Kielder

It's not a long distance between Peebles and Kielder for a bird - but not easy for a car - took a very zig zaggedy route on lots of little roads with passing places, finally crossing the border just before Kielder.

Much, much quieter than Glentress. The majority of cars belonged to people walking around the Castle, a few to people doing road bike routes, and just 3 vehicles to mountain bikers - us, 1 transit van & one other. As it was so quiet, we figured we'd be able to tackle the Red Deadwater Trail without annoying too many people whenever I would need to stop & panic. Like Glentress, the Forestry Commission are involved, but Deadwater was built by a community group, the Kielder Trail Reavers. I think there are hopes that the trails will boost tourism in the area in a similar way to Peebles benefitting from Glentress.

Loved the route - we both had to walk some sections (Dougie's Day Off defeated both of us) and again, my berm inability showed. I was pleased with some of the drop offs I tackled, but I did chicken out of many scary bits - esp where descending on lots of loose big-ish rocks on sand at Skellys Riggin. It lacked Glentress' level of manicured perfection - but this added to the exhileration and challenge. Midges were out in force - didn't seem to realise that they weren't supposed to be out of Scotland. Big sweeping views across the Cheviots from the route's high point of 569m (over 1500 ft) and the sun shone all day.

No punctures, but Husband shredded his rear tyre - glad we got back OK! The blokes in the transit van kindly offered him a replacement, but as we had no further rides planned for a week or so, we declined.

Anyway, we're keen to return. More trails are being built, so there'll be more to tackle - although I suspect it'll be a while before I'm able to acquit myself on Deadwater with dignity!