Midsummer in the Cairngorms

It was the 21st of June. As usual for a Saturday I'd woken late and was contemplating various bike ride options when it occurred to me - it was mid summer, I should be riding my bike into the the sunset! A quick weather check indicated that the Cairngorms area looked to be pretty good so I quickly threw bags onto bike, camping stuff into bags, bike into car and then hightailed it up to Blair Atholl.

By the time I set off pedaling it was 12, not exactly the best time to start a major traverse into Britain's wildest mountain range, but given that it wouldn't get dark until after 11 I was fairly relaxed. Bugger. Just realised I'd forgotten my camera so no pics. Also forgotten lights so no overnight nonsense.... As usual I headed off up Glen Tilt. I'd last been up here in April when it was quite chilly so it was nice to be heading up in the dry and warmth of a June afternoon. That said there was a fair bit of cloud around and the odd sprinkle of rain. but the trails were pretty dry so progress was good and soon enough I'd done the usual progression from smooth track to rough track to single track, finally topping out at Bynack lodge.

As I pedaled alongside the Dee, I noted that the cloud was lurking over the Cairngorm Plateau but it looked brighter to the east. So an earlier plan to head up through the Lairig Ghru was abandoned and instead from Linn of Dee I traced my April route up Glen Quoich and along the single track through the woods to the wide glen below Ben Avon. Also as per April I headed up over into Glen Gairn. This trail is one of my favourites hereabouts and with less weight, less water and more heat it was fab. The rivers and burns were nigh on dry - chalk and cheese to my April traverse in a deluge with burns off Ben Avon full of snow melt.

The last time I'd done the Loch Builg trail was 2011 and it had been very very wet. This evening it was bone dry and easy going. Likewise the river crossings into Glen Builg were so low as to be ignored and soon enough I was cruising down Glen Avon. Another plan had been to turn up Glen Avon and make for the fords, possibly staying in Fainduran bothy. But the cloud was persisting over the high ground so I kept on down the glen. I rolled into Tomintoul at just after 6 and thankfully the shop was still open. Food was acquired and eaten sat out in the warm evening, my onward route options floating through my mind. In the end I figured I'd just do the usual Glen Brown / Dorback / Egg path route and then try to get down into Glen Tromie for a camp.

The track over to Glen Brown had been done up since my last visit and I managed to find the right trail through the valley bottom so soon enough I was climbing out over to Dorback Lodge and out onto the road. I briefly contemplated a cop out on the road but given the dry trails and having plenty of daylight I climbed over the egg path (So called because it passes below Eag Morr, a small rocky gnoll) reveling over how dry it was compared to when I'd done it in 2011. 

Somehow going up ryvoan pass I got on the wrong route and rode up by a house before managing to drop back down onto the right trail. The top section seems to have been cleared out as if its going to be upgraded. I bypassed Ryvoan bothy as I figured it would be busy on a midsummers night and instead bombed down the empty trail to Glenmore and the logging road to Aviemore. 

Aviemore supplied more food courtesy of the Happy Haggis Chippy - smoked sausage and chips washed down by a large cup of coffee. It was now 9.45 and starting to get dark, thanks to heavy overcast. So my lack of lights meant I needed to do the 10 miles down to the Glen Tromie turn off sharpish. Despite the distance I'd done I hared off down the Insh road into the gloaming. The last few miles were a bit iffy with no lights but there was bugger all traffic so no worries.

Finally I reached the turn off and could relax now I was off the public road. Next up was finding a camp spot before it got full dark. I'd hoped to reach an area I knew just past Gaik Lodge but given the rapidly disappearing light instead stopped at a wide grassy area by the river, just past Lynaberack Lodge. The tent was out and up in double quick time thanks to the midges which made an instant appearance when I stopped. Once it was up, I dived in, splatted the midges that had followed me and then crashed out, some 11 hours after I'd started. On checking the GPS I saw I'd done 157k i.e 3k short of a 100 miler. Oh well nowt I can do about it now! Sleep was instant thanks to my long day.

My bladder woke me at 4am but I couldn't face getting out of the tent into the midges then back in again so made breakfast, packed up sharpish and headed up the misty glen. The sun quickly burned the mist away and it was great being out so early on such a nice day. The traverse of the Gaik was as good as usual and I noticed some fossilised bud and nate tyre tracks from my ride through the previous week. Then it was the fast cruise down the track, along the cycleway, back to the car for just after 8.

I was pleased. This was the longest ride I'd done since my failed Highland Trail attempt and I'd ridden a fair old distance over some hard terrain without too much effort and at a nice easy pace that was perfect for this kind of distance. Next up the full Cairngorms Loop!

Fat Bike in the high hills

Well fairly high; just not as the high as the nearby Cairngorms...

Anyway, I went for a wee jaunt today on the Mukluk with the aim at tackling the least well known of the rights of way that head vaguely northish from the A9 in the vicinity of Pitlochry, Blair Atholl and Calvine towards the main lumps of the Cairngorms. There are four in all offering different degrees of challenge and rideability. The Gaik which runs from Dalnacardoch due north to near Kingussie is the easiest closely followed by Glen tilt which offers a long through route to Braemar. The Minigaig is a more serious challenge with a long length of single track requiring varied amounts of hike-a-bike depending on the ground conditions and your determination. I've done all of these at various times over the years as part of multi day trips and one day epics, but one that had always eluded me was Comyns Road or at least the main section between Calvine and the Gaik lodge.

https://scotways.com/heritage-path/?id=281

Looking on the OS 50k map an estate track heads north from Clunes lodge (abt 3k up the cycleway from Calvine) up Glen Chrombaidhe. Where this track turns NE the ROW drops down to the burn by some old shielings and then strikes north up over a significant bump before dropping steeply into Alt Gharb Gaigh and out onto the main Gaick track just up from the lodge. The challenge being that a lot of it was pathless or at least the path looked vague and largely undefined. I'd never given it much thought but Fatbikes open up endless possibilities for routes such as this so at long last I was going to do it.

Driving up into the horizontal rain didn't fill me with confidence about tackling a large section of trackless wilderness over a featureless heather moor. Neither did my GPS going in the huff and eventually powering down with a dead battery despite it having been fully charged the day before - fecking things. But the weather cleared before Pitlochry and I brought a real map with me as a back up so there were no excuses. After easy riding up the track I stopped for an early lunch at the old shielings shown on the map  prior to tackling the main gig. The first section was OK with a clear argocat track following a reasonable line through the marshy ground and climbing easily but steadily. Heading up onto the main ridge the going got firmer but steeper eventually requiring a push for a few hundred meters before remounting to get to the summit of Sron a Chleirich.

 
Looking back down the first pathless section - in reality a good argocat track shows the way

The actual line of the ROW misses the summit and skirts round to the west but easy pedaling over the short heather encouraged me to keep on the ridge before rejoining the route where it dips down to cross a burn.


The line of the ROW clearly visible but hard going. I stayed higher on the ridge and avoided a fair bit of down then up

Another short push and I was back onto more great riding before dropping down significantly to cross another burn. This was the roughest terrain encountered so far - big tussocks and the beginnings of peat hags. The line of the path is actually quite clear - these routes were all drove roads for cattle and this is clearly evident looking at the wide strip of rough grass marking the line of the route, often benched into the hillside. I've no idea when cattle were last driven over this route but evidence of their passing still hasn't fully grown over even now. There is also minimal evidence of foot traffic - not many people use this route... A final push up to the top of Bac na Creig and a serious area of marshland and then it was downhill all the way to the Alt Gharb Ghaig.


Final summit...

The route is marked by the odd wee cairn but care is needed here as there are many false descents down to the burn line. The line of the route is just about discernible as a bench into the hillside keeping its height until the last plunge. This section is well steep and oddly shows signs of having been worked on - a few eroded waterbars were evident – but a lot of it was rideable, albeit on the brakes at walking speed.


Looking back its hard to see where I came down - its the upper most of the various vague lines you can see on the left hand side of the ravine and much clearer when your on it!

Once into the glen bottom there was a k of nadgery single track followed by easy riding on a grassy then stony track. I emerged into the main Gaick pass glen feeling like I’d conquered some major climb – in truth it was a lot easier than I’d allowed for and definitely worth doing again.

I’d vaguely thought of heading up Glen Tromie and then back over to Calvine via the Minigaig but it was 4pm and there was now a stiff north easterly breeze blowing down the gaik route. No contest. I’ve been doing some incredibly hard riding recently either due to distance, terrain, wind, pace or a combination of all of these so the prospect of doing the Gaik single track followed by the easy run down from Stron phadruig lodge with a generous tailwind seemed like some serious redemption. I’ve done the gaik a few times in recent years and its always been into a headwind – north or south. The singletrack section isn’t particularly difficult just a few wee rocky bits to keep you on your toes but on the fatbike with a tailwind and with plenty of life in my legs, it was a hoot. The final run down the estate track was a lazy cruise with the racket of bud and nate on gravel music to my ears. The tailwind continued down the few miles of tarmac on the cycle way back to the car. 

This kind of route is a big reason why I get fatbikes so much. I could have done this on a normal bike but it would have been a slog with far more pushing and carrying. This was the first time I’d tried my fat and a half set up on the Muk with a Bud wedged into the forks up front and my more usual nate out back. It works ace and kind of makes me wonder whether I need an ICT as the big front boot jacks the BB up a bit and kicks out the head angle as well – both criticisms of the original muk geo….

How not to do the Highland Trail

So the HT560 is coming to an end and I'm sorry to report I binned it after day 2. Mucho pissedoffo as I'd trained my baws of all winter and thought I was well capable of knocking it off. My failure was for a number of reasons but the following sumarises my learning points from this sorry debacle, just in case anybody else is fancying this madness next year....

1. Training - I knocked f*** out of myself since last November, starting from a pretty reasonable level. However training advice for a race involving 5/6 14-16 hour days over totally hardcore terrain is thin on the ground. The advice I found was mainly aimed at club stage racers. Still 5-7 hour rides on road and mountainbike at full gas should hone my endurance and stamina to a level plenty capable of the aforementioned? Yes and no. The problem I had was that the 'easy' pace I rode off at on day 1 wasn't easy enough. Overtaking the entire field should have been a clue.... Also I did tons of hill climbing but this just meant I stomped up the first 5 climbs of the route far too fast, whilst thinking I was cruising. Plus by the Sunday lunchtime my carefully toned quads just ended up being so much dead weight... See point 2. What I missed was lots of long 12-15 hour rides to learn a good easy pace that would last the distance.

2. Pace. Don't overtake the whole field on the first climb, including all of the race favourites. Even if I was capable of maintaining this pace for the whole event (some hope) its still a bad idea. In my defense my pace felt like a nice steady tempo which I would use on every climb and I didn't know who anybody was so didn't know I'd blasted past Phil Simcock on the climb out of Loch Tulla until we got to Fort Augustus (98 miles in 10 hours) and he told me I'd lead the race for 40 miles. Gulp..... If I 'd stopped for some proper food (see point 3) at KLL it would have made all the difference. In any event backing off would have meant I'd have finished yesterday. Keith Bremner also made it to F.A on Saturday but took 3 hours longer than me. He finished yesterday in 8th place - bloody well done!

3. Food. You don't need to carry 4 days of food in Scotland. There will always be a shop open, or a pub / hotel or something. I was paranoid about missing open shops on the northern loop, hence the 4 days of grub. If it looks like your gonna miss something you alter your pace so you don't. I reckon 1 full days food, some extra odds and ends and maybe emergency rations for say 1 more day which you top up if you use them. Also a constant diet of cereal bars, porridge oat bars, chocolate and horrible fecking gels don't work for more than 5 hours. I had a constant upset stomach from about Saturday lunchtime onwards until I got some decent scran in Contin which made me feel immediately better. For next year I'm going to really look into what food to take and eat.

4. Gear. I got this spot on. Fook bivvy bags and race kit, this is Scotland. I had all the right kit for surviving the miserable drookit day Sunday turned into (15 hours of rain, 130 miles) and was able to don full waterproofs and gaitors to keep me dry and to keep the resulting mud and filth out of my kit. Plus having a tent meant I could have got out of the rain and midges and still operated well the next day, had I not blown my legs up on day 1. On my feet I had goretex boots, seal skin socks and merino wool inner socks. Despite numerous dunkings on the flooded track over to Contin past Orrin Res my feet were warm and dry

5. Bike. Anything goes as long as your comfortable on it. It doesn't have to be bling as long as it all works. Its going to be totally wrecked by the end so don't worry about renewing everything before the race. My Kramp was nigh on perfect despite weighing in at 30lbs less kit. Where I went wrong was several changes to grips / bar ends etc. prior to the day. I should have spent much more time on this over long distances and probably just stuck with my extra thick super star grips. Instead I ended up with a pair of ergo grips which were utterly horrible. After day one they felt like 2 ill shaped blocks of wood and my hands were in agony. My left pinky is still numb. One thing I didn't have with me was spare brake pads. After I'd bailed and got back home I discovered the horrible noises coming from my front brake were due to the pads being down to the metal, despite being only a quarter worn before the start. 130 miles of gritty water will do that..

6. Attitude. However good you think you might be, its always worth taking it canny on your first race so you can prove how good you are (or not as the case may be). If things are going well you can always up the pace later on - you have 5-7 days to do this.... That said I'm glad I quit when I did as if I'd have pushed on I would have had a truly miserable experience which might have seriously affected my desire to try this again or in fact go anywhere near a bike again.

7. Planning. I thought I'd planned this thing to death but I got it completely wrong and in such a totally obvious way - I underestimated how long it would take (durr!) sections I thought would be easy - Strathglass to Contin being the worst case of this - took ages and knackered me mentally and physically as a result. I think you should work out a schedule then add a day to it as with point 6, if things go well you can up the pace later on in the race.

8. Why? Dunno really - I was looking for a challenge and this fitted the bill. Plus I would bag a large number of trails that have been on my to do list for several years. I like the low key organisation and the whole informal format. My plan was to do it once only and then look to other things but having failed dismally I'm very likely to try again next year as what I learned in the 210 miles of the route I did should immediately mean I'm better prepared already. We'll see, what I'm really looking forward to this summer is just doing some normal bikepacking and touring where I set my own route, pace and schedule with no need to stick to anything prescribed. I fully intend to do the norther bit and the Fisherfield and torridon sections this summer, midges or not.

9. Etiquette. Work out what the favourites look like before the race and don't burn past them on the first climb....

This was taken in ullapool on Monday morning after I'd jacked it. A minute later, eventual winner Phil Simcock rolled into town having done the whole northern loop in less than a day. His eventual finish time was 4 days, 1 hr 45mins. Bloody hell....

The ride.....

For completeness I feel I need to describe my ride, such as it was.

The start was very relaxed with lots of people milling around with varying amounts of kit. A few seemed quite lightly loaded but others had more than me so I was quite happy. There was even another Krampus there so I didn't feel too self conscious amongst all the xc exotica much in evidence. 9am and we were off. I was trying to keep the pace down but its hard to do this in a group of people all with the same aim in mind. I just about managed it until soon after Bridge of Orchy when I settled into a fast cruise. Passing everybody was a warning I failed to heed. As noted above on the climb up over Rannoch Moor I blazed past the (eventual) leaders feeling strong and fit. The push of the devils staircase was a chore in the sun but it passed eventually and I made short work of the descent. I had loads of food on board so didn't feel the need to stop in Kinlochleven and blasted straight through. 

I was still convinced that there was a bunch ahead so I had no inkling that I was in the lead at this point. This continued up the big climb out of KLL and past the two lochs on the way through to the Abhain Rath. It was warm and sunny so I took off shoes and socks, paddled carefully across and then sat in the sun eating some food and waiting for my feet to dry. Phil Simcock appeared at this point and shook my hand. His name rang a bell but I really had no idea who he was....


Feet drying on the Abhain Rath

The next section is a rough path with many burn crossings and a fair bit of off and on riding / pushing. I'd done this in 2003 whence it had been very wet so today it was straightforward thanks to the dry spring we've had. Finally it ended at Loch Treig Lodge. The bridge over the river now had handrails - far cry from when I was here last the deck seeming very narrow with nothing to restrain you from falling into the river below....
Selfie on the bridge by Loch Treig Lodge. Feeling good at this point! 

I was nibbling as I rode but my stomach was not feeling very good. I'd packed oatcakes, a couple of bananas, loads of fruisli bars and nuts and raisins. Nothing seemed to satisfy and I was starting to feel the first inklings of doom. A stiff headwind didn't help and this was looking like it would be with us all the way north. Then on the climb away from Loch Treig it happened. Suddenly my legs felt like lead and nothing was working. Past Loch Ossian it wasn't much better given the wind and on the long descent down strath ossian, it was a solid pedal. I had a couple of energy gels but these just seemed to make my stomach hurt more and provided no noticeable energy. Then it was the corrieairyack. I'd last done this in 1998 with a sore back and had failed to get up it. Today I actually managed to ride the whole lot (20-34!) and I felt I was recovering again.
Selfie on the top of the Corrieairyack, not feeling so good.....

The descent took a while and the 3 climbs were a shock, I'd no memory of these on previous visits. Finally I reached Fort Augustus and I was utterly knackered - I'd got there in 10 hours in third place. Phil S was there and that's when I realised what I'd done - i.e. lead the race. I felt one hell of a fool and confessed to Phil about my ineptitude. Reading his write up later where he mentions my high pace and the need to push on to keep up was extremely embarrassing but maybe I made a small contribution to his eventual amazing finish time.....  I wandered round the shop buying some food and wondering what to do, all confidence in myself gone. Eventually I figured that I should stop in the campsite, even though it was just coming up to 8, have an early night and then try again tomorrow. 


Pitched up.

I'd several dried meals with me and so prepared and ate one. Looking back this was not nearly enough - I should have had two! Finally I turned in but sleep took a while. 5am saw me awake and cooking porridge for breakfast. I exited the tent to a very grey but dry morning. A few other tents had appeared around me with bikes next to them and for the first time I felt a bit of the community spirit that makes these things what they are. I chatted to Keith Bremner in the loos who had just made it here late the previous night. I told him of my mad dash and he was helpful - "no worries just take it easy today and you'll be fine".

So off I went into the gathering gloom. Heading along the road to Invermoriston the rain started. It would continue for the next 15 hours..... Nothing for it but to don waterproofs and keep going. But on the climb up to Loch Ma Stack the next inkling of doom struck. My legs were dead and I had no energy. But on I went at least knowing what this next section would be like after my April recce. 

The track after the ruin was seriously wet. Any hope of staying dry disappeared but there was nothing else for it and at least I was warm. Then it was the big track, the sign I'd seen in April (3 miles not Km....) and some easy pedaling. Next mistake - should have called in at the cafe in Cannich or at least the shop. But on I pedaled the rain now continuous. 

Fuck. I'd been riding on the back road down strath glass for ages. Where the hell was the turn off? Eventually I checked the GPS only to see I'd pedaled some 3 miles past it. Fuck fuck this was not good enough. I turned round and hammered back the way I'd come shouting and cursing. Then another monster climb and my head was mince. I was hating this and in a foul mood, exactly the wrong place to be. Worse; when the climb ended the track started to deteriorate into a muddy mess with countless major puddles. It got worse with a couple of seriously steep climbs. I should have been roosting up these but everyone was a grind and the rain was relentless and in my face. On one particularly big puddle the water went over the top of my boots. I had waterproof socks on but this still wasn't good.

On the track of 1000 puddles. I'm not smiling, I'm grimacing....

Then it happened. The thought. "I don't want to be here, I want to stop" I kept going. Eventually the track improved. Past the dam it was tarmac but every little climb was a labour and I cursed them. No good, no good at all, given what was coming. Eventually I got into Contin and cowered in the rain eating some better food and drinking coffee. Leaving I felt much better but the penny still didn't drop - I needed to eat a lot and rest a lot and then I'd be fine. I could of but it was like my brain was stuck in a rut. It didn't occur to me to head into a pub or hotel as I was so wet I reckoned they wouldn't serve me. Onwards and upwards I went. For a while the clouds receded and it even dried up for a bit. This lifted my sprirts but still the penny didn't drop as I rode past the Inchbae Lodge hotel advertising coffee and food. Up strath Rannoch the rain returned and on I went my spirit broken. Finally on the road to Ullapool past Croik Church I lost it all. I was broken, wrecked and done with this. The hours of prep and all the chat with friends about this thing were forgotten, I wanted out. The thought of the wasteland of the northern loop with no shops or facilities made an impenetrable barrier I could never hope to cross.

I reached the top of the mid loop and didn't even stop. I just turned left instead of right, thinking I'd head for Ullapool, recover a bit and then maybe do the rest of the route as a tour. Crucial lesson:- when your knackered and pissed off, your decision making abilities go totally out of the window. 

I plodded through the next section, cursed my way over the sodden path to Loch Damph and down the long valley to Ullapool, at least with a tailwind. I ate fish and chips sat in the next door pub feeling thoroughly pissed off. I was also starving. After I pitched the tent in the Loch Broom campsite I ate another of my dried meals and anything else appetising in my bags. At least I could get a shower and actually slept very well.

The next morning I took my time getting up and eating more food. I headed into the town, found a cafe on the harbour front and set to into another breakfast - the full fry up. Any thoughts of continuing on route had gone, I just wanted out. Unfortunately this would involve a long road schlep to Inverness at least. As I was finishing up a guy on a bike appeared - Phil Simcock no less. I went out to greet him but he was in one big hurry and the queue in my cafe too long so we exchanged brief greetings and off he went.

And off I went - back up the road all the way back to Contin. From there the reverse of the route I'd done in April to Inverness. There wasn't a train due for 2 hours and I couldn't be arsed waiting so just rode on out and up NCN7. I was now much recovered and the magnitude of my blunders were writ large in my mind. I finally reached Aviemore to be greeted by my mate Rob. Iona his partner was still out on the trail. Turns out I'd just missed her as she started up Strath Rannoch and I was heading back the way. We talked about the route and what I'd done. Rob said the fateful words - "If you've managed to ride so far today, why didn't you continue?" Good question.

The next day I managed to get on a train to Pitlochry and then pedaled the 40 miles west to Tyndrum. I didn't hang around; just chucked the bike in the car and headed home, tail firmly between my legs. That said I was in good company. Out of 37 odd starters only 12 finished and I made it further than most. Phil Simcock finished first in 4 days 1hr and 43 minutes.....

I penned this several months after the Highland Trail and after I'd done a couple of long rides and the Cairngorms Loop. Immediately after scratching and returning home I wrote the 'How not to" bit on the Bearbones forum and got a fairly sympathetic response. My mistakes were obvious looking back but biggest of them all was quitting. If I'd just stopped at a hotel for the night, ate lots and rested, I'd have been able to continue. The rain on the Sunday lasted all that day and night but Monday was much drier and Tuesday to Friday dry and sunny. Iona finished on the Monday, first and only female entrant and finisher. She was rightly scathing of my failure (but in a good way!) but this has motivated me to get in for it again next year. I know what I need to do, and what not to do so all being well I'll be in a much stronger position.