Thv3 sorry for any confusion, I drive up to Straiton Park and Ride and then bike it into Cannonmills from there. In the lighter evenings I regularly extend my commute to start from Auchedinny, ocassionaly from Leadburn.

I do know of one guy who does the Peebles-Edinburgh commute. He doesn’t mind it but he is uber fit.

Hels… I also commute in from Peebles and I fully agree regarding the roads after Leadburn. They are ignored and poorly maintained, woeful to drive on. Cycling on them is a nightmare too as along the side of the road is bumpier than most of the Red @ GT.

The “super highway” that has finally appeared on Edinburgh south side is useless as the cycle lanes are fair game for cars to park in with just a single yellow line. Liberton Brae might as well not have a cycle lane too given I have never in three years not seen a parked car in the cycle lane, pushing the cyclist into a very busy road. Call me naive but shouldn’t a cycle lane be exclusively for cyclists and not a extra parking area for cars during the day?

Rant over :lol:

Cardrona Village, just past Glentress. One or two hills worth riding in :-)

Another vote for Charlie. Drop him an email and he’ll give you spot on advice.

no, yes, yes

Cheers, much appreciated OP!

Another vote for Ridelines.

Cheers guys, thanks for that!

SzB the diversion takes you down some steepish singletrack and then finishes at an old Roman fort (I think). Then you hop across a wee stream and then you are at the start of Redemption.

Snow on the top half of the black, all rideable though. Deliverance diversion was mega fun, worth doing, finishes at the start of Redemption.

The diversion on Deliverance due to logging is actually just as good as Deliverance itself. Much swoopy natural goodness to be had :D

Great fun in the snow today at GT. Spooky was just a great laugh, I had forgot how much biking in the snow can be. Zoom or Bust was nice and icy, our final off piste descent was almost normal beneath the trees.

Grand day out indeed.

We still have alot of snow from Thursday night that has turned to ice here at ground level here in Cardrona. So it will be snowy and icy at GT.

Still should be fun tomorrow, I’ll be out on the bike.

It will break you on the climbs more like it.

Buy it, I dithered over buying one for a few weeks and the indecision and fretting was painful until I finally bought the ASR5.

Haven’t regretted it since, love my Yeti.

Cool, I have gone and ordered one to, cheers OP and Zangolin

Heading up GT to do the Black and a few off piste bits tonight. I live just over the road from Glentress and we have had some rain today but mostly it has just been sunny and windy.

Of course hat has no bearings to what the weather can be like on higher ground :twisted:

Get up 5am, drive 20 miles and then cycle the remaining 6 miles to work.
If I am doing a run after the cycle (usually twice a week) then get up at 4.45am.

Usually in bed between 10.30-11pm.

I always look tired 8)

Another shout for Andy at Ridelines. Top notch guy who really knows what he is talking about, and most importantly, can explain everything in such a way even an idiot like me can understand.

I loved my Prophet2, it was the 2008 model, my first full suss, Pikes, Juicy 5s, Maxxis Ignitors, great spec for the dosh.

Rode it in the FR position, had lots of fun. Sold it to pay for my next bike, many happy memories :-)

Yeti ASR5 medium, fits me perfectly at 5’10, 65mm stem.

For the 11 yr old try woman XS sizes. That size suit kids about that age,colours usually in black too if you go for Endura & Altura gear.

I have 120mm Revelations on my Yeti, am considering getting them adjusted to 130mm as I have heard good things about the ASR on this much travel.

bump…final try…. :D

Was there yesterday as well. Just as I was about to ride through that section but fortunately there was a Forest Ranger standing there so he shouted me a warning about the ice. Otherwise I could have had a similar off :(

GT red is clear of ice, rode it yesterday. Just a corner following a drop on Spookywood (a couple of berms after after the new tabletop) is still sheet ice. Otherwise it’s all good.

GT Red and Inners are pretty much free of ice and completely rideable(just the odd bit of ice to look out for). Don’t know about GT Black, sorry.

I fractured my left collarbone on 5th Sept. In a (very good) sling for 7 weeks, off work for 3 and a half weeks. After week 7 the healing had progressed so that the jarring sensation of bone moving had gone away. Consultant was happy with the healing up to that point.

Week 9 I got it assessed by a physio, no ligament damage, no restriction in movement, all good news.

I was back on the road bike and running at the end of the eighth week, have been mountain biking twice though has been due to lack of free weekends and bad weather. Already had my first wipe out on the mountain bike so I’m over that mental hurdle.

So looks like recovery has been a good one, thankfully.

Yes :P

Second ride out after recovering from broken collarbone, so yes definitely going on my bike in the morning :D

I bought a new 2010 Kona Paddy Wagon off ebay for £350 last month. Use it as my daily commuter in Edinburgh, love it to bits. Not too heavy IMO but my previous commuter was a hacked Spesh Hardrock SS so quite a bit of weight saving for me with the Paddy Wagon. And the price was a bargain compared to the cost of modern SS bikes.

And I love the colour scheme :D

+1 for Cube Ltd Race, swapped my FS for this HT, love it. Does trail centres and natural stuff, fast, great climber and looks good with good kit for the price.

As someone else mentioned might be a bit too ‘twitchy’ for your first bike though.

I’ve lived in Cardrona Village for six years so here is a quick summary pros/cons:
Pros
* great biking nearby + it has the pump track
* beautiful scenery
* nice and quiet, great place to raise a family + has playground for kids
* has a village shop for buying essentials
Cons
* Broadband is average 0.7meg/mobilephone coverage isn’t great
* 6 mile round trip to Peebles
* Some streets you never get to see the residents and there is a bit off an elitist attitude at times
* daily commute to Edinburgh can be a pain, however park at Straiton and commute the rest on your bike.

Re flooding, yes the golf course floods every year but I never felt that my house has been at risk. Bus is every 30mins, kids have school buses they catch every day.

I’m happy living there but if you have a choice, go for Peebles instead.

'Sh1t My Dad Says' by Justin Halpern, short, easy to read and laugh out loud funny.

'Good Omens' by Prachett/Gaiman

Bananna Smoothie and panini at the Hub today, top class.

The Hub represents all that is good about Glentress, people of all skill levels go there after biking around GT. No matter what your bike you ride, no matter how far you can ride, no matter how good you are, the Hub Cafe brings us all together for good food, to chat about our exploits up in the trails, and generally chill out with excellent food. And allow us to ogle some of the bikes up than are leant up against the fence.

Good luck Emma & Tracy, hope it all works out for you.

Up and over Gypsy's Glen followed by GT Black in the morning. Good company and a good day out on the bike to look forward to.

The Black is a blast, great work out on the legs, some great scenery and a few fantastic descents. Even better on a hardtail too :D

agree with:

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time (rereading again, much better when they can be read back to back)
Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant Chronicles
Tad Williams Memory, Thorn and Sorrow

Enough reading there for a a wee while.

Out the front door at 7am, up and over Gypsy Glen (starting at Cardrona Forest carpark) then round GT Red. Some fantastic scenery and lots of lovely biking. Cracking start to the day, weather was supberb, onto to Tarquair this afternoon for some family time.

Indeed Black is fully open, rode round it on Sunday morning. Magic Mushroom new reroute is fast and swoopy if a tad bland compared to what was there before.