An excellent turn-out - despite the decidedly unpromising weather first thing.
Some 16 people showed up, and we were all pretty much ready to roll by 10.45 -
despite a fine assortment of sore heads, I should add! (Graeme E, in particular,
looked like he was going for the Most Hungover Dentist on the Planet award).

What's more, the weather had cleared up nicely, and the sun was shining by the
time we got to the Three Brethren, giving us fabulous views in all directions.
We had our first, and only, mechanical - when Kathryn had a glitch with her
front mech, but Paul H managed to fix this smartish.

Then it was on to the first series of descents taking us down to the Tweed
valley. The first downhill was exceedingly gloopy and sketchy in the trees, but
everyone emerged with big grins. The next descent through the clear-cut was
drier and slightly overgrown, but equally fun. The next two downs were the best
though, with a mix of singletrack through the trees, blind-approach rock steps,
off-camber contouring and steep, loose stuff :-) It was all a lot wetter than it
had been on the Merida, but we were still loving it!

When we got down to the road, 3 folks headed back to the cars, and the rest
headed along the Tweed valley for the next off-road loop - a long, zig-zaggy
climb and some more grin-inducing hooning through the trees. Then it was
decision time, and faced with the prospect of a gruelling fire-road climb (and
with dwindling reserves of food and water) most people elected to pedal back
along the road. Three of us (Ali, Paul N and myself) scrounged some water
(thanks, Graeme & Pat et al.) and carried on.

The climb was indeed grim, but we were rewarded with 360 deg. panoramic views
and some wonderful late summer sunshine (enjoy it while you can!). The ride
along the ridge of the Southern Upland Way was a hoot - and even the last pull
up to the Three Brethren wasn't as painful as I remembered. Then it was back
down to the cars via the first series of descents we had done earlier in the
day. We were getting tired and hungry by now (it's worth noting these are big
climbs - with nowhere to restock food and drink - so bring plenty!), but we got
down safely, and had a blast doing it...

Martin

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