Welsh Winter Bivvy 2017

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Scattamah
Posts: 2007
Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:18 pm
Location: Beyond The Black Stump

Welsh Winter Bivvy 2017

Post by Scattamah »

Consisting of mud, ice, snow, tussocks, hike-a-bike and a lot of laughs, this one ranks up there with the best WWB I've been on yet.

We left the meeting place just after noon. The 1-2" of ice on the car park floor gave us an inkling of what was to come. Our first climb has some slippy parts and once we cleared the trees, we were in a pretty valley covered in snow and tussocks. A couple of hours later after much HAB, we finally got a nice downhill run where there were some fun moments watching folks fall off bikes into the snow. Down a sh!t-bound track and onto the tarmac we went...heading for out next climb out into the wilds.

Slushy I believe would be the operative word here, as a mix of mud, ice and snow punctuated the trail for the next few miles. Often the only riding to be had was up out of the trails and on the fields. Up and up we went, and with that came some slippery downs as well. My brakes got a good workout trying to keep the speed down and a semblance of control in hand.

As the darkness fell we went up again, down again, up again, off route, on route and were ejected onto some tarmac that was feeling festive and was glistening by lamp-light. Down some rather steep lanes we went and finally found ourselves at the pub at Hundred House where a tasty, well deserved meal was had and some nice pints downed.

Leaving the pub, the real fun began. Up a sealed lane, where at times, traction disappeared. Off the lane, the traction was still iffy as the grass had started to freeze and large-sized slabs of ice were forming. But now the kicker came - HAB through the snow...often knee deep. One moment it would be crusty and able to take the weight of a person and a bike, the next could be ankle, calf or knee deep snow. Descending off the tops, we were now getting a bit chilly and looking for somewhere to camp. A copse of trees was found and we settled in for the night.

Now, it seems to be a recurring thing on Welsh winter bivvies, but we had a late night visit from a farmer who'd watched us come down off the tops and had called the local constabulary. Mike climbed out of his pit and placated the farmer with some teeth-chattering and words and the farmer took himself and his tractor back to wherever he came from.

This morning broke with a bitterly cold wind. We headed off to finish the last few miles of the route through, you guessed it - ice, snow and mud. As it's Wales, there was the obligatory sheep sh!t to go into the mix. A few slippery hillsides later, we were back at the carpark and it was job done.

A big thanks to Stu for putting together a good route that would be a belter in the drier months, and to Burty, Mart, Mike and Steve for putting up with me dragging behind as I skittishly navigated the ice. Cheers fellas - a great weekend out.

Greetz

S.

[Edit: link to Stu's account - with pictures... http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... 10&t=11331
Last edited by Scattamah on Sun Dec 17, 2017 2:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mike
Posts: 2989
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:36 am

Re: Welsh Winter Bivvy 2017

Post by Mike »

Nice one Scott, i cant add anymore to that so ill just supply the photos!

Cheers guys for a good two days, heres to the winter event, lets hope the ice isnt still about :-bd
paramart
Posts: 430
Joined: Sun Mar 23, 2014 3:19 pm
Location: cannock chase

Re: Welsh Winter Bivvy 2017

Post by paramart »

nice summary scott think we all lagged behind at sometime.
it's not that I can and others can't, it's that I will and others won't.
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