Glentress With A Difference ...Sat 24.10.15

Here is what you will be missing ...the drop from here down to Peebles is phenomenal ...

m.geograph.org.uk/photo/177131

Graham is now out ..Paul is a "if I'm coming I'll be there on time if not ...don't wait "
Graham has injured his hand ..Paul had to fit a new Turbo to a bus until late in the evening ....

Have you ever travelled somewhere and upon getting there just wanted to turn around and go home due to the weather conditions being completely shit ?
That's the space I'm in sitting on the car park at Glentress waiting for Dave , Jean & Russell ...best go and get changed ..before I change my mind ..

I think that's what I need to be doing to get back into it, more adventures and less trail centre stuff

Yup, travelled all the way up to Golspie for a days riding, forecast said it should have been not too bad...... Nope, mist and rain the whole day, sat in the car waiting on my mate thinking is it worth it? Decided to just go with it or it would have a been a wasted 4 hour drive, glad I stuck with it as Golspie was great, everyone should try it at least once in their lives!

..so let's rewind back a little to 8.30 am upon which time having left the house way to early I'm sitting in Maccy D's in Galashiels eating a sausage & egg mcmuffin brekkie when Dave rings asking where I was and then shocked to discover that I've breached the border ..while himself and Jean were still on the other side of it .
I could tell that it was going to be a " should we bother call " ..but that because I was where I was they felt obliged to continue ..and at the time I told no lies ..it had been lashing down but at that particular moment it had stopped ...
Russell & myself for some reason don't have each other's mobile numbers so after I had got changed at the excellent changing facilities at 'tress .10 mins later he turned up by which time it was lashing down again .
Dave & Jean turned up shortly after and it was decided we should go grab a coffee and see if we could drum up some enthusiasm for the ride .
After a catch up ...very leisurely cuppa ...and as things were improving we decided to stop wussing and get on with it but it must have been close to 11.00 before we set off ..
The initial 5miles flew over down to Inners ..on the very well surfaced former railway track passing through Cardrona on the way ..and passing over the Tweed a couple of times on funky bridges ..( pics later) .
At the end it was the start of the road section through Traquair to Kirkhouse to pick up the Southern Upland Way ( big mistake! ) .
From the get-go once on the SUW the going was tough ..it was grassy and wet and at this time of year at the end of the growing season the grass was long ..oh and it started heading straight up to heaven to boot !!
Eventually though the surface improved and the very long drop ( after a sarnie break ) down to Blackhouse was fast , slippy & fun ..
My energy reserves even by this point were beginning to wane and I was " feeling " my legs after Wednesdays ride with Colin ..a short fire road section following the Douglas Burn brought us to the point where we turned off into the forest again ..on a good track initially before heeding what the guidebook had said .." to look out for an easy to miss track on the left" ...and this really was where our tale of woe begins ..]After initially congratulating ourselves on finding the right track ..albeit boggy , wet and mainly unrideable ..we decided to do a gps position fix after about half a km to find that it had us located on a different track heading way off course ..even though the climb had been pretty knackering already it was decided to retrace our route back to the fire road below to find the " proper " track even though everything was pointing to the fact that we were on it already down to the fact there was a sign pointing to Peebles at the start of it ...
After much scratching of heads we headed up into the trees on what clearly was not a track ..but the Gps was showing that it was ..and to cut a long story short ended up wasting about 2.5 hours going through Jungle like conditions while all the while the gps was taking the P out of us . We eventually got back on track to contour the hillside passing through both hills named Stake Law ...but we already knew the planned circuit of Glentress was never going to happen ..with a lot of height gain quickly followed by a loss .
At this point my legs were gone .. and it was with some relief when after all the climbing we reached the top of Birkscairn Hill for a very welcome techy drop ....muddy & rocky ..it perked me up for the climb that followed up to Kirkhope Law and the start of the excellent Drove Road Descent down to Peebles ..
The start of the Drove Road really is spectacular and Russell looking down on it reckoned it was the best example he had ever seen ..near on 6km of it heading steeply down he also reckoned that at the bottom of it ..it was the best descent he had EVER done ..and as a natural drop it's certainly right up there and almost wiped away the memory of what had gone before ..haha !
Jean was also happy that the temperature had ramped up a few degrees now we were in the valley floor ..it was very cold up top ..and windy ..we were also battling fading light as we made our way through Peebles ..Glentress trails would have to wait another day ..and we arrived back at the car park at 6.15 pm .
Looking back sitting here now ..what an adventure chums !
Would I take the same route again ..not on your effing life ..but I will give you a better alternative ..and the one Dave , Ian Bell and myself used back in 2012 ..which shortens the ride considerably and on better tracks ..still giving you the Drove Road descent ..and also time enough to do some of the tracks in Glentress ...I will post that after the pics ..
This will with the passage of time go down as an "epic " ride ..and I'm already looking back fondly ..not least due to the always excellent company ..thanks Jean , Dave & Russell hope you all got safely home ...
Pics to follow

Well Neil all is forgiven and in hindsight I think I might do it again but in high summer after a long dry spell. It was an epic day, a real adventure and the descent is well worth the effort.
My energy reserves ran out about 100m from the car park resulting in having a serious wobble on the bike and nearly falling in the stream running along side the flat tarmac path, so by the time I did reach the car park I was slightly unsteady on my feet. Endmondo tells me I burnt over 6000 calories so no real surprise.
Manky thanks Neil, Russell and Jean for another memory which won't be forgotten for some time.

Route amendment ...
In all but the driest of weather and only when your map reading skills are honed to perfection do this shortened version to say yourself a lot of pain ( and to give you time to do some of the trails at Glentress )

Upon reaching Traquair follow the road towards Kirkhouse but turn right before getting there to follow a minor road on the right to pass Orchard Mains on the right .
Follow this until the Tarmac runs out to turn right on a rough track taking you around Birks Hill ..climbing steeply .
This will eventually lead to a gate at a junction of tracks between Birkscairn Hill and Kirkhope Law where you turn right and still get to ride the full Drove Road section down to Peebles ..
Not on will this shave 13km off the route and god knows how much climbing ..but also a whole lot of pain ..leaving you fresh for those Glentress trails ( pick up the route again after Peebles )
You're welcome !!

Apart from my legs ..yes !
Good for the soul though ...

Looks gruelling but great.

Pleased to see you are still taking it easy, I don't think the physio/doctor meant easy as 60 hilly miles a week. However if you have no ill effects then it looks like you've made a marvellous recovery.

I think it something like huff huff ..said quickly ..

Spent all day yesterday in bed with man flu and after reading your ride report maybe I was better off where I was. Well done