

thebikechain - Member

My legs hurt today and it's cold. Can we go slow?

You're the one who races off like a scalded whippet with a rocket up its bum.

Cheers Rob , to be honest before I went on the TBC rides I thought I knew the trails up there . But with the knowledge of yourself , TJ, Druid and Mark there was a whole lot more I wouldn't have had a clue about.

Paul was pretty cold up at the top but the views were stunning with a totally blue sky . Felt like I had stood behind a muck spredder after dropping down to Glencorse.

No happening for me tonight sadly. Imminent carpet arrival and unpainted skirting board timing problem.

I was out at home last night, very wet, very slippy. Great fun in a off camber slidey kinda way. I suggest a Pentlands amnesty, until the big freeze anyway, before all the singletrack becomes muddy motorway. Be responsible out there folks.

I'm with Steven on this.

Road riding for the next couple of months folks?

Road riding! surely there are a few trails that can take it?

Ah.... the sandy trails of East Lothians coastline... 😉
then theres the beaches

see you all Sunday for some eco friendly/non erosive easy days trailriding (with more liver damage!)

Unfortunately I'm starting to think that all the best bits that are doable on a night ride are all starting to get really badly worn, the likes of Phantoms, Black Hill, the woods along pistachio way, Nail trail etc. Apart from Maidens I'm struggling to think of anything fun to ride on a night ride.

Shame the Lammies are so uninspiring , basically miles of Land rover tracks surrounded by nothing. 🙁

Shame the Lammies are so uninspiring , basically miles of Land rover tracks surrounded by nothing.

er yeah totally bog ridden nobody go there.....
all this is now ploughed over for a supermarket!...

and this day i first met yodagoat 😮

Sorry for bailing early folks, thought I'd better quit while I was ahead when my knee starting twinging again. Lovely night for a ride...

Any suggestions other than the Pentlands then? What about somewhere like Pitmedden or Beecraigs instead?

We used to have a Wednesday night MTB Scotland ride at Beecraigs, it's a good wee place

I'd like to get back to Beecraigs some time, I wouldn't recognise a single trail when it's not under snow though I think. Up for getting away anywhere really but armoured trails are a bit of a temptation this time of year...

That was a cracking night, rode with the girls from Hervelo in a group (we elected to ride non sensitive bits and split the group over sections where needed etc) and they schooled us appropriately!

Couple of ill call offs, hope the knee is better NW and Jo dropped off with suspected concussion... oops.

very wet up there in some places and then bone dry in others and a lot of ice.

I can confirm the conformation of TJ's bike to legal things with the sheer amount of reflective 'stuff' he has placed all over it... dim your lights near him or be blinded. You have ben warned,

thanks all. I needed that!

I agree with Steve to some extent - its getting hard to find stuff to entertain that is not eroding. today we did a fairly dull ride because of that. Having said that even at its dullest the pentlands beats road riding hands down. I ain't road riding for sure. Just say no!

Today right at puke hill towards clubbie dean but miss the clubbidean singletrack, up rocky road miss the bit in the woods, maidens, castlelaw on the landrover track, round capelaw hill, back to puke hill - 4 of us split off and went thru the woods the rest straight back down puke hill. Nothing there that is too fragile but not the most exciting ride either - apart from the ice in places.

Rather than road riding I'd rather ride the canal and old railway out and around the almond and similar stuff.

Remeber there is a few of us that don't have cars

Good ride - well chosen route that wasn't muddy (for the most part).

I looked at my brakes when I got home - no oil in both reservoirs - must have used up more pads than I'd though in the last couple of weeks, or just not filled up the reservoirs enough when I put new pads in some months ago.

Anyway, working now. Thanks to Ian for guiding me home after I trundled on ahead and went the wrong way. Going down Dreghorn Drop with no front or rear brake... even walking it was hard work, if I was walking down a hill I'd normally drag the breaks to keep me steady, bikes are funny things without brakes 🙂

So - my first Wednesday group ride. Must try harder (maintain the effing bike better!).

Hope to see some of you on Sunday?

We could try some urban singletrack as well - between us we must know enough for an entertaining Nightride?

TJ - to be honest, I'd rather do a hardpack / track ride that was non-technical, than a boggy mess of singletrack that is nasty to ride and I feel guilty for being on. Just being oot on the bike in the hills is good enough for me - throw in some good climbs and I'm happy.

After saying that - I can carry at least 4 people + bikes in my truck, so if anyone fancies somewhere else for a change, I am happy to drive. Niteride at GT?

TJ - it aint about the route... being outside with people of a similar mind is all it needs.

Plus - i have suggested alternatives like Dreghorn circuit racing that you poo-pooed. I think that would be a laugh,

rode with the girls from Hervelo in a group

Dammit!

Your name is now covered in a film of FAIL kit.

Can I just add that there was NOTHING easy or boring about that route today, you just need a certain, shall we say, retrogressive choice of bike 😀

Your name is now covered in a film of FAIL kit.

Just you wait until I make my billions in Carbon Capture and Storage and I'm living the playboy lifestyle with scantily clad women draped over me and Ferrari... oh hang on, that's never going to happen is it 🙁 I'm sure jimmy's game for a cuddle though 🙂

dur, everyone knows you go Lambo. noob.

thebikechain - Member

TJ - it aint about the route... being outside with people of a similar mind is all it needs.

I quite agree.

Is Clubbiedean really so delicate? The end stretch gets pretty wet and there's the bad patch between the bridges but the rest stands up pretty well usually, good drainage and loads of roots, and the wet bits... Well, one is always bad and the other doesn't usually get terrible. It's not one I cross off my winter list usually myself except during thaws.

You can definately get a good pentlands ride in on solid surfaces but you do lose the variety a bit I think. But o'course we'll have some icy weeks where suddenly all those wet trails are deadly fast and iron-hard.

northwind -it was badly churned last time I rode it a few weeks ago - and 20 of us in a posse does a lot of damage.

Having said that I would probably hafve ridden it tonight - but it wasn't my call and I was happy to go along with the decison made

I have a 30 odd mile flatland offraod circuit we could do one night - all failry robust - town / currie / ratho / south queensferry / crammond

Northwind, I think the best argument for avoiding the Clubbiedean section in the wet is that grumpy farmer who lives at the end of the road, we passed him tonight and he was interrogating us about where we had come from, seemed a bit pissed off at the prospect of us riding the Clubbiedean trail.

Not saying we should let grumpy farmers dictate where we ride, but in this instance its probably worth keeping him sweet, think he's the same farmer that strung a fence right across Scalextric...

Oh aye, and since a few people have asked... I did manage to make solid contact with the Rangers eventually and did a site visit with Susan Falconer the senior ranger and Martin Duncan the estate manager, at the wet bits of Pistachio... Even started to hatch a plan for a small test-of-concept intervention to fix one of the 2 sumps.

But other things have got in the way for me a bit and I've not been able to do anything else about it just from a lack of energy for the project. Entirely my fault and I think after a good start they'll probably be a bit unimpressed with the dead stop, I doubt I'll have much cred with them now.

But I do think it could be kickstarted with a bit of enthusiasm and tbh, with someone else at the head of it to put a new face on it.

Oh and just a thought but does anyone know the trails up Craigmillar Castle way? One of their rangers came down to the trailfairies a while back, they've got big plans for a Pete Laing-designed build there but I gather there's already some decent riding.

Sorry, I've swamped this thread with posts. Fair points on Clubbie, cheers.

Northwind - nothing operates as slowly as the Rangers. I'd be happy to head up a possé of workers, if it wasn't for the fact that my name is offically mud with PHRP. Happy to check in some hours working though.

I'm surprised it was so muddy up in the Pentlands. We were up on Benarty Hill tonight and it was mostly frozen. A couple of hours out riding and our bikes were clean when we arrived home.

If you guys fancy a trip over to Fife we could show you some trailz. Blairadam and Benarty.

Happy to represent as the shop if it assists NW. Email tomorrow if you like with background etc.

East lothian trails are always a bit dryer because we dont get the traffic that the Pentlands does, But I get TJ's point that we dont all drive . I walked the dog from the Braids to Hermitage the other day which has a few wee bits add on Dreghorn and Mortonhall on the other side Newhailes to Mussleburgh or **** It we could just go loco round Hollyrood.. 😀

There is some food for though for us there. I am sure we can keep offroading without being antisocial but it will need imagination.

Makes you think If the Craigmiller site goes ahead It could be a great place to have future TBC rides and link up with Stephen and House Husbands Midlothian stuff which (whispers) is probably better than the East Lothian trails. All In all Its not a bad area to live In If you like to Ride.

Good comments throughout this thread; that responsibility / fun line is a tough one to draw. I'll commit to leaving many sections alone until frozen / drier - it's still possible to do a good, fairly 'weather-proof' loop, just a bit dull.

Until the Pentlands recover i will mostly be riding around the county here as about 5 or 6 different routes to do that are dry,
Tyningham,Yellowcraig,Gullane Hill loop,John Muir Park,Pencaitland,Longniddry area, and the John Muir Way in various sections....some are quite short loops but i just ride to them and back...
Understand not everyone has transport and for me driving anywhere further west of the Pentlands is a bit of a haul, though TJ`s route sounds interesting, there are trails south and east of the new Royal Infirmary too, muddy at times but being old railway tracks not a real issue about erosion,
also happy to raise a shovel and do a day or two graft with a group on the Pentlands to do my bit for the trails 😮

Lots in Mortonhall, and a good climb/descent on Blackford hill, but lets leave the Hermitage well alone, nice trails hidden away in there but they would definitely suffer from heavy traffic, and there's a particularly self righteous, grumpy breed of [s]Morningsider[/s] dog walker that lives up there.

Blackford - round the Braids golf course (brilliant wee descent tucked away up there) - Mortonhall 'cloverleaf' loop - along Caeystane road to Bonaly and take the back entrance to the Dreghorn trails - back home via Craiglockart hill.

Could work out to be a good couple of hours.

Aye cracking ride last night! Agree about the errosion stuff discussed above. I think we need to mix in a couple of other venues so we don't get fed up of the tougher trails in the Pentlands. We could run a monthly "guest night" and get volunteers to show us round their neck of the woods. Plenty of volunteers so far for Mid Lothian, East Lothian, Fife and the Borders. Also TJs suggestion of the loop via Ratho, South Queensferry and Crammond is good. It's not gnarly obviously but it does involve decent pubs for a few pints and pub grub! Gets my vote!

I'm with Paul. Pub sounds excellent.
*dispenses a high 5 slap*

Yup, all my idea!

High 5 buddy

Good idea Paul. How come no one else came up with that?

Paul is the cleverest. That's why.

Och well, you've got to think outside the box sometimes.

You are The Curve as they say. So ahead of it and well outside the envelope. Bleeding edge. How do you do it? I am in awe.

Interesting about craigmillar castle. I worked in the parks department of te council when they were securing the funding to do what they've done so far, but not seen it since I left. There were a fair few amazing little bits of track hidden away a few years ago, but its not somewhere I would have hung around back then, unless you were into burning out cars and mopeds. There was some interesting stuff around Edmonstone too but not been there since worked for the council either, I think it is all handed over to developers sadly. Some amazing trees in there around the ruins of the house.

PHRP do a pretty good job considering the resources they have, ie, nowt, and the enormous number of park users.

Good to see such a responsible response. Fully rigid singlespeeds all round should make even the duller bits more interesting. I'm happy to take a few folk out round Mid-Lothian as before, think everybody enjoyed it the? But it'd have to be a small group so as not to cause any erosion out here as we don't have the nicely draining soil that CK has and its easy to lose folk in the woods, especially the ones that think they know where I'm going 😉

So I shouldn't put the wet screams on the tandem and take it round all the singletrack?

Sorry couldn't make it last night, sounds like a good one was had.....look forward to experiencing one or more the the suggested routes.

I was worried we had lost you somewhere.

Another time

Nah, don't think the tandem is the kinda bike you want to take round here. There is a good pub though.
http://www.thesuninnedinburgh.co.uk/

Just to say cheers all for a nice ride out last night, hopefully it won't be quite so long until I make it out again.
Dave (new guy on the Dialled morning glory)

Sell me that dialled. Do it.