50 miles surveying the loop of NCN 7 through Galloway forest. At times I wished for fatter tyres.

Does anyone know what the runes on the stone between Clatteringshaw and Glentrool say?

It's a poem in runic script. A translation may be found here - http://www.screel.co.uk/walks/?p=2563

Thanks!

A bit of searching out new things around us and trying (but failing) to get the ride done before the rain started

Dropped down into the valley to ride in to town along the Leeds-Liverpool canal, stopped to look at the memorial to a Polish aircrew who crashed here during WW2 http://www.raf.mod.uk/raflintononouse/n ... 6c66d6721f (Just realised that today marks the start of that conflict) then continued along recently renovated towpath to town. I've never been along this bit of the canal before so it was nice to get a different perspective on what is essentially the same journey as the main Aire valley road which runs right alongside for most of the way. We just need the same doing to the towpath between Skipton and Gargrave plus upgrading it to bridleway status - I wonder what they did with the horses on that section when it was a working canal?

Up the never nice on a mountain bike climb to Halton Heights but rather than take the estate track across Barden Moor I took the signposted bridleway from the summit of the road which I've never been along before either on a bike or on foot. Glad I did as it's a really nice bit of moorland singletrack, just a pity it's so short, it basically cuts a corner. Rather than race across the moor I did a bit of investigating things just off the track so it took a while. The bit of singletrack at the Rylstone end was much drier than on last week's YD200 - you could see the holes you were going to fall in to!

Once back down in the valley I'd got a bit of road to get to the next new to me section when I realised that there was a green lane between Rylstone and the level crossing at the old station. It looked very overgrown and I prepared myself for some nettle and bramble dodging but in the event it wasn't needed as the riding line avoided them. It's called "Mucky Lane" but it was anything but as it seemed as if beneath the grass was a bed of hardcore. Certainly nice to ride along.

My target was the bridleway behind Swinden Quarry but rather than ride along the road and come back on myself I thought I'd ride up Swinden Lane. A bit chancy as last week riding down it was getting very muddy. It turned out to be almost dry and quite easy climbing. Through the gate at the top I managed to follow the actual line of the bridleway across the fields rather than through the extended wall gaps that I normally do in the dark before crossing Eller Beck and heading up the dead end bridleway by Hamerton Hill Syke.

My wife had said that this wasn't particularly nice but with it being reasonably dry and having plus tyres on the bike I found it quite nice. At the top you go through a gate to a three-way sign that has bridleway pointing back the way you've just come and footpath for the other two directions which just happen to be on stoney vehicle tracks Another example of our brilliantly thought out RoW network. I headed left and over the ford to climb up on to Boss Moor. The one woman walker I met wasn't bothered in the slightest that I was riding a bike on a "footpath".

By now the rain had started so on with the jacket I'd bought after suffering in the Braunton 120 at Easter but hadn't actually worn yet then blast down to Hetton and along the lanes to Gargrave. Cafe stop I left things as long as I could but it was still raining heavily when I decided to get going again. Rather than just ride home along the roads I took the canal towpath as far as East Marton. I've done the first half many times but from Bank Newton we normally take the lane, let's just say that the canal is intestinal in its course as it works its way through the drumlins.

All that was left to do was climb back up and over Pinhaw to home. At least the rain was on my back.

A total of 60Km and just over 1000m of ascent. About a third was on road but reducing this would require some poor bridleways and some cheekiness

Did the grizedail mountain bike challange today



was a really great 30mile route , and had a single speed catagory ( i was the only single speeder so by completing won £100 voucher ) came about 15th in the open but won the single speed haha



had one major tubeless puncture whitch i fixed with a tubeless repare kit !



managed a pretty hard core suffer score , and 43min in zone 5 ... did fall off due to cramp at one point but thats down to poor electrolite planning haha cleard 90% of the ascent without pushing, and hit a new max heart rate of 204 hahaha but knees feel good so yea good ride !

Urban adventure to Milton Keynes on the C2W this morning. Plenty of bivi potential.

Just back from a couple of days in the Yorkshire dales. Mainly recce trip for the three peaks at the end of the month.

No bivi but a quiet night in the camper.

Tried to post on Sunday but my internet would not function ........

From my Sunday ride, 30 miles round south Essex.

Only 70% off road, have to link together byway and bridlepaths with road.
Was a great ride even with the traffic.
Something most of you don't have to contend with much.

Trev.

With the SO off doing some BB200 training I decided to check out a small network of bridleways across the valley that I'd never been on before. Well I'd run on parts of them in one of the local fell races but that was so long ago I can't remember them. I was also looking for potential bivy spots that we could use.

Most of the first hour was on roads, a pity but there's no easy way to get to that side of the valley off-road. Apart from having to cross the main Aire Valley road they are all small country lanes so not too bad. Just 300 metres past the last house into the woods and there's a decent bivy spot, nicely sheltered from the prevailing winds. So far, so good. A few hundred metres of lovely pine needle covered track later and I come to a junction, BW to right, track straight on. Now I'm sure that one of the features I want to look at is close to the track but decide to take the BW. It pops out in to a felled area and almost immediately I spot the feature.

The area between the BW is littered with the remains of felling and not really rideable so I leave the bike and head uphill. Of course in a hundred metres I come to the track. Wandering around a bit I find a path up the hillside so retrieve the bike and manage to ride most of it. (Aren't Plus tyres great!) Actually getting to the feature does require walking though.



With a bit of work it could be a reasonable bivy spot. The RH "hole" needs the floor sorting out but each hole would sleep a person. The first bivy spot is in the RH patch of trees in the background.

Down to the road then loop back on myself on a lower BW and after a bit of getting <ahem>temporarily misplaced</ahem> I drop down to a beck with a waterfall just below a ford. This all looked a bit promising so I had a wander around and found a couple of spots about 100 metres further upstream that are ideal. Flat, grassy and sheltered from wind from any direction. I also noticed this:



A bit more getting lost - my OSM mapping didn't have the BW marked on the other side of the beck so I improvised and got it wrong but ended up joining the road in place I should have. A freewheel blast down into the valley followed by some TT work along the canal towpath and it was back across the main road again and just the climb back up home.

Quite a productive couple of hours as the area is halfway between our work places so ideal for a midweek bivy.

ride over Cannock

Cannock Chase ride sept16 by Adventurer Cyclist, on Flickr

Adventurer wrote:ride over Cannock

Cannock Chase ride sept16 by Adventurer Cyclist, on Flickr

I know that tree

20 mile loop getting to know the Bw's around Stafford there's not many
But I'm only a 20 minute ride away from the chase so not to bad

Did something different today just went out for a ride for the sake of going for a ride. I have data which I will log later but it was not for the sake of collecting data either. Wednesday is normally Star Cross and back with a detour to quayside side café for an Americano cold milk and a blackcurrent slice with yoghurt icing and I am bored bored bored of it.
So with only a vague idea of where I was going I set off. I found the trig point on top of Beacon Hill.
A nature reserve with Nightjars, Dartford Warblers and Common Lizards.
A bivvy spot overlooking the town and bay and decided to join Bivvy a month in October.
Got beguiled by an ‘Unmettled Road’ near Woodbury and discovered the national collection of babies heads combined with mud and wet leaves. Eventually made it to the Exe and home via NT2.
Found an i-phone in the middle of nowhere which is now reunited with its owner so a good five hour ride, 57kms and a good deed.

Denmark - Autumn is coming fast now.

14519662_10153969049167965_4875419814877950923_n by Dr. Jekyll, on Flickr

Did the Minigaig / Feshie / Geldie / Tilt circuit - weather was stunning

Having picked up the Singular Puffin rolling chassis from Ian last weekend at the BB200 I finally got the last bits on this afternoon. I would have finished this morning but idiot here didn't read the instructions about the cranks and forgot to put the BB spacers on. The same idiot then realised that he'd ordered brake cable outer not gear outer and also didn't have a crank extractor. So what should have been a quick job took rather longer as he scoured ever more distant shops for the required tool.

So finally headed out about 4pm for a quick loop on the tracks above Hetton and round Bordley. A lovely evening but it was definitely getting chilly as the sun began to set. First time on a fat bike and apart from a quick up and down Bearbones Towers' lane on Johnclimber's bike, the first time using Jones Loop bars. Definitely get on with the Jones bars, the fat bike will take a little getting used to especially the gyroscopic tendencies of the front wheel.

Nice one, Bob. Hope it's gone together ok.

Yesterday, I did a recce of my next Everesting project; higher, further and longer than the others, and off road

45 miles including joining my local club's ride.

Ian wrote: Yesterday, I did a recce of my next Everesting project; higher, further and longer than the others, and off road

Have you just banished you chimp!?

Zippy wrote:

Ian wrote: Yesterday, I did a recce of my next Everesting project; higher, further and longer than the others, and off road

Have you just banished your chimp!?

I left him at home; he doesn't know we're doing it yet...

went to visit wales today , parked at nant y arian trail center,
went up and over to nant syddion , almost cut in half the time it took me to ride up through the farm/hill than last time.
but then again it was peeing it down and it was about 10 pm .
around to nant rhys , it was blowing gale over the tops and as foggy as feck , then around to nan ty moch and back to the car .
there wasn't much of a view at the top view point, only more fog
IMG_0898[1] by paul burty, on Flickr

I had a couple of days in the Lakes.

No bivving but I did sleep in the back of the van with the doors open... got to use my new stove thingy which was good.

Went up Skiddaw on Saturday with Ullock Pike descent as the main aim of the day, it is a stunner.

Then a loop from Staverley up to Nan Bield Pass and down to Kingsmere back to Staverley.

I only stopped for a couple of photos but seem unable to suss getting them on here.

Did a nice 45 miler from North West London to Epping Forest and back on the full suss today.

Downside was that 28 of those were road miles.

Upsides were; the forest was empty, the trails were dry and apart from the addition of a soft shell. I was still in summer gear.

23 miles in Epping Forest on my new fatbike today. Conditions are so good, i had to go looking for mud!

image by Graham Ellis, on Flickr

Sunday actually. Only 10 miles along the route where Dan took me on our first ride along the Hamble to Manor Farm. The first time, I thought it was a killer; too far, too many hills, too bumpy and on Sunday it was perfect for a wee stretch of the legs. Oh how time changes one's outlook.