Auld Lang Syne Rides

[whitestone]

A quick loop over the local hill to get Cath to 5000 miles for the year (she'd already got to 8000km).

Just above here is really wet and boggy but was straightforward on the fat bikes .


Apparently these ruins are the remains of a farm that was abandoned in the 1970s - that's a lot of decay for less than 50 years, presumably stuff has been removed for use elsewhere.


The BW here is great fun, not too steep but you have to watch things as it's very fast. I came across a muddy patch, went all wibbly-wobbly then rode into a big bunch of reeds which bounced me to the other side of the track, off the bike to land in a big bed of reeds. I was giggling from the wibbly-wobbly bit onwards

Down into the village then a long climb to get back to the top of the hill. Starts up a lane that used to be gravel but was tarmacced a couple of years ago.


There's then a BW across a very boggy bit of land complete with a "Bridge of Doom" which I didn't ride this time. Before a bit of a slog up to the road.




Then a bit of cheeky riding up a footpath. It gets used loads by bikes and today was the first time I've ever met anyone walking it. The boggy bit of land from the last two shots is the sunlight area to the left of Cath.


Finally up onto the top of the local hill by which time the clag had set in. This is actually a steep bit of climb to get to the trig point.


Descending the other side I misjudged the final "mini bridge of doom" and landed in the ditch! Just an artistic shot to finish with.


So that's a 2019 from her and a 2019 from me. Happy New Year! :D

[JohnClimber]

I rode down to an engineering shop for a special bolt for a seat tube (only to snap another bit of it when tightening it up)
Nipped to B&Q and the post office.
I didn't think of taking any pictures for the ride to post on here

[Borderer]

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...



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.



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



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.



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.



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.



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:


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



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



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



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.



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



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



Happy new year and new adventures everyone x

[benconnolli]

Didn’t realise other people had done this but not that surprising. I really rated my ride out and the sky at midnight was such an experience. Full write up on the 2020 BAM

[fatbikephil]

Nay bivvy I'm afraid but finished off 2019 with one of my best rides of the year. Up early doors, cruised up the A9 to Aviemore, abandoned the heap at the Cas car park and headed for the plateau.


Coire na ciste holding the remains of the snow from before xmas



Summit of Ben Macdui, (1309m, Britains second highest bump)


Cairn Toul and Braeriach.

The weather was stunning - cold with a stiff breeze but so clear. I could see most of the highlands and even my home hills in Fife.


There was lots of big snow patches which had freeze / thawed to boiler plate but thanks to the overnight frost were very grippy. I was riding all over the place linking up the patches. At one point I hit 30mph on the crust!


Summit of Cairngorm

My descent was via a recently improved path which was a bit steppy. In hindsight I should have probably done the route in reverse but hey ho. Total distance only 19k but 1000m of climbing!

[FLV]

Superb that