Pentlands 26/07/08
I have been doing too many races of late and felt I should focus, this weekend, not on racing but putting in some longer hill miles. On Saturday I started late in the afternoon not as a ploy to catch by far the best weather of the day but as a result of dicking around making up sports drinks, pumping up tyres, greasing the bike, greasing myself and downloading some new tunes to play on the mp3 player.
No Mary along as she was working. The cycle to Balerno took under an hour. I had thought I would follow the Skyline route though start at Balerno as there are more places to hide a bike there and its a good ride home on the cyclepath - mostly downhill.
I was also trying out the new camera - a Panasonic Lumix. Small enough to run with and not too precious, but with a 10 x optical zoom and good wide angle lens. (As used by roadrunpics.com) Although earlier in the day the haze kept the sun from breaking through, by early evening there were patches of blue sky and it was warm. I took over a litre of sports drink in a camelbak and about another pint in a bike bottle.
Threipmuir Reservoir from Black HillUnusually the top of Black Hill was fairly dry - if you were careful. The top is nearly always soggy and you have to be prepared to finish the Skyline with wet feet. However I wasn't in a hurry and stopped regularly to take photos - mostly of sheep as there wasn't much else around.
Coming off Black Hill - Bell's Hill
Approaching this sheep I thought it was injured but it was just having a snooze.
From Bell's Hill you contour diagonally down to the fence and Harbour Hill...
I then climbed to the top of Allermuir and took the line from the trig point to Castlelaw Hill (missing Caerketton).
Litter at Allermuir summit - flogging and hanging is too good for these people.
Having come down the right side I am going to follow the path up the left. Note insect top left.Although I spent most of the 3½ hours running in a state of euphoria there are a couple of things that can spoil the day. One was quite a lot of horseflies due to lack of wind until I got high enough. These feathery chaps land on a bare arm or leg and without so much as any foreplay slap their mouthparts on and insert a prodding device. Best dealt with, with vigilance and aggression. Other problems are carrying enough fluids in warm weather - I was sweating about a pint a minute going up hill and after halfway was trying to sook the polythene bladder out the camelbak. The remaining bottle on my bike at Balerno became the focus of intense anticipation.
Up the hill to Castlelaw.
The sun was beginning its descent and the haze made the whole place soft and washed out: a total delight. I was listening to lots of different music but really enjoyed the thoughtful piano piece "Opus" by Ryuichi Sakamoto on Turnhouse summit. Now I know I'll get a load of jip from the old school who see mp3s as an unnecessary pollutant especially in the hills where there is surely enough birdsong etc. to enjoy listening to. Well yes and no. Three and a half hours of sheep bleeting and listening to my lungs rattle is not as interesting as a carefully chosen tracklist that gives you a real lift and makes the whole trip a glorious cinematic experience. Don't knock it till you've tried it. Best not to wear headphones in traffic on the bike though.
Walking in the air
Scald Law from Carnethy with the Kips behind.I was so caught up in the fine evening it seemed to take no time to climb Scald Law but at the top I checked my watch and was surprised to see it was nearly 9pm. As I hadn't brought lights for the bike I thought I best head back directly rather than do South Black Hill, the Kips and the Drove Road. So Coming off Scald Law I cut across to the path at the bottom of Black Hill and along that to Balerno. It was about 9.30pm when I jumped on the bike.
Good image stabilisation in low light at x10 zoom.It was so warm on the cycle home that my soaking wet gilet and shorts dried out in the breeze. Having no lights I stuck to the Water of Leith cyclepath which I followed until 2 streets from home. Extraordinary day out.
Report and photos pb
Pentlands Again 3/08/08
The following Sunday and I'm at it again: cycle to Balerno, conceal bike then head North over Black Hill round to Allermuir then across to Castlelaw and up over the South Ridge to West Kip (via South Black Hill) then down the Drove Road over Hare Hill and back along the path to Balerno.
Lovely natural wooded area!
Following a few email enquires I have discovered (from a Victor Partridge, Countryside Ranger) that these pyramids are...
"devices for feeding grouse medicinal grain. Red grouse suffer from worms so to help them they are fed this grain."
Much better visibilty this week, but with danger of downpours.You're probably wondering why I passed up the chance to run amongst the scenic industrial estates of Granton and the Gassy 10k. Was it a reluctance to part with £12 for under 40 minutes running or the toxic wastelands of the coastal Forth? Or the stiff breeze that confounds any chance of a pb? In addition I declined an invite to the Helensburgh Half, which judging by Scott's report was also a good call.
Allermuir
You couldn't see the Kips from here last week.
This week I took 1.5 lts of sports drink on my back which lasted most of the 3hrs45 I was out running. Again I left more drink on the bike. I also started earlier in the day: left the house about 2pm running just after 3pm. There was a lot more rain in the air and on the ground and I was fortunate not to get drenched.
Here comes trouble.
Turnhouse.
Looking back to Castlelaw from Scald Law - strangely the top of Arthur's Seat peaks over the horizon.
Rave runPhotos pb
