Taking dad to Kelso

On Easter Monday the wind was howling. If I thought the wind was stiff on Friday when we cycled at the cottage, then this was another level again. 'Gale force' might be the weather mans description and it was a day you didn't want to be caught out on an open road on your road bike with twenty miles in front of you. Not wanting to do nothing however, and unwilling to descend to the level of just going to the gym, we got a loan of my brother-in-laws mountain bike for my dad and along with mine we drove up to Kelso Park for a bit of trail riding. As dad pointed out moment's into the ride, this was his first time on a MTB in dozen some years.

The wind was certainly harsh but given we spent the majority of the riding in the trees, we really didn't notice it much. Kelso Park is loaded with good trials and for the most part we covered the best ones at least once. We got down to the lowest point of the park at the bottom of the ski-lifts, only to find the tough gravel climb back to the top closed for construction work forcing us to ride up the side of one of the actual ski slopes. If you look at the profile you'll see just how brutal that was. A case of the granny-ring and leaning over the front wheel to stop it lifting off the ground as the grade went in excess of 40%.

That was the hard bit, the rest was just fun riding, though dad might well argue his crash zapped some of the fun out of one of the more enjoyable descents. All in all though another good day up there though I've yet to have a bad one. The route, as ever, is embedded below with more info and stats inside. I'll be up at Kelso a few more times this month for a few more aggressive sessions ahead of my first race of the year at the end of the month.