RetroRoadRide Series - Rd 5: The Four Abbeys - 24/08/13

Stephen - would I cope on the battered old 7 speed Flying Scot or do you think the multigeared Bianchi is better suited :?:

EDIT - actually if I get my erse inta gear this weekend I may make time to pull the cranks and fit a double


.... .... .... and is this the correct map?

http://www.cyclescottishborders.com/route/4-abbeys/

Forecast is sunny with a high of 74 degrees.

Mr P your map is correct and the terrain although hilly is not as bad by a long shot as our Loch Tay ride. I would suggest a low gear ratio of lower than the classic 42:28 (1.5:1). There are 2 hills of note, the first just before Jedburgh and the second as we near Melrose. I will not get snooty as regards the age of a bike, ride what you feel most comfortable with. My steeds a very scruffy Dawes Lightning that I'll try and make a wee bit more retro authentic before the day, that is dump the mtb kit

No worries - if I bring the FS (also pretty scruffy) - 42/28 it is

I check the Galaxy this morning , 42/22 is the best I can go.
I think I'll blag the wheel off my daughters 'racer' , its got a bigger 6 sp cassette . However that means running a 28 up front and a 700 at the back. The brakes have enough drop and the difference is maginal so for the sake of goin up hills a bit easier I'll probably do it.

Andy is a 6 speed cassette not in fact a 6 speed freewheel which you could just swap onto the old galaxy wheel. They've not made 6 speed cassettes since God could still swing his leg over a saddle ?

Anymore ?????????????

Looking like this is the final Roll Call:

So we got:
Me - Velomaniac
Hawmaw
Mr Panda
Gmac
Jamie Dyer (if he's prepared for the epic journey down here)
Drystonepaul (only Englander so far and if he's prepared for the epic journey up here)

There was a couple of other notices of interest in the past but they've not confirmed and thus probably not coming.

So six of us potentially

..............and then there were 5 potentially.

Jamie wont be with us but since his plan involved driving the length of Scotland at the last minute because he forgot and the fact when he got home from work last night he had to fix his imersion tank that had split it was obvious the Gods had it in for him.

Last chance to sign up or bale out

superb ride yesterday, thanks to a great route choice by velo

we set out from Newtown St Boswells as a trio velo, hawmaw and gmac123 for a rolling ride around the borders

velo's weapon of choice was a dawes lightening, complete with saddle bag and flattish bars. andy was sporting his recently restored and very clean 70s dawes galaxy, a lovely bike and I gave my old dave yates a ride out. wish i took pictures of the bikes, but with just a old blackberry I hadn't expected the chief photographer role

first up was dryburgh abbey


IMG00239-20130824-1146 by gmac123, on Flickr

the route took us onto kelso where we carbohydrate loaded across the road from the abbey with a poke of chips :facepalm:

along the way we travelled along nice quiet farm roads, crossing several rivers (or the same one many times) on a variety of bridges and even a ford :shock:


IMG00245-20130824-1526 by gmac123, on Flickr


IMG00246-20130824-1527 by gmac123, on Flickr

much bull was talked


IMG00241-20130824-1309 by gmac123, on Flickr

and the odd fettle to keep us road worthy :facepalm:

a great route, thanks to velo for making this happen