Yep I reckon all the places I saw are hammock-friendly. I'll be really interested to see it in action. Slugs are an amusing nocturnal diversion aren't they - was kipping somewhere last year, and having a very pleasant dream about a nice lady sat next to me stroking my cheek and gazing rapturously into my eyes. Just as it was getting interesting I (obviously) woke up to feel an enormous slug on my cheek. ARG!!

Well if it's only us that'll be a nice select little 'stealth' group and easy to make any snap decisions.

Looking forward to it..

Sorry I can't make this one... i'm, going all STW and heading to North Wales to ride trail centres on my Enduro horse-drawn sledge... can't wait :-D

Have fun and hopefully i'll get my butt out with you lovely people (and Reg) soon.

Hah! Trail centres indeed. You've gone over to the dark side 'nut .

There is no 'darkside' my friend.... just the joy of riding bikes.

I too am out of this I'd pretty much put it to one side and forgotten about it. Have fun!

Cheers guys, we'll have a beer for you - see you next time perhaps...

Enjoy the trails 'nut - should be fun - where you headed? Penmachno's ace, I look on it like a sort of "bikepacker's trail centre", no facilities it all apart from the entrance sign...

Penmachno is my favourite... We have 4 days riding so hoping to get some natural riding in but a lot will depend on the fitness of the others.

Whatever happens there will be beer involved and my son is coming so all good.

Weather looks good for you guys.

Sorry radio silence gents, been away couple days (sleeping out but no velocipede so shan't elaborate). See ya LB station 1pm Sat. Found another cafe :). Weather looks distinctly unWelsh but I gave my summer bag but a moment's consideration before wimpily rejecting it in favour of something less adventurous/foolhardy.

Are we mice or men? Squeak, squeak...

'Reg'

Ps. Good luck to all the other Thing contestants dotted around the country...

Lovely weekend with RIP, Rich3rd and MuddyPeter who joined us for the Saturday ride and dinner. Did my soul good to get away from everything. I've got a few photos to load up later but just wanted to leave his one here to give you all an idea of the general japery nature of the ride.

First off, cheers for a top banana little trip, slumming it with the BB chaps , splendid way to do your 1st bikepacking trip.
No great big ride report, but here’s a few little thoughts from the trip:

Great weather for some great photo shots, in-house photography pro, Pete ‘Dirt Box Brownie’ had us posing for some hansom lumberjack shots, lets hope for the same splendid weather for WRT.

Quicksand; didn’t expect that, but I guess there’s a clue in the name ‘Woburn Sands’.

Great route; loads of little cheeky tracks, quite challenging some of them, good old fashioned maps (I’m a bit more digital these days), ‘Thieving Gipsy B@stards Road’ & ‘Horses Handbrake Lane’ were suitable renamed.

Afternoon tea, crisp ironed linen, Verve Clicquot, don’t tell the other ‘spring thing’ trips.

Proper encounter with dischuffed Game Keeper in perfect bivi spot, "sorry mate, a bit lost ...blah blah.."

The odd double entendre

chilternBB1
chilternBB2
chilternBB3
chilternBB4
chilternBB5
chilternBB7

TheBrownDog wrote:...Did my soul good to get away from everything...

Totally agree. Excellent fun thanks, chaps. It was like scrambling in the woods on the Chopper & building dens with your mates as a 9-year-old. Just that the toys were a bit more expensive and chips & Panda Pops were replaced with fine food & ale.

It was a good idea to dump the cars at the pub...


We pedaled around for a bit and discovered an army of rugged, plaid-shirted, bearded men had chopped down hundreds of trees just so we could have an artistic backdrop to rest our bikes against. Very 'Shoreditch' .


Then we found a little somewhere for a caffeine-based refreshment experience...


...and went to look for a bivi-spot. Can you hear traffic?


An utterly civilised affair.
And we managed to avoid getting shot at: well done TBD .

As above, lovely weather and great company.

We upheld the Chilterns bikepacking tradition of posh afternoon tea and fine dining for dinner. Pork belly ... mmmmmmmmm. There was heaps of mud, as Peter can attest when he rode into a puddle the size of an Olympic pool and clogged his rear wheel. Im also hoping Reg will post the pic of Rich taken a few moments after he road onto what appear to be a firm section of chopped up logging road, but just wasn't.

Ride highlights for me were the section of stream, sadly blocked by windfall trees, loads of technical sections and a great bivvy spot Reg had pinned for us. We checked out three places and while the 3rd was by far the best, the fact we arrived there just as the game warden was doing game warden stuff made for an interesting conversation, involving begging for directions to Steppingly (you could see it through the trees) He was perfectly charming, though knew exactly what we were up to and was having none of it.

Thanks fellas.

Lobster cannoli anyone?



A short stream is still a stream



I think I see the problem ...

Cracking fun and can't add much to the top reportage above. Really enjoyed being with a top crowd. Our whole journey was dictated by Roger's Profanisaurus rather than a map, which made for some interesting routes. Rich in the gloop:



Raising the level of our reputation as the cappucino-est of all BBB subgroups we present the world's poshest Spar - note what they're offering next door while you take a breather after purchasing your truffles from Spar.



"Git orf moi larrrrnd!"

TBD's right, the weather was much too nice so we had to create our own water-based fun...

Good stuff chaps, looks like great fun

You picked a damn good weekend weather-wise, it was mint!

Reckon you had a damn good ride there chaps, even allowing for the Get orrff moi laand fella.

Good stuff lads, good stuff.

I'd be well jell but had a top banana weekend myself.

Hope to catch up next month, need to arrange the BAM trip.

"next... BAM" = WRT

Bet you had a great time in Wales....