Trans Scotland.

For all of those who wonder how Ian is getting on up there in Scotland. I have been left in charge of up dating on his Blog. Beth.

I will let Ian tell you the story so far……

‘Day 1 – Selkirk to Moffat. Rain followed us out of Selkirk for the
start of the event. The forest trails were a bit slippy to begin with,
before we headed up into the forests and the hills beyond. The rain
finally eased off after lunch, but the cool wind persisted. A steep
push took us to the highest point of the week, 480m, with a
spectacularly steep descent back down into the valley and into Moffat.
Total distance: 77.3km, 1680m ascent.

Day 2 – Moffat to Drumlanrig. A shorter link stage today, before the
special stage in the evening. Alan and I rode together most of the
day, and we helped each other maintain a good pace. A long forest
track climb quickly established some altitude which joined the
southern upland way, and a super-fast roman road track that was the
highlight of the day. Total distance: 43.6km, 970m ascent.

Special stage 1 – Drumlanrig. We had about 5 hours rest before the
10km special stage. Drumlanrig is known for its technical riding, and
the course a brilliant tech-fest of tight rooty turns and rocky drops
to really test your skill. I completed the lap in 38:34 to finish in
10th in the solo. Al posted a time of 41:38 for 16th place.

Overall, I’m happy so far with how things have gone. Tomorrow’s course
looks tough, taking in Ae forest, Mabie and Dalbeattie totalling 100km.
A special stage on Thursday at Dalbeattie should also be quite
testing.’

There will be another update soon, if his phone batteries last that long………..