Tom Gibbs Record Breaking Borders 350 Write Up

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Ray Young
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Tom Gibbs Record Breaking Borders 350 Write Up

Post by Ray Young »

Tom kindly sent me a write up of his record breaking Borders 350 ride and doesn't mind me sharing it. He finished in 49 hours and 20 minutes. The previous best was set by Alex Pilkington at 56 hours and 29 minutes. Tom believes a sub 48 hour ride is possible. Tom started at Moffat rather than the official start at Peebles.

There are still plenty of spaces available for the 2021 August bank holiday group start if you are interested. Email me at borders350itt@gmail.com for a place.

Originally I'd planned on riding the Great North Trail but the storms of the previous weekend had put paid to that plan, and instead I saw there was a nice weather window for a few days and the Borders 350 is something I've had on the radar since reading Alex's write up last year. So Thursday morning saw me starting off from Moffat (kind of worked as the best place to start with coming up from the Lakes and worked for opening hours of shops).



Quickly realised the GPX file on the garmin wasn't quite accurate enough so had to turn off the recalc and off course warnings and resort to good old fashioned nav. First section over to Ettrick was a lovely climb with a sneeky trail and short hike a bike. It was a cool day which was welcome and a fast long descent to Ettrick. Got the average up over 18kph (inc any stops) and it stayed that way all the way to Newcastleton. Through the next forestry section (avoiding logging lorries) and over the slightly overgrown trail from Craik Cross Hill and it's Roman lookout point. The trail wiggles around and not much water sources meant getting some from forestry streams which I usually avoid. I was running with just a 1 litre bottle so frequent stops needed.



The valley past Greensykes bothy was a delight, as was the descent to Arkleton – a real blast. I died a bit on the road climb before Newcastleton (forgotten how big it was – i.e bigger than remembered !) and was glad to hit the spar for a resupply and lots of pop. It was about 3pm and I knew there was a good chance of not seeing any shops until Jedbergh so I stocked up and cracked on the 7Stanes centre. I'd done the next bit before in the MTB Marathon race from Kielder so knew the trails a bit. Fast riding all the way to Kielder. Didn't hang around as the café was shut and the midgies were out, so carried on over the forest drive to Byrness. By now I'd done 170k in under 10 hours inc stops and was glad I'd done this all early in the ride when I was fresh. Next up was the Cheviot ridge. It was wetter than I'd expected, due to the rain from the weekend and that made for slow going. Glad of the paving slab sections to make some progress. Got to the top of Windy Gyle well before dark and really enjoyed the fast descent down Cock Law (great name). The climb out of Sourhope was easier than I expected and I knew I had a chance of getting to the pub in Kirk Yetholm before closing. The descent down the Pennine way was in the gloaming and would have been lightning fast 30 mins earlier. I still made the pub at 10:55 and managed to get a pint of coke and some crisps – all most welcome.



Long road section from here was welcome for a bit of respite, but also hard work in the dark as I was feeling a bit sleepy. I'd always planned to front load the sleep if I could so I looked for a spot to bivvy down above Wooler and found a great spot above Humbleton. It was about 1am when I stopped and I had about 3 hours rest. The breeze dropped when I got up so had to rush to avoid the midgies.



The next section was tough, with lots of draggy or steep climbs and steeper descents, it felt slow going but was a really pretty area. The moor above Threestoneburn was very wet and a low point, not helped by the nettle infested bridleway to the House. Once on the track it was super quick to Ingram. In my head the next bit was easy road riding, but as per the rest of the route, it didn't feel like it. I seem to suffer from low points each day around 6-7 am and the section to Clennell dragged on. Lots of Chocolate Digestives seem to work and I picked up on the climb up Clennell Street. This section was a delight, great views and riding, especially the Usway Burn, though here I almost rode over a red squirrel who darted out in front of me.



I knew I wasn't too far from Jedbergh once I got over the ridge again and 12 hours after I did the west to east pennine way bit I was crossing back over my tracks and heading along the Street to Hownam. Again in my head this was a descent, not a long ridge so I wasn't expecting the climbs along it, but it was a beautiful ride. After Hownam I picked up the Dere Street roman road and this was much more ridable than I expected and a real blast – plus I knew the all-day breakfast I'd promised myself was not far away.



About 11am I got into Jedbergh and found a suitable café to sit outside with the bike and consume a massive breakfast with Tea and Pop. Followed by a trip to the shops for some food I was refreshed and replenished. I was glad I was as the next section was about the worst of the route. A tough road climb on a full stomach led to a series of grassy field edges that made riding uphill really hard (too hard most of the time) and there was a cloud of flies following me everywhere. Coupled with lots of stiles rather than gates meant lugging the bike was order of the day. From Black Law past the Bedrule door was nice riding and hitting the road I hoped it was straight to Denholm, but alas there was more walking route and swearing. In hindsight it wasn't as long as it felt, but I was glad to drop into Denholm and get on the tarmac to Hawick.



Here I was shouted at by 2 people who followed me to the shop across the road, What have I done wrong I thought ? Turns out nothing, as it was someone following my progress and come out to cheer me on – Thanks Bridget and your son ! I had a quick chat whilst I was eating an ice cream and drinking more pop. Bridget explained about the next section being the wrong way up a one way road and she walked with me whilst I walked my bike to the end of the road. Touched by the support I felt more energised and cracked on. The next section to Selkirk was pretty good, mostly ridable and some interesting terrain, without too many farmers fields and stiles (apart from the last bit before Selkirk).



Selkirk is the home town of a friend of mine, Paul McGreal. He had been following my tracker and came out to cycle with me for a few miles. I had to explain the rules of Self supported to him, a bonus for him as I opened and closed every gate we got to and he wasn't allowed to sit on the front !



The section up over Three Brethren, along the ridge and down the red route is probably the best bit of the ride and I really enjoyed it. Cracking views and trails. At the bottom of the descent, an old teammate and friend of mine Nic McLoed appeared with her family. An unexpected and welcome surprise, again I had to explain the rules and refuse the food she had brought for me, whilst not drafting and opening and closing all the gates !



I knew the next decent into Peebles, as it's one of my favourites in the borders. Got to the top of Kirkhope Law just as the rain started and was glad to get the cracking descent done in the mainly dry conditions. I quickly found a chippy in the centre of town and huddled under an archway out of the rain, I'd timed it pretty well as the rain was heavy. After struggling to get some chips down I knew I had to crack on. I had 24 hours to break the current best time, but reading Alex's report of the next few sections and the dreaded Fruid to Beef Tubs bit I wasn't sure how long things would take. Cademuir hill was a blast and I felt good going up the track to the mast on Dun bicycle. Just pushing a couple of the steeper sections. It was starting to get dark and I wanted to get the descent done in the light. This was blisteringly fast to where the Southern Upland Way crosses, so much so I almost missed it. Here was a nice section of vague tracks, made more difficult in the gloaming, but I was soon onto the shores of St Mary's Loch, after negotiating about 600 gates I got onto the nice ridable shoreline to Tibbie Shields, a sandwich on a bench enjoying the moonlight was lovely.



It was around midnight by the time I climbed up past Megget Reservoir and started the rough track towards Dollar Law. I was struggling with sleep and it all felt quite hard. About 2/3rd of the way up I stopped by the track and got the bivvy out for 90 mins of snoozing. Up at 3 am it was starting to get light and a magical time of the day. An cloud inversion in the valleys made it even more beautiful. This bit had more up and down than I was expecting, not helped by being hard to follow and a number of times I had to retrace my steps. The descent down was huge. Steep, rough and loose at the top then fast and grassy lower down. Here I dropped into the clouds and the temperature dropped so much I had to stick on my Duvet jacket as well as waterproof and bigger gloves.



Before the event the bit behind Skobo looked like just extra miles, but it proved to be a super little section. Beautiful scenery, nice trails and a castle – what's not to like. BY 6am I was down in Broughton and knew that I should have this in the bag. I finished off my last sandwich and pushed onto the next bit to Tweedsmuir. The dreaded 6-7 am slot Alowas here and I started struggling. Ended up having a 7min powernap in a passing place which did the trick and reset the brain. (7 mins is my better than 5 mins – in fact 40% better, but of course, 8 mins is way too much).



The push up to the wind farm was about the steepest of the route and hard to follow higher up, but soon I was onto the access roads and a fast descent to the valley and over to Tweedsmuir. Here the route was vague, so I assumed it followed the old railway line. Back on the road, I soon got to Tweedsmuir and knew it was just the last and most notorious section to Moffat to do. By the end of the Fruid Reservoir where the track stops it was 9am and already getting hot. The flies were out and I was prepared for an unpleasant experience. Maybe because of this, it was better than I expected, I rode sheep trod's where I could and pushed where I couldn't. It took about 1.5 hrs to get to the Devil's beef tub which was better than I expected. After negotiating the narrow and rocky sheep path I was descending the bracken encased track to Corehead.



Now was just a fast blast down a road to the finish in Moffat. I rolled up at my start point at 11am, 49 hrs and 20 mins after starting. I quickly found a café to celebrate finishing and reflecting on what was a special route. Ray has obviously put a lot of love into developing this route and by linking some of the greatest hits of Border's riding he has made a classic backpacking ride that I'd heartedly recommend to the discerning bikepacker.
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Borderer
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Re: Tom Gibbs Record Breaking Borders 350 Write Up

Post by Borderer »

Great read and a fantastic achievement. It's really nice to hear how he found all the different sections. I still can't believe he got round it so fast. Chapeau.
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