BAM 2018, the review....

I decided to do Bivvy a Month in order to get me out under the tarp / tent in a range of weathers, in a range of locations and, in keeping with my overall plan for this year, to take it easy and do some good riding.

Weatherwise I've been absurdly lucky with barely a sprinkle of rain or snow to contend with. In fact I only really did two damp bivvies, one in a Bothy in August and one whereby the rain only fell overnight, in November. Not bad going seen as all but one of my bivvies was in Scotland. I suppose this then is my only failing i.e. I had visions of pitching tarps in wind and rain, a skill I wanted to improve upon, so in the event I missed out on this. My two favourites were also the ones in the company of others so I need to be more sociable next year...

I've done a few local ones, a fair few in the cairngorms area and fair few in new places. I've ridden some ace trails in the process and also become a dab hand at site selection.

Overall I spent 17 nights out this year, under the tarp for 14 and in bothies for three. Not huge numbers in the grand scheme of things but more than ever before in a year for me, and none of them involved paying!

So in no particular order....

Best spot - Bynack Lodge

Most remote spot - Corrour Old Lodge (also highest bivvy at 540m)


Poshest bivvy - Falkland woodland craft space


Windiest Bivvy - Loch Rannoch


Best banter - Culbin Forest with R&I (and lowest bivvy at about 5mAOD)


Best bothy - Flittingford (and only bivvy south of the border)


Coldest bivvy (-4)


Best trail - Old road to the Isles

Best morning view - Blackwater res and Glencoe munroes

 

Best overall view - Cairngorms from the south

Longest day prior to a bivvy - 115 miles (Shortest day after a bivvy - 3 miles!)

I'm in again next year and hope to improve in a few key areas:-
More bad weather bivvies
More beer drunk
More socialising....

December BAM, The Finale

The last one nearly didn't happen thanks to a man flu induced cop out of the Scottish winter bivvy. Secretly I was pleased as the weather was pretty horrible so I at least missed out on a snowy drive up the A9. That said I also apparently missed out on a fine night of drink and drink. And some bike riding.

So my only option was to try and grab a night out on the way down to the parents for Christmas. This would also mean a winter solstice bivvy neatly counterpointing my (nearly) summer solstice bivvy back in July. The plan was to stop off on the way down to Durham, ride my bike, sleep, ride me bike, finish journey to parents - easy.

Kielder was the obvious option being only a bit off route so Saturday saw me take a leisurely cruise down the road finishing at Newcastleton in the borders early afternoon. From Newcastleton its an easy pedal via various trails and forest tracks over to Kielder Resevoir. Newcastleton is a strange place owing its existence to the vast forestry planted in the 50's and 60's but now seeming like the land that time forgot given that the forestry industry is largely mechanised.

Newcastleton forest is one of the 7 stanes trail centres and since I last visited, they have spent a lot of dosh putting in a new bridge and trail to link the town up to the woods. I never know what to think of all of this as the trail centre is as dull as ditch water and it all smacks of a missed opportunity given the vastness of the forestry around here and the opportunities to create a large network of trails linking Newcastleton, Kershope, Wark and Kielder Forests. All down to dosh of course and proof that for all the furore of mountain biking, investment is still very small.....

In a way the network is there in the form of miles of fire roads, as used by the Dirty Reiver 200, and great for gravel bashing if that's your thing. I was on the Jones having said that as I fancied some comfort at this time of the year. My route took me up past Kershope Bothy but the river was up so a crossing to check it out wasn't favourable. Instead I carried on over the hill and down a long descent to the Kielder lakeside trail in the growing dark. 

The lights went on the lakeside path which I followed to Kielder Village. It would have been rude to cycle past the Anglers Arms without stopping so I went in for a jar which turned into 2 jars, a curry and rhubarb crumble. Suitably fortified I continued on the lakeside path stopping off to check out the various sculptures...... 

Spooky head sculpture - one of several dotted around the lakeside path. You could bivvy in this at a push...

Freyrs Hut offered a further opportunity to doss in an art installation but I elected to push on to Flittingford Bothy. This is a new MBA one opened last year and located in the woods North East of Kielder dam. A bit of careful navigation got me to it fairly easily and unsurprisingly it was empty, given the time of year.



Flittingford Bothy - small and perfectly formed.

There was plenty of firewood so I spent a pleasant evening sat in front of the fire reading and eating. The next morning I was up sharp to backtrack down to the Dam




The illuminated building is the res outlet tower. Still dark at 7.45am, the joys of the winter solstice.

Thereafter it was back round the south shore path, past Leaplish water park which seemed to have been turned into a brown version of Lapland (Reindeer, Santa claus, lots of lights and no snow) and finally back over the hill to Newcastleton.






Picnic area (and future bivvy spot) at the border. Maybe they will have to put a wall across here post Brexit / Scottish Independence....

Kielder is a good option for a bivvy as there are plenty of places to put a tarp / tent up, several Bothies and a few opportunities for some cheeky bivvies in various bird hides and art installations.

Bam 2018 complete!

November BAM, the penultimate one!

Well I finally got an early one in this month having done two last minute ones, and it was only planned at the last minute...

I'd arranged to head up to my friends in Speyside last weekend for some biking and in a break with tradition it looked like some nice weather was on the way. Plans were changed to do an overnighter with a bivi on (or at least close to) the beach and finally a BAM on my fat bike!


Driving up on the Friday I was somewhat alarmed by the illuminated signs suggesting wind and rain weather warnings were in place..... There followed a fair bit of driving in torrential rain and wind with occaisions over the A93 and 939 where road, sky and verge all merged into one. Its weather like this that make cars quite useful things.....


Anyway Saturday dawned clear and sunny so me and my mate Rob got our gear together (fat bikes of course) and departed Dallas (no not that one!) at around 12, with a plan to rendevouz with Iona at Culbin forest around 3. Our route appeared to be a mix of forest tracks, back roads and riverside single track - a straightforward prospect it seemed (you know whats coming....). The first track lasted all of 200m before disappearing into a mass of broom, gorse and assorted tussocks. 30 mintues of manoeuvering later (with a few muttered grumbles aimed at Rob) and we got to an easier trail heading west towards the River Findhorn. Rather than head straight there a diversion beckoned by (hopefully) another ace riverside trail. Before this we bagged another easy track over a moor before reaching the river Divvie about 3 miles upstream of where it met the Findhorn.


There was a choice of which side of the river so obviously we chose the one shown as single track. This one lasted a mere 50m before landing us in a further woodland tangle. 800m took 45 minutes and further dubiety awaited with two substantial rivers requring crossing to go further (The Divvie and the Dorback). The map showed bridges but being old hands we fully expected them to be long gone. High river levels likely meaning a backtrack along the above and trying again via dull but easy estate roads. In the event a brand new bridge was in place and pleasant new paths took us to a very large house's back yard, through which we pedalled sharpish before the laird shouted at us.

Once again I felt compelled to fall to my knees on confronting a fine bridge over a deep river! 


Thereafter there was more fine riverside riding alongside the Divvie.

The fun wasn't over as the ace trail suddenly faded out just after passing a rather dodgy bridge over the river. We back tracked to this, scurried across and dragged bikes up steep steps on the far bank. More fine single track followed then we were into someone elses back garden necessitating another sharp exit. Finally we picked up the Findhorn trails but elected for the easier (higher) route to try to beat the sunset.


We finally reached our rendezvous with Iona an hour and a half late so the three of us pedalled a short distance through Culbin forest to my July BAM site.


There followed a pleasant evening drinking beer, eating MOD food (free, don't ask) and chewing the fat. light then heavy rain eventually drove us into our shelters and a three hour deluge followed. This is actually the first rain I've seen on any of my BAMS this year which is good going given that they have all been in Scotland. The morning brought more sun and breakfast also courtesy of the MOD...




Once again I forgot to photo my Bivvy



Fatbeachpacking (TM)


Thereafter it was some easy beach riding, none easy dragging of bikes through dunes and more easy beach riding along the Moray coast towards Findhorn Bay.


We tried to find the end of a track shown on the map but ended up on a narrow margin of sand with the tide coming in rapidly, a deep channel with a swift flowing current to one side and the way forward blocked by fallen trees. Another rapid route reversal got us off the beach and up into the woods. We found the track end just where we had reached on the beach only 20 feet higher, all thanks to coastal erosion....


So we finished the ride with some easy forest roads back to the van. Thereafter we headed up to the Logie craft centre for tea, sandwiches and cake to celebrate my penultimate BAM and Ionas first bike and bivi for three years.


I'm on the home straight!

October BAM

10 out of 12 with doublers from April, through to September.


This one nearly didn't happen. Plan A was to grab a bivvy as part of my trip to Glencoe the previous weekend but the foul weather put me off. I'd booked a long weekend off work for this weekend as I was off to Lochgoilhead with Fife Conservation Volunteers for a bit of cutting and burning (of Sitka spruce trees...). The plan was to bike there and back so I now needed to throw in a bivvy. Monday was booked as well so I could crash somewhere on Sunday eve. Then I fell off my motorbike. It was the lamest crash ever - I dropped it whilst travelling at about 5mph - but I managed to wrench back my thumb in the journey from vertical to horizontal. An x ray showed it wasn't broken so it was a case of put up and shut up, but a shorter route seemed a better bet. Plus the Jones, being more upright than the Straggler, would be a comfier option. 


So plan B was to drive to Aberfoyle and ride to Lochgoilhead via NCN 7, various other cycleways, back roads and trails. I left the car at 11 and pedalled south west through Queen Elizabeth Forest. The sun was shining but the forecast was for some low temps. As usual I'd debated with myself which kit set up to take and in the end gone with my winter bag, tarp and a groundsheet as I knew this would be plenty warm and probably a bit lighter than my 3 season bag, bivvy bag and spare kit to wear in it....


Out of the forest you pick up NCN 7 on a wee road over a reasonable climb. Thereafter the going is easy following various back roads and one bit of cycleway

This is part of a section of disused railway which includes this natty pipe bridge over what used to be a viaduct. I had some involvement with this scheme back in the '90's in my Sustrans Days. In the end Stirling Council built it but I recall meeting one of the Engineers to discuss the details. Her name was (I kid you not) Fay Fife, a joke lost on those who aren't fae Fife, or Rezillos fans. More pleasant and empty back roads took me to Balloch Country park and the big retail outlet place at Lomond Shores. Amazingly in the middle of all the boutiques is a normal corner shop type place which sold cheap tea and plenty of snacks for the coming miles.


From Balloch I headed north on the Loch Lomond Cycleway then west up Glen Fruim towards the grim abomination that is Faslane. My goal was a section of the 3 lochs Way to Arrochar. This follows a track of varying standards just below the boundary fence of Britain's very own world domination centre (big underground cavern, lots of railways, lots of people in matching uniforms and enough nukes to turn the whole of the UK into a radioactive puddle). Its quite a tough route in places with a fair bit of climbing, however the views are fab (apart from the detritus associated with the naval base that is).

Start of the 3 lochs way section, the Arrochar Alps in the background and Faslane just out of shot to the left. To the right are lots of warning signs advising you not to touch anything...

Arrochar and Loch Long

Chips in Arrochar preceded a steady pedal round the peninsular between Loch Long and Loch Goil. I'd been thinking of checking out Mark Bothy but its a few k off route and the sun was rapidly disappearing behind the hills so I pushed on. This route ends in a fine made path (with more climbing, lots of climbing) and a plunge down to Lochgoilhead itself, 7 hours after I started.
 
Thereafter it was beers, chopping down and burning sitka spruce, more beer, more chopping and burning...

A proper fire. Over the last 20 years we've converted a section of rather stale mixed woodland (lots of Sitka when we started) into something more like what it should be - Atlantic oak woodland with hazel, birch, beach and oak. We've had these monster brash fires in various places around the site. It takes around 2-3 years for the ashes to grow back over, which is worth bearing in mind if you are planning on having a fire somewhere....

So finally it was time for the BAM bit! There are actually two bothies near Lochgoilhead but both are close by and I fancied a decent bike ride. So I pedalled into the fading light over the rest and be thankful (on a great track which has a large quarry in the middle of it = much scrambling and swearing to negotiate), did some footway bashing to miss out the A83 then picked up the Loch Lomond cycleway back down to Balloch. This is pretty good following long sections of the old road (much of which is either closed to all traffic or is just used to access a few houses) linked with bits of fairly remote cycleway. It was of course now fully dark being the start of British Winter time. I'd plenty of light power but it felt like the middle of the night rather than just after 6.

Chips in Balloch fuelled me back along my outward route into an increasingly cold evening. In the end I made it back into QE Forest, only a few miles from the car, before I found a space between the trees to bivvy. It crossed my mind to bottle out for a night in my own bed but that would have been the end of my BAM campaign.... As it was I stuck with it and actually had a warm and pleasant night, moon and stars shining down through the trees into my abode. I reckon it hit about -3 or so as it was properly frosty and frozen in the morning so I was glad that I'd packed my winter bag. This meant I was able to lie with the tarp un-zipped, looking at the stars and moon, only my nose feeling the cold. I got back to the car in no time and headed home for a large breakfast.

Another blurred bivvy shot, think I need a new camera....

Hopefully November will be another double and December will be the Scottish Bear Bones winter event and BAM 18 will be done.... I suspect my luck with the weather can't last however!

An Autumn Century

Every October the Clachaig Inn in Glencoe holds a beer / music festival and for the last few years myself and friends have gone up for a weekend. I've always tried to throw some biking in with the proceedings to get an appetite for the many fine ales on offer. Typically this involves driving somewhere then biking the rest of the way by a suitably scenic route.

This year I'd come up with various options but on the Friday morning an early rise suddenly saw me leaving the car in the driveway and setting off into a cool dawn heading west.

I followed my usual back road route to Callander, had a second breakfast, then headed north via NCN 7, a fine drizzle blowing in from the south west. As reported previously its a great route north from the central belt and fun on a gravel bike.

On the Glen Ogle Viaduct

At Killin I departed NCN 7 and headed west up Glen Dochart. I should have headed up Glen Lochay and then over into Glen Lyon to join the West Highland Way north of Tyndrum but I was concerned that the rivers would be high and the weather looked less than inspiring...

You can avoid a chunk of the A82 by following a wee road on the north side of Glen Dochart, followed by a couple of k of farm track to emerge a few miles east of Crianlarich. From here to Tyndrum its about 11 miles. As trunk roads go, the A82 isn't the busiest, especially on a Friday late morning so I endured the sporadic platoons of traffic and pedalled hard into the stiffening breeze. The WHW after Crianlarich is definitely worth a miss as it involves 3 steep climb / descents for no gain by way of views. The section just before Tyndrum seems to have been newly surfaced so next time I'll use this....

The weather had had a couple of goes at clearing but leaving Tyndrum after a snack at the Café it clagged in once more. I was done with the A82 so stuck with the WHW. Its a bit rough on 40mm tyres but a far more pleasant prospect than the main road. Just north of Tyndrum there is a section of rough single track which can be avoided by a short hop on the road, thereafter its a good double track to Bridge of Orchy.

As I pedalled round the road to the back of Loch Tulla, the sky showed signs of the forecasted sunny afternoon and on the start of the long climb out of Forest Lodge the sun finally made an appearance.

On the military road climb. The surface is almost cobbled - 2-3" stones all packed together. This is about as rough as I'd want to do on a gravel bike but it coped pretty well all in all and I'd recommend this route to anyone making there way north and west.

At the summit looking east towards Loch Rannoch. Somewhere over there is my June BAM site!


The descent is pretty rough so I took it nice and steady, however there are signs of track improvements being done - part of a programme of works to sort the WHW which are long overdue. The Kingshouse Hotel also seems to be getting a tart up, in fact its being pretty much rebuilt into a vast edifice of a new hotel. I hope they can find plenty of people to stay there! Thereafter I re-joined the A82 over into Glencoe right down to the back road to the Clachaig and our weekend accommodation in a caravan at the Glencoe Bunkhouse. If your on a mountainbike you can avoid most of the A82 on this section by following a bit more WHW, a short section of the old Wades road above the river Coe falls and then a longish section of old military road and a roadside path right to the turn off to the pub.

Total distance was just over the 100 mile mark which gave me a fine appetite for good food and beer that night.

Saturday involved five hours of walking in the rain followed by more food and beer as well as a particularly good RnR band.

At the Blackwater Res Dam - this is the inlet to a 5k long aqueduct which feeds the 6 huge pipes that run from the top of the doubletrack climb to the KLL power station. If you go up here be sure to ride (or walk) on the aqueduct!

Sunday meant a long ride home but I didn't fancy the A82 again so blagged a lift with my pals to just near Killin and then rode the nice bit of my outward route with a stiff tailwind and some warm sunshine!

September BAM

Bit of a late equalizer for me this month thanks to a couple of weekends socialising when I should have been out bivvying!

My parents were staying in a holiday cottage on the Solway coast near Dalbeattie for a week and they hinted that I might like to visit. I've done this a couple of times before (including doing my godawful traverse of the Southern Upland Way west of Moffat back in 2015) but this weekend I fancied something fairly straightforward. So the Straggler got chucked in the car after work and I cruised down to Moffat, arriving just as it got dark.

There is a great route over to Ae forest from Beatock, just down the road from Moffat. Its signed as NCN 10 so easy to follow. That said its better to turn off the signed route just over the high point and head down by the Ae water to the trail centre car park as this saves a bit more climbing and a chunk of kms. Its all forestry and wind farm but makes for easy riding with great views (in the daylight!). From Ae there are numerous options on and off road for rides of varying lengths into Galloway.

The evening was cool but dry with barely a breath of wind and light overcast hopefully meaning the frost of the last few mornings would be absent. I've had a few bivvy spot finding faffs on previous Bams this year so I'd done a fair bit of homework to scope out a good spot for this one. First choice was a clearing with a ruined house in it just beside the track down by the Ae water. In the dark it looked a bit boggy and damp so I carried on down to second choice, another clearing just off the main track along one of the trail centre routes. This was a peach -  a nice level spot by a wall covered in long but dry grass. Up went the tarp, then I was into the bivvy bag and relaxing with a drop of whisky and a read before turning it at 11.

I'd checked the midge forecast which indicated level 1 (i.e. none), but I was a bit paranoid going with the bivvy bag rather than the mesh tent. In the event there were a few floating around but they weren't interested in me so I had a comfy night with a solid 8 hours of sleep. It occurred to me that this was the last of the easy bivvies, with October, November and December likely to be a real challenge the way the weather is going....

Not a great selfie all in all, but my only proof of bivvy!

The spot, all ready to go.

Pedalling down to Ae I passed my third bivvy choice. This is marked on the map as a picnic area but its now not used and there are several level grassy areas that would be ideal pitching places. I picked up another forestry track north west of Ae village and had my first check - a load of windblow across the track thanks to storm Ali the other day. I couldn't be bothered trying to fight my way through this so back tracked and found another way round passing a couple of other good bivvy spots for future reference.

A minor navigational error took me to a fine view and my actual route went via one section of rather vague and boggy track. Short lived however and in future I'll follow the official core path route as this appears to be all on good fire road.

A short but fast descent took me out of the forest and then after a short hop on the A76 it was a series of back roads from Auldgirth to Dunscore, over a fine couple of climbs and a bit more trail to Kirkpatrick Durham, then an easy pedal in the stiffening breeze to Haugh of Urr and Dalbeattie. From there it was brief pedal on and off road to Rockcliffe where my folks were staying.

I had a pleasant afternoon and evening chatting, walking eating and drinking with a night of luxury in the spare room of their holiday cottage. Sunday dawned somewhat grey but the clouds were breaking when I eventually departed after a large and leisurely breakfast.

My route took me through Dalbeattie forest from Colvend to a series of more pleasant and largely traffic free back roads, before picking up NCN 7 west of Dumfries. This follows some pretty good cycleways through the north side of the town before turning north back up to Ae by yet another tiny wee road. I avoided the temptations of the Ae café and cracked on over the hill back to Moffat. Total distance for the weekend only 175k but very nice it was too.

Dumfries and Galloway is a great place for biking. As well as the various trail centres there is plenty of other biking to be done either via miles of forestry roads or a large network of single track roads with no traffic and great views. Just avoid the Southern Upland Way!

A fine viaduct over the river Nith in Dumfires which carries NCN 7.

Yorkshire Dales 200 2018

The Yorkshire Dales has been a regular holiday destination for me since I was a nipper and bikes have featured in many of my visits starting with a Raleigh grifter in 1980ish and a range of machines since. Time was that anything over 30 miles was seen as a monster ride and the odd time I went up to 50 miles it was an epic. Looking back these day trips seem to be positively easy compared to the expeditions I've engaged in in recent years. Its all thanks to Stuart Ryder at Ryders cycle centre setting the 200 and 300k bikepacking routes around this fine piece of countryside and organising annual group ride outs on them. This year was the first I wouldn't have my parents caravan to use as a base, them having finally given up the site last year after the prices went up by 300%... So a certain poignancy was felt on this trip, as well as the need to find digs on the Friday night! A Travel Lodge in Keighley was a cheap but poor substitute...


This years 200 went through a few iterations. Stuart varies the 200k route every year in a bid to show case the extensive good riding to be had in the area and to keep the challenge fresh. Really its just a big bike ride and the format takes you comfortably away from the whole idea of these being a 'race' and plants it firmly in the category of social. The final route was a flattened loop running east / west, just north of Skipton with a few cross-overs and subsidiary loops to make up the distance. This made for careful route homework to ensure you went the right way round all the loops. Its a good format as its nice returning to various points that you've previously visited and means that if you run out of steam, its easy to bail back to base.





According to Gpsies the final route was 192k with 3800m of climbing. Bikehike agreed on the distance but put the climbing up to 4000m - a chunk less than last years leg burner so hopefully fairly straightforward.....


8 of us lined up at 8am at Ryders Cycle Centre, after partaking of the included breakfast (Stuart does charge a fee for turning up to ride which covers breakfast and supper - a small price to pay for a days entertainment). On the word of go we headed off steadily up the hill through Embsay and over Bardon Moor. That's another nice thing about the 200 (and 300) there are a few familiar features which always get included so it doesn't feel too intimidating. My year of cycling has been a bit up and down - lots of good rides but a few injury niggles keeping me away from anything too epic. So my form was something of an unknown with only a few recent bigger rides hinting that I'd probably be fine. On that basis I made a big effort to keep the pace down in the early stages and this made the difference as I never really suffered too badly at any point in the ride.


The weather was fab - not the roasters of earlier in the summer but instead a far more pleasant combination of sun / clouds and north westerly breeze ensuring near perfect riding conditions. The heavy showers of the previous day had left plenty of puddles and a few damp bits but nothing to impede progress, just enough to make the bikes look like you'd been doing some real riding....


A trail quest was in progress in the hills above Malham and Settle so we rode through a large number of riders sporting map boards on bars and looks of confusion. I got a few odd looks from them and a muttered comment about my lights on a sunny day with daylight until 8. If only they knew....


I'd stopped in Settle for drink and snacks and after this I didn't see any of the others until much later in the day. After Settle is one of several monster climbs - tarmac but a real cricket bat job (you ride to the hill and it smacks you in the face). Thereafter it was a nice track descent and then various wee roads, quaint walled trails and smooth (former) roman roads. This is the appeal of the dales for me. In Scotland there is a tendency for it either to be smooth estate / forest roads or rad-core single track with not much in between. So its fab to ride wee stony / rocky / grassy tracks without having to fight tooth and nail for forward progress (I do like doing this too however).


Clapham provided my longest stop of the ride - about 15 mins - scoffing food from the shop and avoiding the temptation of several cafes. Definitely a change for me as typically I tend to go with a high pace / burn out / stop lots and for ages tactic. A chunk of road riding followed with a seemingly endless string of roadies coming the other way. At first I wondered if they were on an official ride but it was just a normal sunny Saturday in the Dales. I got a lot of funny looks, particularly as I bombed down hills towards them, stood bolt upright to give my backside a rest....
The café in Wray was roadie central so I carried on, not wanting to upset them with my filthy bike and smelly clothes. Out of Wray is monster hill climb number two and the biggest on the route. The good news was a stiff tailwind so I got up it OK and out onto the open moor of Salters Fell. This bit was a beauty and one I'd not done before - a big moor crossing in the sun on a good track with ace views.
After a bit more road bashing and more hoards of roadies (I saluted them all with a wave of the meat pie I was eating whilst riding no handed) it was into Gisburn forest and some trail centre stuff. To be honest I could not be arsed with this, I'm not a trail centre snob (OK I am bit) but this seems to be so far away from my concept of mountain biking and yet seems to be the 'main stream' for so many others. Several hundred metres of braking bumps and puddles did nothing to change this view....


Back on the road allowed me to eat more and contemplate the four remaining big climbs on the route. I felt pretty good but major thigh ache on the climb out of Long Preston suggested a pain fest was in the offing. In the event a second break outside the Settle Co-op, various high calorie drinks and a banana did the trick and on the pleasant but steep pull out of Settle I felt pretty good again and this persisted all the way over to Malham Tarn.



This whole section was a peach - a run along Mastiles lane (now much dryer than the morning) then a nice grassy descent, a bit of road then a lengthy plummet on gravel single and double track. Another grind back up the road to the same point and then another grassy burn up back to Mastiles lane, then back over the top to where you were an hour or so ago. Confused? It was easy, you just had to think Like Stuart - fun descents and easy(er) climbs.



Heading back along Mastiles lane for the third time it occurred to me that I would very likely bump into one of the others. Lo and behold a figure in the distance sporting a spotted (with pies) cycling jersey resolved itself into Bob. He looked a lot more chipper than the last time I'd bumped into him in the wilderness after he'd pulled out of the Highland Trail so we chatted a bit and then went our separate ways. The sun was starting to set but I managed the final trail / climb / divine descent into the valley floor in daylight.


Thereafter it was a highly pleasant mix of roads, trails and a bit of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal towpath. The last trail was a section of disused railway line sporting some gargantuan puddles / lakes, a see saw and a section of railway sleepers(!) Actually used by the Landrover experience for testing vehicles - I predict this will be a grassy field next year given that they no longer make real 4WD's. Back to Ryders Cycle centre at a few minutes past 9pm.


I chatted with Stuart for a while then Mike turned up with tales of punctures, blagged tubes, cafes, roadies and bidets. Soon after George and Ian appeared then Bob. So we sat and drank tea and coffee, talked about the day and the fab weather. One guy was still out there and one had cut the proceedings short but all in all it was a great ride. This is one to be done year on year for me so long may it continue.

Afterword:- I checked my track on returning home - final distance was exactly 200k with 4400m of climbing....

August BAM

I still wasn't sure if my July BAM take 2 whereby I pitched the bivvy on the 31st July but struck it on the 1st August counted for this month so decided to grab a proper one to make sure I'm up to date.


Summer seems to have switched to Autumn pretty quick up here and after a week of damp weather I was hoping for some more sunshine. The forecast for Perthshire seemed good but it looked pretty dreich everywhere else so I hightailed it to Dunkeld with a loaded straggler in the boot of the jalopy. After a bit of a delay sourcing a spoon (once again I had forgotten my spork) I headed north then west on NCN 7, the sky looking decidedly grey. This is all back roads apart from one section of path out of Dunkeld and was very quiet this dull day. I left NCN 7 just after the amusingly named Dull then it was up the hill and along the Schiehallion road to Loch Rannoch. Looking west showed only cloud and rain, no sign of the forecasted sunshine. East looked better and it occurred to me to ride back to the car as I wasn't in the mood to battle the elements.


In the event I pushed on and cruised round the loch, whereby the drizzle came on. This suggested a change of plan but it was now to far to bale out back to the car. As it happens there are plenty of bothies and other huts that would make for shelter at a push hereabouts so it was just a case of picking one. The sky cleared a bit so I decided on Duirnish, scene of the epic 2017 Scotland winter bivvy. This lies some 6 miles north of Loch Rannoch at the top of a broad strath which pushes right through to the A9 a Glen Garry. Last December this track was and hour of hard going on deep snow. Today the straggler disposed of it in about 35 mins, a stiff breeze helping me on the way.


There were a couple of local guys in the bothy but they were sociable and had lugged a pile of wood and drink down from the A9 which they were happy to share. There followed a convivial evening chewing the fat before I turned in about 11 feeling somewhat worse for wear.

The forecast for the next day was for heavy rain but in the event I woke to a steady but light drizzle. So I grabbed breakfast and clattered down the track, my head louping after far too much whisky....


Alongside Loch Rannoch there was a constant stream of roadies on TT bikes, all going like the clappers. I'd seen all the signs the previous evening so it looked like they were doing a lap of the loch in double quick time. I soon got bored of saying 'hi' every few seconds so contented myself with a surly grimace as my hangover slowly abated. Greggs in Pitlochry was my saviour with pies, cake and coke so I was feeling quite chipper by the time I got back to the car. Total distance 105 miles.


This is the third BAM I've done on the Straggler and its proving itself to be a worthy tool. Its at least as capable as the fargo off road, despite the narrower tyres, and on road it rolls easily. Gravel bikes seem to be the thing just now and the press seems (as usual) to be struggling to pigeon hole them into a suitable category and to clearly define their purpose, by turns either slagging them or praising them. Away from the gravel roads of the mid west of America, their forte is just what I've done this weekend - riding sections of track and back roads whose potholes would make a 23mm tyred road bike a liability. There are tons of such routes to choose from across Scotland as well as the vast areas of forestry and attendant fire roads. So away from the hype they make great bikes for avoiding traffic and bagging those tracks that would be a chore to get to by mountain bike.

Moray Trail and Speyside

I'm just back from a nice three day trip starting in Lower Speyside, heading down the Speyside way, along the Moray Coastal Trail, a return to upper Speyside via the river Findhorn, then back to Speyside via the cairngorms loop to Tomintoul and a bit of the Speyside way Tomintoul link.


I'd spent the weekend with friends who live in Speyside indulging in the local tourist practice of doing distillery tours. By bike of course! Sunday was spent bagging a few of their local trails so I started this trip on a sunny Monday Morning. My friends place is about 6 miles up stream of Aberlour. Its whisky central around here with distilleries all over the place. The Speyside Way follows an old railway line so makes for easy riding given how dry it is everywhere.


This is a new one. The building is modern but the process is largely as it has been for years. The copper stills are made by hand locally and are a work of art in themselves. The trail follows the railway line to Criagellachie and then heads into the woods of Ben Aigen.


Looking down the last section of the Spey to the Sea. The Speyside way makes for some easy pedalling (apart from one bit between Nethy Bridge and Grantown) with a few nice sections of trail as well as the usual gravel paths, forest roads and the odd back road.


After a brief stop in Fochabers for coffee and cake I followed more trails to the end of the Spey at Spey Bay. Views across the Moray Firth were fab with many of the north / northwest Highland hills visible.

The end of the Spey, looking back to Ben Rinnes, near my start point.

This rather fine old railway bridge takes you across the Spey and onto NCN 1. I departed NCN 1 at Garmouth to pick up the Moray Coastal Trail. This is a (generally) well signposted and defined route following a mix of tracks, paths behind the dunes, gravel paths and some bits where your on the beach. Its a fat bike job really as some sections in the dunes were unrideable on the Jones but fortunately the plus tyres allowed me to ride on the sand below the tideline. The highlight was having a large otter appear out of the gorse in front of me and then scurry across my path back into the under growth.

Wear long socks if you attempt this in summer!


Looking north, the views were ace with the hills behind Golspie and Brorar visible, Ben Wyviss and even the Fannichs and the hills of Stratch Connon visible, despite being at sea level.

Its quite a trek to Findhorn and hard going in places. The sun was shining however so it was hard work of the best kind. Findhorn was as far as I expected to get but it was too early to stop so I lingered over fish and chips and Bitter and Twisted courtesy of the pub. Thereafter it was round the bay and over another funky bridge on NCN 1 and then into Culbin Forest, a large black cloud looming to the South and east.



Culbin forest has a network of tracks and sandy single track, I followed a random selection and then picked up a well made path which led me to a huge viewing tower right in the middle of the forest. Its not marked on the map and I'd never heard of it so ran up the top for a look at the view:-

Aerial shot of the Jones...

Looking North across the Moray Firth to the hills behind Brora and Golspie. The other direction it was a wall of black cloud with a full rainbow across it.

I was keen to get the tarp pitched before the rain came on so headed north and west in the hope of missing the cloud (it was slowly moving north and east!)

Bivvy a Month July, part 2! My claimed BAM for this month was in a bothy so I was glad to bag a proper one. I was right on the boundary of the huge cloud but apart from a few drops I missed it totally.

The next morning the sun shone and I headed for the River Findhorn following a hot tip on a fab riverside path. There followed a fair bit of route faffing trying to get on it - several false starts blocked by estate house gardens, disappearing trails and large cliffs eventually got me onto it and what a joy it was. Several miles of single track varying from easy going to proper noodly to seriously nadgery.
The Findhorn runs in a huge gorge with some bits more like what you'd find in North America. In places the trail was hairy - you were right up by the drop with a misplaced wheel likely to end up with you and your bike mashed into the river... As well as this amazing-ness of riding, there is also a fab café at a touristy place about halfway along (Logie Craft Centre). 2 Bacon rolls and a gallon of tea set me up a treat. Back to the river side you can continue for a fair distance on more single track. I had a look at Randolfs Leap and noted the stone commemorating the 'muckle spate' (i.e Great flood) of 1829. The stone was some 50 feet above the river level and marked the height of the water during the storm. The spate destroyed numerous bridges and properties as well as taking many lives across the Northern and Eastern Cairngorms area. By comparison Storm Frank and Desmond which did so much damage in Dee and Don-side in 2016 produced water levels much lower than this 19th century monster...
My bike at the muckle spate water level.

I departed the Findhorn at Relugas and headed up onto the Dava Way - this is an easy route from Forres to Grantown, mostly on a disused railway line.

This hut is halfway along - its an old linesman hut that has been done up as an interpretation centre. It would make a nice cheeky bivvy spot.

I've amassed a fair bit of headwind Karma this year and the next section substantially added to this - over a big moor with no shelter right into the teeth of a gale. I could have followed the Dava way down to Grantown and then an hour of easy pedalling would take me back to the start. However I opted for a longer ride and another night out. There are various ways south from Lochindorb but given the wind I took the easy(!) option of a road ride to Carbridge. It was brutal - no hiding from it and no other way forward.... Soup, tea and cake in Carbridge helped me recover and contemplate my next bit of route.

In the hope of grabbing a bothy I headed up the Dulnain as there were a couple of dots on the map which were potentials. Once again the clouds were building so a roof seemed like a good plan, despite it being quite early. In the event one was a house and the other a shooting hut firmly locked. The next hut up was of course the bothy but I didn't learn this until speaking to my mate the next day.... It looked brighter over in Speyside so I girded my loins and headed over the Burma road.

No false summits or long moor crossings thank heavens but its still a brute - a solid climb straight up to nigh on 700m and quite a challenge at the end of a long day. Aviemore was mobbed so I stopped for chips and water then headed into Abernethy on the Cairngorms Loop route in search of a bivvy spot.


When I did my first successful ride of the CL in 2014 I stopped by loch pityoulish - I was a bit desperate due to it being dark and me being knackered and it seemed an ideal spot. Looking at it in daylight I noticed the house overlooking it which I'd missed in 2014. Hmm, the trees sheltering the spot had been felled and the wind (now behind me) blowing straight into it. I figured Abernethy would provide a better option so carried on into the evening sunshine.




BAM July Take 3. If I'd waited until after midnight to pitch up I could have claimed it for August! A nigh on perfect spot - sheltered from the worst of the wind but with enough to keep the midges away. A few sprinkles of rain came through over night but it was dry the next morning.

I kept on the CL route to Tomintoul (as dry as I'd ever known it despite the heavy rain here two days previously) and then headed up to the Glenlivet Trail centre for food. Annoyingly the café was shut on Wednesdays so it was a case of tighten the belt and keep on. I followed the blue / red route up to the high point and then re-joined the Speyside Way which takes you down a great descent to Glenlivet.

Halfway down I heard a whistle and saw a group of figures on a hillside just across from me. A figure was running to something white lying in the heather. This turned out to be a newly dead hare, still in its winter coat, having been killed by their dog. Yes its the start of the Hare coursing season, another barbaric 'tradition' that is proof that whilst Scotland as a whole is part of the modern world, a very small part of it still seems stuck in the dark ages. The justification for this 'sport' is lame - stopping hares spreading ticks and eating young heather that the grouse need to feed on. Ticks are in abundance and Grouse get fed from birth to being shot so this cuts no ice with me whatsoever. Saddened I finished the descent and then pedalled back to my pals place via the road.


Total distance 280k and almost no rain!