The Pentlands

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whitestone
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The Pentlands

Post by whitestone »

We had a few days up around the Pentlands and took the fatbikes.

We got there Thursday lunch time so headed out for a quick loop that I'd worked out from the map. From West Linton we went past the golf club and pulled up to below West Water reservoir. Things were very slushy.

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The ride was mostly on good tracks but what you can't see in the image below is the block headwind - next to bottom gear on the flat :cry:

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This was the first, and easiest of several fords.

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Finally we turned to ride with the wind plus it was downhill so the speed suddenly shot up. Then we came to a big ford. Even the wide "shallow" bit was well over hub depth so we looked around and found a narrow spot where a hop and a jump got us across. A very muddy farm led to a pleasant grassy track heading back east.

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The final bit of the track was much more interesting (and muddy) plus we were chasing the setting sun in getting back before dark. TBH you could have done this on a gravel bike in the conditions.

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Come Friday and I remembered that I'd forgotten to take my CamelBak out of the van. It was -3! A quick dunking in a sink of hot water sorted things out. The target for today was the Thieves Road which crosses the Pentlands from West Linton to Midcalder. The first part was on road up to Baddinsgill , mostly clear but the sharp frost had set the wet sections solid so one or two short sections of walking to get past them.

Once past the houses it was a farm track that had been driven on so was sheet ice and, err, fun. The fell gate gave access to the track's continuation, less compacted now but still the occasional ice section.

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There were a few climbs which were mostly ice so we just walked them. With the gain in height the snow began to get firmer and tended to cover the ice a bit better so we could ride much more.

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Then the vehicle track ended and we'd a rough sunken bit of single track which undulated around the hillside and was only about 50% rideable.

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When we got to Cauldstane Slap we'd a decision to make. Continue down the other side and either return the same way; head up on to the ridge at East Cairn Hill and follow it round or turn round. We decided on the latter as we'd taken two hours to get here and we'd no idea of what the other two options entailed or how long they'd take. A bit of lunch and we set off back. A warm front had passed through, we'd probably ridden right along at the same pace, what had been completely unrideable was now definitely so and I managed all but one iced burn back to the double track.

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Some of the big iced patches were still ice so had to walk down hill :x Back at Baddinsgill we took a track on the other side of the valley back to the village. The snow cover was being stripped almost before our eyes.

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We got back to the accommodation to find that someone had driven into the back of the van :shock: so the rest of the day and quite a bit of Saturday was spent sorting things out (fortunately the other party left details) and ended up getting the train back as the van was/is undriveable.

No big mileage on either day but nice to get out in the snow.
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ScotRoutes
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Re: The Pentlands

Post by ScotRoutes »

My old back yard.

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You made the right decision on the Thieves Road. The top bit of the descent is OK but it breaks up a bit after that and the last bit across to the main road is pretty crap.
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fatbikephil
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Re: The Pentlands

Post by fatbikephil »

Likewise, spent many happy hours biking round the Pentlands (and getting shouted at by the rangers) in my Embra days. I keep thinking I should go back for old times sake although its a frozen or dry destination...
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whitestone
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Re: The Pentlands

Post by whitestone »

fatbikephil wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 11:24 pm Likewise, spent many happy hours biking round the Pentlands (and getting shouted at by the rangers) in my Embra days. I keep thinking I should go back for old times sake although its a frozen or dry destination...
Curiously by the buildings at Baddinsgill there was a sign stating: "Walkers, cyclists, Horseriders welcome", forgot to take a shot of it (this was one of the icy bits) but found one on Geograph:

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fatbikephil
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Re: The Pentlands

Post by fatbikephil »

whitestone wrote: Mon Feb 14, 2022 10:44 am
fatbikephil wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 11:24 pm Likewise, spent many happy hours biking round the Pentlands (and getting shouted at by the rangers) in my Embra days. I keep thinking I should go back for old times sake although its a frozen or dry destination...
Curiously by the buildings at Baddinsgill there was a sign stating: "Walkers, cyclists, Horseriders welcome", forgot to take a shot of it (this was one of the icy bits) but found one on Geograph:

Image
Aye changed days indeed. I met one of the Rangers a few years after leaving Edinburgh who was largely responsible for changing the mindset of his 'management.' This was still pre land reform and he had a bit of a battle, ultimately succeeding due to people retiring. I also met another one of the rangers who was rabidly anti mountainbiking but curiously she had real difficulty articulating exactly why it was a problem and seemed oblivious to the fact that having Scotlands second largest city on the Pentlands doorstep meant that trying to control access was impossible. Then access rights came in :-bd
ScotRoutes
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Re: The Pentlands

Post by ScotRoutes »

I was a volunteer ranger in PHRP pre F&M. Most of the rangers had a MTB and used it in the hills, though not on all of the tracks I would. I don't recall any hostility, though there was certainly an attempt to "advise" against use on some of the non-surfaced/boggier tracks.

Anyway, during F&M I did something that resulted in me being asked to leave the ranger service.
rudedog
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Re: The Pentlands

Post by rudedog »

I’ve been riding the Pentland hills 2 to 3 times every week for the past 6 years, I’ve probably only seen Rangers 4 or 5 times during this time and I haven’t noticed any shouting at me :grin:
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