The Devil was after The Beef Tub

I had two lengths of rides planned. Both had The Devil’s Beef Tub climb. The shorter ride had another tickable one. It looked windy. It looked dry. Do I go for the shorter or longer version? Concluding this may be my best weather opportunity and the only long ride up my sleeve, I went for it. 

The Devil’s Beef Tub was a joy. I can’t remember the last time I had spare gears on an uphill challenge! The tailwind helped but I knew that was going to be a double-edged sword. The scenery was immediately beautiful too.

Sure enough, on the descent and all the way through to Peebles and a little beyond, I had quite a tough headwind, made copable by the very pretty surroundings. Steady, steady - my legs were a bit tired and I knew there were more hills to follow. 

And there it was. My hopes realised. Following a couple of miles of clean tarmac railway path and then back to road, I watched the grass bend in my favour! I had a tailwind all the way home through unexpectedly delightful mountain and loch terrain. The hills were fine (the second one, strangely unnoticeable) and I just revelled in the space all the way home with one mighty fine descent through steep sided hills as the finale. 

Eat. Eat. Eat.
I’ve made a hole in the fridge. 

I brought Diablo, my mini toastie maker which seemed fitting for its first outing in the van given the name of the ride.