Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

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fatbikephil
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by fatbikephil »

Ray Young wrote:
AlasdairMc wrote:
Ray Young wrote:I think the only overgrown bit will be the big bikehike section, tussocks and heather.
Is that the Fruid to Moffat bit or is there a bigger hike later on?
Yes and it's the biggest bit of bikehike by far.
I can confirm its worse than Lochinver to Ledmore.....
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by Karl »

Lochinver to ledmore is like skipping through beautiful green fields whilst singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music" compared to those moorland crossings... :lol:
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by fatbikephil »

:lol: :lol:
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by AlasdairMc »

htrider wrote:
I can confirm its worse than Lochinver to Ledmore.....
I did most of it last winter in the dark, but I went straight through the pass to Moffat instead of turning right and climbing up to the Beeftub.

I definitely felt I deserved my beer when I got to the bothy...
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by whitestone »

I don't find the Lochinver to Ledmore bit too bad :roll: Maybe I'm weird!

I've done one HaB which is akin to the peat hags below Bealach Horn for four hours :shock:
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by AlasdairMc »

whitestone wrote:I don't find the Lochinver to Ledmore bit too bad :roll: Maybe I'm weird!

I've done one HaB which is akin to the peat hags below Bealach Horn for four hours :shock:
I quite enjoyed it this year, and I suspect it was because I did it first thing in the morning with fresh legs. On previous occasions it wasn't the most enjoyable thing I'd ever done...
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ollie5882 »

So I'm back in the land of the living... So much to say I'm not sure where to start, as Ray's already mentioned the only "similar" event I'd done was the BB200 back in 2012 so it was with a fair degree of trepidation that I made it to the start line but even for most of the 4 days I spent convinced I was following Phil's tyre tracks, and that Karl was so far ahead his had already faded, I was glad I did.

I'll try to get round to a blow by blow account over the next few days but in short as Phil said I dragged myself to Phawhope bothy on day1, struggled to get as far as the hostel in Byrness to try and regroup on day2, then stopped somewhere along the road after the horseshoe beyond Alwinton on day 3, before it became clear after a very slow 7 hours or so on Tuesday that I was never going to finish in time for work today at which point my will to carry on in the rain quickly disappeared...

In the meantime here are a few thoughts and things I've (re)learnt:

1) Ray - you're a sadist of the highest caliber :wink:
2) One hike a bike!? F*** a duck!
3) Berkshire/Oxfordshire don't provide a representative training ground for the Borders...
4) Don't be stingy with holiday - travelling a large proportion of the M4/5/6 on a Friday afternoon will take far longer than you hope.
5) Don't start a multi-day event seriously dehydrated (due to point 4)
6) There's a price to pay if you're struggling to eat anything (I think due to 5)
7) Forget the siege mentality - I finished with more food that I'd carried from the start than I'd start with next time... (but see 6)
8) Day 1 is no place for a heavy bike (see 7)
9) Hot food helps - but not if you're too late to order it (see 8)
10) Forests provide few distractions from your inner demons (see 1-9)
11) One hike a bike!? F*** a duck!

Ollie
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by Borderer »

Fantastic effort Ollie, such a shame the weather stopped you from finishing after all that work. I hope you will come back again to write more for us as I would be interested to read it.
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by fatbikephil »

Good effort Ollie especially given your relative inexpereince of such undertakings - you'll be fine next time!
Next time I have a crack at this I'm going to work on 4 riding days to complete as 3 is definitely beyond me....
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ollie5882 »

Cheers guys - I can't really blame the weather though, I think I just wasn't fit enough to finish in the time I had available... There were plenty of mistakes along the way which, combined with the weather, probably didn't help but probably my biggest mistake was failing to appreciate just how rough going a lot of the trails are and hence over-estimated my average speed...

Day 1 report to follow shortly.
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ollie5882 »

Already much of this seems a blur and looking at the photos I took doesn't seem to help much either, I've no idea where some of them were or why I thought it deserved a photo... Anyway, I'll do my best to recount what I can remember in case it helps any who follow in our footsteps (and there were many footsteps in my case). It'd also be interesting to hear how my experiences compare with Karl and Phil? In general, I wonder if the low completion rate has something to do with the expected difficulty and the reality - I thought a 10km/h overall average (excluding sleep) should be fairly easy to sustain especially given the long fireroad sections on the second day but was constantly battling to keep it up due to much more frequent, much slower sections. But maybe I needed to train harder...

Making it to the start line seemed like an achievement in itself and it was a relief to finally get going, even though Karl instantly sprinted off into the distance and Phil dropped me quickly on the first climb... Back of the "pack" was where I'd expeceted to find myself and I suspected that would be the last I would see of them. I did briefly see Phil at Over Phawhope bothy in the early hours of Sunday morning but I was convinced I was following their tracks the rest of the way round, only finding out a few hours after I pulled the plug that they had had their own issues and I'd not been following anyone for the last 2.5 days!

Birkscairn Hill/Stake Law had sort of escaped my attention when planing the ride - it was obviously one of the bigger hills on the route but I'd have fresh legs and there was Dollar Law and the HAB later in the day that seemed more of a challenge. It was therefore a bit of a rude awakening to find myself pushing up in places as well as down through pathless bogs, falling off when trying to ride (including one invisible but bike swallowing rut).
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Having made it back to fireroad I was happily coasting along faffing with the camera so I made my first navigational error and missed the turning towards St Mary's Loch. Somewhere around here I realised I hadn't really eaten or drunk anything and my stomach was starting to feel slightly "delicate". A second navigational error gave me a closer view of Dryhope tower before the singletrack along St Mary's Loch provided some welcome distraction and free flowing trail.

The climb up Dollar Law was pretty good (although I'll admit my legs weren't quite up to all of it...) but my overloaded bike started to act and feel more like a plough again across the boggy top and down the start of the descent, however once the descent got going it was a cracker and some fast miles and nice trails saw me arrive at Broughton with something resembling a smile. By now I was feeling pretty sick so decided a bowl of soup was about the limit of what I could face but that it would do me good to get something down and would be worth stopping at the cafe. Soup, chocolate milkshake and a coke did indeed leave me feeling a little more human as I set off up the next climb (which I've completely blotted from my memory but the map assures me is there). I do remember riding along the ridge through the windfarm into the driving wind and rain and was relieved to make it back down to Fruid reservoir where the rain stopped. I actually started feeling stronger than I had the rest of the day during the HAB up the other side although was grateful for the tracks of Karl and Phil to ease navigation. Arriving at a top, I foolishly thought I'd made it up the Devil's Beef Tub but the tussocky, marshy downhill marked the start of what I came to think of as the Devil's back passage... Much effort, pushing and cursing later, having turned away from a nice smooth looking downhill at one point in favour of furhter suffering along the ridge line, I finally arrived at what was unmistakingly the top of the Beef Tub and allowed myslef a couple of minutes to soak up the impressive view down towards Moffat.

I arrived in Moffat a little after 10 which was apparently a little too late for the petrol station or any of the shops (I thought some of them were open until 11 but apparently not) but it wasn't the end of the world as I'd hardly touched the food I'd started with and there's always water to drink and most importantly the pizza place was open (and very friendly)! Sadly I sat and stared at a pizza for 40 minutes managing to eat half of it before deciding that my stomach wasn't going to tolerate any more. The woman told me that Karl or Phil had left not long ago and was thinking of staying in the town (I guess now that was Karl) but wasn't sure if they had and I assumed they'd have pressed on or be getting off to a very early start. Not being great at early mornings I decided to head on and try to make it to Over Phawhope. From what I remember, most of this stretch went quite well although the final stretch up above the treeline over Wind Fell was aptly named and in the dark with the wind gusting and rain setting in, some of the trail seemed safer negotiated with my bike on my back rather than me on the bike (and some was just too steep) but I think eventually made it to the bothy about 1:30am (I still haven't checked my track) for some very welcome shelter and rest.

So in short, I guess the bits I expected to be hard went about as I expected them to, but it was the bits I'd mentally marked down as "easy" that caught me out.
Last edited by ollie5882 on Wed Jul 12, 2017 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ollie5882 »

I can only figure out how to upload one image per post so apologies for the spam that's about to follow...
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ollie5882 »

Looking back towards Birkscairn hill...?
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ollie5882 »

Distracting sunshine! :cool:
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ollie5882 »

Lush lochside trails :cool:
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ZeroDarkBivi »

Karl wrote:Lochinver to ledmore is like skipping through beautiful green fields whilst singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music" compared to those moorland crossings... :lol:
Holy sub standard - how can anything be worse than that slogfest?! Rapidly going off the idea of this route now...
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by fatbikephil »

Good one Ollie - keep it coming! I poseted a write up of my debacle over on the 'Your Trips and adventures' forum
ZeroDarkBivi wrote:
Karl wrote:Lochinver to ledmore is like skipping through beautiful green fields whilst singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music" compared to those moorland crossings... :lol:
Holy sub standard - how can anything be worse than that slogfest?! Rapidly going off the idea of this route now...
Nah its only 2 hours to the road from the res but nay views and much wetness made it tres miserables
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ollie5882 »

DAY 2

Having spent most of the previous evening trying to rehydrate I spent most of the night at the mercy of my undersized bladder... Having woken the other guests in the bothy up twice (once when arriving and a couple of hours later) it seemed only fair to pack my bags and hit the trail when I got the early morning call of nature - still at least it meant I was on the road by 6 which was pretty much was my original plan before my late arrival anyway. By the time I left the drizzle had set in and it was a cool and damp start ot the day - but downhill! A few easy km at the start of the day and I started to feel optimistic that it was going to be a big day. My body had other plans though and after a couple of hours the last of the pizza must have been burned up and I started the longest bonk of my life... I don't really remember much of the forest tracks to Newcastleton except trying to force down food and getting off to push whenever the gradient became slightly positive, punctuated with the occasional trip into the undergrowth. Finally reaching the road gave a welcome boost, especially when it turned downhill and dead straight (not something I'd normally enjoy but easy miles was all that mattered right then). The Olive Tree in Newcastelton offered the prospect of more (excellent) soup and milkshake which was still all I could face but made the time for two bowl fulls this time! I spent the time staring at a route profile and contemplating where I might manage to get to - all preconceived expectations had been blown out the water. Deciding that to give myself the best chance of getting round I needed to back off even further and try to "regroup" I remembered there was a hostel in Byrness which seemed like a good target for the day and the prospect of a longer rest. The worst case was that there would be no room and even then the Spithope bothy was just up the valley as a suitable backup. Feeling happy with my new plan I grabbed a few bags of crisps and some "sports drinks" from the Costcutter and got back on the road.

More forest miles added up and sooner or later I made it to Kielder, the food had done me good: I no longer felt quite so sick and I'd made better progress than in the morning so decided to use the time I'd made up to stop in the Angler's Arms to work on the calorie deficit! Vegetable enchiladas sounded the most appealing (not my normal choice!) but just the sight of the normally welcome mountain of melted cheese on top presented a bit of a test. Cheese removed and sitting outside in the last of the sunshine felt pretty good though.

Food consumed it was a simple cycle along the forest drive to the very pleasant and welcoming Forest View hostel, arriving about 9:30. (For anyone else contemplating it in the future, there is a B&B/hostel type arrangement but they have a "bunkhouse" across the street which was basically a really nice self-catered cottage that I had to myself for £21!) Super friendly and very helpful I'd definitely recommend it to anyone else in need of some mid-ride luxury! Somehow I spent about 2 and a half hours faffing with kit and having a shower(!) which would probably have been better spent sleeping but I'd accepted a slower pace so thought I might as well try and enjoy it!
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by Ray Young »

Enjoying this Ollie, looking forward to the next installment.
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ollie5882 »

Day 3

A comfy bed and long breakfast led to a later than planned start but the rain had stopped by the time I finally dragged myself out of the hostel so I could enjoy dry shoes for a little longer! The climb up on to the Cheviots was easy fire road for the most part before disappearing along a boggy stream for the last 500m. It looked like a motoX bike had gone through in the last day or so which was something of a mixed blessing as without it I don't think there would have any trail to follow but it had obviously made even more of a mess of the ground in places. Emerging from the bog onto the open moorland(?) I reached the end of the GPX track and had a complete navigational metldown - despite staring at the new track for at least a minute I still managed to head off the wrong way - pushing up the steep boggy hill rather squelching down it. Ray had suggested halving your estimated speed along the Cheviot ridgeline so I'd been generous in my estimates but I thought that as I was already going slowly then he probably didn't mean literally... However, I think it's probably a pretty good guideline! I actually quite enjoyed this section despite the slow going, I felt like I had to fight for pretty much every metre (for the first half or so) but the views were great and the weather steadily improved, Lamb Hill hut provided a nicely sheltered spot for a quick snack and the section of Flintsone-esque paving were entertaining even going uphill. The descent off the ridge to Sourhope was over all to briefly but the subsequent climb was pretty easy going most of the way while the descent to Kirk Yetholm was a definite highlight of my whole ride - fantastic fast trail with some fun switchbacks and the odd slightly rocky section.

I headed to the shop in Town Yetholm to try and get some savoury snacks and something that could serve as an emergency dinner if I missed out on both my planned later food stops before heading to the pub in Kirk Yetholm which seemed really nice but was having a mare of a first day under new management. Due to the slow progress I'd made in the morning I was just too late for lunch but managed to beg another bowl of soup (albeit more of a ramekin than a bowl). Admin completed it was time for the road section towards Wooler which made for some quick and easy miles before a short but steep section of bridleway that I knew was coming up but was harder than expected. The next section was all fairly easy going and quite enjoyable including a fun rough estate track descent although concentrating on not falling off did result in a failure to realise the route headed off down an obscure bridleway shortly before the end. Having pushed back up and eventually found the start of the trail, the overgrown bracken didn't do much to lift my flagging spirits, however, I reckoned it was now just some easy roads and a bit of cycle route until I made it to the pub in Alwinton. It quickly became obvious though that I'd misjudged one of the previous downhills and that there was one more uphill to go before then. Needless to say the route headed up the hill rearing up in front of me, the steepest section I encountered by far. I'll admit that this was a low point in more ways than one and there may have been a fair degree of cursing, I think if I could have just walked away at that point I would have done. However, as that wasn't an option and the only way out was onward and upward so there was nothing for it but to put the bike on my back and put one foot in front of the other. (Ray: the gps showed a route slightly off to the right with a couple of zig-zags but despite looking around quite a bit (I wasn't in a rush to carry up the "cliff") I could see no sign of it on the ground, maybe covered by the bracken? I'll send you an image at some point to show you.) The scenery at this point was probably the most dramatic of the route and the evening light made it look even better but it was somehow no surprise when the downhill was through another bog! Eventually I made it to a fire road and the going was good (I think?) until I made it to the Rose & Thistle about 10pm. It would have been too late for food (but they don't serve any on a Monday anyway) but the woman behind the bar was really friendly and I once again managed to beg some food (bread and cheese this time) and grabbed a few more bags of crisps and some chocolate. Having stuffed down the food I headed out into the gathering night and inky clear skies, a favourite time of day for me, determined to make it over one more hill before calling it a day as I figured that should just about get me close enough to Peebles to finish the following evening.

If I could have seen it, I think the next section would have been another highlight of the trip, it seemed to head around quite a steep horseshoe (although following the ridgeline up made for a nice climb as well) which I think would have offered some great views. After the bulk of the height was lost down a fast fire road the route headed off down a bit of singletrack along that I'd normally have been lapping up. As I turned onto it though it occurred to me that after a long day it would be an easy place to fall off, which I promptly did within the first 20m. Fortunately I escaped with nothing worse than a few bruises and the bike was fine, however it did suck all the fun out of the following section of trail, especially the (what felt like) exposed sections with sheer drops into the rocky stream below.

I'd spotted there was a picnic site along the next road section which seemed like a reasonable spot to stop, whilst knowing deep down it was probably a bad idea. Still, I'd made the decision so despite getting there and finding it nicely sheltered from any last hint of a breeze, I happily pulled out the bivvy bag and settled down with the midges about 2am.
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ollie5882 »

Time has eroded my memory of what happened next but I thought I should finally finish my tale so here's what I can recall of my final hours.

Day 4

I slept fitfully for a few hours, frequently waking up short of breath and to the sound of drizzle before finally deciding that it wasn't exactly restful so I might as well get up. Despite the midges and rain spurring me on, everything seemed to take forever to pack up and the solid lumps of green stuff I was coughing up weren't exactly reassuring. Finally I got going though and spluttered my way up the first hill of the day, squelched across the top and back down to some unusually welcome tarmac! It wasn't long before the route headed off along an old byway, Dere Street, but my legs found the soft ground, long grass and rutted track hard going - another section I'd underestimated. Somewhere along here, slithering into another pedal eating rut, I realised that I was going too slowly. I was due back at work the next day and at the speed I was traveling it would have been the early hours of the morning before I finished (if I could keep going). So I started watching the clock. I thought I'd keep riding until 6pm but, as the rain kept falling, the thought of an extra few hours suffering to still not finish started to eat away at my determination. One washout too many and the remains of any pride I had were left in another muddy rut with all thoughts turning to drying off in the next open cafe - Jedburgh was calling...

Sitting broken in the cafe I swore "never again", then checked in and slowly got up to speed with how Karl and Phil had fared. I was still convinced I'd been following their tracks the whole way round so was surprised to find I'd been following ghosts for the last 2.5 days. If I'd known this before I'd stopped, would I have been tempted to press on so that someone completed the route? Maybe. But would I have even pressed on as far as I had? Maybe not. I'd set out for an adventure and a challenge and the route had served up both in abundance! I guess there's no substitute for experience and I was undoubtedly naive and under-prepared/trained but consequently learned a lot in the process. So, 7 months later "never again" is starting to feel a bit too definitive... However, if there's going to be a 2018 group start to think about joining then I'd better start training, training hard!
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by Ray Young »

Thanks Ollie, I remember wondering when you where going to post the last bit.
Yes, there will be a 2018 group start, first Saturday of July, registration from 1st March. If you don't fancy doing the full 350 then I'm contemplating adding in a 220 too, same date and time, same start point.
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by ianfitz »

Ray Young wrote:Thanks Ollie, I remember wondering when you where going to post the last bit.
Yes, there will be a 2018 group start, first Saturday of July, registration from 1st March. If you don't fancy doing the full 350 then I'm contemplating adding in a 220 too, same date and time, same start point.
Would that be the single loop Ray? That would be a cracker too :-bd
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by Ray Young »

ianfitz wrote:
Ray Young wrote:Thanks Ollie, I remember wondering when you where going to post the last bit.
Yes, there will be a 2018 group start, first Saturday of July, registration from 1st March. If you don't fancy doing the full 350 then I'm contemplating adding in a 220 too, same date and time, same start point.
Would that be the single loop Ray? That would be a cracker too :-bd
Not quite, day one is very different. From the start it heads SW over Cademuir Hill then W to do the Broughton loop. The Devil's Beeftub bikehike is still in. After Moffat it takes the Romans and Reivers way directly into Craik Forest missing out Over Phawhope bothy, this should make Greensykes bothy achievable on the first night. The only other change is missing out the Eastern loop. Less miles, less climbing and a much easier start. I need to ride a couple of bits I've not ridden but I'm 99.9% sure they're ok. I'll post a link up later tonight when I have more time.
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Re: Borders 350 2017 Registration Open.

Post by restlessshawn »

There might be the gravel 290 if I get some time off to ride it
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