Raleigh Rally & Pentlands Meet - Pre-ftermath

Davedownhill

MacRetro Rider
Well, turned up to encourage- jetlag prevented riding today...
Velo, The Ken and Zigzag were all ready to hit the trail in the gorious wind and rain, but I got some pics (Had the Dyna so it could at least make a static appearance)


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Ken GT, the only non-Raleigh

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Zigzag's ultra rare Raleigt I-drive

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and again...

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Velo's lighweight racing steed

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Dyna banana monster


Best of luck to those intrepids souls, I've got a sofa, a bucket of tea, the EU biscuit mountain and BTCC in the telly...
 
I'm home first, hardly surprising, I live beside the hills :LOL:

Us three intrepid souls set out in drizzle that quickly abated, then cleared to give a bright if very breezy day.

First bit was fast as it followed level path, tarmac and farm road before a wee bit of B-road speeding. Then we hit a farmtrack into the hills, spotted some single track parallel to us so followed that through twist muddy tree routed trail. Nice tactical dismount from The Ken on a particularly rooty bit but no harm done.

Reached a crossroads, more cross paths really and proved our navigational ineptitude by asking passers by to point out on our map where we were :oops: Soon we knew and set off up a nice steady climb across the moorland to a pass between the hills. Stopped for a chinwag and then set off down the other side with increasing speed, yeeehhhaaaaa :D What a buzz but I did dent the rear steel wheel rim hitting a rock, bashed flat again later with another rock, stoneage technology :LOL:

Next stage was a long slog upwards and over to another pass, lots of walking, little riding and a good crash from ZigZag as he expertly crossed one muddy ditch just to go over the bars crossing another ditch only yards after the first, oh how we laughed :LOL: Finally reached a wall to shelter behind as we chatted and put the world to rights.

Eventually we pushed up to a path we'd seen another biker descending and decided we would do likewise. Another tremendous fast technical downhill, loose rocks and deep ruts, couldn't stop grinning all the way down. Apparently this was the section The Ken hit a sheep way BITD, thankfully he did not repeat this trick.

Last bit was a fast sprint across a field with a few good opportunities to catch some air before arriving back down close to the Edinburgh Bypass.
At this point we split with me returning home to type this summary. ZigZag took some pictures we'll no doubt see later.

The Pentlands are as good now as ever they've been and I must make more effort to get back up there. A good meet and proof a cheapo old Raleigh can cut it off road.

Velo
 
Photies first...

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Velo being beaten by a gurl (granted she was on a full susser)

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The Ken putting a brave face on after being shunned by the walkers

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Lost again...

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Velo full on race face :twisted:

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The rare and elusive lesser-spotted Ken in his natural environment

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The Ken and Velo stopped for a chinwag - Looking SW from the east side of Harbour Hill back towards Glencorse reservoir. EDIT: That wisnae Velo, that was the guy out recceing tracks, right?

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Looking SW from the crossroads between Capelaw and Allermuir

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Rusty metal... and none of it belongs to Velo ;)

Shame aboot the Big Eck, but great to meet another Macretro'er. Dave and The Ken's bikes... mmmm, Titanium. And Velo brought a minter (that's right, I spelled that with an 'i' and not a 'u').

Enjoyed the ride (bar the obligatory face plant and shitey boggy sloggy bit) - and nice to see another part of the Pentlands for a change - great bit of downhill at the end, complete with miniature Grand Canyons to catch out the unwary.
 
great pictures lads, looks like you had a blast- love the headtube badge zigzag and was that a pillow on velo's handlebars? :shock:

Let me see what shifts the wife is on for next sunday.
 
Love the picture of me with my full on race face. Thanks for snapping that ZigZag, its my works PC screensaver now :D :cool:
 
velomaniac":2xhn3jj0 said:
Love the picture of me with my full on race face. Thanks for snapping that ZigZag, its my works PC screensaver now :D :cool:

agreed top pic :D
 
That was only 9.5 miles! I can't believe how much I was hurting at the end of that, and today for that matter.
 
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