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Back in March I drove down to Peebles and cycled from there to Moffat and back! So today I drove to Moffat and cycled to Peebles and back, a very different route from March though and what a ride it was!
![Big Grin :D :D](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
I parked the car in Moffat and had a 1000ft 6.5 mile climb up the Devils Beeftub to contend with immediately, it was very misty at this early hour (just after 7.30am) with patchy fog also so I was glad I was climbing first to get warmed up! I reached the top of the climb at almost 1400ft and grabbed this photo!
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I then had a 12 mile descent to enjoy and within a mile or two the conditions were very different!
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Its a very gradual descent so no high speeds involved on this one and strangely it was into the wind which was supposed to be from the SE and I was heading north! Not that the wind was strong or anything, it was only around 10mph! I continued down the descent and soon the roads were bone dry and they remained like that for the whole ride, conditions were just perfect! I was nearing the village of Broughton when I spotted this lovely view looking west!
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A short time later on the same road I had this view looking east!
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This was actually the main A701 which runs all the way from Moffat to just past Broughton where it joins the A72 towards Blyth Bridge, thankfully it was pretty quiet today! I was nearing Bltyh Bridge and grabbed these photos looking north!
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Just before Blyth Bridge I turned for Peebles, strangely the road here is still the A72 and the road through Blyth Bridge becomes the A701 again! The road down to Peebles from here is just amazing, except for the first descent which is very rough indeed and I was sure glad to reach smooth tarmac again! The views aren't too shabby either!
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I then arrived in Peebles and took the quiet back road to Traquair, stopping on the pedestrian bridge over the River Tweed for this photo!
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This is another fun road to ride and its always quiet as most of the traffic uses the main road down through Innerleithen! I was just about to start one of the climbs when I spotted these horses grazing in a very steep field!
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I then reached the tiny village of Traquair where it was time to turn south to head back in the direction of Moffat, the second I turned the corner I was hit by a strong headwind! When I checked the forecast the previous evening there was no mention of strong winds, I did notice the wind was due to pick up strength into the afternoon but nothing more than 18mph! This wind was way stronger and immediately I had a 3.6 mile climb to tackle, I managed up the climb with level 2 assist and then enjoyed the descent down into the valley! This is the final part of the descent before turning west on the A708!
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This was the lovely view to the east!
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I was now heading towards St Marys Loch and as I was nearing the loch I heard a strange noise which I thought was coming from the bike, I was looking around to see if anything had come loose and the next thing an RAF Phenom T1 jet buzzed over my head at low level! What a sight that was, it wasn't super noisy as its just a bizjet but still quite a buzz seeing it so low!
![Beaming face with smiling eyes :grin: 😁](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/7.0/png/unicode/64/1f601.png)
Sadly I had no chance of getting a photo as it shot past at breakneck speed! Soon the loch came into view, no problem getting photos this time!
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From here I usually continue round the loch but I had a lightbulb moment and thought it would be a good idea to take the back road to Tweedsmuir ( I passed through this village on my descent from Moffat in the morning) and it would give me the opportunity to descend the Devils Beeftub at the end of my ride! I had only ridden this road once before and it was on my motorbike many years ago, at the time I deemed it too dangerous for a bicycle as it was pretty rough in parts and had some crazy steep hills with loose gravel around! I thought I would give it a go and if it was bad I would just turn back and use my usual road!
I was in luck right away though as the road had been resurfaced recently and was very smooth!
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Its very narrow and has passing places dotted all the way along it, it runs alongside 2 big reservoirs which are the Megget and the Talla! I started the first climb up to the Megget Reservoir and I had to use level 3 assist to battle the wind, it was like a wind tunnel and it must have been close to 30mph and a direct headwind! Once I reached the reservoir I was super happy I had come this way, I grabbed this photo first!
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There was a steep embankment next to the reservoir and when I climbed up I was greeted with this view!
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The photo doesn't really do it justice, my mind was blown when I saw it! St Marys Loch is way in the distance, the spot where I was standing was at 1200ft and it was a sheer drop below me! Thankfully the part I was standing on was a good 6 feet wide! I stopped again at the far side of the reservoir for this photo!
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I was now at 1300ft and had this climb staring me in the face!
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At the top my gps was showing 1498ft and what a view I had of the Talla reservoir!
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Now came the scariest part of my ride, as I started down the descent into the valley I remembered coming up this part on my motorbike all those years ago and its a real scary climb but not anywhere near as scary as going down! Its actually called the Wall of Talla and I can see why! To make matters worse the road was strewn with gravel and potholes, I have never been so scared of a descent in my life and I was on the brakes all the way down and doing less than 10mph! I think it would be more fun climbing it actually!
![Face with tears of joy :joy: 😂](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/7.0/png/unicode/64/1f602.png)
Will I ever be brave enough though? probably not but there are those views to entice me....
![Rolling on the floor laughing :rofl: 🤣](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/7.0/png/unicode/64/1f923.png)
When I reached the valley I was so relieved, of course when I was in the valley the road was in perfect condition!
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I reached the road end at Tweedsmuir where I started the gradual climb up to the Devils Beeftub, amazingly the wind wasn't as strong here so level 2 assist coped with the climb no problem! This was the start of the climb!
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All of my thoughts were now on the 6.5 mile descent down into Moffat and boy did I enjoy that!
![Beaming face with smiling eyes :grin: 😁](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/7.0/png/unicode/64/1f601.png)
Of course I had to stop on the way down for photos!
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Some of Moffat can be seen here!
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Have a look at the elevation profile just after 65 miles and you will see the scary descent, I don't think I will ever attempt it again..what a ride it was though, almost certainly one of my best ever despite the scary part!
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