Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

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redefined_cycles
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

redefined_cycles wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2019 11:35 pm Just a little nudge on this :-bd ... dont forgrt that we need some (proper*) entries and a minimal of three for the voting to take place.

Bridget and her little one (I think) are all set to try and win so hopefully we will have at least 2 other contenders thats putting in their all :smile:

Also remember that its not just how cold you go but rather the winner will be chosen by ballot ( :-bd no pun intended nor reference to yesterdays BS) so its in the hands of the voters. Someone might decide to vote you for example cos you managed to describe how you rode in -1 or +2 for 25 orrible miles as opposed to voting for another person who managed to record a temp of -3 briefly whilst they got to the highest point of their ride etc etc.

*ie. Not just for the sake of making up numbers please.... I'm sure (in my mind as I'll be selecting it) the prize will be worth it :wink:
There's a rule on this that states 25 miles minimal. I'm gonna retract that and reduce the distance to 10 miles as it will hopefully increase participation and reduce risk of anyone getting hurt or poorly afterwards. Hopefully common sense will prevail and anyone that doesn't think they are up for it and have the necessary gear to cope with stupid temps, please reconsider if you really should be attempting...

Reason for the retraction is as follows (will try being as brief as poss):

So I just got back from a 300 miler road charity ride. Over 3 days and decided to monitor my HR as well as air temps throughout.
Day1 on 25th 109 miles to (almost) Sutton Coldfield. Via the Peaks and temps got as low as 6 and 5 I believe. Didn't need my emergency last layering (which wss my waterproofs top and bottom to save on space).

Day2 26th. Departed from Sutton Coldfield and via Swadlincote to Derby. 90ish miles with fog that meant I could complete the 100 planned. Freezing cold but air temp at the time of the cold was around 10 to 12. There was (what seemed) arctic winds blowing on the massive exposed sections. Was wearing all my layering as well as the emergency Deep Winter gloves (these have handled sub0 temps easily in the previous years). Hands were fine but it really eas getting to me.

Day3 27th (today). Left Derby in the am from mates house and rode towards Nottingham then up to Retford and back to Yorkshire. Windchill wasn't really much an issue. Temps got down to 5 and 6 again and need of my last layers were on and off. Managed to get by without bottom waterproofs to keep off the cold (stay warm environment in there).

Through all 3 days I was wearing my under hat (normally take Merino Deep winter but this was an Endura that did the trick) and had my buff to try and create central heating from when breathing out around face area. Twas super cold at some points but nowhwre near as bad as the windchill yesterday.

In addition I had bowel management issues (lactose intolerance and drank standard milk as well as lots of cold cheese n onion pasties*) with lots of 'leave no trace' going on.

Anyway, now I'm back home and really feel worse for wear and never felt this bad before. This is not my report as I didn't do a bivy but just my reasoning for lessening the mileage.

Lastly... cos it might take a lot of effort for some and it would be a shame to have, for example, 2 entries**, but cos of a missing third the poll doesn't open!! In which case Bridgets report of the 7 miler will be automatically added to make up the voting (and minimal 3 entries).

Rather complex I know but hope I made sense!!

* I know, I'm dsft and after not being able to hold stuff down I just didn't eat for last 40 miles but had a nice fstty burger upon arrival

** I forgot what this point was meant to be... Maybe that 'cos rules state minimal 3 entries...

Anyway :-bd
ScotRoutes
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by ScotRoutes »

In terms of making up the numbers, my last BAM report could be duplicated here.
redefined_cycles
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

ScotRoutes wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2019 8:46 am In terms of making up the numbers, my last BAM report could be duplicated here.
Well why not Colin
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Borderer
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by Borderer »

Shaf suggested I add this ride to his comp. Not looking to win another thing :lol: but if it motivates anyone else then all is good. It was 'only' -1C in the town, so unlikely to have been anything more than -2C at the top. By next morning it had warmed up a couple of degrees and wasn't frozen any more. So not the coldest ride by any means. It didn't feel that bad tbh - everything feels warm now after -7C! Perhaps that is the best lesson from these sort of rides - to take the fear out of going out in the cold and doing things that regular non-bikepacking civilians think is utterly daft.

Apologies if you have read this already - third time I have posted it here!

I managed to persuade Joe to accompany me on a completely bonkers trip to spend Hogmanay up an extinct volcano. It was bucking faltic and windy enough to knock you over if you weren't careful, but we still had quite a few laughs and a great view of the midnight firework displays in towns all over the Scottish Borders.

We left home just as the sun was setting for the final time in 2019...

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It was below freezing and very frosty but only -1C so I wasn't worried - our November BAM has cured me of any anxiety about camping in the cold.

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We started the ride just as the sun dipped below the horizon.

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We turned onto a slightly busier road and both got a bit freaked out by a couple of close passes from cars. Although I had mapped out a route we were grateful to bail out off-road when we saw a sign to our destination along the way.

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With a cloudless sky there was a gorgeous sunset as a backdrop to the ride. There was a time when I would have felt that heading off into the dark was a failure of planning or preparation somehow, but now I just feel that it is a kind of fun and magic all of its own. It has certainly lost its fear for me and that is entirely down to our BAM trips.

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Joe absolutely loves frozen things of all kinds and will happily mess with frozen puddles for hours. There was no way we were going to be able to pass this frozen trough without a long delay and a fair bit of ice breaking going on.

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We made it up the ridiculously steep hill, cooked some dinner and lay in our bags til it was time for 'the bells'. I don't have any pictures from that time as everything was happening in the distance. We did have a good, if distant, view of several different firework displays though. It was too cold to stay long, so we were back in our toasty beds by 12.30.

I had hoped that the basalt outcrops on the top of the hill would provide shelter, but instead they had created a wind tunnel and no shelter was to be found. We did our best with a small hollow but the tent still got quite a battering from the wind. While this didn't do much for our quality of sleep, the tent was at least undamaged, much to my relief. Viewers on a big screen may be able to see the way that the tent is getting bent in at the side here:

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This was where were at midnight the night before - huddled in the inadequate shelter of the trig point. Great views though.

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Joe packing up whilst getting quite a buffeting from the wind.....

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Looking back at the summit of Ruberslaw - we were camped just in the notch below the arrow.

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Joe pausing to admire his achievement. Because of our unscheduled detour the night before I made a navigation error in the dark and also took us up the 'false' summit on the right of the main part of the hill.

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A tired but happy boy pushing the bike over the last claggy bit before the road.

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Back home again for a fresh start and a new year.

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gairym
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by gairym »

Just came across this thread and thought I'd say two things:

1. I'm just heading off riding (not bivi-ing) now and it's -6°c, the sun has just gone in and I'm heading up by another 500m altitude :-bd

2. Coldest I've ever bivi'd is -16°c in Italy a few years ago. It was not a warm nights sleep. :lol:

Enjoy everyone!!!
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by ScotRoutes »

Yeah, we had -5 or -6C on Saturday night. Toasty in my bag/quilt combo though. As speculated elsewhere, it's likely we'd have been warmer with a bit more altitude.
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by fatbikephil »

I was at 600m on Saturday evening and it was about zero. In the valley it was down to -3......
Can we add wind chill??
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

htrider wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 7:15 pm I was at 600m on Saturday evening and it was about zero. In the valley it was down to -3......
Can we add wind chill??
Yes... why not good sir (cos I forgot your name... cos am dyslexic but thats just a good excuse... Duncan??). Dont forget to make a nice write up with pretty pictures and some outline of the rules at start or thread (although they're a bit complicated and its all very flexible :-bd )...

Winner will be via voting and there needed to be a minimal* of 3 entries to make the voting stage. So by taking the effort to write up your report - your wind chill could be described as the worst thing since sliced bread... to you - you're actually doing the community (us by reading the repirts and learning summat and the other reportees by making their reports go to voting.

Anyway, no pressure :grin:

*to be fair I had made up my mind that I was gonna send both Bridget and Jose (I think that his name) something nice to mark their achievement and effort to write up but you might have changed the course of history...
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by ScotRoutes »

Might be pertinent then to post this photo.

ImageDSC_0942 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

The green area is that covered by my tarp. The darker green area is where my mat was.

I've annotated it here, green line marks roughly the mat.

ImageDSC_0942 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

I was just trying to capture the difference a tarp makes to the ambient air temperature - especially on a very still night. Given the grass was frozen all around me, and not much under the tarp, I reckon probably 2-3 degrees or so difference?
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by fatbikephil »

I was going to make a rude comment about the size of your erse their Colin, but decided not to. Oh :mrgreen:
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

ScotRoutes wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:27 pm Might be pertinent then to post this photo.

ImageDSC_0942 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

The green area is that covered by my tarp. The darker green area is where my mat was.

I've annotated it here, green line marks roughly the mat.

ImageDSC_0942 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

I was just trying to capture the difference a tarp makes to the ambient air temperature - especially on a very still night. Given the grass was frozen all around me, and not much under the tarp, I reckon probably 2-3 degrees or so difference?
Thanks Colin. That might push some more people out there to go do this challenge and a nice writeup within them there rules.

Anyone thinking yo enter and write it up... Don't forget to try and capture some evidence of temperature numericals, minimum distance has been shifted from 25 miles to 10, erm.. no pub/beer mentions nor fags :-bd and anything else I might have stated in first few posts at start of thread :smile: dont shoot me
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by The Cumbrian »

Unless this winter decides to get it's finger out and get cold again, I think that we have a clear winner so far.
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

The Cumbrian wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 12:58 pm Unless this winter decides to get it's finger out and get cold again, I think that we have a clear winner so far.
Kindof.. but once it 3 proper writeups/entries with a rough following of rules is taken... So far we have 2 proper ones. One from Bridget and other from (edit) Jose :grin:
Last edited by redefined_cycles on Tue Jan 21, 2020 10:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by Borderer »

redefined_cycles wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:45 pm
The Cumbrian wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 12:58 pm Unless this winter decides to get it's finger out and get cold again, I think that we have a clear winner so far.
Kindof.. but once it 3 proper writeups/entries with a rough following of rules is taken... So far we have 2 proper ones. One from Bridget and other from Cumbrian :grin:
I really hope you mean 'one from Bridget and one from Jose'
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

Borderer wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 8:54 pm
redefined_cycles wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:45 pm
The Cumbrian wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 12:58 pm Unless this winter decides to get it's finger out and get cold again, I think that we have a clear winner so far.
Kindof.. but once it 3 proper writeups/entries with a rough following of rules is taken... So far we have 2 proper ones. One from Bridget and other from Cumbrian :grin:
I really hope you mean 'one from Bridget and one from Jose'
Yes... sorry Jose. I was trying to decipher your name and having heard Bridget call you Jose I knew thats what it was. I was mean the write Jose. :| bloody dyslexia, sorry
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

Just realised what I've done after going back through the thread... yes. Hardcore Jose I was talking of. Edited to reflect that
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by JoseMcTavish »

It's okay, you can just call me Craig, if that's any easier/more confusing!
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

Right... I suppose January is over and we didn't really get 3 clear entries...

Since what Jose and Bridget (take your pick which report) did on them there bivvies was pretty hardcore (-9 and -7 respectively) I'm gonna throw out the rule book and put it to vote anyway.

Prize... well, erm, a pair of wooly HJ Hall (only just moved their production from Nottingham to probably China after persevering and keeping the Nott factory open for so long) rambler socks. Think its 60% wool and from my experimentation with socks (I have a rather dedicated regime of seeking out the best socks ever made) I reckon they're the best socks I've ever worn/owned. Managed to get through about 5 days of continuous daily wearing before becoming a little well....

Anyway, may the best man/woman win :-bd
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by Borderer »

redefined_cycles wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:01 pm
htrider wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 7:15 pm I was at 600m on Saturday evening and it was about zero. In the valley it was down to -3......
Can we add wind chill??
Yes... why not good sir (cos I forgot your name... cos am dyslexic but thats just a good excuse... Duncan??).
Phil. You were close :lol:
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by fatbikephil »

I was hoping for a last minute equaliser this weekend but looking at the forecast it ain't gonna happen.....
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

htrider wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2020 6:59 pm I was hoping for a last minute equaliser this weekend but looking at the forecast it ain't gonna happen.....
I think its all over sorry Duncan (i got name right yeah?)... Have decided that Borderer and Jose kinda remained on par with Borderer with her little one (I know.. he's not that little) and Jose with such an extreme temperature rating.

Have decided to send em both a set of socks* each which will get sent in due time :smile: ... Will try to make my next competition listing slightly less complicated and hopefully more people might play.

*not any old socks... These are HJ Hall army grade 65% thick pile wooly socks. Like wearing a Lexus LS400 on yer feet I'd imagine :-bd :lol:
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

Borderer wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2020 10:39 am
redefined_cycles wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:01 pm
htrider wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 7:15 pm I was at 600m on Saturday evening and it was about zero. In the valley it was down to -3......
Can we add wind chill??
Yes... why not good sir (cos I forgot your name... cos am dyslexic but thats just a good excuse... Duncan??).
Phil. You were close :lol:
Ok... so HTrider is definitely Phil :???: :grin:
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by ScotRoutes »

Shaf - if it's any consolation, I'm worse with real names than you are :grin:


As for the Coldest Bivy Comp, I've intentionally not entered as I'm excluded on the no pubs/alcohol rule :lol:
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

ScotRoutes wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:47 pm Shaf - if it's any consolation, I'm worse with real names than you are :grin:


As for the Coldest Bivy Comp, I've intentionally not entered as I'm excluded on the no pubs/alcohol rule :lol:
Lol... That keeps my quota down. You know that the rules wouldn't stop you frequenting them. The challenge would only be on how to make the story seamless without talking about the use of them :lol: ... I quite like it and brings an extra dimension to the challenge. I imagine that probably why Reg didnt enter either :grin:

... Until next time :smile:
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