November BAM, another mission...

I've been stricken with a particularly annoying cold all week, which even by Friday hadn't abated. The weather for Friday evening and Saturday on top of what we've had all week meant I had to get out. Then, after a week of serious sub-zeros following a decent dump of snow, plus temps and rain on Friday evening crept into the forecast which was a bit of a downer. However when I knocked off from work, and even after the usual faff to get stuff on the bike, the rain still hadn't started so off we go. Of note was that I was on the ICT, given the likelihood of lots of snow in the hills, complete with Schwalbe Al Mighty's and studs.

I stuck to an oft used route getting the feel of the studded tyres on tarmac plus on a few bits of suicider ice. All good and the trails were still frozen solid, by and large, so all was well. Back to the woods off the Dunning road as per Nov '24 except this time it was 1 degree, not 12! It was quite breezy so I headed further in than a year ago to a spot I'd used back in '22 - another wild night. This was a mistake....

Anyway, despite much coughing, I had a fairly pleasant evening listening to light rain (at 1 degree, not sure why it wasn't snow) and zonked out at 11. Sleep was a bit hit and miss due to the sound of water drops falling off trees splatting onto the tarp, as well as coughing fits. I kept getting a splash in the face which was condensation getting knocked off the inside of the tarp by said splats. Grrr. Dawn awoke me, and I snoozed again until the sun appeared - 9.30! Breakfast followed, me being aware that everything under the tarp and in the bivvy bag was rather damp - condensation mainly.

Not one of my better pitches. I'd actually gone further away from the trail than my '22 spot but this was daft as although it was level, it was a bit tight and the Deschutes really needs a good bit of space, hence the poor pitch. I Should have set up on my more usual spot in the breeze to avoid condensation! There were bits of snow on the ground on my pitch so I'll claim this for a snowy bivvy.

Further lost marks - puddles on the tarp!

Anyway, despite all of this off I went, feeling a bit rough thanks to the cold but looking forward to some snow time. That said, it wasn't cold - 1 degree still at the bivvy spot but up onto Green Knowe in blazing sunshine it was 8! Getting up here had been hard work - not as bad as my October bivvy ride but still a schlep. The monster snow was fast disappearing and somewhat soggy. This would be my undoing.

Snowy hills, which led me on...

For sale, Suzuki SJ. Buyer collects. I'd love to know the story here - there is another one mostly dismantled further along. I suspect it croaked when the farmer was out in it one day and he simply walked away...

Full inversion spilling into the hills. 

The view north. The Cairngorms got plastered this week and there was even some lift served skiing today. Fingers, toes and eyes crossed this heralds a decent winter!

After bagging a couple more hills, I dropped into Glen Devon and then ground up the long, long climb to Cairnmorris Hill (alt 606). In the valley bottom the trail was still pretty firm but thanks to the inversion, higher up was a different story. Despite the low temps through the week, the frost had come out of the ground and the snow melting drastically - full on porridge. Even with the extreme knobiness of the Al Mighty's (and studs) I was all over the place. I tested the studs on some water ice and they were pretty good, particularly when I dropped the pressures to 3 and 4 PSI. Hopefully no more bust in ribs from icy paths...

It was incredibly hard going - wet snow is actually hellish on a fat bike as the tyres just surf (and slide) into any little rut or hollow. You can be pedaling forward and the front will somehow manage to go backwards. Traction was none existent in places and I managed one off as the bike went completely away from me. Something narrow but extremely spiky would have probably served me better. Oh to have been here on Thursday. I staggered up Tarmangie hill (alt 645) then on to Whitewisp before the long descent to Dollar. I grabbed juice and snacks as I was utterly wasted, then trundled home. All was murk around me as the inversion still hadn't lifted.

So glad to get that one in. My November BAMs are often a bit of a mission but this one takes the biscuit. I'll be doing something much closer to home for December.... 

October bivvy - sunshine, but not in Wales.

I usually do a localish woodland bivvy in October to recover from the BB300. However the BB300 never happened, or even the BB200 which I decided to do in view of a need to get to my parents on the Sunday. Yes once again I failed an ITT, not even getting to the start this time. And as with the Highland Trail a shocker of a weather forecast after a few weeks of nice weather was largely to blame. I'd hoped to get down on the Thursday evening but the forecast was horrible which combined with the horrendous traffic at the best of times on the M6 would make for a miserable journey. A call with Mum kind of sealed the deal then as by this time the weekend weather was looking desperate. Shouldn't I give it a miss and come and visit instead?

Heading south on the Friday confirmed my no show - the weather was worse and even on the quieter bits of the M74/M6, progress was slow. No way was I tackling the bit past Preston. Plus by this time, after a few ups and downs, it was clear that the actual ride itself would be brutal. So I turned left at Penrith and spent a quality weekend with Mum, Dad, Bruv, S in law; celebrating Dad's 84th. Disappointment reigned as this year has ended up being a bit of a none event in terms of ITT's, tours and challenges.

For my October bivvy I still fancied a local night out as I had a rare social occasion on the Saturday evening. Pertinent to my usual ruminations was a stunning forecast. So along, up, down and finally up to spot I'd used a few years ago and close to my July bivvy take 2.

Not quite a sunset shot...

After an extremely relaxing evening entertained by a couple of beers, a nip or three of whisky and various owls I slept soundly until just after 8.

Then...

Sausages! Inspired by some of the breakfast extravaganzas of other Bearbones BAM'ers I'd brought a Ti frying pan, sausages, a roll and ketchup (I have standards.) The end result was mighty fine but it took ages to fry the sausages as the wee gas flame only really heated the bit of the pan it was under, requiring much waving around of pan to heat them through thoroughly.

Good spot this - fairly sheltered but you get the sun shining in at you.

Various trails followed. I'd nearly gone with a high level bivvy somewhere, but cloud was lurking over the higher hills. I suspect there had been an inversion and this was it lifting out of the lowlands which would have created a damp morning. However my route, via various fun trails (plus one brute of a tussock infested climb, penance for my BB no-show) and a usual route back home, was in blazing sunshine.

Lots of Autumnal woodland colours around. Also pleased the Castlelaw res dam is back open again. There is a faint chance of another outing this coming weekend as the run of dry weather is set to continue to Saturday at least. Cairngorms maybe?!

A weekend of bike riding

As I've had to go down south to visit Mum and Dad a few times this year, a certain amount of cramming has been necessary when it comes to bike rides. This weekend was typical...

Firstly I threw in a bivvy on the Friday night. Having failed to do any multi day trips this year I'm trying to get a few extra nights out to make up my annual bivvy tally. As with my July bonus bivvy, the weather for the Saturday afternoon looked somewhat damp so this would be a way of getting some saddle time in before it got too wet. 

So as usual for a Friday bivvy, I finished work, threw stuff on bike, left. My spot was one I'd scoped last year, above Glen quey, reached via various local trails. Things were a little soggy but I got to the general vicinity of my bivvy site just as dusk was falling, after a short but quality tussock based death march. The ride hadn't been quite the peace and tranquility I'd hoped, firstly due to a horrendous creak from my Bottom Bracket (Bushnell EBB,) then thanks to a few 'coo with a gun' moments on a few very minor technical challenges and finally a short cut which wasn't (hence a death march;) plus as usual my chosen bivvy site didn't look quite as good as when I was here last. A bit of nosing around found a good enough space for tarp and bivvy bag. I knew of a better one not far away but it's close to a regular dog walking route so this would do. A fine evening followed and a good nights kip.

I woke at dawn, as usual, and lay for some time listening to various birds and the wind in the trees. It's one of the many benefits of sleeping out, being able to listen to natural things with nothing between you and them but a bit of nylon. Then humanity intervened with cracks and bangs from the wind turbines across the glen, the first traffic on the road and the first flight out of Edinburgh. I fell asleep soon after and woke at a decadent 9.30!

Another sitka bivvy, tarp well concealed!

Breakfast was tea and pork pies then it was off up the hill (Innerdounie) to see what's, what - in the event a nice view and nice weather, contrary to the forecast. 

BB200 training followed using a fairly marginal trail down the 'burn of sorrow.' I've walked this a few times and ridden it once up and down. It's a fine place, well off the usual beaten tracks and the trail is nicely technical in places.

And a bit hairy in others... Part of the problem is it's quietness - the trail is a bit overgrown and not that well worn. You also really need to cross the burn three times to make the best of the riding. The first crossing was fine then I got distracted by a higher level sheep trail which led me into a sea of bracken and a dead end. I got back across after a deal of faffing then stuck to the west bank from then on which involves a fair bit scrambling past various landslips.

I fought my way down eventually and of course, called into the Stevens bakers in Dollar for a pie based lunch ahead of a leisurely trundle home.

The forecast for Sunday, first day of Autumn, was for cool and breezy sunshine across Fife and Perthshire so I figured on a decent ride. I've been meaning to do a couple of track passes crossing the hills between Glen Almond and Strath Braan for a while now, so today was the day. Getting to them would involve a fair bit of road riding but that was alright.

Apart from the Glen Devon road which got quite busy as the masses departed for their Sunday escape to the country (or at least Crieff.) Anyway, many back roads followed and the climb out of the Earn Valley was a fine warm up for what was to come. 

New track 1 was a route that started at the local big posh estate house (stone gate posts, tarmac road and fake antique lighting columns) but signed as a P&K core path. It would go via a pass to join the A822 near Amulree and would hopefully be a fine alternative to A road drudgery. It's shown on the Heritage Paths website but annoyingly, the link takes you to the Glenfiddich Road (which I've also ridden) so intel was minimal, other than it looked to be well defined. I diverted off the official route to check out a large disused quarry shown on the map, and spied on a sunny day in the Ochills last year (i.e from 20 miles away.) It's quite a scar as it stands out very clearly on the otherwise natural hillside so I was curious to see what the score was.

A sizeable ex-slate quarry. I passed several more on the days ride although all much smaller than this. Large piles of excavated spoil have been left and clearly abandoned for many years. Slates would have been much in demand for the large houses and castles that abound this area so this would have been a nice little earner for Glen Almond estate. In those days there would have been little in the way of planning restrictions or conditions, hence the massive scar on the hillside and no sign of any restoration.

A steep push followed then a rough descent to the main track. 

The track up the hill opposite is new. My route heads up the glen to the pass.

Beyond the pass the track became less used - in fact fairly overgrown and it's descent was a fab grassy line finishing at a seemingly abandoned farm house. So a good one and a route I'll use again.

Road riding to new track number 2 followed accompanied by the usual sunny Sunday stream of day trippers and motorbikes. This heads south west from the A822 over a low moor into little Glenshee. The bridge across the river looked far too elaborate for the couple of farms it served so I figure this will have been a public road at one point. This was confirmed by long sections with well built dry stone wall boundaries and a steady line across the hillside, instead of the usual estate track that just heads straight up any hill it encounters. A squint at some historic mapping confirmed this although intel on it's route history is lacking. Anyway it made for another good trail, with only a herd of cows (and a large bull) tromping the rough surface to mud in a few places making it one to avoid in wet weather.

Speaking of which, the 0% chance of rain forecast was once again wrong as large clouds were moving in from the north.

On the nicest bit of the route (no cows). It's actually raining a bit here but it soon passed over. The track joins the road just past a farm which is an odd out and back again from Glen Almond - further evidence that it must once have been public right across the pass. From here I started on new track 3.

This skirts the hills east to above Bankfoot, my destination for food and drink. It doesn't feature on any historic mapping but is also a core path, which is a bit odd, as after passing another couple of abandoned slate quarries it's quite clearly a grouse and duck shooting access track. Such things are usually jealously guarded by the estates so it must have taken some negotiating to make it so public. The heather on the hills around it are criss-crossed with mown strips to enable grouse to be more easily ID'd (and shot.) 

That said, there were literally thousands of them flying around me so any tactics to actually hunt them seem a bit unnecessary. I'm not against hunting but fail to see the sport in blasting what must be a strong contender for the worlds stupidest bird. They make a huge racket when flying and seem singularly unable to fly away from a suspected predator (i.e. me,) instead just fluttering up the track aways then landing right in front of me, making stalking them and any form of aiming skill somewhat redundant. Still it keeps the toffs happy and leads to tracks such as this one. Which eventually took me onto another dead end back road and the fine shop at Bankfoot.

It was now quite warm in the sun as I sat out drinking coffee and eating cake, however on departing the village for my usual route home a very large cloud appeared from the north west and rapidly overtook me. To be fair I only caught light sprinkles for the most part, the sodden roads suggesting I narrowly missed much worse. It persisted to near Dunning and then the sun shone once more on the climb, done many times this year after a long bike ride. The last time it had been after a 30 plus degree suffer fest, so riding up it on a cool afternoon with a stiff tailwind was most pleasant.

So all in all a great weekend - about 120 miles total, 13 hours out (plus 13 hours in my bivvy site!) and some great trails. More sun next weekend by the looks so I need to cash in on it whilst I can, ahead of a doubtless very wet BB200.

September BAM, the Monega

So last months (and the month before's) assertion of doing something more interesting next month has come to pass but no multi day extravaganza... Yet again my September holiday plans went pear shaped. I'd actually penciled in the UKSS champs for this weekend but that went west as I'd agreed to visit Mum and Dad for various reasons. I still hoped to do a decent tour or even an Autumn HT if the weather was looking favourable. Then Dad ended up in hospital (out now, all good). Then a weather shocker and a further Thursday commitment squeezed my available window into an overnighter. Again. Encouraged by a decent forecast for the Tuesday and a hopefully dry Wed morning I ruminated (and faffed) and ended up in the motor heading up the A9 for a Dunkeld start, destination.... somewhere.

On the GPS was a route I'd done in 2017 that went via various trails and the Capel Mounth to Ballater; and a route I'd done in 2018 via the mighty Monega Pass (alt 1000m) to Braemar. I nearly kept on up the A9 to Blair Atholl and more Cairngorm fun but it looked a bit murky further north and my (nowadays very low) tolerance for traffic saw the Birnam turn made and a rapid getaway. I guess I was desperate to be pedaling after a bike free weekend plus it was sunny!

And for a starter were the fine trails up to Lochs Ordie and Oisinneach (Beag and Mhor.) These are famously boggy (As per the SWB 2021) although in 2018 were bone dry. Today they were somewhere between these extremes...

Lots of extremely pleasant doubletrack followed plus some extremely pleasant bogs, but actually fine overall as I went round the south side of Loch Oisinneach which misses the horrors either side of Sarah's bothy.

On the singletrack climbing away from the main trails, quality tussocks.

I was committed to the Monega route by this time, as the route I'd used in 2017 would be a bit much given sunset at 7.30 or so. And there the hills were, in the sun! Between me and them (well Kirkmichael and the upper reaches of Glen Islay) were about 13 miles of empty back roads. But that was alright. I could have chucked in the Rob Roy way route from Ennochdhu to the Spital and down to Lair but I was aware of the time, sunset and the gathering clouds so tarmac was the way.

A famous sign (on the front cover of the Scottish Hill Tracks book for years) To this point it had been highly sunny although bigger clouds loomed to the north. It's about 30k to Braemar from here including the minor matter of a climb to 1000+m and around 12k above 900m. That said it's actually doubletrack the whole way, more or less. But it is a great route progressing from road to track to the leap up the ridge, a wall of hills in front of you. Near the top, two large birds of prey suddenly appeared. One flapped in a circle and a small bird suddenly flew away from it. Looks like the eagle didn't quite have a firm enough grip on it. Once it had flown the eagle then rejoined its mate and they both circled away from me. Fabulous.

c500m vertical of pushing to the summit of Monega hill. It's pretty steep in places but otherwise just a straight slog, no scrambling. But we ain't done yet.... 

Nav-wise there are a number of epic fails you could make here, but you'd likely soon realise, i.e. as you plummeted into Caenlochan Glen. The Glenshee Ski centre is the escape route as the top of the Glas Maol Pommer looms out of the murk. You could drop down this and up the Coire Fionnh tow back out to the Cairnwell, cafe and toilets. Also the miles of ski fences would guide you if you just headed north, However despite cloud now obscuring the summit of Glas Maol and a stiff breeze (which I'd feared would be gale force but wasn't) I was doing well, so on and up we go.

Being so close to the summit of Cairn a Cleise I figured I should divert to bag it - 1062m. Ben Avon dimples in view. You can head further east off here picking off Tolmount, Fafernie, Cairn Bannoch, Broad Cairn and a precipitous descent into Glen Muik. Or you could throw in Lochnagar if you are keen. This is probably the longest high level traverse do-able by bike in the UK. I'll do it one day but only if it's sunny and with a light breeze, with plenty of daylight, i.e. not today.

Looking back to the Monega ridge. I'd had a few spots of rain but it looked like the sky was clearing. The Lomond hills are just visible in the far distance. For todays ride I'd thought of a more usual Fife expedition over the Lomonds, Pilgrims Way and back via the coastal path which would have been wall to wall sunshine. That said, this route would have been busy whereas I was slightly bemused to see absolutely no-one up here or at any point so far, barring the odd car. I know it was a weekday but I'd generally expect to see a munro bagger or two, at least. Anyway, I was slightly relieved to be at the route's highpoint with no epic weather. It was all downhill from here.

I regained the landrover track and clattered off down the long descent. There are a couple of short climbs on the way but soon enough I was dropping into Glen Callater. I had one panic when I stopped to see if there were any signs of life at the bothy only for my back brake to disappear just as I set off again. Some frantic pumping yielded nothing and much front wheel slithering ensued as I brought the plot back under control. I hit the valley bottom and brake pressure magically re-appeared. There is clearly something wrong with this brake (see 'Not the Highland Trail') but I'm damned if I can figure out what. Anyway, despite being empty, I rode away from the bothy, Braemar my destination. It had taken some 2 hours to do the whole traverse.

Tootling down to Braemar on the back road I noted a perfect bivvy spot in a patch of sitka woodland. Ideal - I headed into town, grabbed some supplies from Greens and then back for a fine pitch up. The gale of earlier had dropped so a peaceful evening followed and a sound sleep. I always think this is the highlight of bikepacking - doing a good, challenging route over high ground, fab trails and then a great bivvy spot to relax and review what you've just done. The wind reappeared later and woke me but once I'd decided it wasn't going to drop a branch on me I drifted back off.

The next morning. Annoyingly, as I was packing up a sprinkle of rain came in, dampening the tarp. It was somewhat gloomy (and very breezy) however the wind was still in the south east so hopefully would give me a bit of a shove down Glen Tilt. Breakfast 2 was partaken of in the little retail area behind the high street (benches under cover) then I headed off, the rain varying between dreich and...rain.... I was fairly relaxed about this, even if it was contrary to the last forecast I'd seen pre-ride. The current forecast suggested it might cheer up later ahead of a deluge overnight so any vague thought of a second night out was shelved.

My Passage of Glen Tilt was somewhat damp with full on heavy rain for the last miles. I was wary as the rocks on the trail are definitely of the slippery when wet variety. I passed three other people on bikes with bags attached, presumably doing the Cairngorms tour. As expected, some of the trickier sections were well slippy so a fair bit of footing (walking) did ensue but I managed to avoid a drastic fall into the abyss. Given my poor record for injuries of late, this was a relief. 

The SE wind varied between in my face and behind me as the glen made it's turns, finally spitting me out at Blair Atholl as the rain went off and the sky cleared somewhat. A fun ride down the riverside path followed and after lunch at Pitlochry I went with the old NCN83 route finishing with a long length of track back to Dunkeld. Total distance 107 miles.

The NTS are doing stuff to the Bynack, Geldie and Dee - making piles of rock and old tree trunks. You typically do this sort of thing on heavily canalised water courses to improve habitat and reduce flow velocity but I'm pretty sure these rivers are wholly natural already. A bit of research suggests this is being led by the River Dee Trust trying to improve salmon habitat upstream. If we get another Storm Frank (or even a Muckle Spate) I can see these being scoured clear, so here's hoping for an epic storm free winter until they bed in a bit.

Another clean across the Geldie. The channel on the east side is getting quite deep and there are a few large rocks to catch you out.

I always like this view, knowing I don't have to cross the Tilt, stagger up the climb and splosh my way to Fealar Lodge and the last climbs on the CL300. That said, the rivers today were still low.

Jones looking quite feisty with the Chronicles on - first time I've used these for a few years and I'm liking them. Burly, grippy but actually pretty easy rolling on hard surfaces. As I sat here eating a Heron suddenly swooped into the little dell and sat looking optimistically for a fish - no chance in that burn, but pretty cool in the middle of Pitlochry.

August BAM, BSB.

So much for an interesting August bivvy. I'd various plans for a weeks holiday, including a Highland Trail ITT. That said, I was needing to get down to Mum and Dad's for a few days so this plan was pretty much canned in favour of an east coast ride down there. Then a couple of weeks before my holiday, I failed to complete a log hop and bashed in a rib (third time in under 12 months) and then the week before, I bashed my back in - working on one of the motorbikes squatted down, over-balanced and fell backwards onto another motorbike whose foot rest dug right into the muscle that goes up by your spine. Ouch. Worse, a few days later (no sign of it healing) it let go big style and I could barely walk. 

So the Friday before my week off saw me in A&E (no big deal just take it easy and take paracetamol) and any plans for a bike trip out of the window. Fortunately, I could still ride a motorbike so took my smallest one on a fun route south and spent some QT with the folks.

A couple of day rides have been done, including one that turned into yet another high temperature epic. But my back is still sore... So a bog standard local bivvy was on the cards, and I chose nearby Devilla forest.

Preston Island (not an island) on the Forth estuary. It is an artificial piece of land made up of the burnt ash from nearby Longannet Power station, now defunct. It's also a nature reserve, the big fenced off area being ideal for various birdies to live, undisturbed. Grangemouth across the water has always lit up the night sky hereabouts. Ineos man is saying he's going to shut it all down and do recycling instead. We'll see.... 

Bivvy spot near to where I was in March. It was pretty still and quite warm, so the down jacket was redundant. Annoyingly there were a few mozzies about so I retreated to the bivvy bag for my usual evening of reading and drinking beer. A sound and long sleep followed. Today I did a usual loop via the Stevens Bakers in Dollar. Then it started raining, which was completely unforecasted. Hey, ho...

Got a week off in September so hopefully something a bit more interesting then.

July BAM take 2

Bonus July Bivvy! The weather was looking good for Friday evening / night / Saturday morning and horrible for Saturday afternoon, so I figured a bivvy ride in the local woods would be a way of cashing in on this, as well as adding to my nights out tally. Thanks to my lame attempt on the Highland Trail I only bivvied once in May, instead of 5 times. I had a vague notion to hit 20 nights out this year so figured this one would at least be a start, although I doubt I'll hit this target. Any road, as soon as work on Friday was done, I was off. 2 hours later I'd climbed up to Coalcraigie Hill (alt 450m) and pitched up. A straightforward route and the trails were still pretty dry. The only annoyance was my usual route across Castlehill res dam was blocked by a site compound and a large scaffold. This does my nut in - it's a key route linking Glen Devon with the various forests off the Dunning road, and a core path to boot. But there had been no pre-warning, no diversion, no nothing. I will write to various people explaining my disappointment with their piss poor site management...

View back home. The views all around were fab, with the Forth and Tay Estuaries visible, the hills above Dundee (and Dundee itself,) Embra, the Pentlands and the Perthshire hills through which I'd cycled last weekend.

A fine evening followed. I had tea sat out before the dreaded midge turned up. So I retired to the Deschutes (inc. mesh inner for max luxury) and checked out the sunset. Beers helped...

A solid nights sleep followed with one loo break, fortunately largely midge free as the temps has dropped. Then at 7.30 I got going with breakfast. Annoyingly, a brief rain shower came through and oddly, despite a dry night, the Deschutes was soaked inside. 

A gloomy morning...

That said, by the time I got going, the cloud was breaking and there were hints of blue sky. Various trails followed, heading back west over the large climb over the pass by Greenlaw to avoid more shenanigans on the Castlehill res dam. The sun was beating down - not what was in the forecast but I wasn't complaining.

Much greenery on the old ROW between Auchterarder and Glen Devon, thanks to a warm / wet / dry summer so far. This used to be a well used track which I suspect saw a fair bit of vehicular use for many years. But like a few others round here forestry has replaced farming and not even agricultural vehicles are using it so in places it was getting a bit overgrown.

Given the weather, with still no sign of rain, I threw in an extra loop over Seamab hill and got home just as the rain started.

I've a week off in August so hopefully something a bit more interesting, bivvy wise....

Cool nights and hot days

We've had some pretty crazy weather this year so far - driest winter on record, dryer spring and then it's turned into a real mix of temps, rain, sun and wind. My mum is complaining that they have barely had a drop of rain since March down her way and parts of the south are officially into drought conditions.

I'd penciled in this weekend to do a 200 miler as per last June and a couple of years ago. But another heatwave was due over the weekend with 30 degrees predicted across Scotland, so this seemed a bit much. A bivvy was the next option as I could really trim the weight down given warmth and total dryness. Then I figured on mixing the two - do the double century but throw a sleep in. This would mean riding into the evening and cooler temps, then hopefully most of the ride home would be done before things got too hot the next day.

So 5pm saw me pedaling west on the Stormchaser, just my lightweight pertex bivvy bag, mat and quilt in the seat pack. I planned a variation of the 200 miler I'd done before without the loop round Loch Rannoch, substituting a loop into Angus on a new road.

Callander was reached quickly enough, despite using a route that adds miles but avoids all main roads. It had started out at 27 degrees but sitting by the river drinking a cold can, things were cooling down nicely. I had the fab cycleway to Killin largely to myself. As always, a huge grin plastered itself across my face as I cruised along this great route, one I never get tired of. It was still pretty warm on the climb, but on the final descent through the forest it was almost chilly. That said, you'd occasionally pass through patches of very warm air indicating an inversion in progress but with the trees retaining pockets of heat.

Anyway, I hit Killin Co-op and sat out eating a lot of food. I even had a beer to celebrate the perfect bike riding.

So north we go, into the fading light. There was a huge scout camp up Glen Lochay and folk were sat out, but when I stopped the midges were there. Not too bad, but I was wondering if a shed stop would be a better bet than trying to bivvy outside. The sun was setting but you'd need to be up high to see it and even the summit of the pass is surrounded by hills. I got down the potholed descent in the last of the light but kept lights off as long as I could on the easy pedal down Glen Lyon.

I passed several groups of campers, all with fires. When I think of all the publicity this year about camp fires and the resulting moor fires, I give up. I guess at some point someone will end up burning themselves (or worse, someone else) to death and then maybe people will start listening to common sense... Then I was surprised by (and surprised) an oncoming cyclist, also with no lights and probably doing the BD as he had bags on. We hailed each other but kept on. Finally on the descent to Bridge of Balgie it was now full dark so on with the lights and onward.

More easy riding followed down the glen. I kept thinking I should be bivvying, given the lateness of the hour, but apart from a few yawns I was feeling fit, so I stuck to the plan. At times it was pretty cold (15 degrees!) and I began to notice more night time animals - hooting owls, snipe and a hedgehog ambling across the road. The air was full of bugs, most of which ended up in my eyes but nothing nasty, like mosquitos... And on the long climb out of Coshieville, there were loads of toads sat on the road, obviously enjoying the still warm tarmac, and oblivious to all around them, including me. I saw a few squashed ones, sadly, but avoided squashing any more. The distance was telling by now and the descent was taken carefully, given the late hour (it was now Saturday,) and more toads.

Tummel Bridge was deserted naturally, it being after 1. I started the long climb out of Rannoch over to Glen Errochty, the hut my target for the day as although there were less midges around it would make things easier. It had been empty on my last three visits so a van parked at the bottom of the track up to it was of concern. However as I went up the track, lights doused thanks to the full moon, the alarm suddenly went off and was quickly silenced, suggesting someone was in the van and not in the hut. Sure enough, the string tying the door closed was in place - what a relief!

I sat back having a snack and a dram, reflecting on the previous 9 hours. 107 miles was as long a ride as I'd ever done on a Friday evening. Even our midsummer rides back in the '90's wouldn't have come this far, this quick. Soon enough I felt my eyelids droop and crashed out.

Much cracking and banging as the corrugated iron expanded in the strengthening sun woke me at 6. It would be cool for a while so I reckoned on getting going, despite less than four hours sleep.

Small but perfectly formed.

Morning view

As I rolled down Glen Errochty I felt OK, not the bleary eyed drudgery of my second day on the HT. A couple of cars came up the road, probably heading to work in the big hotel at Rannoch, but otherwise I had the place to myself, right down to Blair Atholl. The temps were rising but an easterly breeze was cool. Pitlochry provided a proper breakfast, courtesy of Greggs, sat in the shade. I'd be seeking shade from here on in.

Of which there was very little for the next few miles, over a large climb into Strathardle. The air was crystal clear however, making me wonder if I shouldn't have been up a hill somewhere as the views would be stunning. This was my only real A road bashing of the ride and a few cars and bikes were around but they all disappeared when I turned onto a cracker of a new road out of Glenshee, climbing over a large moor to Alyth. There are few other wee roads round here, all off the beaten tracks of Glen Shee and the Angus glens. A few roadies coming the other way indicated its popularity. Looking south I realised I was seeing the Lomond Hills and the backside of the Ochills - home was almost in sight! But still a ways off, so keep pedaling...

Alyth provided Breakfast number 3 from a cafe which crucially had an outside seating area in the shade. I was starting to feel pretty weary, my lack of sleep catching up, as well as the heat. Beyond here, the temperature hit 30 degrees and stayed there.

Even the bike appreciated the shade...

I was now on the network of unclassified roads linking east Perthshire and Angus, through which I've pedaled a couple of times on my Mounth and Moray tours. It's easy going but I was craving every bit of shade. The easterly was now behind me which actually made things worse as I could have done with the cooling breeze. Beyond Woodside your on a local short cut route so a fair few cars came past, and beyond the A93 there was more traffic using this road to avoid Perth. There is a new bypass now but obviously the penny hasn't dropped yet... I cared not a fig for the cars I held up on the narrow and twisty road as the heat was really getting too me. I reached Stanley and dived straight into the shop for more cold drinks and an iced Lolly, sat under the village green trees and blessedly cool shade.

To Dunning I left all traffic behind but two climbs brought on the beginnings of the dreaded bonk. So more shade, cold drinks and food were needed. I poured a liter of iced water over me, making me gasp, but necessary to keep cool on the Dunning climb. I ground up slowly but steadily, my wet shirt preventing me boiling over, helped by a stiffening breeze, thank goodness.

Eventually both me and the temperature were heading down. The last climb on the Knockhill road was in the shade and finally I was home, 103 miles done but taking over 9 hours thanks to all the stops. I was utterly exhausted. 

I lazed around in the garden all afternoon to the accompaniment of many cold drinks and an ice cold beer (perfect storm, not sure if that was appropriate or not!) and contemplated what I'd just done. 210 miles total, just shy of 4000 metres of climbing over generally easy terrain. Riding into the night had been fab as usual and the hut a great stopping point. I should have probably slept for longer, starting in the hottest part of the day but again riding into cooler temps. Hey ho, I've a full day to recover and then we are back to rain and cold again...