there’s a fork that does indeed go up to the flag at the top, although it looks like a there-and-back with no likely diversionary descents.

I rode up that sandpit a few weeks back and thought it was awful.

Bugger bugger bugger. Yet another excuse for me to spend money on my jacket fetish. I still bought one though.

I bought a TNF stretch fleece, Rab Drillium eVent and Rab softshell last year, and there was I thinking I had all the jackets I needed. It’s an obsession that detracts from buying bikes.

if you can’t get your kit on the bus, the cheapest way is to get a taxi to South Gyle station and get the train from there – it’s on the Inverness line and only a couple of miles from the airport.

EDIT – ignore, timetable doesn’t show South Gyle at all despite it existing.

just random text to get through spam filters. Nice illustrations though :D

Spoiling your ballot doesn’t work though, as it is not representative of you not liking a specific candidate. Take the 2007 Scottish elections, where 150,000 papers were spoilt, up tenfold on the 1999 elections.

Link

Democracy at work indeed.

I bought an 04 Enduro in April 07, and all that’s left original now are the frame/shock, shifters, outer gear cables and back wheel. I’ve swapped stuff onto my HT as I’ve upgraded so not all of it has been binned.

I know it’s not much help, but I’d just like to say thanks for your post as it reminded me I’ve still got to do mine.

I wear an Icebreaker 200 long sleeve all the time. If it’s particularly windy, I’ll put a skinny short sleeve base layer/tech tee over the top and the whole package does me fine.

I was running when it was two below zero over Christmas, I was toasty warm but the perspiration that wicked through was freezing on the outside of the top. Highly recommended.

I mean, it’s not even true is it ?

Fair point, but Gordon Brown commenting on her devalues anything that has and can ever be said about a soldier.

My money is on her being mentioned in the Queen’s Honours, posthumous MBE or something.

BBC News

Reality TV star Jade Goody dies aged 27 after a high-profile battle with cancer, as the prime minister leads the tributes.

So if you’re a soldier fighting for your country and die in the name of it you get nothing, but if you’re an ignorant racist who craves publicity and notoriety you get Gordon Brown paying tribute to your wonderful life?!?

I use the travel adjust on my Pikes a fair bit too, it turns the bike from being something slack on which I can do light DH into something more suited for normal trails and XC climbs.

I carry my kit inside a rolltop drybag – it means that if it’s been raining I can whip the bag out and leave my rucksack under my desk, so I don’t end up spreading my mud through the office.

And I totally agree about the patronising comments, although now my office all know I ride in any weather they seem to have calmed down somewhat.

Mark,

Too bad, you missed a decent ride last weekend through the Pentlands from Balerno.

Unsure if anyone is out tomorrow, I wish I could make it as the weather is great at the moment.

al

Basque MTB. It’s run by a regular poster on here and has a great selection of trails, with decent guiding and optional uplift.

If I weren’t getting married this year I’d definitely be heading out – she doesn’t ride :-(

if you lay off the brakes everywhere

I also seem to recall someone saying the blue could be done without brakes as it’s so swoopy – was it yourself GW?

Comrie Croft is a superb wee trail and could do with more custom tho comparing it with CV is like comparing apples and eggs

I agree completely, it was just that I happened to be riding both in one day. I thought Comrie would be a lot worse than it was, and I thought the opposite would be true of CV.

While I agree that a lot has gone into CV, it just seems a shame to abandon it as is and not further develop it. The existing blue is just not enough to attract me back there in a hurry and it’s unfortunate that development has ground to a halt.

However, were I to be taking a newbie around a trail, I may consider visiting again as it’s very easy and it was dead when I was there.

I thought CV was boring and missing something. I rode it on my singlespeed (which proves just how flat it is) after riding the Comrie trails and felt it was a let down. I thought it would be the other way round, I was quite looking forward to CV but it was just like a big Spooky Woods with no technical features in the slightest.

The surface will hold up, but I don’t think trail centres need pavement and some mild erosion is to be welcomed (like that which the GT red is experiencing)

can’t you just twist it slightly? I’ve done that before with no issues.

Pace RC31s.

But seriously, what kind of riding are you doing on it, how much travel has it got on it and what kind of a build are you doing on it, i.e. strong or light?

Go for a swim, although watch what stroke you choose, breast stroke can be quite bad for a knee injury when you kick. My kick is quite ‘snappy’ and narrow, if yours is like this then you’d be better sticking to freestyle or backstroke. If you swim like your gran, you’ll be fine :-)

I’m just back from riding the Thieves’ Road. We started in Balerno and climbed past Threipmuir and onto the swoop trail, where the wind was so strong that you had to lean 45 degrees into it to stop you falling off. Absolutely hilarious, it was true granny ring descending.

Along the road to Carlops, then we cut off and headed up towards the reservoir on mostly doubletrack. After the reservoir it got to a really fun climb with loads of wee obstacles to break it up, it didn’t feel like much of a climb due to its length and because you’re continually having to work the bike over things.

Over the Slap, and the descent was pretty fast but boggy in places, then when it flattened out it turned into hike-a-bike for perhaps the last mile. Our resident XC whippet flew through it, but I found it a bit of a trudge in places with the water/bog pretty deep. Great fun though.

Back on the A70 at Little Vantage and rode along to Leithhead, then onto a minor road back into Balerno. There was the option of riding up the Rigg Road to take in the descent, but we went for the flatter option and I was surprised just how quickly we reached civilisation.

I reckon North to South would be quite amusing but the push up would be a bit of a pig of a climb.

Sintered for me, I’ve had the rears on since August and the fronts since September, and that has included some muddy rides. They’re still going strong.

As for the original ‘organic’ ones, they’re just rubbish and I’ve never really got on with them.

What other sports are you into?

At your age, while I was still at school, I was a swimming teacher and lifeguard. It was very well paid for my age, back in’t day it was up to a tenner an hour, often cash in hand.

Aye – the classic disappearing path. I think some of the OS guys are just having a laugh making things up

I often find that on Scottish maps, the dashes denote a right of way, which does not necessarily equate to a path.

I too agree with Currie/Balerno, having lived in both (currently in Balerno). It’s possible to ride from there to South Gyle on paths and very quiet roads.

Corstorphine itself is nice in places, there’s a good mix of accommodation and you can get to the Pentlands in about half an hour if you’re riding.

Good schools in the above areas too if you’re staying a while.

al

Get changed before you get to the gym and shower when you get home.

Or commute part way on the bike – where is your commute to and from? Could it be done partly by bike and partly in car/train?

I recommend Pikes on an 04 Enduro, the bike just eats up bumps now and it’s completely transformed it. The front end feels a lot stiffer too, partly down to the Maxle and partly down to the appalling Skraxle it replaced that Specialized insist on using in their hubs.

Don’t be so literal in your Google searches. Think about what you’re wanting to explore in your essay and go from there.

And don’t reference Wikipedia as a good portion of it is unsubstantiated mince.

In fact, why don’t you just digest the baffling stuff and offer your own explanation or opinion on it?

unfortunately it won’t, they’re completely different operating systems. Best picking up a cheap Windows Mobile device.

I can’t remember who it was that nicknamed the bit up past Lintonshiels ‘xylophone’ but I thought that was very apt. It’s great on the way down but I can imagine it being a bit soul destroying on the way up.

I did the Borestane loop last ‘summer’ and came back via the Yellow Brick Road. Quite depressing, it’s just wee descents and wee climbs on a fire road. In retrospect I should have stayed on the path and cut across at Lintonshiels along the path that leads to the Rigg Road.

druidh,

What’s the surface like? I’ve been meaning to ride over the Cauldstane Slap for ages but reckon it’d be pretty poor until the Pentlands dry out. Which will probably be about 2014.

al

Pentlands today

I went out in the Pentlands too today, and it was excellent. Really deep snow in places, horrible wind, but incredibly satisfying and comfortably warm.

Icebreaker 200 base layer, Endura short sleeved tech tee over that, and finished off with a Rab softshell. I was perfectly toasty in the Pentlands today despite it blowing a gale on the tops, my one downfall was the water pouring down my legs and into my seal skinz.

I think Watchmen worked if you took it as a comic adaptation. There are loads of very short scenes with quick cuts from one to the next, and it’s confusing unless you’re a fan of the genre. My other half just didn’t ‘get’ the film at all, whereas I went into it knowing how to take it.

Reminds me of the first time I saw Crouching Tiger – I hated it because I’d been into more ‘real’ kung fu until then, but seeing it again I got what the director was trying to convey and liked it.

Same, I loved it and my other half hated it.

I did think that sex scene was cringeworthy and awful though, it ruined an otherwise excellent film.

Where: Balerno to Fountainbridge, Edinburgh

What: Blue SS Rockhopper

Will need to undo the stem steerer clamp bolts and twist the bars inline with the wheel to get it snug against a wall..

Or remove the front wheel?

Where about are you?

I’ve got a pair of Rockshox Judy J3 SLs from an 06 Rockhopper, you can have them if you wish. They need a service/oil change but they bounce when prompted.