20 September 2009 - Glentress

After plans for an early start were scuppered by a combination of laziness and hangover, we dragged ourselves up and reached the hub at about 10am. Nev dropped Ash and Simon off and headed on to Edinburgh to meet Charlotte and Andy.

Hedd, Ash, Helen and Simon, fuelled by hub breakfast sarnies (with a STRICT maximum of 2 fillings!) headed out on the Glentress red route again.

Yesterday's riding appeared to have taken it's toll on Simon, who struggled with the early climbs. Fortunately, the bike park came to our rescue and a bit of playtime there brought everyone to life!

Simon rides the Glentress bike park

Recharged, we headed on to the Spooky Wood descent, which passed without incident this time, and on to Super-G and Hit-Squad Hill with saw some colourful riding (and language!) from Ash!

Ash and Simon ride Hit-Squad Hill at Glentress

We then headed on to the Pie-Run and after telling us she hated roots, Helen turned on the style and rode (nearly) all of it without a dab, easily clearing the tricky corners.

Helen riding the Pie-Run at Glentress

We were soon back at the Hub, but rather than lunching there, we jumped in the cars and headed over to watch Helen's mate Colin ride in the downhill champs at Innerleithen. We missed his first run, but after a long wait (and nearly giving up) we saw him flying down the steep, tight switchbacks and were able to give him a big cheer!

Not the best weekend of riding for obvious reasons, but as always Scotland did not disappoint - the riding was awesome. It's also worth noting that the weather was really good - Helen's advice is that May and September are the months to go for. Perhaps next year we need to head even further north, and check out Nevis, Golspie, etc.?

The only thing left is to follow the "Team America: World Police" example, and go with a montage....

Glentress & Innerleithen September 2009 from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.