They’re really nice!
A club mate has Adam Blythe’s (yes, him!) old one.
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Ah the joys of off road riding! Finishing every ride with cut forearms and tingling legs from nettles.
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2.5 hour explore out and back up a Landy track into a fairly barren glen on some estate north of Balmoral this morning. Lovely sandy gravel with half a dozen burns to ford, but all easily rideable. Wet feet aren’t so bad in the sunshine. Lots of sheep and recent muirburn scars making it a fairly barren glen unfortunately.
Picture of a random new shooting bothy 10 miles up the glen, middle of no where.
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Did you see Donald on your travels too?
I used to love flying up that road in my little Alfa.
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Started by a campfire tsk tsk.
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Welsh answer to champagne gravel?
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I don’t know about champagne, but the air up there hits different & - on a Friday - I had the forest & single trails pretty much to myself 
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I’m planning a bit of an epic tomorrow, to cycle to where we are staying for a week’s holiday. Given I’ve mostly been working, building a wood oven and gardening recently I think it’ll turn into a bit of a grovel after 5 hours. Mostly railway lines, then heading up Landy tracks into the Cairngorms. It’ll get quite remote so I’ve packed quite a thorough spares kit, spare AXS battery, hanger etc, and even a foil blanket and sun cream, just in case.
I’m quite looking forward to it, setting off at sparrow fart AM. I’m really hoping there’s not too much hike-a-bike but aerial imagery makes me think there might be 5k walking in there. If I don’t post here on Sat then please call Braemar Mountain Rescue. Cheers.
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Sounds ace! Your lot break up a bit earlier up there then I assume? (or are you * whisper * private school?! 
)
Make sure you stop for some good pics! Really need to make an effort to get up to Scotland one day. Trouble is, where do you pick?! (and how to avoid the bugs! 
)
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I think you might be using a cycle trail my mate was telling me about; apparently it catches a lot of people out as it’s hillier than expected and a lot of people who plan an out and back (overnighting at turnaround) often get the train back 
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No they break-up late Jun in Scotland, so as well as no tuition fees and free prescriptions they get cheaper holidays too the spawny feckers!
That said, I think you get humped on high rate tax.
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They break up 2 weeks earlier than England up here, for reasons unknown.
NE Scotland is a hidden gem. No where near the crowds of the west coast or central belt. Great cycling, road, gravel, MTB, hiking, gliding, sea kayaking, OW swimming, wild camping, right to roam. Not really any midgies… that’s a west coast problem. Scenery isn’t as dramatic as NW coast granted.
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50% tax if you lump in NI. I’m going to have to smash the free prescriptions and eye tests if I’m ever to recover all that 
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Your kids will thank you when they don’t have student loans to pay off.
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I think that’s on borrowed time.
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Yeah if you’re healthy and don’t have kids, emigrate south!
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I’m praying that particular perk of living in Scotland lasts another 8 years, but I’d be very surprised if it doesn’t go down the means tested route by then.
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