Hi all. If things are back to normal by the end of August then I still intend to run this event. However I have had very little in the way of entries this year so if you know anybody who may be interested in entering then please let them know about it. Remember to tell them that it has gained a bit of a reputation for being hard.
Start date is Saturday 29 August (English bank holiday), 8am, Peebles, Scottish Borders.
No entry fee, applications to me at borders350itt@gmail.com
350 fastest time is 3 days, 10 minutes set by Oliver Turnbull. An outsanding achievement but a sub 3 day finish beckons.
220 fastest time is 2 days, 12 hours, 45 minutes set by Thomas Phillips. A sub 2 day time is possible for this route.

Facebook group link below
https://www.facebook.com/groups/517013845127454/

Thank you.

Ray - might be worth sending a link to this Group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1859736324163536

I'm about to do the same for the Cairngorms Loop in September

Thanks ScotRoutes, that's a new group to me so I've sent an application request.
I'm a member of various bikepacking groups on Facebook so will be hitting them all in the next few days.

I would have liked to but I think you clashed with the revised WRT in August if it happens - or at least too close for 'comfort'.

I already paid for Wales, otherwise I'd be in, midges 'n' all.

Yeah, busy weekend that Ray - WRT, Dales Divide and PubDURO already running just off the top of my head.

I'd potentially be up for riding one of them another weekend if anyone else fancies?

Really looking forward to having a crack the 350 over the weekend. Raymond has scouted an improved route that should by-passes some of the hike-a-bike stuff, but means it's even longer now. From the accounts I've read on here of previous attempts, I think my chances of completion are about 50/50. Either way I am looking forward to exploring some country that is completely new to me. Never even been to Glentress before (shocking I know!).

The weather forecast looks pretty good - cold mind you but hopefully dry. I'm riding with a much heavier setup than I've every tried before - steel frame, tent, stove and loads of food. Hoping to be (mostly) self-sufficient and still get a decent night's kip. I'll be slower but hopefully more independent and flexible in terms of where/when to pitch up. We'll see...

Anyone else heading down/up to it?

10 say they are turning up including two female entrants for the first time but you usually get a few don't shows.
The bike hike up to The Devils Beeftub has indeed been removed and probably a good thing as after all the rain we've had it would be wet, boggy and thigh high in tussocks. The only problem with the replacement is it's more gravel but at least its rideable and once your up a height you stay up for a good while.
Next year sees more route changes to replace bikehike with rideable sections and the start/finish moving to Moffat to break up the gravel section and make travel to and from the start easier as it's just off the A74(M) which in turn is a continuation of the M6. There is also a train station 17 miles away at Lockerbie.
I look forward to meeting everyone tomorrow morning.

donaldbmcintosh wrote: ↑Fri Aug 28, 2020 8:45 am I'm riding with a much heavier setup than I've every tried before - steel frame, tent, stove and loads of food. Hoping to be (mostly) self-sufficient and still get a decent night's kip. I'll be slower but hopefully more independent and flexible in terms of where/when to pitch up. We'll see...

I'm doing exactly the same. Got a stove and meals on the bike for the first time in two and a half years. Clocked the overnight temperatures and accordingly have packed more like I would for a winter bivvy than August bank holiday weekend. Bike weighs a ton. Doubt I'm going to be riding particularly fast.

I'm going up to Moffat today and hopefully setting off from there early afternoon. Have to be back in Manchester for Tuesday and I want to ride as much of the 350 route as possible so I'm having a half-day head start on the group start. I've no concept of how fast I'm going to be covering the ground - it's presumably going to be sodden underfoot and as previously mentioned I'm packed more for a comfortable tour than a hard ITT.

Good luck man. We can compare notes next week. As you say, I think the ground/terrain is going to be the critical factor. Similar to yourself, I have a time limit, but it's four days for me to get as far as I can and back home for Wed.

With the weight of our bikes, I'm just praying there will not be many over-the-fence lifts required!

Good luck this weekend folks doing this, weather gods look to have bestowed some level of blessing. Just down the road from me so hoping to join in next year. Look forward to reading trip reports

Thanks Steve. Look forward to meeting you.

Good luck everybody. I did the section from Kielder to Kirk Yetholm on Wed night/Thurs morning. The ground up on the border ridge was very wet and slow going. Hopefully it will dry out a bit before people reach it on Sunday.

mje25 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 29, 2020 11:10 pm Good luck everybody. I did the section from Kielder to Kirk Yetholm on Wed night/Thurs morning. The ground up on the border ridge was very wet and slow going. Hopefully it will dry out a bit before people reach it on Sunday.

Yeah, that hasn't happened

Took me 5hr 45m to do 15km over there last night...

Hi Andy, that is similar to the speed that we managed!

In Reverse wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 1:14 pm

mje25 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 29, 2020 11:10 pm Good luck everybody. I did the section from Kielder to Kirk Yetholm on Wed night/Thurs morning. The ground up on the border ridge was very wet and slow going. Hopefully it will dry out a bit before people reach it on Sunday.

Yeah, that hasn't happened

Took me 5hr 45m to do 15km over there last night...

Even dry the Cheviots ridge line takes a long time.
How did you get on?

Saul Ayton has finished with an approximate time of 68 hours 30 minutes so a sub 3 day finish and second fastest time ever unless someone came in before him and hasn't told me yet.

2020 Start Line.

Borders 2020 Start Line by Raymond Young, on Flickr

Kudos to Saul - that is a frankly incredible time. I made it to Moffat on day one, then Newcastleton on day two, then I was dragging myself over the Pennine Way section and realised I would not have time to do the extra loop so I turned for home. Made it to just before Jedburgh and pitched up last night. Then made it to Denholm this morning and ran out of steam. A combination of the (endless) farmers gates and styles, having a bike that honestly weighed too much, the aftermath of being horrendously ill at Newcastleton (but somehow felt good enough to ride the next day) and the thought that I'd seen/explored so much in just three days. I found so much of the route so difficult to ride. On Monday I think I did only 60 miles and I was riding for 12 hours... 5mph! So I jacked it at Denholm and am disappointed not to do the final stretch but have so enjoyed an extra afternoon of being a home instead of staggering in at 1am - which is what would have happened. I lost 3 kilos in the 3 days - so that tells you something about the effort.

Thanks for the route Ray - impressive scale and challenging terrain. Would love to know how many weekends of scouting it took to put that together. Massive chapeau to Saul though... impressive riding. Having his trail to follow was extremely helpful at times.

Oh and I saw the other guy in the blue top who started on Saturday (forget his name) at Newcastleton - he was getting a pub dinner. He said he'd ridden with Dawn for a bit and she was still going strong. Hope they both made it through.

Thanks for that Donald, yes it's a very tough route. Sorry to hear you were ill but glad you enjoyed (if that's the right word) it.
It took me two years to put the route together riding it in sections (discarding some and trying others) until I'd done it all. It then took me four attempts to do it in one go, heatstroke once, mechanicals twice.
I'm currently working on what I hope to be the final version with much less bikehike.
Believe it or not but the very first version was so hard that no one completed it.

That does not surprise me at all. It's a beast of a route and respect for to anyone who makes it through. You had said the route takes 'commitment' - which it certainly does. It felt a long way back when I was unwell at Newcastleton. So relieved I was able to ride on.

Enjoyed so much though, views from Dollar Law (I think) and descent to Broughton, the windfarm as the sun set, riding in the morning light out of Moffat and then out of Newcastleton, the Cheviots. All incredible places. Met this woman on her own riding her white horse high up on The Street. Surreal but incredible, that is the way travel up there.

donaldbmcintosh wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 8:18 pm Enjoyed so much though, views from Dollar Law (I think) and descent to Broughton, the windfarm as the sun set, riding in the morning light out of Moffat and then out of Newcastleton, the Cheviots. All incredible places. Met this woman on her own riding her white horse high up on The Street. Surreal but incredible, that is the way travel up there.

Ray Young wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:54 am Even dry the Cheviots ridge line takes a long time.
How did you get on?

Saul Ayton has finished with an approximate time of 68 hours 30 minutes so a sub 3 day finish and second fastest time ever unless someone came in before him and hasn't told me yet.

That's a superb time by Saul in tough conditions. Is he the only finisher? I saw Andrew called it a day at Jedburgh. Crisp was a late starter on Sunday morning and bailed at Newcastleton with a mechanical.

I had a great ride Ray. I'll do a write-up if I get chance but basically did the 350 route until the end of the ridge, skipped the eastern loop, cracked on to Selkirk, then cut across west and picked up the route again up on the tops at the wind farm road. https://www.strava.com/activities/3992064981/

In Reverse wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 9:46 pm That's a superb time by Saul in tough conditions. Is he the only finisher? I saw Andrew called it a day at Jedburgh. Crisp was a late starter on Sunday morning and bailed at Newcastleton with a mechanical.

I had a great ride Ray. I'll do a write-up if I get chance but basically did the 350 route until the end of the ridge, skipped the eastern loop, cracked on to Selkirk, then cut across west and picked up the route again up on the tops at the wind farm road. https://www.strava.com/activities/3992064981/

Thanks Andy, I haven't heard from Andrew but you say he's scratched so that only leaves Dawn to hear about. It would be nice for the first female entrant to also be the first female finisher.
A write up would be great if you get the time.

Just heard from Dawn, she's hoping to finish tonight if she's got enough light left.

Now that we are heading for the depths of winter and summer seems like a distant memory, I thought I would share my film of the Borders 350. Very tough ride but would not have missed it.

https://www.donaldmcintosh.net/bike/borders350

First film I've ever put together, hope you enjoy. Had the clips sitting there but only had time to fit it all together this week. Filmed on an Hero Session GoPro, sound not the best. Any feeback/tips welcome.

Thanks Donald I enjoyed that.