Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

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

Post by tobasco »

RIP wrote: Tue Dec 10, 2019 9:47 pm - back to Shropshire this weekend :-bd

Strange woman is Mrs Perrin.
Well I live about 10 miles from Stretton, and whilst today’s forecast says 5 dogs the (lots of )white stuff on ground doesn’t agree.

Nowt wrong with strange in my experience
tobasco
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by tobasco »

RIP wrote: Tue Dec 10, 2019 9:47 pm - back to Shropshire this weekend :-bd

Strange woman is Mrs Perrin.
Well I live about 10 miles from Stretton, and whilst today’s forecast says 5 degs the (lots of )white stuff on ground doesn’t agree.

Nowt wrong with strange in my experience
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RIP
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by RIP »

10 miles? Be nice to see you on Sat/Sun at some point then - get the kettle on :wink: .
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
tobasco
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by tobasco »

I had hoped to partake, but away with other half. just to wet your whistle, the forecast says it should be 5 degrees out there just now; must be something strange about Shropshire water that causes it to freeze at 5 degs......
tobasco
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by tobasco »

I had hoped to partake, but away with other half. just to wet your whistle, the forecast says it should be 5 degrees out there just now; must be something strange about Shropshire water that causes it to freeze at 5 degs......
redefined_cycles
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

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

Post by JoseMcTavish »

Haven't posted it in the BAM thread yet, but my November bivy was pretty wintery. After a crap couple of weeks in work and an invitation from my lovely wife to get away from it all, I decided to jump a train to the West coast after work on Friday and then ride home to Aberdeen. I set off from Kyle around 9pm and climbed up to Achnasheen where I had a wooden train station shelter earmarked as my bed for the night. Temps were around -8 during the night ride and must have plummeted during the night.

My luxurious shelter:
Image

After I finally thawed out enough to move after sunrise, I took note of the temperature a few minutes down the road:
Image

I then had a very long ride home, with the temperatures only getting above zero for an hour or so near Inverness.

Past the Cairngorms:
Image

Over the Lecht:
Image

Temperature graph during the ride - no overnight readings!
Image
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Borderer
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by Borderer »

Wow :o
Hardcore.
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JoseMcTavish
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by JoseMcTavish »

:lol: It was definitely a bit too hardcore for my right knee - am still struggling on my commute at the moment! :oops:
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RIP
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by RIP »

-11c, what a superb ride, well I think that about clinches it, amazing! No point entering our Salop effort, stick a decimal point in yours and that'd be about our situation. Taylor took a reading I think but dunno what it was yet.
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
Taylor
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by Taylor »

RIP wrote: Tue Dec 17, 2019 2:40 pm -11c, what a superb ride, well I think that about clinches it, amazing! No point entering our Salop effort, stick a decimal point in yours and that'd be about our situation. Taylor took a reading I think but dunno what it was yet.
Can't find it in my data ATM
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RIP
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by RIP »

It's probably sparing our embarrassment being softies :smile: . Still, must've been below zero cos lots of ice around, so that's our entry!
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
redefined_cycles
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

Borderer wrote: Tue Dec 17, 2019 1:32 pm Wow :o
Hardcore.
Can say that again. I can only imagine the pain :o
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JoseMcTavish
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by JoseMcTavish »

Was mostly pain free as long as I didn't ride too fast and generate windchill or too slow to generate enough heat - I can take freezing and dry a lot better than cold and wet! It's amazing how 1 degree at Kessock felt like a summer's day in comparison. :grin:
Last edited by JoseMcTavish on Wed Dec 18, 2019 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Borderer
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by Borderer »

I think Jose has this in the bag.
redefined_cycles
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

Borderer wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2019 11:58 am I think Jose has this in the bag.
Not until we got 2 more writeups/eligible entrants remember... no pressure :grin: (on you and your little one)... do remind him that the prize is pretty flexible which might wet his appetite
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Escape Goat
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by Escape Goat »

-11 wins for sure?! I'm not wearing a hat. If I had I'd take it off to you. Instead, I'll take my socks off. Socks off to you! 🧦
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Alpinum
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by Alpinum »

MuddyPete wrote: Sat Dec 07, 2019 2:24 am
RIP wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 5:12 pm Reckon you need some sort of 'handicap' system based on latitude and height Shaf - chances of a Highlander (or Alpiner!) winning are gonna be pretty guaranteed otherwise :wink: .
How about..."maximum altitude 1345m"? :-bd https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8& ... vis+height

I'm quite tickled at the thought of the high altitude members of this parish going to extreme efforts to do something very ordinary :lol:.

It's wonderfully incongruous :wink:.
Max. altitude of 1345 m is a kind suggestion. I'll go to La Brévine once I'm back home. That's not Alpine (it's in the Jura) not is it 1345 m (round about 1000 m) and the coldest place/village in Switzerland. Lowest is -41.8 °C and it regularly goes below - 30 °C.

I find it fair to keep it to the UK... even a 2 h fatbike ride from my home (in the Emmental) will give regular chances to nights down to -20 °C, this at about 900 m.a.s.l. and at home every so often very well below -10 °C.

Good luck to all involved - an inspiring challenge and an idea I've been following every single winter for the last ca. 20 years. There are some tricks, so inform yourself well if you want to win :wink:
redefined_cycles
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

Alpinum wrote: Fri Dec 20, 2019 1:59 pm
MuddyPete wrote: Sat Dec 07, 2019 2:24 am
RIP wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 5:12 pm Reckon you need some sort of 'handicap' system based on latitude and height Shaf - chances of a Highlander (or Alpiner!) winning are gonna be pretty guaranteed otherwise :wink: .
How about..."maximum altitude 1345m"? :-bd https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8& ... vis+height

I'm quite tickled at the thought of the high altitude members of this parish going to extreme efforts to do something very ordinary :lol:.

It's wonderfully incongruous :wink:.
Max. altitude of 1345 m is a kind suggestion. I'll go to La Brévine once I'm back home. That's not Alpine (it's in the Jura) not is it 1345 m (round about 1000 m) and the coldest place/village in Switzerland. Lowest is -41.8 °C and it regularly goes below - 30 °C.

I find it fair to keep it to the UK... even a 2 h fatbike ride from my home (in the Emmental) will give regular chances to nights down to -20 °C, this at about 900 m.a.s.l. and at home every so often very well below -10 °C.

Good luck to all involved - an inspiring challenge and an idea I've been following every single winter for the last ca. 20 years. There are some tricks, so inform yourself well if you want to win :wink:
Feel free to throw out them there tricks please kind sir.. it might help many
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Alpinum
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by Alpinum »

Ach, it's just nerdery with weather patterns and topography :geek:

Nothing special and nothing half an hour with google can hide from.
ScotRoutes
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by ScotRoutes »

You can also "nudge" the ambient temperature a few degrees depending on your pitch. I'm planning a night out tomorrow and hope to be on a small hill where it should be a couple of degrees warmer than the floor of the Strath due to the river and temperature inversion. Alternatively I could head up to Glenmore and camp by Loch Morlich where it'll be acting as a cold sink, reducing the air temperature locally by a couple of degrees.
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Alpinum
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by Alpinum »

ScotRoutes wrote: Fri Dec 20, 2019 8:31 pm You can also "nudge" the ambient temperature a few degrees depending on your pitch. I'm planning a night out tomorrow and hope to be on a small hill where it should be a couple of degrees warmer than the floor of the Strath due to the river and temperature inversion. Alternatively I could head up to Glenmore and camp by Loch Morlich where it'll be acting as a cold sink, reducing the air temperature locally by a couple of degrees.
A dry cold sink, or one with a small body of water is best - Loch Morlich (being big and having had 6 months to 'warm up') will likely keep the air from cooling down too much in it's vicinity and may not be that helpful. Yet, you're right in general considering inversion and temperature difference on hills.
Rasta
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by Rasta »

I regularly do a few snow hole camps each winter. But they are usually in the Alps or Pyrenees. Also it can be -20 outside but inside, without heating, it usually stays above 0.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=11788


-20 in the snow is a lot warmer than -11 in a shed :shock:
redefined_cycles
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by redefined_cycles »

Just seen Colins post of his pics from latest bivy. He menti9ns how it was 2 degrees less cold on top of the hill... so that means my simple rule of 'climb high, sleep low' isn't as helpful as I always thought!
ScotRoutes
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Re: Winter bivy comp: How cold can you go!

Post by ScotRoutes »

Yeah, in still conditions, cold air sinks to the valley floor. This is even true of small hollows, not just decent sized hills. It's not the first time I've intentionally headed uphill to get out of a frosty glen.
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