kirky1298
Registered user
ok , the plan last night was to get up early this morning and head north to the lecht or rannoch station for a wee run. unfortunately i got pissed as a fart and slept in 
by the time i had gotten my shit together it was 11am , so the north was a no go . decided to go for a blast round the borders instead , and i'm glad i did .
i left home at 11.30 and had to stop in Biggar about 25mls later to get some more layers on , it was baltic and i only had a tee shirt and summer jacket on
.
anyway , i took the opportunity to have a coffee and a smoke before heading over the backroad to Broughton and on to Tweedsmuir
Stopped to check out the river tweed and was surprised to find it iced over in places
anyway , i headed over my usual route , a wee single track road that takes you up past the Talla Reservoir , over past Meggat Water and on to St Mary's Loch
the Talla was completely frozen over
so , i'm blasting up the side of the reservoir looking for photo opportunities and plough right into this ,the bike wriggled like a greased pig , let me tell you , that was an arsehole tightner
if you don't know this road, it rises steeply at the head of the Talla Reservoir ( probably 1 in 5 incline ) , climbs over the surrounding hills and wynds it's way along Meggat water .
the snow is still about 2 feet deep at the summit
a lot of ice and snow on the road for the next 13 miles , so i take it easy and emerge safely at St Mary's Loch , the hangover is kicking in now and the head is banging . i think briefly about cutting the run short and heading home ,,, feck that , give yourself a shake man push on and enjoy , i'm glad i did , as the hangover lifted i had an absolute blast of a time ..
heres a shot for fannum , take him back to his uniformed days
so, Bill , whats this thing here ?? is it a phone box
I decide to push on for Eskdalemuir via another wee cracker of a road , the B709 , the wildlife was in abundance but unfortunately the camera was in my topbox and by the time i got it out the wildlife had fecked off . so heres what i saw on my travels
1 heron
1 buzzard
2 kestrels
1 sparrowhawk
3 deer grazing
1 hare
several rabbits
numerous cock pheasants ( 1 at close quarters ) feck nows how i missed it
my god , the road is fecked up real bad , i cant believe how the winter has taken it's toll on one of my favourite roads , total destruction , just a heads up , the B709 is closing on the 15th feb for 12 weeks for repair , it's wrecked
anyway , i push on , the plan being to stop at Samyeling's Place for a brew
but first ..... a wee play on the forrest trails ......
on second thoughts ,,, i'm sick of picking the beast up ,snow / pack ice and baldy tourances just dont seem to mix well , and having a major off in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal is not one of my better ideas ....... back to the road ya numptie
found this wee lochan that was completely frozen over and coated with snow ,,,,,, i wonder ,, will it hold a tosser ???? i didn't have the balls to find out
an arty farty shot that went wrong ,,, i'm not fat , it's layers ....
right , Sammy's place for a brew ..
well , it's getting to my turn around time , the sun's way over the yard arm , the temperature is dropping off big time and i still have 90 or so miles to go
do i take the motorway
do i feck !! , scenic route all the way .. my finger tips are numb now and i have a dewdrop hanging from my nose ...... time for a coffee stop in Moffat
nose wiped , fingertips thawed , coffee drunk , time to push on ....
heres one for all you murdering F.E.B's
the covenanters memorial is at the devils beeftub just outside Moffat btw
i head back through Tweedsmuir and pick up a sneaky wee farmers track that crosses about 6 miles of open country and comes out at Coulter Mill . the track is treacherous with ice and i'm starting to shake uncontrolably . as my core temperature drops off i start making basic mistakes ....... but ...... i have just gotta stop and try to capture this sunset ......
sun setting over Tinto Hill and surrounding area
so....... to summarise , did i enjoy myself today , well , you be the judge of that
kirky out !!
by the time i had gotten my shit together it was 11am , so the north was a no go . decided to go for a blast round the borders instead , and i'm glad i did .i left home at 11.30 and had to stop in Biggar about 25mls later to get some more layers on , it was baltic and i only had a tee shirt and summer jacket on
.anyway , i took the opportunity to have a coffee and a smoke before heading over the backroad to Broughton and on to Tweedsmuir
Stopped to check out the river tweed and was surprised to find it iced over in places
anyway , i headed over my usual route , a wee single track road that takes you up past the Talla Reservoir , over past Meggat Water and on to St Mary's Loch
the Talla was completely frozen over
so , i'm blasting up the side of the reservoir looking for photo opportunities and plough right into this ,the bike wriggled like a greased pig , let me tell you , that was an arsehole tightner
if you don't know this road, it rises steeply at the head of the Talla Reservoir ( probably 1 in 5 incline ) , climbs over the surrounding hills and wynds it's way along Meggat water .
the snow is still about 2 feet deep at the summit
a lot of ice and snow on the road for the next 13 miles , so i take it easy and emerge safely at St Mary's Loch , the hangover is kicking in now and the head is banging . i think briefly about cutting the run short and heading home ,,, feck that , give yourself a shake man
push on and enjoy , i'm glad i did , as the hangover lifted i had an absolute blast of a time ..heres a shot for fannum , take him back to his uniformed days
so, Bill , whats this thing here ?? is it a phone box
I decide to push on for Eskdalemuir via another wee cracker of a road , the B709 , the wildlife was in abundance but unfortunately the camera was in my topbox and by the time i got it out the wildlife had fecked off . so heres what i saw on my travels
1 heron
1 buzzard
2 kestrels
1 sparrowhawk
3 deer grazing
1 hare
several rabbits
numerous cock pheasants ( 1 at close quarters ) feck nows how i missed it
my god , the road is fecked up real bad , i cant believe how the winter has taken it's toll on one of my favourite roads , total destruction , just a heads up , the B709 is closing on the 15th feb for 12 weeks for repair , it's wrecked
anyway , i push on , the plan being to stop at Samyeling's Place for a brew
but first ..... a wee play on the forrest trails ......
on second thoughts ,,, i'm sick of picking the beast up ,snow / pack ice and baldy tourances just dont seem to mix well
, and having a major off in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal is not one of my better ideas ....... back to the road ya numptie found this wee lochan that was completely frozen over and coated with snow ,,,,,, i wonder ,, will it hold a tosser ???? i didn't have the balls to find out
an arty farty shot that went wrong ,,, i'm not fat , it's layers ....
right , Sammy's place for a brew ..
well , it's getting to my turn around time , the sun's way over the yard arm , the temperature is dropping off big time and i still have 90 or so miles to go
do i take the motorway
do i feck !! , scenic route all the way .. my finger tips are numb now and i have a dewdrop hanging from my nose ...... time for a coffee stop in Moffat
nose wiped , fingertips thawed , coffee drunk , time to push on ....
heres one for all you murdering F.E.B's
the covenanters memorial is at the devils beeftub just outside Moffat btw
i head back through Tweedsmuir and pick up a sneaky wee farmers track that crosses about 6 miles of open country and comes out at Coulter Mill . the track is treacherous with ice and i'm starting to shake uncontrolably . as my core temperature drops off i start making basic mistakes ....... but ...... i have just gotta stop and try to capture this sunset ......
sun setting over Tinto Hill and surrounding area
so....... to summarise , did i enjoy myself today , well , you be the judge of that
kirky out !!
loved the photos, need to get back to the boarders again, heading over to Arran for a few days at Easter, was going in the Discovery but tempted to take Bertha ( my GS )and having a bit of a ride round on the way after reading that !!! 
rite ah need a gsa !!!
