High up in the Cairngorms in absolutely stunning conditions.
I headed straight to Braemar after finishing nightshift at 2.30am and managed a few hours of ‘almost’ sleep before heading out early before things got too hot.
I headed out from Invercauld up to Ben Avon, across to Beinn áBhuird via The Sneck, down to Glen Quoich and back to Invercauld.

A seriously creaky bike after a couple of runs down San Marino off Winter Hill meant a shorter ride than planned today.

Thankfully I have a spare set of wheels with me and my week off isn’t stuffed.

I give up, no idea why I can’t post the picture (honestly it hasn’t happened before)

……it’s a cracked rear hub axle.

Drumtochty just off the A90 heading to Aberdeen.

Crask of Aigas over by Inverness.

A good search facility would mean fewer new topics created?

2nd for the manually operated type. I used to enjoy using it.

I’ve bought drivetrain stuff from them a couple of times recently at very good prices. No issues.

I tried without gloves once when I forgot them, my hands and grips were so wet with sweat after the first climb I just turned around and went home.

I do wear the thinnest and best fitting, to me, gloves that I can find. The modern synthetic palm materials are really good at staying dry, ideal for someone like me who sweats a lot.

Clarino and other synthetic leathers are just crap.

25°c at Ballater this afternoon. It was glorious in the hills.

I had planned an epic ride today that was going to be all the best trails at Ballater, Aboyne and Banchory and ride between each location. The weather forecast for biblical rain put the kibosh on that so I just headed to Ballater and rode until the rain came…….it didn’t 😂.

I rode ‘Final Destination’, ‘E.T.’, ‘Mastermind’, ‘The Green Mile’ and ‘Heartbreak Ridge’.
41 miles and 6000ft of up, legs were shot at the end.

Ride at Drumtochty today and saw this in the car park

I saw two on Saturday heading out towards Mount Battock from Bridge of Dye. Both were about 50cm, managed a photo of one and nearly ran the other over 😳

Mount Battock and Clachnaben for me today. The climb up to Mount Battock was brutally hard, south facing, hot, long and very steep and the descent off Clachnaben was pretty sketchy.

I saw a couple of Adders too 😀

Beinn a Bhuird from Invercauld today for me (booked a couple of short notice days off 😀). That was one long and hot climb. Close to 4000ft high and I was too hot in short sleeves 😀

No, never have and, for a few reasons, never will.

I’m not the most sociable person, quite introverted really, so social rides, events and races are something I’d rather avoid.

I’d much rather ride where and when I want to.

Like Scotroutes I get performance anxiety so racing and my desire to do well (I am competitive) would change riding into a chore rather than something that I enjoy.

I’m also never going to be at the pointy end and would rather not just make up the numbers.

I can see why people enjoy it, but their make up is different to mine.

I’m rode a few of the trails at Bielsko-Biala in Poland today. I only managed to do the green and blue trails as I was being shown around by one of my partner’s relatives who only rides a few times a year.
I was on a hired e-bike (first go on one) and we caught the gondola to the top 😳😂
The trails were pretty good but the monster truck e-bike spoiled the experience a little. I won’t be purchasing one unless my health dictates I have to.

I managed to get over to Tarland Trails after work on Thursday for a quick couple of hours in lovely conditions.
The rest of the weekend has been thoroughly dreich. Thick fog, low cloud and rain. I finally got out today at Drumtochty and it was exceptionally muddy. I must be getting to be a better rider as I’m starting to enjoy muddy conditions.

Kielder is a funny place, I always think it is the sort of place that lends itself to the setting of a 9pm Sunday evening murder drama. Moody, remote, grey, grim and a nervous edge.

I rode the trails about 16 years ago and the cross border trail about 5 years ago and enjoyed both. I keep meaning to go back but it really is a long way from anywhere and if I’m in the borders area I just end up at Innerleithen.

I’ve done the lollipop twice and the classic about five times and I definitely prefer the classic. The lollipop feels like a massive effort for only a little extra reward over the classic (the descent from Granda to the Achnashellach descent just ain’t worth the effort).

Also a couple of laps of the Achnashellach descent could be good too. Nice singletrack/tech combo.

This is what I’ll do the next time I head over.

I was going to head to Innerleithen this weekend but had a last minute change of mind and went over to Glen Affric. I’m glad I did because it was absolutely stunning.

My strangest was when I managed to undo my seatpost quick release lever with my hamstring tendon.
There was very little blood, just a deep puncture wound that needed a good flushing out.

The last cheque I wrote was in about 1996, it was for the company I worked for at the time.

I have never written a personal cheque. I’ve never even owned a cheque book 😳

What @weeksy said

weeksy
Full Member
The opposite really.

51 and MTB inspires me more than ever. I’m trying harder things, riding harder trails and enjoying the lack of control and grip. Even today I was out in the slop playing and gapping a mate on tech stuff.

A bit of a chilled one for me this weekend. Had a bit of a weird eye thing at work on Thursday night and a bit of Googling told me it was a Scintillating Scotoma, very strange sensation. No riding on Friday or Saturday and plenty of sleep.
Went to Ballater today, weather was just right, but I felt totally beat up by the end because the trails are so blown out.

The view from Heartbreak Ridge across to Beinn a Bhùird

Driving from Aberdeen to Manchester this morning I noticed that there was no snow around Dundee and Perth. An impromptu stop at Pitmedden for a couple of hours on dusty, frozen and sandpaper grippy trails was a welcome relief from the snow of the last week.

I arrived in Manchester a few hours ago, along with the rain 🙁

Aboyne for me today with my mate who was out on his Privateer 141. He had a go of mine at Pitmedden last week and bought a second hand frame on the Monday 😀.
Conditions were very greasy and he managed personal bests on several trails, he seemed pleased with the bike.

I might buy some of the Trail wheels to fit them to so I don’t have to switch tyres so often.

Don’t buy the Hunt Trailwides, they are not up to the job. The rear would not stay tensioned on mine and a mates with loads of cracks developing on both. They will warranty them, but what’s the point.
I’ve done the two wheelset thing with mine, with similar weight wheels, but with grippy tyres and insets on one set and less grippy tyres and no inserts in the other set. Both wheels ready to ride with just a cassette swap.

For me the weight of a bike is mostly in the wheels and tyres.

If you go to Llandegla on the Privateer keep the fast rolling tyres on, it’s a bit of a slog on a bigger bike. I find that I have more fun there on my Scott Scale XC hardtail.

As for best trail centre I think that Balblair and Golspie in the same day is a good mix of everything. Shame they are miles from most of the UK.

Eight stitches between my thumb and forefinger as a four year old. Probably explains why my handwriting was always atrocious. Still got the scar 47 years later.

No Friday for me this week (this is the one in four that I have to work 🙁)

Rode at Ballater today and my legs failed me, I just didn’t have the legs to sprint the flatter bits of Heartbreak Ridge, Mastermind or ET. Hopefully the strength comes back as I do more outdoor rides.

On the climb to HBR I had a few onlookers.

Couple of post-Covid rides for me this weekend. I felt pretty rough three weeks ago so I’m pleased that I’ve not lost much of my fitness or strength. I actually think that a couple of weeks completely off the bike may have been good for me.
Friday was Dunkeld and today was above Aboyne. Personal bests on descents both days so pleased with that.

Nice bike 😀

I like mine, pedals well, climbs well, descends well and feels really balanced. It’s just a wee bit chunky.
People say that setting up the fork is difficult. Fortunately I’m the same weight as a guy who reviewed them on Pinkbike so I just went with his settings and it worked out well for me.

I used to have a random sheet of A4 with all my passwords hidden in amongst a huge pile of old CRC, Merlin, Wiggle etc. receipts, in amongst a load of other documents.
Aberdeenshire CID found it while they were searching my property (long story) and left it out and on the top of the pile. When they interviewed me they mentioned it in passing and said it wasn’t a good idea. 😳😳

The One Up Components and Brand-X droppers both feel rough and have a heavier lever feel compared to the BikeYoke Revive that I used to own.
Now that the likes of One Up and Brand-X sell droppers that are reliable and cheap I wouldn’t pay the extra for the BikeYoke, even though it was lovely to use. I only bought the BikeYoke because I was tired of Reverbs failing.

Öhlins version since May. About 1000 miles and 175,000ft of descending. P2 and 5’9”.

Recently replaced the frame bearings and cannot keep the trailwide rear wheel tensioned.

Otherwise it is pretty much perfect for most of my riding up here in Aberdeenshire.

I would agree with everything Halifaxpete says.

This review pretty much sums it up for me (except I find that it does grip on techy climbs)

Review: Privateer 141

Definitely a wet one up in Aberdeenshire. I had to take a wee diversion to get to Drumtochty Hill today. A lot of the trails were streams and there were a lot of deep puddles. ‘Twas good fun though.

An Ancillotti, because I’ve always wanted one.
Although I’m not sure how you actually attain one.

It’s been a very misty and murky weekend in Aberdeenshire.

On Saturday I went for a stroll along Loch Lee to the Falls of Unich with the other half. It was only 8 miles but my right hip was in pieces and it was painful to walk, oh and my left foot did a bit of bleeding.
Today the hip is still sore to walk but absolutely fine to ride on. I think that I need to do some hip flexor work

I’d been looking at the standard 141 for ages but knew that I would have blown a load of cash putting coil suspension on it, so when the Ohlins bike was released I bought one straight away (The fork is air but is very good). With an extra 15% off it is a bargain.
It climbs really well, each pedal stroke drives you forward and it is very easy to get up steep and techy climbs. For most descending it is really balanced and easy to to manoeuvre it just comes a bit unstuck in really fast sections with big compressions (I just need to do some more press ups 😀).

Size P2 at 5’9”

If Privateer released an Ohlins 161 I’d probably buy one to see how I get on with it, but I suspect it would be overkill for most of my riding.

I’ve had mine for 6 months, about 900 miles and 160,000ft of descending. Mostly straight up and straight down type of stuff up in the NE of Scotland.
The only issue has been the rear wheel spoke tension that requires constant attention (Hunt Trailwides).
The reviews definitely mirror what I think about mine. Probably the most balanced bike I’ve ridden.

5’9” on a P2 seems to suit me well

In the wilds:

Smashpot conversion here (Fox 36 Rhythm on a Specialized Status).
The fork went from being something that I could never really get set up well to being pretty much perfect for me.