Mary Poppins one day, Dave Barter the next!

[Ray Young]

Or more to the point, my Cairngorms inner loop ride.
On Tuesday my stepdaughter asked if I could drive the horse trailer on the Sunday to an event and as no one had volunteered to join me (was it the mention of a ukulele in a previous post?) for the weekend I said yes, I just moved my ride dates forward a bit.
I arrived at Blair Atholl at seven on the Thursday evening and wasted no time in packing the bags onto the bike and heading out to Allt Scheicheachan bothy a mere 8 miles away. It was nearly all uphill so I didn't arrive until 8.30 and found I had the place to myself. The bothy had two rooms but they are not connected. The one to the left was not big but was in great condition and had a fireplace and two wooden benches to sleep on. The room to the right was very basic but had a ladder leading to the roof space where quite a few more could bed down. Once my kit was sorted I got out the vodka schnapps I'd brought along and practiced the ukulele for half an hour then I put some music on my phone whilst I sorted some food out. After eating it was more music and schnapps until 10.30 when I decided to play the uke again. Bad idea, schnapps and stringed instruments do not mix so I thrashed out some 12 bar blues just to make myself feel better then put the music on the phone back on. I'd taken a single fire log with me and when this died along with the schnapps I hit the sack and slept soundly till 7.30 . I wasn't in a hurry so took my time over breakfast and packing. It was a lovely day so ate breakfast outside and took in the view. Only 8 downhill miles back to Blair Atholl so arrived back pretty quick. I dropped the uke off at the car and spoke to 4 other mtb'rs getting their kit together. Turns out they're doing the same route as me only someone is carting their gear to Aviemore in a car so they just have small backpacks. They all have very nice looking full suss xc bikes. Whilst they're still faffing I head to the shop for supplies then head out for Glen Tilt.
The weather is perfect for cycling, sunny but not too hot and a slight breeze to cool you. It's been a few years since I was up this way in the company of Jamiep, we were meeting Pushbikemike, Paul and Jim later as they had driven up the night before and set off earlier. The lead in is on easy estate track for 7 or 8 miles before hitting the great but technical singletrack which goes on for about 4.5 miles. A thin line hugging the side of the glen often with a steep drop to the river below it certainly concentrates the mind. The guys I'd met had passed me earlier but they had rested at the start of the singletrack where I caught up with them. I let them go first and amazingly I was able to keep up with the slowest one of them, he had speed over the easier bits but I caught him on the technical sections. This made me feel pretty good about my bike handling skills as remember he was going lightweight and on an xc full susser whilst I was loaded and rigid. His mates would stop and wait for him so I kept pace all the way to the watershed and onto the fords just past Bynack Lodge ruin where I stopped for lunch as they carried on.
That was 1/3 of the ride done and I felt good as I now headed West up the Geldie Burn which would take me to Glen Feshie. Estate track to start with then singletrack with regular water bars forcing dismounts. I thought I'd seen the last of the other guys but I got to within 20 metres of the slower guy at the scaffold bridge that goes over the River Eidart. I lingered here a while taking in the lovely gorge amongst the hills and that was the last I would see of the guys. Sweet singletrack took me to Glen Feshie and 2/3 done. It was from this point my bum was getting a bit sore but no worse than I've ever had before so I ignored it and carried on.
I can see how Donald (Cairngorms loop, sharing the pain) managed to miss the track that would have avoided him crossing the Feshie several times but as the guy said, he was having gpx navigation issues. A tiny path off to your right that hugs the side of the steep Feshie bank was hard to spot whilst the estate track that it lead off went straight through the Feshie and seemed to be the obvious choice. Glen Feshie was fun and I passed quite a few people setting up camp at various points along it. From Feshiebridge I took the road to Kincraig then picked up the Speyside Way which would take me to Aviemore. As the track followed the main railway line I thought it would be flat which would have been welcome in my now tired state but the track had other ideas, constant up and down small hills but at least the path was smooth. I arrived in Aviemore and headed straight to Macdui's after having a great meal there the time Jamiep, Pushbikemike etc where last there. Sadly things have changed and I was charged almost ten quid for overcooked pasta with tasteless bolognaise sauce and soggy garlic bread. The meal was served within minutes of it being ordered so God knows how long it had been prepared for. I noticed other customers being served just as quickly too. At least the Belhaven Best was up to scratch. It was when I sat down in the bar that I noticed my bum was now really guite sore but was still unaware of how bad it was. I set off again looking for a bivi spot but by the time I got to Loch Morlich I'd decided to go look at Ryvoan Bothy. I knew it was a small place in a popular area but I was more than happy to sleep outside if necessary. The act of sitting on the saddle was painful but once moving it felt ok. I got to Ryvoan about 8.30 after covering 72 miles. In residence were a French couple, 3 guys from Fife with a fair bit of booze and an English guy who was in the army, an officer I reckon by his demeanour. The French couple had a tent set up outside and as the others were in for a late night I decided to sleep outside despite there being room for me in the bothy. As I went outside the Fife guys discovered their dog had rolled in something stinky so they and the army bloke went off to wash the dog in the nearby Loch. The French couple came outside to chat as I set up camp. First the down jacket and sleeping bag came out of the bar bag, then the cookset, mat, bivi bag and tarp from the seatpack. The girl said something I didn't quite catch as I was doing this so I asked her to repeat it. "Your like Mary Poppins" she said, "all that stuff from those little bags". We all had a laugh at that. They told me they were novice back packers and were carrying far too much stuff they admitted. They were intrigued by my (our) lightweight philosophy and took some ideas on board. When the guys came back with a soggy rather than stinky dog we sat and chatted for 1/2 an hour before I decided to hit the sack at 9.45. It was now I realised what a sorry state my bum was in. I sat on my mat to remove my shorts and left a bloody mark on it in. Oh dear I thought, that's not good. I gave it a good clean with baby wipes then got into my bag. My bum kept sticking to the sleeping bag so I had to put my hand behind me to hold the bag away. Maybe I should get the train back to Blair Atholl I remember thinking as I drifted off to sleep. I woke several times through the night to the sound of rain, I believe it rained all night.
On waking at 7.30 it was still raining and very overcast so I lay in for another 20 minutes then got up. The bum was feeling much better. Going into the bothy to cook breakfast in comfort I found the four guys up and packing. I sat in an out of the way corner to prepare porridge in one bag and pasta and sauce in another. This time it was the army guy who took an interest in my (our) cooking methods. He'd never seen the pour n store and cosy method of cooking before, and he thought it was great.
After packing I still wasn't sure about whether to take the train or not. I decided to ride a bit and see how it felt. At this point, not bad I said to myself so that was decision made. Only 40 miles I said and I can't really justify money on a train journey. I didn't have far to ride until the big push up to Bynack More which I wasn't looking forward to but as it happened it was no big deal. Lots of nice single track after that I thought but it wasn't to be. Rock infested singletrack was the order of the day so I just pushed and pushed for the next 7 miles. The weather was crap but the scenery was great and the area around the Ford's of Avon will stick in my mind for a long time. I stopped at the refuge hut there and met two very uncommunicative German lads. I tried to make conversation but only got one word answers out of them so gave up trying. Funnily enough they wished me well as they departed. I pushed until the woods at Derry Lodge where I had a déjà vue moment. Four old mountain bikes leant up against the boarded up Derry Lodge. I've never been here before and can't for the life of me remember where I'd come across this scene before. I assumed the bikes belonged to walkers who'd cycled the boring bit before starting their walk. Cycling for me was now very painful as I'd opened up the sores on my bum. Sit down slowly and carefully untill the pain subsided then start pedalling untill it got rough then stand on the pedals to cycle so as to avoid more pain. If I got this wrong I was rewarded with more pain as any bump was agony. It was at this point I started to utter "Barterisms". I spent a lot of time cycling like I was on a BMX, stand and pedal then coast resting one leg, then cycle again and coast resting the other leg. This got me to the Geldie Burn for for about 4 o'clock where I stopped in the derelict building out of the rain for some well earned food.
18 miles to go so I put my best face on and just got on with it. The single-track over the watershed and along Glen Tilt was all pushed. I was tired and the bike handling skills I'd taken so much pride in yesterday had deserted me. I didn't want to risk an accident as no one would be passing at this time of the day if the worst happened. Eventually I hit the estate track and got on with some cycling but mostly bmx'ing which I'm sure you all know is very tiring. My Barterisms where out Bartering the great Barter himself, I think he would have been proud of my efforts. Spotting a wood ahead I thought my journeys end was near but no, wrong woods. "Does this Glen never end" I screamed at a sheep in utter frustration. "How should I know" it's look seemed to say, "I've never been further than that fence" it added. Of course the Glen did eventually end and I arrived back at my car at 8.00 pm.
I visited the shop for food and coke and set off back to Edinburgh. As I drove the hate and loathing I'd developed over the day for my chosen sport gradually diminished as recalled all the good bits, the fantastic scenery, the great single track, the fact I'd had two and a half days to myself to do the thing I love the best which is of course bikepacking.

My sore bum problem I've mentioned in another post and I'm still sure it was the padded shorts I was wearing that caused the issues. Yes, I have fitted a high rise stem that would put more weight on my bum but I'm sure it wasn't that. In fact I'm stuck with the high rise stem as I have started to suffer with trapped nerves in my neck if I have to hold my head up at an angle. This leads to temporary and partial paralysis of one or the other arms and I certainly don't want that when I'm out. Last time it occured was the Scottish Spring Thing and Blair had to help me lift my bike over gates as I couldn't raise my left arm beyond 45%.

I love bikepacking.

[fatbikephil]

Sounds a good trip Ray - the Bynack more to Glen Derry trail is definitely one of the 'ones to do'
Funily enough on my first (failed) attempt at the full cairngorms loop I also had a shredded arse for the descent of Glen Tilt....

[Dave Barter]

Fucking great report Ray

[Ray Young]

Fucking great report Ray

Thanks Dave, didn't think you'd mind my appropriation of your name .

[Ray Young]

The only pics I took.

Allt Scheicheachan bothy.

IMG_20170519_085721 by youngray50, on Flickr

IMG_20170519_090151 by [url=https://www.flickr

These regulars seem to have a sense of humour.

IMG_20170519_090043 by youngray50, on Flickr

IMG_20170519_090033 by youngray50, on Flickr

[Blair512]

Sounds like a good one Ray, sorry I missed it, got a wheel sorted now though so hopefully I'll be along on the next one. That is if your arse heals up in time!

[RobMac]

That is if your arse heals up in time!

For God sake don't say "heals up" just say "heals"