Jeddart Justice Trail (W)

The Jeddart Justice trail is one of several that start and finish in Jedburgh: 40km of natural tracks... so we thought we'd give it a go....

From Jeddart Justice Trail

Once you find the start (...!) it is a great trail that meanders around side roads and paths then has a sharp descent down Dere Street. Second half of the trail is really overgrown and in places was just not rideable at all; coming down overgrown paths where you cant see the ground makes for interesting cycling. It is hard-going too - not like the manufactured and manicured trails around places like Glentress: this is wet and muddy all year round (my bike looked and smelled like it had spent time in a swamp at the end of it!)

From Jeddart Justice Trail

Link to route map : http://www.jedforesttrails.org/thejusticetrail.pdf

Melrose and windmills (W)

Another route from home, this time down towards Stow and the windmills at Longpark. Long haul up out of Stow, 600 ft in a mile, which I think works out at a constant 1 in 12 for a mile....

From Melrose and windmills

The road goes very close to the new wind farm at Longpark; they are huge, elegant and bit spooky, all at the same time....

From Melrose and windmills

At Langshaw, we thought that a bit of a detour down to Merose was in order, so off down there for lunch. The route back to Lauder included a welcome stop for coffee and then into the hills to try and link Threeburnford with Middletoun; we did it (just) but the track was very well hidden ....

Brockhouse-Haltree (H)

A bit like orienteering on horseback, this was a route to try and connect up farm tracks from Brockhouse and Haltree.... which we managed (just) after sneaking through wheat fields, hiding from the farmer adn jumping the odd burn here and there..... bit of a trek, but well worth the effort.


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Pitlochry 2009 (W,B)

Two days fun around Pitlochry: first day was a cycle away up into the hills on the Atholl Estates land, all the way out to the Allt Sheicheachan bothy (new picnic tables since our last visit).

Saw our first adder up here, on up the path towards Beinn Dearg, warming himself (I think it was a male) on the path before slithering off into the undergrowth....

From Pitlochry 2009

The path follows the burn, rising to 650m: I defy anyone on a bike to be able to ride the last 200m as it climbs up about 1 in 4 on loose scree around hairpins!! But what comes next makes all the uphill worth it.... Over 10km of continuous descent on rough tracks, splashing through numerous fords, bouncing down over loose stones.....

From Pitlochry 2009

Second day saw us back on up Beinn a'Ghlo, trying to beat the rain that was forecast. We skipped out the final ascent of Carn nan Gabhar as its top was lost in mist by the time we got to the col just below the final climb up to it. Wind on the ridge was really dtrong, making it feel much more exposed than it really is!

From Pitlochry 2009

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Deliverance (W)

I couldn't face spending the whole of my birthday working so took myself off to Glentress to tackle Deliverance and Redemption climb on the black route.



Deliverance is a long long descent, rough and narrow but not too difficult (or so I thought on this particular day....!) The climb back out is a leg-sapper, meandering up through the forest seemingly for ever....

Glad to have survived my first bit of the black route!

Clovenfords (W)

In a bid to not lose the fitness we acquired when doing the Western Isles cycle, we've been trying to get out at the weekend as often as we can. Having lived here for 7 years, we'd never cycled through the Moorfoots down to Innerleithen, and that was where this route took us today. It's a steady climb from the Heriot road end and then down all the way to Innerleithen, and along the back road to Ashitiel Bridge.



From here we went up to Clovenfords, and then back home on the west side of the main A7 (should have turned off just outside Clovenfords to avoid the mile or so on the A7, but guess who had lost the OS map during a coffee stop.....)

40 miles in about 3 hrs.



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