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!
