DAWN RAID:Moor Road, Eaglesham.
Saturday 5th July

After an evening of cleaning my bearings I Got the text at 11pm: Weather forecast good, we’ll be there at 5am, Baz. So I collected my kit together and set the alarm (strictly on vibrate as the wife doesn’t appreciate the early starts!).
Following a rubbish nights sleep in anticipation I got up, tip toed round the house, made myself a coffee, loaded up the car and set off.

Moor road is about 20 minutes drive from where I live on the southside…the morning was calm, the sky was slightly overcast with hints of blue and the residual pinkness of sunrise hung to the clouds.
The streets were deserted but the occasional Walk of shamer!

The arrangement was to meet in the lay by about 2 miles up the road…I didn’t know what car Barry and Blair would be in so when I got the area there was a silver car, with occupant waiting…I thought great, that was easy and I parked up.
I hopped out of the car with coffee in hand…and approached the car only to see a wided eyed scared lady! I made my apologies and headed on (what was she doing sitting on a rural road, on her own at 5am on a Saturday morning? Bizarre)

I drove on and at the top of the hill found the car in the next lay by...again hopped out and approached…this time a bloke looked like he was just wakening up…next a naked lady sat up panicking trying to wrap herself in a blanket! WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS PLACE! Again I apologised, laughed and jumped back into the car!

Around the next corner I found the guys at the top of the hill. We did out greetings, I pulled on my leathers (They had already had a few runs) got ready for the first run.

The Hill wasn’t newly paved, but it had a perfectly smooth surface, and was about 0.6 miles long. It had a single lane in the middle and two narrow passing shoulders, these were denoted with cats eyes!
As for topography: It had a steep drop off, which mellowed some what and then dropped again then levelled to a more gentle gradient before finally levelling off with a slight up hill run out at the end. At the lowest point was a construction entrance to the largest land based wind farm being built in Europe…so we knew it was going to get busy after about 7am!

On each run one of us drove behind with hazard lights on, being a rural road the locals tend to fly along not anticipating nutters on Longboards around the next corner!

Barry and Blair took the first run, Barrys running a Lush Bahari with Holeys…and has a sketchy first run carving a bit of the speed off, but the wobbles eventually get him and he completes the run with a couple of Surrender slide style bails…But he gets to the bottom and grins!
Blair on the other hand got straight into the passing shoulder, gets low and locks himself in to a straight lined…MENTALIST: first run of the day and he runs it from the top with no foot braking, and with no ability to carve the speed off due to the cats eyes! When we get to the bottom he pulls off his helmet, eyes blazing and exhales That’s the fastest I’ve ever gone!
We drive back up and I take my first run. I pull out my evo, pull on my helmet and Push off first. Conscious that I don’t know the road I footbrake the top section and pull a few carves before straight lining the lower section...as the road levels I hear a phisssssssssst as Blair shoots past, hes warmed up and loving it!

Things feel good…its 6am on a Saturday morning and I’m skating on a rural road in rolling Scottish countryside: dropping a hill from the top, not foot braking this time, straight into the tuck: the tarmac rushes past, the hiss of the wheels and the heart stopping sickness when the board responds to the road when you least expect it: my fingers tingle with adrenaline at the end of each run. THIS FEELS GREAT!

The car following registers 38mph…and I’m whispering inside my visor Don’t move, just hold on...Thoughts of self preservation and second hand leathers (One wrong move and the cow gets it)!

We skate for about 2 hrs until the road starts to get busy, on the last few runs we hold up some traffic and when driving back up a few of the locals race past bouncing down the first drop in the way only a boy racer can …We think that its time to err on the side of caution and call it a day.

This is a great hill, well worth checking out…But an early start is essential and a car to follow is also useful!

Keep and eye on the “Skating” forum to see when we’re doing it again and come join us...Or just go skate it!

Sorry for not pics...I was half asleep when i left the house!

Cheers

Will.