I'm looking to get out on the bike at some point tomorrow and given GT looks like a disaster area I'm thinking somewhere closer to home, probably the pentlands.
How bad is it on some of the main routes, ie up and over maidens, along the reservoirs etc? No fatbike unfortunately, and trying to avoid loads of pushing.
Any advice most appreciated
Ta
Not been out, as from my window they're covered in snow. I was contemplating ski touring, rather than biking.
I reckon it'll be compacted ice with a nice layer of powder on top. We had about half an inch of snow in Balerno last night, which sat on the stuff that had already gone through a few freeze/thaw cycles.
I was up on Sunday and it was slow going, but good fun to play with the bike slipping around.
Maidens is apparently OK (see Pentlands Hill Users group on Facebook for latest news).
We were up last Saturday, and the top half of Puke Hill was a hard slog just pushing! Heading downhill wasn't much better.
It snowed again last night, so expect a couple of inches of fresh stuff up there!
done Maidens on the commute twice this week.
Very good 7am when frozen, very had work 5pm when softened a bit.
good stuff! Well the harder going isn't a bad thing, I'm only venturing out to try to get fit. Would go on the roadie, but I reckon it might be a bit sketchy on the roads given the conditions.
some relatively recent updates here http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/pentlands-conditions-2
I'm just about to head up there. I'll post later with my thoughts.....
by very hard work, I mean that Maidens from Harlaw was just ridable in my smallest gear as I was sinking about 1 inch all the way up.
In comparison, I usually ride that climb in middle ring and 3rd at the back.
Much as AlasdairMc said then. Patchy ice covered with powder. Deeper drifts in places. Wind-scoured summits. Extremely muddy and slippery where there is no snow. All good fun!!
I tried a descent of Scalextric and managed to keep the bike upright but frankly I'd have been quicker walking. I'd back up chriswilks observations - go when it is still frozen not after a morning os sunlight.
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Any update a week on? Has the snow gone on the main paths?
ta
I went to the top of puke hill today, was aiming to go higher but some of the snow patches on the climb were a bit of a pain. Never ventured any higher but it did look snowy from that level. The lower trails were absolutely clear.
Maidens is completely clear. Wet up top, and muddy at the junction at the bottom. Loads of snow on Black Hill - great fun descending one of the gullies from the top. Anything South facing seems to be relatively OK, but North facing is holding a lot of snow in places. Harlaw woods are fine.