Hi Guys,

If you're not out and about this weekend and fancy occupying your time with something you could watch the spot of my attempt to complete the Borders 350 (second attempt).

I start Friday (30th March) at 6am (ish).


https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id ... howAll=yes

good luck Karl. We had planned to do it originally but the travel time would of eaten our ride time too much. So think it maybe on in a few months for me that and the Northumberland loop.

Go to it Karl, best of luck, .

Good luck fella.

Err, have you seen the weather forecast??
Good luck and happy bog surfing

Just in case you were planning on stocking up at the shop in Broughton, it shut last week. No sign of a new owner yet and there's not much else about other than the Laurel Bank tearoom round the corner which is open 10am to 11pm Fri and Sat, not sure if they do food that late though. If you want some sustenance dropped off let me know as I stay the other side of Biggar. Good Luck.

Heavy Load wrote:If you want some sustenance dropped off let me know as I stay the other side of Biggar. Good Luck.

Sorry but under self supported rules that would not be allowed.

The cafe at St Mary's Loch may be open but if your going to stop there then you may as well carry from the start whatever they could supply as a take away as I think it would be quicker.

Thanks for the heads up guys. I'll have enough food to get me to moffat. Just parked up bedding down for the night at the ride finish. Thought when I get back I could just roll into bed! Hopefully the weather plays kind. Looks like still some snow on high ground but hopefully it doesn't slow progress too much. Looking forward to knee deep bogs

Go Karl!!

Have fun out there, I'd love to have a pop at this one!

After the snowmelt it'll be hard going in parts today. Currently very overcast with rain forecast and 4° with wind-chill to take into account as well. Given the conditions Karl is making good progress.

Karl is doing great given the conditions. He is currently half way up the big bike hike from Fruid Reservoir to The Devils Beeftub. He will definitely make the shops and take aways at Moffat at this rate then I'm thinking he'll press on to Over Phawhope bothy for a night's rest. If that's the case then tomorrow is 120 miles of nearly all gravel roads taking him to the Cheviot Hills. Keep going fella .

Just had a look again. He's going well

He’s pretty much on the spot where Mark and bivied on the first group start. It was well after 1am by then!

He should definitely get some good down in Moffat tonight. I can remember being quite grumpy when realising there would be no chips for me that night

ianfitz wrote:I can remember being quite grumpy when realising there would be no chips for me that night

Sorry Ian, next time I seeyou I'll buy you chips.

Being soft tonight and staying in moffat. Feet and hands are looking worse for wear. Going has been tough. Even had a couple of whiteouts. New day tomorrow!

Karl wrote:Being soft tonight and staying in moffat. Feet and hands are looking worse for wear. Going has been tough. Even had a couple of whiteouts. New day tomorrow!

Rest well and crack on tomorrow Karl

An early start should see you in kirkyetholme for closing time!

Fantastic effort Karl. Hope today's headwinds don't spoil the day.

Karls spot has stopped moving, hope it's just the spot playing up.

Ignore this, working again now.

Looks like hes moving again. If he can get through today the weather looks OK for tomorrow and Monday am, thereafter it might get a bit challenging..... Irrespective of the date this should go down as a winter attempt!

Something's up. Karl's off route and heading for the road.

B350 strikes again by the look of it.

‘‘Tis a beast. An unforgiving beast.

Definitely over, he's heading north on the road, still a long ride back to Peebles though.
However, a fantastic and very brave effort in my opinion given both ground and weather conditions were against him.
Ground conditions up there at this time of year can be bad but after all the snowmelt they would have been horrendous.
Add into that the weather.
Windy, cold, rain, sleet and today a gusting headwind into which he would have been cycling into all day long.
A superb attempt indeed. Thanks for such a valiant effort Karl.

Yep guessed it right. Attempt over. Winter conditions without doubt. The headwind yesterday was relentless. Staying moffat on Friday was good for recovery but when i was ready to get riding at 6am I'd not planned getting access to my bike. Staff didn't turn up until 8am.. d'oh. More lost time. After getting past over phawhope bothy which is beautiful I thought I'd get the hammer down. Wind said no. The headwind was relentless. Looked like I wasn't going to make newcastleton until well past 7. Wanted to get past Wooler last night as I needed to be finished by mid-day monday but that seemed definitely off the cards. Instead of pressing on moving further away from the end point without a chance of finishing in time I pulled the plug.

It's my second attempt. I chatted to the wife last night about the route. The route takes you through some lovely remote areas. On the trail I saw no other people....not one. That's pretty rare. But be prepared, this is a hard route. It's mentally challenging either without the added winter weather. I was told to go back for a 3rd attempt in better weather, that's me told then.

Borders 350 I will be back!

It’s a beast isn’t it...

In terms of other people I only saw two others when riding the first group start. And that was on August bank holiday!

It is a really good route which doesn’t get the traffic it deserves.