Alright, will carry my bivy and hammock so im sorted either way. Bivi takes up hardly any room anyway.

Looking forward to it.

Appreciate the help. Not decided between Aviemore or Grantown start yet, think ill decide closer to the time. Is hammocking a safe bet over the route? I usually carry a lightweight bivi just incase, but looks like there are plenty of foresty areas going by the os maps. Also, being low down, is filte...

Oh i dont mind being put off, im after a nice easy enjoyable ride, not an endurance ride. Would be nothing worse than getting halfway round a hard route and doing my leg in again, Its always been part of whats stopped me going out since the injury. Been having a look at the speyside way, Moray and D...

Alright thanks. It all looks so nice and easy on the maps, but thats why i thought id ask.

I'll have a look at the areas you suggested and see

Long story short, ive not cycled for the past 2 years untill last weekend due to back and leg issues. Got fed up of not being able to do what i enjoy,so im determined to get back cycling/walking. I went 4 miles last weekend, and then yesterday i went 17 miles on the Meal Circuit at brig of Turk, so ...

Glad of that. Was making for the exit there.

Other peoples rubbish, not mine.
I changed the first sentence of that post after writing it, but i see now that i didnt really mention that by leaving somewhere tidier than when i arrived, i meant i tidy up other peoples rubbish that was already there.

I try to leave wherever i camp tidier than when i arrived. I admittably sometimes dont carry the rubbish out,as i dont have the space for it. (I know, excuses !) But i do try to gather the rubbish up and either burn it if its suitable, or else bag it and leave it somewhere not completely out of sigh...

Im pretty sure theres a whole different ethos that most people seem to follow. Leave as much trace as possible Always handy for the next people to come along. They can see the best spot for erecting their tent (where the old one still stands). Best spot for a fire is where the pile of blackend rocks...

I use a Tigoat kestrel that was mentioned earlier in the thread. I forget what type my mat is, its a thermarest neo air i think, but it fits inside it no bother. The only problem as mentioned is the slippyness of the bag. I had a confused awakening one night, when i woke lying looking up at the star...

Spent a couple of hours today working on it. Had a look over all the parts, nothing that i can see wrong, but thats not to say theres not as i dont know the names of half the bits :lol: I ended up replacing my gear cable again, and changed the housing lengths a bit better at some parts. I had copied...

The mech hangar got broken when the chain snapped, i named it wrongly in OP, the deraileur itself didnt get broken. Since id only had it for 15 miles or so, i took it back to go outdoors thinking they'd just swap it for a new bike since paint etc was chipped off also, (which didnt bother me to be fa...

Alright, plenty of places to start looking. Will give everything a checkover tommorow night, and may get some new gear cables. I think when i replaced them the first time i may have bought cheap ones from halford :roll: but i was getting bother in the short period of using the original cables. Bikes...

I wouldnt normally post a question like this on here as there is more than enough information on google and other forums to to search through,so apologies. But before i get told to google it, i need some information on what to google, as im stumped. :lol: Im no mechanic by any means, but id rather t...

There is that i suppose, and its what i done in the past before stopping riding. Though part of my health problems were knee pains, so i dont think they'd thank me for the biggest and heaviest slabs. Not to start with anyway :lol: My current tyres are what came with the bike, WTB Vigilantes. And bef...

Long story short, ive not cycled in a year or so due to various health problems. Im now able to be more active again and looking at upgrading the bike, and have been told that switching to Road tyres instead of chunky MTB tyres for training on road would make quite a diffrence. I dont fancy having a...

Just over a week since being told to make the appointment for 2 weeks time, and i got a letter today cancelling my appointment and putting it back by another 3 weeks.

We can self refer here also. I did that, 5 weeks later i phoned up to see what was happening and there seemed to be no record of my form being handed in. So then my doc reffered me. 13 weeks waiting list from when doctor reffered me, and then i got a letter telling me to phone up and make my appt, w...

Was it private or nhs physio you went to? Took me 17 weeks waiting to see NHS physio, i spent 10-15 minutes answering questions and got told to come back in 2 weeks time. No poking/prodding or anything. This was last week and my next appt is next friday. Ive seen a private sports physio twice since ...

I use this as a groundsheet also. Even kneeling on it, ive not really felt the water come through. I find it also helps to give it all a good crumple/squash as it makes it less crinkly/noisy. If theres any building sites near you putting up kit houses (wooden frames), it might be worth asking a join...

I have something similar which i thought was ITB syndrome at first, but ive also suffered back pain for 2 years now, and it took a while before i realized the pains were connected. Not had a diagnosis, but i think its sciatica. Best bet to see a Physio like the others have said, and hope they cure i...

Except that OS maps tell you nothing about ground conditions or track type. Google satellite can be useful there of course. Enough to get by once you read between the lines ... and besides, we still need a few surprises, maybe we should consider OS maps in the same way as we might lingerie :wink: A...

Thanks for this, an interesting alternative. How high was the locked gate at the dam? Cant remember well. I think it was the height of 2 normal field gates high. So quite a task if you have a loaded bike. I only had a small rucksack and bar harness, so wasnt too awkward. I noticed on the map after ...

I went from the Erskine bridge to aberfoyle and back 2 years ago, though i went a diffrent route, missing out the section up through Dumbarton. Theres a few diffrent variations of the route i took,including forestry tracks,though i havent ridden them so cant comment on easyness. My route went from D...