January BAM

As a way of making myself get out and camp / bivvy / bothy, I'm committed to doing the Bear Bones Bikepacking forum Bivvy A Month. Basically every month of the year you have to go out on your bike, and bivvy, camp or doss in a bothy. As long as its not in a paying campsite or other form of accommodation, anything goes. There is a cop out option of using friends back gardens but my intention was to aim to go out into the wilds for every month.

I'd meant to go out last weekend in the snow and the weather was certainly looking good for it but a day of ski-touring, on the back of some hard commutes in the snow meant I was just too knackered to even contemplate riding my bike on Saturday evening. That left this weekend and the weather was looking decidedly ropy.

It didn't help that I had a works night out on the Friday as this would have otherwise been a fine night to head out. Oh-well, I would just have to brave the elements. I'd made various plans to head for a bothy somewhere given the forecast but I couldn't be bothered driving. The easy option was my pals newly constructed cow shed on their farm near the village but this seemed like a cop out. In the event I headed for a place I'd bivvied in November, shown there by another BB forum member. 

Its an events / craft etc space owned by the Falkland Estate Trust and used for various group activities during the day. At night its gets less used and its generally accepted that anyone can use it provided they leave it tidy. Of particular interest to me were the teepees, large timber gazebo (with stove) and proximity to the house (25 miles of easy back roads and a few trails).

It felt odd leaving the house at 7pm on a Saturday evening when most people would either be in the pub or at least in a heated house watching telly. The ride went well as I had a monster tailwind. One brief splurge of rain threatened to spoil things but most of the trip was done under a clear sky and moon.

I arrived at 9, gratified that no-one else was in residence as the wind was getting up and the thought of pitching a tarp in a dark and windy woodland did not appeal. There was plenty of dry wood lying around so I soon had a good fire going in the stove and spent a pleasant couple of ours sat in front of it reading and sipping whisky.



Apart from the noise of the wind I had a good night. The temperature was around 5 degrees so I'd made do with my normal sleeping bag as a -12 rated bag would have boiled me alive. I woke up just after the dawn chorus at a decadent 8am. The wind had dropped completely so after a quick breakfast I packed up, swept up the remains of the twigs I'd collected for the fire and left. The ride home was rather wet but at least the forecasted gales didn't appear until I was sat in the house having my second breakfast.

Roll on February!

How much is too much?

Last week saw the most snow I've seen in Fife since 2013. Depths varied depending on where you are and how high you were but here at home (145m AOD) the depth topped out at nigh on 10" just before the thaw set in.

It all kicked off on the Tuesday with a forecast of substantial snowfall throughout the day. I'd got the Ice Cream Truck ready for an early start to ride down to Dunfermline train station, catch the train to Thornton, thereafter a short hop to work. The way home would depend on how much snow had fallen and how adventurous I was feeling......

The day got off to a good start with about 2" already lying when I set off. It was cold but not much less than freezing. In lowland Scotland its typical for snow to fall when the temps are just above freezing resulting in what is little more than white slush, no use for anything other than causing traffic chaos and a lot of mud.... Only in 2009/10, 10/11 and 2013 have we seen snowfall at sub zeros and low levels and the resulting powder usually only found above 500m or in the Alps. Sure enough the heavy snow came but at Glenrothes was only the aforementioned white slush.

Home time saw a dilemma. I could head back to the station for an easy option and short ride home or head for the Lomond hills over one of many routes I've used to get me home over the years. Without really thinking I turned left out of the office entrance and headed round Glenrothes on a snowy cycleway. You climb all the way and sure enough when I got to Leslie, snow depth had gone up markedly and further flurries were coming in. My route took me up to Holl reservoir and then up and up past West Feal Farm and on up to the Bishop hill. 

This was a good choice. The farm track had vehicle tracks up it and despite some drifting was reasonable going. Above the farm it got harder but once in the woods the track was barely covered. Emerging onto the summit just past the radar station I contemplated the full folly of my route choice. It was blowing a gale and spin drift made forward visibility minimal. Undeterred I set off down the single track which was un-tracked and covered by many drifts. This really is where a fat bike is in its element. Normal tyres would bog down on the deeper stuff and fail to grip elsewhere. Fat bike tyres just float and grip. Exiting the trail at Kinesswood I reckoned I would be in for an easy pedal home round the Loch Leven Trail and then various back roads home.

Oh how wrong I was. It started fine with easy pedalling down the east side of the Loch through the woods. The path was largely snow free and even quite wet in places. The problems started after Vane Farm. This section is exposed and it was now snowing and blowing hard. Snow depth was around 5" with lots of tracks for easy going but longer and longer sections were drifting in, erasing tracks and increasing snow depth to 12" or more. The fat bike would go through it but it was like riding up a continuous 15% grade into a brutal wind. Kinross was reached eventually but the hard work continued. The back roads were snow covered and the wind full in my face. A further hour of hard pedalling was required before I finally got home. Total distance was 30 miles but it had taken my 3 3/4 hours. I'd tried to take some photos but the wind and snow was so strong all I got were blurred images of dark and snow.....

After two days of brighter weather and quite a bit of a thaw below 300m I was ready for another fat bike commute. The forecast was for more snow but only light falls. This time I was determined to train it from work to Lochgelly and then home via another oft used route through the Country Park, up to and through Blairadam Forest and then over to Cleish and back roads. 

However the 'light snow' manifested itself as 2 hours of heavy snowfall. This made little impact on Glenrothes thanks to + temperatures but I knew there would be much more higher up. Sure enough after an easy pedal around Lochore Meadows snow depths went up markedly climbing up through Blairadam. At first the tracks were well trodden and I was even following another fat bike track. Eventually all the tracks petered out and I was riding though an unbroken swathe of fresh powder snow.

Managed some pics this time!

The going was hard but I was determined to press on rather than back tracking to slush covered roads. The hill road over to Cleish was un-ploughed but had vehicle tracks. The key here is to get up speed on the compacted wheel tracks and then plough into the full depth snow between ruts. Its a mix of biking and skiing in that you are never quite sure how much control you have over the bike.

Proper road riding. 

Lower down the snow depth dropped off again and the back roads home were covered in a firm compacted layer of snow. 2 1/2 hours this time and only 20 miles.....

Saturday dawned crystal clear as promised  - a true bluebird powder day. I knew that crowds would be heading up to the ski centres so it was some local touring for me. I parked up the hill above Dollar and skinned up to the top of Whitewisp Hill through gratifyingly deep powder snow. 

Rare to have such a clear, still day in winter in Scotland.

After a couple of runs down the back side of the hill on some lovely firm windblown snow I went back to the summit and then followed a wide line of wind blown powder off the summit followed by a short skin up and a steady run back almost to the car.

Sunday was the change day but it was not clear how it would pan out and how quick the thaw would set in. The night before temps had dropped to -9 so I knew that the snow would still be good. Time for one more fat bike ride. The plan was to find well trodden tracks up and then do some powder surfing downhills. This took me up the flanks of Seamab hill above Muckhart with a modicum of hard pushing seeing a great run down totally off path through 18" deep powder between the trees. I had the tyres at 2psi for this and the snow depth you can go through on even a modest downhill gradient is really quite amazing. 

Deep powder and trees!

Some more hard pedalling took me along various other paths and then I took a snap decision to climb back up a forest track which had some firm cross country ski tracks in it. This worked well in the main but as snow depth increased and the thaw was starting to set in lack of traction eventually beat me. Up top the wind had re-appeared so I took a short cut down to Dollar gratefully following a well trodden slot in the deep snow. The forecasted sleat was heavy, if wet snow, which was lying quickly. This made for hard going as you tend to slither around all over the place. I also had a rather spectacular crash on a fast descent when my front wheel strayed out of a wheel rut and immediately washed out in the soft slush in the middle of the road. One second I was upright, the next I was face first into the thankfully soft snow in the opposite road verge. Only pride was hurt along with more scrapes on my shins....

Later on the snow inevitably turned to rain and the big thaw set in, in earnest.

Since getting my first fat bike in 2012, I've enjoyed pushing the limits of what they can do and where they can ride. Prior to this week my snow riding has been mainly high up in the hills where wind blown snow is the order of the day. This can be incredibly frustrating and / or hard work. It was immensely satisfying seeing the panic on colleagues faces as the snow set in and they contemplated trying to drive through the crowded roads, knowing that no amount of snow would stop me. Yet they all thought I was mad for riding a bike in such conditions. In fact, despite the physical hardship, I had an absolute ball and discovering just how deep you could go into powder snow and still keep riding on a fat bike has been a further education into just how versatile these beasts are.

So how much is too much? Not enough yet!