Full expose of yesterdays Scotland/England summit in Jedburgh
All seemed to be initially going to plan, everyone who was coming was there (a few comrades had to pull out, all had notes from their mums) and by and large on time. No small thanks on our side to Gazz's Daisy Duke Merc manouvres. To the casual observer a professional mtb unit were kitting up and shipping out, bikes being built and tested, maps being pondered and pointed at, camelbacks filled and sweeties bought at the shop. The veneer was shattered after the first 200 yards out of town. The crunching of gears/knees/hips et al had the locals running for cover as the ascent of the first incline( called hooorofa hill I believe I heard a fellow group member say) took place, an ambulance slowed but we waved it on. So 200 yards in.....check map.....continue climb :evil: this went on for approximately, by my reckoning 7 miles with 3000ft of ascent. The GPS did not concur with my estimation but I'll stand by my Apache instincts on distance and such.
Finally we reached the off road stuff, now were talking
. This mixture of gloop and ahem north shore style :roll: boardwalk had us now walking for the next several miles and a few more thousand metres off ascent. Finally the ken broke from the ranks and had a spirited sprint up the almost vertical face of the climb, the promise of 2 black jacks as a summit prize had the desired effect, this was short lived as he collapsed though no first aid was required. It did herald the start of some rideable terain and a quick zip up the track to the radio mast station for a breather and pic opportunity.
Next up was a wee bit of downhill in the gloop action , ducking trees,sliding sideways, avoiding rocks and falling off. Finally something to smile about. After a wee wrong turn we were back on track, the remoteness and peril were brought home when a knawed sheeps leg was spotted, it sent a chill up the spine, danger was abroad and it was eating sheep.............
To be continued
All seemed to be initially going to plan, everyone who was coming was there (a few comrades had to pull out, all had notes from their mums) and by and large on time. No small thanks on our side to Gazz's Daisy Duke Merc manouvres. To the casual observer a professional mtb unit were kitting up and shipping out, bikes being built and tested, maps being pondered and pointed at, camelbacks filled and sweeties bought at the shop. The veneer was shattered after the first 200 yards out of town. The crunching of gears/knees/hips et al had the locals running for cover as the ascent of the first incline( called hooorofa hill I believe I heard a fellow group member say) took place, an ambulance slowed but we waved it on. So 200 yards in.....check map.....continue climb :evil: this went on for approximately, by my reckoning 7 miles with 3000ft of ascent. The GPS did not concur with my estimation but I'll stand by my Apache instincts on distance and such.
Finally we reached the off road stuff, now were talking
. This mixture of gloop and ahem north shore style :roll: boardwalk had us now walking for the next several miles and a few more thousand metres off ascent. Finally the ken broke from the ranks and had a spirited sprint up the almost vertical face of the climb, the promise of 2 black jacks as a summit prize had the desired effect, this was short lived as he collapsed though no first aid was required. It did herald the start of some rideable terain and a quick zip up the track to the radio mast station for a breather and pic opportunity. Next up was a wee bit of downhill in the gloop action , ducking trees,sliding sideways, avoiding rocks and falling off. Finally something to smile about. After a wee wrong turn we were back on track, the remoteness and peril were brought home when a knawed sheeps leg was spotted, it sent a chill up the spine, danger was abroad and it was eating sheep.............
To be continued
