Cademuir Forest Tree Felling

The following message has been circulated by the TweedLove organisers to the mountain bike community, but applies equally to runners who also frequent Cademuir forest ...

TweedLove wrote:
Important Cademuir trail news - word just in from Forestry Commission Scotland:
"The tree felling works at Cademuir Forest are starting today[10-Feb] and will be ongoing until the end of July 2015 (7 days/week). The area being clearfelled is the Cademuir Hill part of the wood (roughly from the summit down to the middle road) so the 2 natural mtb descents (used in the K&Q) from the summit won't be accessible and much of the Pilots Trail walk will also be closed for the duration of the... works. Access up from the Owl carpark will also be restricted. These closures are for the publics own safety - the harvester has a ~200m chainshot risk zone and ~100m risk zone when felling the trees (and they are big trees up there) - the impact of being hit by falling tree and also chainshot can kill.
We've marked the mtb descents and the contractors are going to do their best to avoid damaging them but this will be harder to do for the descent off the back (heading down towards the quarry) which is on steeper slopes. "

Cross Borders Drove Road Club Run Report

We lucked out today with glorius sunshine for the run from Romannobridge to Peebles. Seven of us made the 10 mile run (photo taken by Kenny).

James, Scott and Colin then headed up the Gypsy Glen and back to Cadrona/Innerleithen.

 



Club Run Sunday 8th Feb - Cross Borders Drove Road from Romannobridge to Peebles (and Innerleithen/Cadrona)

I'm organising a club run from Romannobridge to Peebles along the 'Cross Borders Drove Road' route as shown on new OS mapping as shown here:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=323688&Y=642426&A=Y&Z=120

It's about 10 miles / 16km I reckon with a fair bit of climb but nothing too steep.

 

I will then continue on (with anyone who's up for it) to Innerleithen via the Gyspy Glen and round the back of Cardrona Forest, which is roughly the same distance again.

 

 

 

The 'Cross Borders Drove Road' is a longer route from the Cauldstane Slap to Yarrowford so we'll just do a section. Details of the whole route can be found here:

http://www.southofscotlandcountrysidetrails.co.uk/where-to-ride/cross-borders-drove-road/

 

The plan is to meet in Innerleithen at 9.45am at the bank and then Kings Meadows Car Park at 10am (can pick up in Cardrona too if there is interest) and drive to Romannobridge and then run back.

 

Social pace and stick together. Probably stretch out a bit for those heading on to Innerleithen.

 

Please let me know if you are thinking of coming along so I think about cars etc.

 

Cheers

Colin

 

colin.m.williams@talk21.com

M: 07712 259 603

Borders XC Title for Elena

Per the Dunbar results (see report below) Elena McGorum secured her fourth win from four races in the 10-11 Girls category and has therefore already secured the series title. Brava Elena!

Dunbar XC Report - 25 January

It was a windy Dunbar that greeted the small band of Moorfoots who made the trip to the east coast for the sixth round of this year’s Borders XC.

The courses remained unchanged from last year with 79 juniors galloping Dunbarwards along the soft sand, over rocks and kelp, looping back along the beach and off along undulating coastal paths before the lighthouse turn eventually retracing their steps on the charge back to the finish. The adult route is as described but with an added outward mile over a second sandy strip with an abundance of beached kelp to add to the challenge. The return included a good number of leg-testing burns to be louped and some challenging terrain to be negotiated. 163 adults made it safely out and back – though one Gala Harrier, a couple of meters in front of me, lost his footing at the far end of the beach and ended up sprawling over sand and rock. Scuffed and bloodied but undeterred, he rose, brushed off the sand and jogged on.

In the adult race, Dessie Flanagan, won by romping round in 25.41 and Charlotte Morgan was the first lady in 27.36. Moorfootwise, Alan Elder finished in 32.33, Ian Munro came in at 33.43 and Mike Pearson in 53.05.

Junior times were Ethan Elder 14.37, Elena McGorum 15.41,Cameron Munro 17.08 and Eilidh Mooney 17.42. Elena was 2^nd girl back and Ethan 7^th boy. Good running by all bearing in mind how tiring sand can be on the calves!

With six down, the seventh, and final in the series takes place at ‘Conundrum’ (Berwick-onTweed) on 15^th of February.

Photos – courtesy of Bob Marshall

 

 

Moorfoot Runners Club AGM - Fri 6th March

Advance notice that we will be holding the Club AGM on the evening of Fri 6th March.
This is an opportunity for everyone to have an input into how the club is organised and also meet other club members. To make the evening more appealing we are planning to organise a club subsidised meal after the formal AGM part is complete.
More details will follow..........

Moorfoots at Devil's Burdens 2015

James at full speed approaching L1/L2 change-over

A return to the Devil's Burdens Hill Relays this year for the Moorfoots, after a couple of years absence. The team of James (L1), Colin/Scout (L2), Kenny/Eddie (L3) and Lucas (L4) achieved a very respectable 18th place (from 123 teams) and first place in the 'Open' category (mixed team of unequal male/female runner numbers)

A cold but sunny day; some snow patches higher up, but ice being the main danger - from the verglas in the car parks to the refrozen water in the shady parts - all part of the challenge!

 

Leg1 - James solo run set a blistering pace and his 4th place put the rest of the team up in the 'rarefied atmosphere' of the top end of the field.

 

Leg2 - the West Lomond section - Scout did the 'pulling' on the ascents; Colin blasting ahead on the descents; a few places dropped in the field but still up in the mix

 

Leg3 - the potential 'weak link' but Eddie / Kenny did sufficient damage limitation to keep things interesting through the last leg.....

 

Leg4 - the East Lomond section - Lucas, running solo brought the team home with a strong run

 

Results here...

 

A good day out, with the team change-over logistics adding to the fun of the day - and a chance to catch up with runners from other clubs...a cheery Julia Conner running two legs for Lomond Hill Runners, a seriously fast Mike Reid for the Carnethy and two teams of old pals from Calderglen Harriers, amongst others....

 

Colin and Scout on Leg2