Bivvy a month 2018.

[Bearbonesnorm]

we knew you were there in spirit looking over our shoulders

Absolutely - and as you know, I wholehearedly approve of the 'plan less formulated' approach to wondering about, looking at stuff.

[metalheart]

*Wonders if that GPS turned up*

No. Nor my nuts.

Sorry Colin, I looked everywhere for your nuts (oo-er missus) but couldn’t find them...

[ericrobo]

23rd July, getting a bit anxious... not done it yet !
So managed to get my act together yesterday and set off in tropicalish temperatures at 3pm, bike and kit at 40lbs.
Having done a bit of reading about the Irwell Sculpture Trail, where it said it was designed for walkers and cyclists, it sounded good (too good)... from Salford Quays to the dizzy heights above Bacup (done a lot of riding that way recently, big loops from home).

I plodded over to below Peel Tower then a cobbled BW down to Holcombe, then a bit of road to Summerseat, where (no signs) I picked the wrong path (albeit starting wonderfully well, on a lovely track, following the Irwell in a lovely valley a bit like being in a jungle... ) then when I was pushing uphill with great difficulty, and trying to stop the bike sliding over the edge into the river 15 feet below, I thought 'must be wrong', you won't even get walkers coming this way..

So back tracked and found the real trail near to the station...

But kept getting lost and ended up on footpath with bloody awkward styles, and after lifting bike over one, with extreme difficulty, jumped on to ride and twutted my head on a branch which hurt and yanked my head back so much I thought I had whiplash...

Anyway by Irwell Vale Stn I'd had enough and picked up my normal route leading back up to Bull Hill, filling up with water at Robin Hood's Well (managed to ride up to this with two stops for a rest)

Set up camp at about 8:45pm, looking down on Rawtenstall (of annual fair fame... Roll up, Roll up, see the tattooed lady, 40 stones of loveliness...
http://www.tablyricfm.com/Rawtenstall-A ... on-Weavers

IMG_2445 by Eric Robinson, on Flickr

A warm night but no midges... bit of a breeze

Then a brew in the morning and ready for off, but sat cogitating for ten minutes....
IMG_2449 by Eric Robinson, on Flickr

before crossing the half mile bog (bone dry, I could have camped on it !), coming out just before the Maggott Farm, and yeh the wind and the god awful smell were coming my way...
IMG_2450 by Eric Robinson, on Flickr

Then 7 miles home for a brew and some toast..

My original plan was to do about 53 miles by following this Sculpture Trail to Rawtenstall, then getting on to the Hameldon Hill gpx, and eventually back over Bull Hill)

[Pickers]

Tonfanau has the added attraction of being one of the least-used stations in the country so it might be a surprise for the train crew as well. A peaceful half-hour by the beach ensued, followed by the train actually stopping as advertised and whisking us away back to the un-real world. An absolutely superb weekend of serendipitous tramping, and thank you to top man Pickers for humouring my various eccentric random diversions and stops – hopefully he’ll be along soon with a photo of me holding up a heavy train with the strength of just one hand .

Apols for being a bit to the party, had a couple of things to sort this week. There's not much I can add to Regs' write up. It really was a cracking weekend, although even the drought conditions took a break for a day - after three years it has rained at some point every single time I've ridden with Reg!

7 for 7 BaM, and 5 from Reg's bucket list!

Oh, and there's this of course.....

https://www.flickr.com/photos/107347896 ... 810015760/ by Richard Picton - Flickr2BBcode LITE

[RIP]

Thanks Rich, good pic. And finally, I've added to my seatpack adornments - chipped in to the Llwyngwril yarnbombers charity and got a mini-yarn-bomb in return .

[summittoppler]

Bagged July's bivvy last night. I picked Bwlch Cwm Llan which is south of Snowdon summit and overlooks the Watkin path. A bloody good spot, a great evening but the weather turned a little first thing.
A couple of pics...

20180726_191404 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Snowdon summit left and the bivvy spot in that dip on the right..
20180726_194841 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20180727_070827 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20180727_075859 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

[Scattamah]

Sneaky school night bivvy bagged August a little earlier than expected. Mike (from Bromsgrove, he said to the farmer) descended upon the Corve Dale and we hit up the Tally Ho for ribs and beer. Then a perky little climb up onto Clee Burf for a breezy night out under some thick cloud which held the warmth in. Always a great drop back down 5 Springs and back home in time for coffee before work.

Greetz

S.

[JohnClimber]

Bagged 8/8 in early this month as it's looking like it's going to be a busy one doing other stuff, my 28th in a row.

A local one with 3 others

[bgrunes]

8/8 done, good night with good company and pleasant morning spin through some new to me trails.





Cheers John, Martin & Michael.

[JohnClimber]

Along with my 8/8 Bivi a Month I'm also on 8/8 Wild Camp(ervan) a month as well.

[middleagedmadness]

a tripdown to scotts on friday made for a cheery friday, took the normal route of ncn 81 to telford and the down to iron bridge ,up over a few bridleways and down in to muchwenlock , decided to take wenlock edge and once up the top it was like being a kid in a sweety shop , so instead of following the old pink line i just took whatever bits of single track i saw this inevitably meant a lot more climbing to get to the ridge line
IMG_20180817_164803 by Stuart Dean, on Flickr
from there down to scotts , and on to the pub for a few pints
then it was up to the spot on the longmynd for a windy disturbed night of a series of snoozes to the sounds of the trees creaking
IMG_20180818_063010 by Stuart Dean, on Flickr
IMG_20180818_062929 by Stuart Dean, on Flickr
from then it was down to church stretton for breakfast and then up over the caradoc
IMG_20180818_105500 by Stuart Dean, on Flickr
then back up to the edge where i left scott and carried on back to wolves ,

[fatbikephil]

BAM 08/18
I still wasn't sure if my July BAM take 2 whereby I pitched the bivvy on the 31st july but struck it on the 1st August counted for this month so decided to grab a proper one to make sure I'm up too date.

Summer seems to have switched to Autumn up here and after a week of pretty damp weather I was hoping for some more sunshine. The forecast for Perthshire seemed good but it looked pretty dreich everywhere else. So I hightailed it to Dunkeld with a loaded straggler in the boot of the jalopy and headed north then west on NCN 7, the sky looking decidedly grey. From Aberfeldy I went up over the bump past schielhallion to Loch Rannoch, cruised round the loch, whereby the drizzle came on. This suggested a change of plan. There are plenty of bothies and other huts that would make for shelter at a push hereabouts so it was just a case of picking one. The sky cleared a bit so I decided on Duirnish, scene of the epic 2017 Scotland winter bivvy. The straggler disposed of the gravel track up to it in about 35 mins, a stiff breeze helping me on the way. There were a couple of local guys in the bothy but they were sociable and had lugged a pile of wood and drink down from the A9. There followed a convivial evening chewing the fat before I turned in about 11 feeling somewhat worse for wear.



Woke to the forecasted rain, so grabbed breakfast and headed out into the light but steady drizzle and clattered down the track, my head louping after far too much whisky.... Alongside Loch Rannoch there was a constant stream of roadies on TT bikes, all going like the clappers. I'd seen all the signs the previous evening so it looked like they were doing a lap of the loch in double quick time. I soon got bored of saying 'hi' every few seconds so contented myself with a surly grimace as my hangover slowly abated. Greggs in Pitlochry was my saviour with pies, cake and coke so I was feeling quite chipper by the time I got back to the car. Total distance 105 miles.

[whitestone]

Just back from a couple of weeks in France. Firstly attempting the French Divide then a bit of touring around Brittany.

My first couple of nights on the FD were on official campsites but my fourth night was just south of Verdun on a hill top with a nice view (of what or where I'm not sure). Pitched up on a field of stubble. It was all rather warm - that day was 37C and the night didn't feel much cooler.



8/8 for me. Cath also got a couple of (rather more interesting) bivvies done so 8/8 for her as well

[TheBrownDog]

8/8.

As planned, I rode from home to Richmond Park. It was dark enough when I got there around 9pm to not need a torch to see what I was doing without being seen ... if that makes sense. I'd brought my Hunka but it was dry and more than warm enough just to sleep on top of it. Hate the bloody thing anyway. Uneventful night but little sleep to be honest as the place gives me the heebs. In the end I was up at 5 and packed fast and was gone.

I found a cafe open for breakfast, which isnt hard round there, there are dozens of them, though £9.50 for a bacon sarnie and a coffee ... hmmph. Anyway, I then pinged over to the Syan Park Fishery and was there just before 8. Place didn't open till 830am which gave me time to set up my rod, which is good, because I am absolutely poor show at knots. poor show. Absolutely.

The bailiff was bang on time and was a delightful bloke who wasn't even remotely perturbed by my appearance or the fact I was pushing a bike. He pointed me towards a good early morning spot and recommended a blue damsel flash, which was lucky as that's what Id tied to my tippet. I spent a fun couple of hours grinding my right rotator cuff into dust, had a few bites, but nothing stayed on. I didnt mind as I had nowhere to carry a dead fish anyway, so there's a lesson. I pulled stumps at 11 and rode home.

All up, a reasonable fun night out but Im never gonna bivvi in Richmond Park again and the faff or carrying my fishing kit was all too much for me. And to top that off, I seem to have lost my phone. Faaaaaaaark.

[RIP]

Nice bit of semi-urban BP Timdog there mate. Richmond Park? Is Her Maj the landowner there? Raises some entertaining scenarios when you need to 'ask the landowner's permission before sleeping out'.

[ericrobo]

August BAM teetering at the edge, must be the greyness, cba even getting the bike out...
However I kept looking at the Moors100 and downloaded the gpx, and thought I'll have to do that sometime (rode there about 10 years ago and it was brilliant), so sent off an email on the Thursday (You're IN), drove there Friday evening, and set off Saturday, at first with Richard from here...
IMG_2518 by Eric Robinson, on Flickr
Great riding on this ST along Newtondale

Promise of a cafe at 13 miles, BUT at 11 miles my left pedal went Used Eggbeaters for years, and this has happened before, it strips some metal and won't stay on the spindle, so had to ride keeping it pressed in with my foot, awkward.
And time to ditch Eggbeaters (have ordered Time ATAC XC 8)
Lucky me cos at the cafe there was a bike hire and the guy there rummaged in his box of old bits for 10 minutes and fixed me up with some flat pedals, and wouldn't even accept any payment..
After a coffee and toast I got going again, but stopped twice within half an hour to help out somebody with chain problems. My Wolf tool saved the day here.
By afternoon the wind was up, and I was struggling going into the wind.
Met Andy from Bacup (In Reverse) who was going so fast I thought it was a motorbike as I spotted him half a mile behind me !
Later on teamed up with Matt as we battled on in the wind.
High Paradise Farm was the camp spot, and very civilised it was !!!
As I got there I went past one of the farm buildings where in the little garden was a couple in a hot tub ! That's what I call bikepacking. (I thought it was laid on for us). Got the tent up and went looking for water, and innocently went into the cottage where the tub was thinking it was an open kitchen... the lady in the hot tub shouted "are you joining us ?".... ermmm, not yet...
Turns out it was one of the holiday cottages rented out by the farm !!

IMG_2523 by Eric Robinson, on Flickr

High Paradise Farm was great with a neat bar, real ale, and good music.

Sunday was another tough day. I left early but did at least an extra 2 or 3 miles getting lost after Barn Close Farm... teamed up with Matt again later. My shoulder injury giving me a lot of severe neck pain... what I usually do is to stop often and do some stretching which helps a bit, but didn't have time on this trip.
Rievaulx Abbey
IMG_2531 by Eric Robinson, on Flickr
We did a few detours to save on effort, and ended up at the Lion Inn for soup. After that I lost him in the mist (I missed a turning), then my gps batteries went (I'm sure I'd packed a further 4, but couldn't find them).... so after 6pm in thick mist I didn't wabnt to risk off road with only my phone to rely on, so after a few miles on an easy track, I took a road up to Egton, and from there 5 miles back to Goathland (nearly all uphill too)
I must have done 108 miles Saturday and Sunday

*** unpacking my frame bag I found the extra 4 batteries they were just deep down in there

[frogatthefarriers]

8/8 Llangollen

Left car in layby by canal in Llangollen. Bought kebab wrap with salad & chips then on along the canal where I ate said wrap on a sunny bench with a pretty view. Left canal at the Sun Trevor pub and climbed up to the panorama walk. Left the lane and climbed up above Trevor Rocks and on until I found somewhere pretty to pitch up, with a view of Castell Dinas Bran (AKA Crow Castle). It was plain daft to camp here (exposed & windy) and I only did it for the photos.
Before bed:-


Dark, with an almost full moon:-


I wasn't able to sleep much, being constantly woken by the wind flapping and rocking the tent. At 6:30 I was woken by the noise of disturbed sheep and voices and the barking of a dog. "Its just a farmer" I thought, but when I stuck my head out I saw it was a chap with a single fox hound. We exchanged a few words. He suggested I might have been warmer with the dog in the tent, but I said "No, dogs fart in their sleep". Being trapped in a confined space with a farting dog was not going to happen. He passed on, but I could hear him shouting to someone down below. A few minutes later he came back, with another bloke and about 20 foxhounds. This takes being found by dog walkers to a new level

Morning. It was trying to rain - you can just make out a hint of a rainbow over the castle:-


I crossed the moors to Llandegla forest, then up to the radio masts before dropping down to the Ponderosa cafe on the Horseshoe pass.


Breakfast:-


Then back down to Llangollen for my regular bike ride along the canal with my daughter.

[benconnolli]

So I am in a bit of a sticky situation in that I didn’t have a complete working bike I could ride til I go back to Birmingham at the end of the month. Rules can be a bit boring and I gave it a good substitute.

I am interested in what defines a bike. Self propelled motion? Wheels? Gliding downhill? We had a skateboard. It would have to do. This was all hike no bike.

We were destined for the Peak District and out navigation was essentially uphill to the highest place with the best view. The skateboard was so those winding down country roads were not completely wasted.

This was more wild night out than adrenaline exercise so I carried all of the boring stuff and Fabians bag was packed with snacks, booze, and nothing else.

In the same clothes we had been out in the night before, our rag tag bags, and a skateboard we must have looked very lost but that was good. Lost was part of the plan.

Had a bit of a race against the sun to reach the summit for sunset, but taking route one across the bracken we made it to bask in the orangey glory. Warm beer never tasted so good.

This was clearly the best spot around as there were loads of people passing through with their fancy cameras. We reckoned on the honey pot philosophy that everyone would go to the best view so walking 100m away to a flat patch we would have the night to ourselves.

The moon was full and glowed red at dusk before shining bright white through the night. This was lucky as we hadn’t bought anything unnecessary like a torch or charged phone.

Packed up quickly at 8am as rain was forecast for 10 and we didn’t fancy p!ss wet through jeans. As we set off we realised the skateboard was missing. Assuming we had put it down on the path from the rocks and not noticed in the dark we trawled the heather. After half an hour we felt the first spits of rain so gave up. On our way back we found it just where we left it, by the side of the path.

Great way to catch up with a mate in the busy lives we all lead. If this is too heretic and does not count the the BAM I should be fixing a bike today so can sneak out on a school night to continue my streak.

[RIP]

A creative solution to the problem there Ben (assuming you used the 'board at some point on the descent ); in exchange for the eccentricity the hive would be rather churlish not to allow a bit of leeway as a one-off? Wikipedia claims a bike is human-powered, pedal-driven, 2 wheels attached to a frame. But the original "hobby horse" bikes didn't have pedals and neither do kids "balance bikes", so who knows. Would be interested in how you attached the seatpack/barbag to it. You're covered anyway because you obviously want to get out again now on the repaired machine.....

[benconnolli]

Board was boarded at every available opportunity. On the smooth ups a bungee chord was used to secure the frame bag and a dog walkers lead used to haul it along. Not as daft as it looked, but that isn’t hard as it looked right daft.

I’ve gone from 0 to 2 bikes in the space of a day so reckon a proper trip is on the cards too.

[RIP]

. Know how you feel anyway, family crises put the kybosh on my August C2C BaM so I'm going to have to nip out locally tonight as a placeholder, sigh.

[RIP]

Up the local woods, cheap n cheerful after last month's extravaganza. Usual spot occupied by a particularly territorial bee so wandered around in the dark in the ferns and found a reasonable substitute. Nodding off and woken again by a regular coughing bark for about 15 minutes which was either an old bloke with a fairly terminal chest issue, or presumably a fox. Slept ok and awoke to the predictable dogwalkers just the other side of the ferns and people in houses not much farther away, all of whom were obviously oblivious to my presence. There's something quite satisfying in pulling off a stealthy semi-urban bivi as Tim found in Richmond Park. For October I'm thinking of an industrial estate, which is all very steampunk. Come to think of it September might feature one too.



'Reg'

[Bearlegged]

(Think I’ve forgotten a report for July, ho hum…)

August’s BAM ticked off on Monday night, eking out the long weekend. I’d even proposed an earlier than ususal start, in order to get a hot meal at a pub before settling down.
Despite this, early offers of companionship resulted in a comprehensive round of folk bailing, so it would be a solitary Landslide out on the hills of the Peak District…

A more than acceptable substitute for any pub-based sustenance was found in Mrs Landslide channelling GBBO, and producing some splendid entremets. Filled with a variety of chocolatey goodnesses, I headed out onto quiet roads, and headed for what looked like a promising area of moorland. I was hoping for a high spot where I’d be able to see both sunset* and sunrise**, and there’d be a bit of breeze to keep any flyingbiteylittlefeckers away.***

I spotted Sir William Hill from afar. This was not difficult, the hill in question being big and steep enough to host an annual hill-climb competition. Before starting the ascent however, there was a nice long downhill swoop down through Padley Gorge and Grindleford, where a right and a left turn put me at the foot of the cricket bat hill**** that is SWH.
I was never going to entertain any notions of racing up here, and immediately selected my granny gear. Passing a couple of groups of pedestrians, I got encouraging words such as “Someone’s feeling fit!”, “You’re brave!” and “Bet that was a slog!”, to which I replied, “Or slow…”, “Or stupid…”, and “It still is!”

Near the top, tarmac turned to gravel, and I neared my planned sleeping spot. Unfortunately, it seemed to have a liberal covering of sheep. Not fancying getting trodden on during the night, I continued onwards to the pub, and kept an eye out for alternative spots. Soon enough a couple of dry stone walls and a small copse presented themselves. That looks handy, I thought, and I made a beeline for the Barrel Inn, Derbyshire’s highest pub. Unfortunately, it clearly costs a fair bit to winch beer up the hill, but I supped a pint, and got some heat into my bones before heading back to my bivvy spot through the gathering dark.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnBdVdwhMF9/

Here, I tried to find bit of flat ground, and was halfway through setting up my tarp when I felt a sharp pain. Looking down, I spotted a wasp on my ankle. Retribution was swift and devastating (for the wasp at least), as I flicked it to the ground and stomped on it.
Tarp up, into my bag, and Magic Rock analgesic was administered. I also enjoyed the last episode of “Hidden” before it disappeared from the iPlayer. Good choice of viewing for being alone in the woods…

Eventually, the shot and a half of espresso in Magic Rock’s Common Grounds porter wore off, the local insomniac sheep piped down, and I enjoyed a decent sleep.

Come the morning, all that was left was a whoosh down SWH at least 10x quicker than I was going up, a potter up Padley Gorge, and a coast back into Sheffield.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnBddUgBs86/

*Failed due to cloud cover
**Failed due to sleeping longer than anticipated
***Success! (Apart from the stripy bastard.)
****Credit: htrider

8th bivvy of the year, 6/8 months (6 in a row) in 2018.

[RIP]

'Comprehensive round of folk bailing' - a frequent comment in This Place . "When you said.... I thought you meant... etc etc..." .

I've thought about that copse meself a couple of times but it looked a bit close to a house. There's also the youth camp thingy nearby if you're feeling cheeky. I kipped out with Pickers (yes in the rain) once a bit further down that byway. Flatness is conspicuous by its absence round there isn't it....

Always nice to see flying-V tarp setup. I swore I'd never use owt else but past three capers have featured boring A's for some reason that I've yet to get to the bottom of.

[BigdummySteve]

Currently sat outside the Brasenose arms in cropredy.
If I manage to leave AND make it to the bivvy spot I’ll have rescued it.

Stay tuned

Another pint of bomber?.....: