Cycling tour: sunset at the Pentland Hills [Edinburgh]

This particular route was an interesting one, as it consisted of both stunning views and a LOT of steep walking and pushing my bike.

Before setting off, I was actually in the middle of getting my new flat pedal set up, the Hope F22, that I purchased as part of gift vouchers given to me for Christmas by Claire's side of the family, when she was nudging me to get out and make the most out of the sun before it goes down.

She had a point, while I was screwing in the pins into the pedals (I realise now that I need to remove them to apply some grease...an error on my part).

I was really keen to install the new pedals and use them. Instead, I had the opportunity to wear my new mountain bike shoes, the Endura Humvee flat pedal shoes (in olive green), so at least I had something new to test.

I wasn't feeling too great physically as I coming down with something, but I really wanted to get out and push myself, and boy did I do just that.

The recent wet weather has made it too difficult to go on certain grassy trails so I made the effort to find a gravel path, and there was one particular one that I wanted to investigate within the Pentland Hills that I love exploring.

What I forgot to do when I arrived was to check on Komoot what kind of height am I going to face when going up those hills.

Big mistake!

As luck would have it, I spent quite a bit of time walking up a steep gravel path. Since I didn't have sufficient tyre width, I did not have the tractions to get a good grip to cycle up the gravel, as the steepness was too unforgiving.

Along the way, I was (while trying to catch my breathe) talking to a couple of hikers (walking downhill, mind) who were sympathetic with me and willed me on. They were telling me that "you've won already because you made it out and you're up here". That felt good!

And when I went up further, the view also made me feel good.

I really wanted to stay out longer and head out even deeper into the Hills, but with the sun setting and me not wearing enough layers to handle the cold at such a height, it was time for me to head back.

So I decided to stop one more time to have a look at the 360 degrees view around me (while dodging the muddy paths), really soaking it in, admire the view, take a deep breathe and embrace the love I have for off-road cycling.

It's a good thing that I was also testing my new Lezyne Micro Drive 800+ front light and Strip Drive Pro 400+ rear light. It gave me the confidence and comfort to cycle when the sun has disappeared from the horizon.

The end of the journey was not ideal, as I ended up with a flat tyre. I suspect this happened when going back down the path at a speed (a nice change from walking and pushing a bike). Pumping up the tyre didn't do anything and it was too dark for me to find and fix the puncture there and then, so I made the decision to go on a long walk home with the bike.

As annoying as it was, I decided to look at it with a positive outlook by deciding to use this opportunity to learn to get my hands dirty and learn how to fix it myself.

But that's for another post.