If it were me I'd be pushing for access to footpaths for cyclists and horse riders and the right to roam for walkers plus legal wild camping for all. Might make it a bit more palatable for land owners.

Sounds great and a nice write up. Where can I find the gpx for the route?

Lastly there are still places for the Borders 350/220 stating Sat 29 Aug if you want something else to do. The big bikehike section has now been taken out.

Just received my DD Magic Carpet tarp as reviewed by Stu and it looks good. Perfect for extending the porch on my silwing or stand alone shelter depending on the weather forecast. For £18 Inc postage from the supplier he recommended what's not to like.
Also a new alpkit tapered dry bag.

Not having the right tool. I had a seat post that used a torx bolt for the saddle adjustment and my disc bolts were also torx of the same size. After changing the seat post I stopped taking the torx key forgetting that it did the disc bolts too. You can guess the rest, :roll: . I changed the disc bo...

I make my own "overnight oats" for breakfast. I use oats with powdered milk and some dried fruit, add water and leave for 2-3 hours or overnight to absorb the water then eat it cold. If when you come to eat it you find it's a bit stodgy then just add a bit more water. Much nicer than porri...

Nice bit of work there with some neat touches.

One final question. Is it ok to mix different brands of mineral oil?

jay91 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 8:48 pm Do they need a bleed or can they be burped?
https://youtu.be/zckHR3-MMnY

Thanks, I'll give that a go first.

htrider wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 8:38 pm viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14444&start=500
There you go!

Thanks Phil. Funnily enough I bought the same kit and also bought the Shimano screw in reservoir as it seemed it would make things easier.

Thanks guys. The rear brake has needed doing for a while and on the last trip started coming back to the bar without any noticeable retardation of forward momentum. I'll get on it tomorrow.

Lazarus wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 4:37 pm but if it becomes faff the faff can last a long long long time

That'll be me then, .

Thinking you can get a good time on an itt route before you've learned to hydrate and feed yourself properly. That was a big learning curve!

I've just bought a brake bleed kit for Shimano brakes. Is it as easy as they make it sound? The reason I ask is because in my motorcycling youth I attempted to bleed brakes without success. I believe I am a bit less cack handed now than I was on those days though.

For what reason is the GPX file not online somewhere from where it can be viewed and/or downloaded? This isn't a dig, it's something I've seen of a few routes and I was just curious about the reasoning. The Cairngorms Loop route is downloadable from the website and is updated as necessary. I don't ...

The Borders routes have both had a major change in order to avoid the big bikehike section up to the Devils Beeftub. The change was suggested by Alex Pilkington who holds the current fastest time for the 350. The new route is possible after the building of several new wind farm roads which did not e...

FLV wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 7:02 am Are you doing a new gpx file mate?

GPX's will be ready for the 350 and 220 tonight. Email me at borders350itt@gmail.com
If someone can tell me how to post GPX files then i'll try and put them up on the routes section.

8 am this morning. Thankfully the thunderstorms passed me by about 8 miles to the East.
IMG_20200812_073800539_HDR by Raymond Young, on Flickr

Yea, when I first did the route the wind farm roads didn't join up and going in that direction then added far too many miles.
The roads up there are the best gravel I've ridden for speed, very very smooth. Bit boring but the scenery is great. Biggest windfarm I've ever passed through too.

Cowgill Riff. That's my fault due to whisky.

Bloody bar steward Stu. Cowgill bicycle should read Cowgill Riff but only with one g.

Currently bivied above Devils Beeftub after scouting an alternative to the big bikehike section suggested by Alex Pilkington and it's a goer. If your fit it's all rideable apart from a 30 metre section to join up two wind farm roads. If not then a push up onto Cowgill bicycle but only because it's s...

30 odd years ago I started off road touring within 6 months of buying my first MTB. Read rack, panniers, tent, too much gear. I then had a 10 year break from cycling due to ill health. When I got back into cycling I started off road touring again but soon saw a picture of a bikepacking set up and my...

Alex's lightweight set up.
https://flic.kr/p/2jp2G7c

I've never bought a bar harness as I use my myog one and I've been very happy with it. When i was using rigid forks I had a small aluminium tube running horizontally across the fork crown to which I attached the bottom part of the harness. This served to push the harness forwards so as to avoid my d...

Thought his FB post said he was going for the 220 - wrong turn? Outstanding effort. He originally intended to do the 220 but in his own words said he felt good and was enjoying it so much that at the crossroads decided to do the 350 instead. If he'd started at Peebles this would not be possible as ...