On a nice sunny, calm Sunday morning, we couldn’t miss the chance for a quick cycle. The only problem was the hard frost and temperature hovering just above zero. So we wrapped up warm and made sure to ride carefully over any icy bits.
For this ride, I decided to take a cheap old bike we’d bought from ASDA about 10 years ago, and which I had started tinkering with. My aim is to end up with a serviceable spare bike that we can offer to visitors who might want to join us on our rides. The main drawback with this bike at the moment is the lack of mudguards, which soon became evident as we cycled past Middleton Limeworks. There has been constant traffic over the last few weeks with tipper trucks conveying soil to the quarry from various sites along the Borders Railway project. This has muddied up the roads around the quarry, and I soon felt mud spraying into my face off my front tyre.
As soon as we got away from the dumper truck route, the conditions improved dramatically, and we could start to enjoy the ride. We headed out past Outerston and up the short steep hill to Yorkston, where the lack of any low gears on my bike made me work hard to keep moving. We then rode on to Rosebery Reservoir, looking very peaceful in the bright, calm conditions. The water level seemed somewhat lower than on our previous visit.
Quiet roads on a sunny Sunday morning
Climbing up the other side, we reached the B6372, where we turned right past Rosebery Farm, then left onto the track leading to Edgelaw Reservoir. The puddles in the pot holes were all frozen over and made a satisfying crunch as we went through them. At the end of the track, we turned right to take a look at the revervoir. In contrast to Rosebery, this reservoir was now full. It was hard to believe that during the summer we could walk out a full 100 yards till we reached the water’s edge.
Edgelaw Reservoir now full again
After leaving the reservoir, we rode up past Edgelaw farm and onwards to Carrington. We took the road leading to Temple from there and caught up with a horse-drawn carriage out for a Sunday jaunt. The driver joked “No speeding!” as we went past – “Not much chance of that!”, we had to admit.
Ignoring the Temple turnoff, we headed in the direction of Birkenside as far as the right turn for Castleton, where Colette and I parted company. She was going to ride to Birkenside and then back home via the A7, while I wanted to go on the hillier back route via Halkerston. It was a bit of a challenge on the old junk bike, and typically, just as I was struggling up the hardest section, another cyclist shot past effortlessly in the opposite direction. I pedalled on up the hill, keeping pace to the tune of the Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond which was going through my mind, and was halfway up the hill before I realised the significance. Colette took the low road, and got home a minute or so before me.
At the end of the run, I felt a good bit more tired than I should have for just 15 miles. That old bike must have made me work a bit harder than normal, and I have to admit that the experience wasn’t as pleasant as my usual bike, but it performed pretty well and isn’t ready for the skip just yet.