Bivvy a month 2019

[Borderer]

Nice one Whitestone. Yes the ungritted roads were lethal around here too. We had to ride on the grit at the edge.

I forgot to post this link to all 12 of our BaM's. We did a fair few bothies as I was nursing a broken rib from a fall over the summer, but some winter ones before that too. Somehow bothies feel a bit like cheating to me as privation is fairly limited. They comply with the rules I guess but whether they are really in the spirit of the thing is a different matter. I would like to complete this challenge without using bothies sometime.

https://www.weirdosonbikes.com/2019/06/ ... hn7sKB5__8

[metalheart]

11/11, 13th consecutive. It was a bit of a bugger summoning up the motivation for this month.

Having gone to all the bother of loading up the car and driving to Findhorn (figured it would be 'warmer' at the coast) I did head out to the Roseisle after tea at the Kimberley Inn.

Tested my 'new' (bought ages ago but never tested) MHW Spark sleeping bag supplemented with my new Alpkit CLoud Cover quilt... and I was pretty toasty. No cold feed, think I actually woke up sweating at one point... There was a fair bit of moisture in the bivy bag, guess I must've.

There was very little cycling but its done.





Ironically I have a possible three bivvy's lined up for December.

[RIP]

A trio of corking BaMs there, B+B2's in particular looked ace. And obviously congrats to Joe - not many youngsters'd've stuck with that challenge! Big compliments to B for extended treading of that exceptionally narrow tightrope of teen encouragement/chivvying .

[Borderer]

A trio of corking BaMs there, B+B2's in particular looked ace. And obviously congrats to Joe - not many youngsters'd've stuck with that challenge! Big compliments to B for extended treading of that exceptionally narrow tightrope of teen encouragement/chivvying .

Thanks Reg. I think now that the motivation of 'being the youngest' has gone he won't be persuadable any more, sadly. But hey, we had fun while it lasted.

[RIP]

Just noticed the photo of the exceptionally commodious accommodation - almost yurt-like! I reckon you could cut a hole in the top and have a nice fire without any ill effects .

What next for Joe I wonder. How about a bit of gigpacking - that'd be a teen thing surely . He could come and see the Rezillos on Feb 21st at Northampton with me. Although I'm sure they must be playing a borders town at some point next year .

[Borderer]

Just noticed the photo of the exceptionally commodious accommodation - almost yurt-like! I reckon you could cut a hole in the top and have a nice fire without any ill effects .

What next for Joe I wonder. How about a bit of gigpacking - that'd be a teen thing surely . He could come and see the Rezillos on Feb 21st at Northampton with me. Although I'm sure they must be playing a borders town at some point next year .

It's just a 3man tent - I think the photo makes it look a lot bigger than it is!

Unfortunately he is into "young people's" music.

[RIP]

"young people's music" - I'm old fartish enough to think that's an oxymoron there . Still, what do I know, I've just played The Toy Dolls 'Silly Billy' about ten times in a row, but only the fantastic Joe Meek-esque guitar break in the middle!

[slarge]

As I always try and fail at BaM, 2020 might see me try to do a bivvy a month in 6 bivvies for the year.... Is that cheating?

Ah, in case you've misunderstood, bivvying out the night of 30th November only counts as one month. You'd have to do 2 nights to count as 2 months.

Ah no, bubble burst! I thought bivvying on the last day of the month counted as 2 months.......

Respect to everyone who's completing theirs - some good trips up there!

[Landslide]

As promised, a slightly more detailed account of Novembivvy.

I'd hoped to get out earlier in the month, but work and illness got in the way rather. So with the weekend approaching, loins were girded, resolve was steeled, and *all the warm things* were packed. Trepid Explorer joined me and the family for a spot of macaroni cheese, then we pootled up the hill in search of hot chocolate, beer and shelter. Crunching across icy puddles sounded worryingly close to riding over glass, but we made it to our chosen spot without any unplanned deflation events.
I'd promised Trep an old hut for the night, and she was slightly concerned as a series of rather dilapidated lumps of stone loomed out of the night, but we eventually reached our objective, complete with walls, a solid roof and a dry floor.
A rather tasty nightcap of Tiny Rebel's Imperial Stay Puft Irish Cream Porter (all the more surprising in that it overcame my usual aversion to Bailey's*).

Having not turned into ice lollies overnight, we greeted a very frosty dawn:


A quick brew and some porridge later, we were rolling down the hill in search of second breakfast:


The rest of the day was spent bimbling around the White Peak, enjoying some new tracks, occasional outbreaks of sunshine, pie and chips, and enough fog to completely obscure Stanage Edge.

2019 BAM 11/11
2019 total bivvies 13
Current streak (months) 12 Please may I have a badge now?

*Top tip: Don't drink half a bottle of Bailey's, then follow it up with two pints of cider.

[Zippy]

So with time for a bivvy rapidly running out in November, I worked out a good way to do fit it in would be after work on Friday, as there was a work social going on. I eyed up some bivvy spots on my commute, however the days preceding the night out a lot of water fell from the sky, and it was so wet underfoot that most places were pretty waterlogged. I came up with the genius plan of using the another person’s garden trick. I have a friend who lives in the outskirts of town, about a 20 minute ride from the office, with a pagado!

Friday night we went to an escape room, had a meal out, and many drinks later I stumbled back to the office (I have a 24 hour access fob!), got changed and wobbled my way to my friends house at somewhere around 0115 - it took me 30 minutes to ride in my merry state! Now it turns out it was freezing temperatures that night, so the wet ground would have been frozen, but anyhow the stumbling to the pagoda made perfect sense! Some earplugs to block out the roar of the A14 and I nodded straight off.

I woke up around 0745 or so, my friend had to leave early, but had left me a hot flask of tea in the morning without waking me! I then cycled back home with a bit of a headache, but it was a lovely clear morning with ice and frost everywhere.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2902285321



I may have had a cat nap later that day too!

11/11. Hopefully Yorkshire Winter Bivvy for December!

[sean_iow]

I have a friend who lives in the outskirts of town, about a 20 minute ride from the office, with a pagado!

That's creative It's funny how to us sleeping in someones garden in late November seems a perfectly reasonable and sensible thing to do, but if you explained it to a 'normal' person they would just give you a look of confusion.

When I was chatting to some friends Saturday morning and mentioned my work night bivi I could see them trying to rationalise it but not able to work out quite why I'd chosen to sleep outside, the confusion in their expression was priceless

Out of interest, what bivi bag is that you're using? Borah of some sort?

[Zippy]

Out of interest, what bivi bag is that you're using? Borah of some sort?

That’s a borah bivvy, silnyon bottom and moment m90 top (breathable and water resistant, but not waterproof), it’s a fair few years old now. It is a bit slippy when not on a flat surface, and I keep meaning to try painting some silicone bobbles on the bottom, but I think I’ve got better at picking pitches now and it hasn’t been an issue for a while.

Whilst we’re at it, rest of the kit is thermarest neoair – regular size, er with the crinkle stuff in it, again getting on a bit, and my sleeping bag is a 2004 alpkit pipedream 400.

That's creative It's funny how to us sleeping in someones garden in late November seems a perfectly reasonable and sensible thing to do, but if you explained it to a 'normal' person they would just give you a look of confusion.

Yeah, my girlfriend thought nothing of it, and I stayed at her friends – who thought I was a bit mad, but completely understood. My boss who was on the night out didn’t really question it actually (he was going to hitch hike home after he discovered the 2230 bus no longer exists and so his transport option homes were limited to hitch hiking or a stupidly expensive taxi!). Meanwhile everyone else just couldn’t comprehend it!

I’ll do a tot up of Bivvies at the end of the week, but so far I have counted 21 in November I think…

[ScotRoutes]

I’ll do a tot up of Bivvies at the end of the week, but so far I have counted 21 in November I think…

LOL. When I first read that, I thought that was how many YOU had done!

[javatime]

Late post - November done, 10/12 for me as I started in February this year

Sorry no photos yet, imgur is just crawling this evening...

I did a large part of The Cotswold Loop, that is based on the more down to earth west end of the Cotswolds (Dursley/Nailsworth/ Wooton under Edge) where they used to make bicycles and diesel engines, as opposed to the other end where Clarkson and cronies hang out, at the weekends at least.

Took the train to Cam and Dursley train station, not shown on my 1990 OS map and straight onto the trail via a very muddy track before getting up to the hill forts of Cam Long Down, Hetty Peglers Tump and beyond. Nice tracks through glorious autumn woods, a good community shop with a hot kettle at Avening and open fields and parkland too.

A bit spooky in the dark woods at 5.00pm as the pheasants took flight, and the big iron gates at Ozleworth opened as if by magic for me as I wondered what to do. Empty lanes along to Wortley, found a nice pitch in a copse above Wooton then down the holloway for a pint and peanuts at The Star.

A bit grey, very cold and raining the following morning so cut my losses after a bit more mud plugging across to the A4135, then all downhill to the train.

A good day, hadn't really explored it by bike before so will be plotting some more, and just a few minutes up the line from Filton Abbey Wood.