Friends Up

I stayed in today, a couple of friends were coming up to see me, it was good to chill out.

Tomorrow my mate G is coming down to look at some flats, he is hoping to buy one and move down here, after he has done that, we are going for a quick blast around Rozelle, at least it will get me out of the house for a while

Some Photos Of the Ubertrail

Two photos of the Waggonway Trail up at Annbank

A view of Oswald Bridge

Three photos of the Farm Track Trail in Mount Charles wood, the photos cannot show just how steep and twisty this section is

Three photos of the Trail along to Annbank, most of it is easy, however there is a rock garden section that is difficult

I am terrible for taking photos when I am out on the MTB, the only time that I take one is, when I have stopped for water, or too eye up a possible new trail, most of my photo are taken when I am out walking

Still Not Out

Well the weather for the last couple of days has been hellish, rain windy, with sunshine in between, and when its rained, its rained heavy.

Should have went out today, it did not rain at all, despite what the weather forecasters said, I sometimes think that Ayr is in a meteorological oddspot, when its raining everywhere else, its dry here, and vice versa, granted we get less rain than most of Scotland, but I hate the stuff, I keep hearing about, we need it, sod that, I don't, well I do need water to drink and wash, but rain, sheee, I could gladly do without it.
Oh I often hear mountain bikers going on about how they love riding in the rain, grrr, I love riding in the sun, sunshine that's all I want, its not too much to ask for now is it.

My little stomach upset has cleared up nicely, what a luxury not have to stay within five meters of a toilet, might attempt a run tomorrow

On The Web Not The Bike

The weather and my stomach are both lousy, between the times that I have spent on the great white porcelain throne, I have been on the web trying to find new trails, and hopefully, the two that I have spotted are doable, got a bit of concerns about them, both climb quite high and are in remote spots.

Trail one, Patna to Straition, Straition to Barr, Barr to Girvan, at least I come out in Girvan, and from there its possible to either cycle home, or get a train or bus

Trail two, Muirkirk to either Sanquahar or Wanlockhead, which is Scotlands highest village, which is also a lead mine, oh and gold was found there, so if any of you fancy a bit of gold panning, this is the place, don't think I will add them onto the Burns Country Ubertrail, I reckon it would be just too far, then again, it could always be split into daily sections, hmmm, have to think on that one.

Stuck In

Never got out again today, my stomach is still iffy, granted I have not been taking as many trips to the porcelain bowl to contemplate my navel, and the end product was not something that would have been banned under the Geneva Convention on chemical warfare.

Once again spent the time I had, surfing the web looking for trails, and if I have read the webpages and maps right, there is a cross country trail from Straition to Barr, with have to make sure of my info, will ask around to see if anyone knows if its doable

Not Out

Ok never got out at all today, I had an upset stomach, it was aching, and the occasional trips to the toilet did not help.

Anyhow found out today that there is now an official trail that runs along the River Ayr, and its been called, the River Ayr Way, zero out of ten for originality, but from what I can see, they are planning a whole load of trails, so its good news for walkers and cyclists.

Looks like there is going to be plenty to explore next year, or later on this year, that all depends on the weather

River Ayr

Yesterday, I headed back up to Oswald House to check out a few more trails that I had spotted, the one that runs through Mount Charles Wood is an absolute belter, its tight, steep singletrack, plus it runs inside the wood, I never cleared it, and I tried the trail three times, kind of chickened out at a couple of bits, maybe next time, got the impression as well that i had missed some of the trail.

Later on, I checked out a couple of trails that run either side of the River Ayr, both look good, however from first impressions, the one that runs from near the Wallace Monument seems to be the best, I only managed to get down as far as the farm.
When I reached here, I thought the trail dead ended, however on closer inspection, there is a way through, next time I am down there, I will have too check it out.

Got a few concerts to go and see down here in Ayr, Hayseed Dixie, and Nazareth, and boy, am I looking forward to them, both are on at the Ayr Town Hal

Slight dilemma

Went for a quick spin today, the weather forecast was for rain later on, and boy did it rain or what, thunder lightning, and a torrential downpour, but I was indoors by then.

After wasting my time yesterday trying to get across the 3M trail, I sent off an email to the council, by the time I got back, there was a reply, got to give them credit for a quick reply, and the essence of which is, they are aware of the problems on the trail, and have plans to upgrade the path in the next four to six weeks, well that now leaves me with a small problem do I add the trail to my ubertrail, and hope that the council do a good job of upgrading the path, they have done a brilliant job out at Oswald House, and if they do this section as well as that, then it will be worth while adding it, or do I ignore it, which will fling the map out, if I do add it later.

I suppose adding it later is not too much of a problem, or I can add it now, and delete it, if the upgrades are not worth the effort, will decide over the next few hours, what I might do, is add it now, and have a looksee, and if it does not look right, then get rid of it.

I am definitely buying a large tub of that Highfive energy drink, its brilliant, I woke up this morning feeling full of energy, and as soon as I got in after my MTB run, I downed a 500ml bottle that I had prepared and stuck in the fridge for a post ride drink, and yet again, it soon got rid of the aches and pains, now normally, I am very skeptical about what these products promise, power gels are fine, but I could get the same result from a fig bar, for a quarter of the price, but this stuff, well it works, went to their website and read all the scientific and marketing blurb, it all sounds good, all I care about is, that it works for me.

Long Day

The sun was splitting the skies when I left the house today, and it stayed that way all day, although this was to have its drawbacks later on.

The Two Stairs section was fast and smooth, as was the Rozelle Loop, although it was full of dog walkers, however all of them had a smile and a hello.
Was just reaching the end of the loop, when I spotted a group of horse riders coming out of a trail, they stopped for me, as I had the right of way, but I stopped and waved them on, its nice to be nice, and besides that, it gave me a chance to take a drink of water.

The Caddyshack section was smooth and flowing, never spotted any dog walkers, although I did have to avoid walkers, and their reactions should have warned me that the place was full of tourists, it was that look as I went by, as if to say, you should not be on this path.

Headed up to the Schools Out section and flew down the hill and along the trail, and yet again, more tourists blocking the trail, I have nothing against tourists whatsoever, but they should show a bit of common courtesy and make way for others, after all, we do have to share the paths.

The Storming the Castle section was thankfully quiet, and was quick, I love this warm weather, it has dried all the trails out nicely.

Once over the road, and onto the Iron Horse trail, (used to call it the Tam O Shanter, but seeing as its an old railway line, Iron Horse sounded better)
Oh boy did I fly down this, the council have improved it no end, and its now such a pleasure to ride on, or even walk, no more swamps, no more mud pits.

Hit the river Ayr section, (still no name for it yet) and the bike seemed to fly over the bumps, and handle the tight sections with amazing ease, stopped off at the fisherman's bothy for a energy gel, and long drink of water.

Decided to head up the access track, rather than cycle to the end of the trail, and then double back, as I was heading through the housing estate, I spotted a couple of old age pensioner cyclists, gave them a wave, and they returned the favour, kind of returned my faith in tourists, then again maybe they were locals.

I spun the wheels up the road section and past Tara Craig, and then onto the road from hell, that takes you up to the 3M section, oh god how do I hate that road, it seems to go on forever.
As I was nearing the top of the access road to the masts, met a walker coming the other way, spent a pleasant fifteen minutes talking to him, as we were talking a lassie headed up the hill next to us.

Just as I was approaching the top of the Brown Carrick hill, I ran into her, said hello and we ended up talking for ten minutes or so, this was turning out to be one of those days, were I seemed to be talking to everyone, plus it gave me a chance to take a drink of water, have I mentioned how much water I was drinking.

Well the 3M trail was a disaster, it was overgrown, so much that it was almost impossible to walk never mind cycle, and this is supposed to be an official walking path, I expect to see something like that in a third world country.

The last quarter mile was good, but the road home is superb, fast, fast downhill most of the way, as I rested at the top, I spotted a vision in lycra heading towards me, she had ridden the whole damn hill, and let me tell you this, that's damn good going, we chatted for a while and then we headed down the hill, seeing as she was on a proper road bike, she flew away from me, not a problem, I was just glad to be freewheeling.

Got back to the promenade, and sheee, I wish I had not bothered, it was mobbed, and this is where I ran into the most pig ignorant bunch of people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter, and in use the word people loosely.

It was the family from hell, all dressed in football tops, what the hell is it about folks that they want to wear football tops when they are not going to a match, you don't see football players pulling on overalls and pretending to be joiners or plumbers.

Anyhow, they were spread across the promenade and where refusing to give way for anyone, and I know they saw me coming, but they still refused to budge, so I remembered a tip from a New York dispatch rider that I had read on the web, look one in the eye, and accelerate, now I don't normally do this, I am far too polite when I am out, I believe in let and let live, but for some reason this lot got my hackles up.

At the last moment, nedette one moves out of the way, followed by a below from the chief of the ned family, and it was the classic line from the Ministry of Made Up Laws, "you should not be on here"
Wrong day to say something to me, I slammed the anchors on, reversed direction, and pointed to the sign above chief neds head, come on he was standing right under the sign that says, national cycle route 7, then again, maybe he could not read.

As we were exchanging a few pleasantries, I spotted an old lady in one of those electric wheelchair's heading towards us, as standard, the pitbull family did not move, so I grabbed my bike, placed it on the seawall, and let her pass, this is the bit that made me laugh out loud.
As only the old can do, she gave them a withering look, and said, "some people should not be allowed out without supervision" oh I hope I am that withering when I get to that age.

With that, I headed home, how was I going to beat that, got home and tried the Highfive energy recovery drink that I had got, now, I have got to admit I was a bit skeptical, but it only took an hour for it to take effect, and I felt great, the tiredness in my legs was gone, now I am going to buy a tub of the stuff, and fill my Camelback with it

Busy Weekend

Been busy all weekend, this is about the first freetime I have had, so lets see, Saturday, went looking for new trails, I am in my Kit Carson mode at the moment, never found any, but did enjoy the run out looking for them.
Cleared a couple technical sections that I have never managed before, and boy did that make me feel good, the new downhill inner tubes are proving to be worth their weight in gold, the tyres feel stronger with them in.

Sunday, went up to Oswald House again, this time I walked the entire Waggontrain trail, I was surprised to find out that the new section they are building, comes out at the Old Annbank bridge, then crosses over and follows the river all the way to Annbank, where you can join the old trail,which takes you back to Oswald House.
Took a few photos on my camera phone, will post them later, and put the links to Oswald House and the like.

Today, went out for a five hour spin, up the Carrick Hills, and some of the Ubertrail, was hoping to find some new trails, sheee, no luck there.
Looks like I am just going to have to bite the bullet, and stick to the road section that leads up to the masts.
Got a load of stuff from my LBS today, energy gels and Hifive energy drinks, will give them a try and see how they are, the gels work fine, I have tried them before, and they are superb for getting energy back into tired muscles.

Good Day

Well I managed a three hour spin today, and so much for the weather forecast saying that the wind would die down, where I was, there was not much evidence of that, granted, it was still warm and dry, so that's a bonus.

Still working on my ubertrail, and at the moment I have a small problem, and for once its one that I am happy to have, too many trails to link.
Its taking me a bit of trail an error to link them, think I have maybe found a way, all I need to do is head up to the Carrick Hills and check to see if the trail that I think goes where it does, well, goes where it does.
I know that sounds kind of dumb, but the downhill section that I know of, runs to the left, however, there is a trail that runs to the right, and hopefully this will take me out at the road, and from there, I can work out if its worth while doing in reverse, and if that works, then yippee, I can avoid the main road all the way up into the Carricks, if not booo.

Spotted an item on the news that caught my attention, it seems that they have built a walking trail up in Kintyre, will have to check out if it can be cycled, and if they allow MTB's on it

Oh To Be Fit Enough

Spotted this on the BBC's news website

The first ever Trans Scotland mountain biking race is set to take place across the south of Scotland next year.
The seven-day marathon in Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders hopes to attract riders from across Europe.

It will be based around the 7stanes biking centres at Glentrool, Mabie, Ae, Kirroughtree, Dalbeattie, Newcastleton and the Tweed Valley.

Organisers said the success of previous one-day events staged in Selkirk had prompted the ambitious plans.
Merida Marathons is staging a similar event in Wales this month and hopes the Scottish event can go ahead in May 2007.
"We are already active with one of our main events in Selkirk," said spokesman Michael Wilkens.
I have seen grown men coming over the line crying saying it is the best day's mountain biking they have had
Michael WilkensMerida Marathons
"It is a lovely place with a fantastic course and a fantastic set up.
"The Borders offer something similar to the trail course in Wales."

The idea is to have a series of timed special stages at the 7stanes courses with other link stages totalling anything up to 75 miles a day.

Competitors from Holland, Belgium, Italy and even Hong Kong are taking part in the Welsh event.
Mr Wilkens said there was no reason why the Scottish event would not attract even better numbers than the 300 hoped for in Wales.

He said the Tweed Valley event was rated as one of the best around.
"I have seen grown men coming over the line crying saying it is the best day's mountain biking they have had," he said.

Packing For Her Indoors

Spent most of the day helping her indoors get ready for her holiday to Andorra, after all the panicking and the "what have I forgot" moments of terror, she finally headed round to her mothers, she is staying there overnight, so that they can share a taxi to the airport.

This afternoon I headed into to town, and spent an hour in my LBS, oh boy the Specialized range for 2007 looks so cool, unfortunately all I can do is window shop, but gives me an idea what will be next on my wish list

Omens

Well I decided to go out on the bike, the weather was good, however, as I was heading along the Rozelle Loop, I spotted that some of my route was still sealed off for the flower show, this should have warned me, that the biking Gods where about to mock me, but do I ever take notice of bad omens, well obviously not.

Hit the Caddyshack Trail, and soon discovered that the council were in the process of trimming the bushes and trees, good for visibility, but thorns everywhere.

The rest of the trails were in good nick, so I decided to have a looksee at the River Ayr section, to see if I could find a way further along the river, came to the end of the trail, hopped over the fence, and walked around the edge of the field, did not spot a route, however, I did spot a gate at the top of the field, and I thought ah ha, a way out, sheee, I should have brought a machete, it was that overgrown, I ended up with cuts and scrapes as I fought my way through, granted, it would be a good route if it was not that overgrown, yeah and if my aunty had nuts, she would be my uncle.

Oh, and guess what, I got a visit from the puncture demon, it was a long walk home, and by the time I got home, I was in a foul mood, so a hot bath filled with radox, a glass of cold milk, an hours sleep, and I was feeling a bit calmer.

Will either put the bike in tomorrow and get the front wheel rebored out to take a Shcraeder valve, to get an insert fitted to the back one, to take a presta valve

I Am Becoming A Lazy Fat Git

I ma suffering from a bad case of lazynitness at the moment, in other words, I cannot be bothered doing a sodding thing, and any excuse to nought will do, its too windy, its to wet, its too warm, you get the picture.
So tomorrow, fingers crossed, I will get my fat lazy ass out of bed early, and hit the trails, and I am the one who was moaning that I did not have my bike, and now that I have it, all I am doing is sitting if front of my computer catching a pixel tan.

Lousy Weather

Never managed to get out at all today, the weather was awful, it was windy, with occasional heavy showers, ah the vagaries of a Scottish summer.
Still, I have to look on the bright side, I know that I will get out sometime this week, and I have a few new trails to check out, the thought of that, keeps me going.

Will still have to stick the front wheel in to my LBS, at the moment I am running two different types of valves on my bike, not that I have a problem with that in theory, but having to carry two different sets of inner tubes around ain't such a good thing, and knowing my luck, I will get two visits from the puncture demon, and of course, it will be the wrong type of inner that I will have in my pack