As above, I’m a bit further west – in Peebles but happy to show you about this end of the valley.

If you can include a trip to Vancouver Island, Tofino is a beautiful place, as are the beaches down that stretch of coast. Victoria is a relaxed place to spend a couple of days.

Got to agree with Northwind here, the Tweed Valley has a huge number and variety of trails. Uni clubs are a good idea to help get to know the area but there are also a couple of decent bike shops in Innerleithen who could point you in the right direction.

+1 for Pyro. Brilliant coffee and minimal mess/fuss. Just need hot water, ground coffee and a mug.

My Sam Hills lasted 3 years of Scottish weather and had a fair few trips throughs burns etc. They finally fell apart this spring and I’ve been looking for replacements, also baulking a the cost of new 5.10s. I have tried Teva Links which were good but not as grippy on the pedals. The search goes on.

Cheers folks. I’ve been down to Tollymore once but was with some DH riders so didn’t find the best of the trails. I’ll need to head back down there soon.

Thanks for the link. dhrider, I’ll head over there now.

My office is in Newtonabbey so have been to Cavehill a couple of times. Good descents.

Anthem – njoi

OP, great tattoo. I haven’t read all 6 pages but I can imagine how it’s gone :( I got my koi a couple of years ago and love it. It also took 4hrs but was totally worth every minute as I have (as you now do) an amazing piece of art on my arm. Ignore the haters.

Whoah there. I’m with rich, Caddonbank is one of the fastest most fun sections of trail in the valley plus the descent off the top of the moor is brilliant, yes, you have to pedal but you’re on a bike. Plora Craig is also a fantastic piece of trail, the black section is hard going with flowing singletrack to finish. What’s not to like?

This has been posted a couple of times already but it is really class.

https://soundcloud.com/james-lavelle/james-lavelle-presents-living

For me summer tunes are all about hip hop. I love these:

I work at home, so I’m subjecting myself to this (again).

Stage4 video. this is how to ride it :)

Stage 4 will be covered up as part of the agreement with the Forestry Commission. I’m not sure if this just means the drop in to the lower section but I fear it means the whole lot. I was planning a ride up there on Sunday to check it out so I’ll let you know.

Ibis Mojo HD would be my choice. Not sure if it would be sub 30lbs, but it would be ideal.

I’m doing the same, planning on a wee spin up to GT later to see if any sections are taped out yet. Looking forward to tomorrow.

I was at the Tweedlove film night last night and they showed 2 more Tweedlove Stories films, no8 is of Gary Forrest riding stage4 like no-one I’ve seen, hopefully it’ll be up on the site soon.

I had a Muddy Mary (2.35 but comes up big) on the front of my Orange P7 until recently, I changed it to a Fat Albert (2.25), which I already had on the back, and the difference was amazing – much faster both up and down. Try tyres first and see how you get on.

We were just behind them when she crashed, she didn’t look great at the time and we were a few miles from the road. I’m glad she’s on the mend now but this just compounds a miserable day. Fingers crossed he gets it back.

They’re not on the Tweedlove site yet. Well done to all you guys, my time was 41.34. I was 6/8 in our group so was pretty pleased. Predictably, stage 2 was hardest for me on my hardtail, the rough part was hell on my arms. All the rest were good.

How did you all get on then? I had a blast, rode everything and wasn’t last. Brilliant day.

Troy Lee Ace’s

We’ve done it since though, thankfully without any problems or rescue!!

That’s good to hear. Brilliant isn’t it?

Everyone keeps telling me how I should go tubeless as it’s so easy but I keep hearing these stories so will be sticking to tubes.

Pushing down that descent is a sore one, I LOVE that descent. Sorry.

TBH, I find the flat straight sections of stage 5 harder than the steep bit of stage 4, if you get in one of those ruts and wobble a wee bit you’ll be off.

I think the course is brilliant, there is a huge difference between stage 1 and stage 5 but that’s what an enduro race is about, testing different skills.

It’s nowhere near as steep as some of the Caberston/Innerleithen trails: boner, 3g prospacker etc. I struggle with those but stage 4 is manageable. It will be harder if it rains and you’re at the back of the field. I’ll be waiting at the registration desk at 830 on Saturday

There will only be trail closures on Sunday, however, Saturday is practise day so will be busier than usual. Why not try Innerleithen? It’s only 5 miles down the road and it is brilliant. Your ride on Thursday should be unaffected.

Well, the top of stage 4 was totally different tonight. I last rode it on Friday night and it was really nice, I went up tonight (before the torrential rain) and it was rutted and cut up. Looks like a lot of riders have been down over the weekend with their back wheels locked up, loads more exposed roots and it actually felt steeper. However, the bottom of stage 4 was as good as ever. Can’t wait for Sunday.

Sorry retro, just seen this. Here you go. Enjoy, it really is good.

I’m in. The Cademuir trails are brilliant, they’ve been signposted all week so it’s been getting busier up there. Very different from the Glentress stages, quite steep and loose. The last section will be testing if it’s wet. I live at the bottom of the hill so have been riding in there for years, it’s usually very quiet in Cademuir so it will be strange to see loads of folk riding there.

Just listened to it, well, got to track 5 and got bored and went back to the James Lavelle mix posted on here a few days ago.

He’s become a parody of himself

^ This

In The Sweeney he is ridiculous. Totally unbelievable. Not a great film anyway tbh.

Great video. Before you know it, you’ll be struggling to keep up with him :-)

Stan, I was on that Go-Where trip and can confirm the Black Cuillin was very good at the Torridon. We drove to Applecross that Sunday and rode from there, it was wet and wild but not as good as the trip into the Cuillins on Monday. A great weekend all in.

Yes, exactly as you say. I took my bike on Flybe from Edinburgh to Belfast, fortunately it’s usually quiet with most people just taking hand luggage. When I enquired about the bike booking they told me that my bike would be on standby until there was a flight that it would fit on – could be a few days!. I just took the chance and was lucky, I would have been more concerned on a busier route. Good Luck!

That sounds like a much better plan, Rich. :)

I was at Glentress last night and the snow is still pretty deep and unrideable above the Buzzards Nest. I climb up Janet’s Brae from Peebles which is fine to the top of the steep climb but from the start of the green to the car park is still bad. We did Pennels, Blue return, Blue Velvet and Berm baby berm which all had snow on them, hard packed on some but melting and churned up on others so grip was a problem. Lower down the trails are dry and dusty as it’s been so dry. Inners will be very similar, no idea about Ae or Mabie. HTH

I have high blood pressure and take medication for it, the last time it was checked, which was a couple of weeks ago, the readings were 130/85 which the nurse was happy with, some doctors will say that’s still a bit high, it has been as high as 150/105 but that was before I started the medication. When I go for a check up they always take 3-4 readings to try and eliminate white coat syndrome.

OP, you’re bp readings seem fine so stop taking them so much – I only get mine checked every 3-6 months.