Bivvy a month 2023.

[Verena]

Chocolate Old Peculier? Now I need to find some of that.

Me too!

[Bearlegged]

Clearly, Oswald's first taste of fame has gone to his head....

I'm not sure he gives a hoot, TBH.

[MuddyPete]

Clearly, Oswald's first taste of fame has gone to his head....

I'm not sure he gives a hoot, TBH.

[RIP]

Good work as always Reg. I fear that a small child somewhere is crying over their lost owl though. I thing you should appeal for it's owner!

Arg, pulling at the heart strings there .

Have now had three dry months in a row, which is a bit unprecedented and disappointing. I might have to get out for a bonus ball tonight - there's heavy rain, lightning, and 50mph winds here .

[fatbikephil]

Yes I've had seven straight dry bivvies in the last three months so expecting July to be damp...

[NeilA]

My report is very late (again!), many reasons, mainly work and hols have overtaken time available. Things falling off the table regularly!

Hopefully you can include me in Second Quarterly list please fatbikephil

BAM June 23rd
6 of 6, 18 of 18

You know how it is with BAM. One bungles through the month, then identifies there is only one free night left to catch that month.
So it was for June. I arranged to share a cycle ride with my compatriot Pam, following our inability to manage cycling together on BAM 28th May.
Once again, a tight time schedule. My wish to use the Whyte and bikepack luggage would take too long. I bunged loadsa resources into my Giant Trooper 'gravel bike' panniers. Off I go to meet Pam in West Malvern. Fortunately her electric bike battery is fully charged this time. We head south towards British Camp or Golden Valley with an undecided objective.
And there we are supping beer at the Malvern Hills Hotel. Out comes the OS map in search of a suitable bivi spot. More beer and some chips (£5 a small bowl!).
Decision made, British Camp, an Iron Age hill fort is our chosen camp spot. And not far away.
Up we trundle to take on its mighty ramparts, then skirt round the hillside in a gulley between ramparts. This fort is massive. Able to detect a flat spot using my spirit level radar we found home for the night. First a quick scramble to the top, see what's occurring. Not much doing, no sign of the public or wild campers.
Set up was quick, Pam was using my Alpkit Kloke, and for me my fave Trekmaster Squall.
We ate food, Pam a nice little snack, me a freeze dried packet long long out of date. That was indeed rank. At least my new cooker, Alpkit Kraku made its debut appearance. And a mighty fine burner it is too. Then to chocolate and whisky. That was when I realised how close we were to glamping. There was a plastic container for whisky and three shot bottles full too .
What the hell, my whisky treat is synonymous with a good nights sleep! Or alcoholism
An uneventful, warm and quiet night. Pam woke early but just missed dawn then back to sleep. I woke later (but earlyish) and took in the vista, back towards the west side of the Malverns. And espied a white rabbit. Watched the blighter for a while then took some pics, thus preserving a special moment, even if they turned out shoddy. Or rather compensated the colour, hence a brilliant white apparition, like some photo shop attempt lol .
Morning wake up was slow and lazy, loadsa tea, but no brekkie (left behind) so finished off the chocs. Pam made a massive oats etc.
Journey home was mostly downhill, though on arriving at Pam's my rear tyre was deflating fast. The inner was partially ripped from the valve. Could be something to do with carrying an excessive load and braking heavily on the long downhills. Swapped in my only inner, same again happened. Maybe a rogue spoke head! So walked the bike just under 5 miles home rather than seek more inners and suffer the same fate. My Strava said 4.9 mile cycling and 5 walking! No more glamping that's for sure.

This was Pam's first bikepack which she enjoyed, so more to come, and experience gained for her first solo wild camp sometime in the future .


This was the ascent to the first rampart, its gulley would take us round the entirety of the fort


Camp




Worcester Beacon in the distance


These last three pics catch the white rabbit i witnessed! Right of centre


Centre


Top dead centre

[fatbikephil]

Name added Neil, no probs with late posts on this thread

[NeilA]

Name added Neil, no probs with late posts on this thread

Thank you Phil

[Verena]

Nice one Neil and Pam

[psling]

White rabbit huh? Did the hookah smokin' caterpillar give you the call...

[RIP]

White rabbit huh? Did the hookah smokin' caterpillar give you the call...

The Mad Hatter is probably more applicable to us lot

[Verena]

A few ideas for folk to have a go at...

• A hammock, suspended from a flock of seagulls

• A log cabin bothy, constructed from freshly felled trees and whittled with a multi tool

• Bed & Breakfast, sleeping on a bed of Weetabix which you then eat in the morning

• The moving target - waking up in a different location to where you fell asleep

• The feet-up-in-a-brewery - plenty of folk have charmed their way into kipping in a pub garden, this is the next level challenge

I felt inspired by Mr Bearlegged suggestions for a July BAM... I really did fancy the hammock suspended from a flock of seagulls one, but try as a might, I just could not come up with a way of doing this.... Bearlegged, I am not sure this is a very realistic idea tbh.

So instead, I opted for a combination of the beach bivvy that I've mentioned I fancy, inspired by a few nice posts on here; and "the moving target - waking up in a different location to where you fell asleep", and headed for a pebbley beach on the riverbank. With the recent wild weathers, I figured there was more than a faint possibility of me indeed waking up somewhere like, I dunno, maybe Crickhowell...

(Picture taken in the morning)
IMG_20230718_050504 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

I called in at my friendly Spar petrol station down the road and picked up a bottle for my evening, got there just before they closed at ten, still daylight, lovely.
IMG_20230717_221423 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

Found a nice flat area amongst the smooth stones, with some pretty looking piles of driftwood nearby...almost like Long Beach on Vancouver Island (with a lot of imagination ).
Sat down to enjoy the last remaining bits of light, enjoying being out for the night listening to owls and watching bats flying about me.

Cracked open my bottle of beer, and within seconds, thud thud thud, my fillings starting to rattle, and a bit of an Apocalypse Now moment as one, then two, Chinooks came up from over the earth bank behind me and flew right over my head, really low down!

Followed shortly afterwards by a Hercules, also very low.

Once the excitement had settled and the beer duly enjoyed, I nodded off for a while, woke briefly about an hour later when the Chinooks returned whence they had come, then slept quite well till about half one, then not so well till about half two, then really well till five, when I woke to some gentle drizzle on my face, and found to a mixture of relief in disappointment that I was, in fact, in exactly the same place where I had fallen asleep....
Despite the rain, oddly there was something like a nice rosy sky
IMG_20230718_051238 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

I gathered my things and moved to the nice and dry area under the A40, where I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of two coffees, and some pancakes.
Hadn't used the little dragon stove for a while, for fear of it causing a fire, as the flame is a bit big and not easily controlled, but I have tons of fuel tablets to use up, and this was a safe place to use them.
IMG_20230718_052149 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

Bit blurry, sorry, but I reused a cute small pot of "bikepacking honey" which were given in our goody bag in Germany, for bringing the nutella for the pancakes.
IMG_20230718_052840 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

The pancake cooking went as it invariably always does (not just me, right??): the first one isn't quite right, pan not hot enough; then they gradually get better; then you get carried away with making them ever thinner and just as you congratulate yourself on being able to make crepes the French would be impressed with, you overdo it and it goes all wrong again...(in case you are wondering just how many pancakes I made: 4. Two chocolate and banana, two blueberry - alternately, of course).

IMG_20230718_053820 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

IMG_20230718_054104 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

IMG_20230718_054323 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

IMG_20230718_055827 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

Sat there for a while watching the river and the ducks, then home by seven.

7/12

[redefined_cycles]

Good work as always Reg. I fear that a small child somewhere is crying over their lost owl though. I thing you should appeal for it's owner!

Shelter entry noted.

Hold on... so Reg didn't actually rescue an owl, but mishandled (and dare I say it) stole it from a crying child

What's this here BAM coming to

[RIP]

Fab! Alfresco woodfired pancakes; and sleeping in a river - that's got to be a first, not sure if riskier than Lu's waterbed but still impressive .

[frogatthefarriers]

Fab! Alfresco woodfired pancakes;

I too am impressed by the pancakes and pleased to know that I’m not alone in taking a full-sized frying pan on a bivvy trip.

Thanks for a lovely write-up that made me smile…

[fatbikephil]

Did you decide to sleep in the river bed after drinking the bottle of OP? Very likely scenario in my experience! Well done and good effort on the pancakes. Thinks.....

[Loki]

Love the pancake idea, going to give that a try.

[Verena]

Fab! Alfresco woodfired pancakes;

I too am impressed by the pancakes and pleased to know that I’m not alone in taking a full-sized frying pan on a bivvy trip.

Thanks for a lovely write-up that made me smile…

Thank you :)

But not a full sized frying pan, it's a tiny one egg one

[Verena]

Love the pancake idea, going to give that a try.

Typo? Going to give that a fry?

[Verena]

Did you decide to sleep in the river bed after drinking the bottle of OP? Very likely scenario in my experience! Well done and good effort on the pancakes. Thinks.....

I can see where you're going with this, we've probably all been there after a few too many...

But no, it's a well used, very local spot to me, with a few varieties of sleep options, this being just one I've liked the look of for a while ... I was thinking of the other side of the bridge, where I've seen an actual island, which I thought would be fun, but I just couldn't resist that drift wood, and in the morning I saw the island isn't there any more. Floods regularly there, so changes shape frequently.

[sean_iow]

Another local school-night bivi. In fact it was at the exact same location as last months, although this was deliberate as I had a new bit of kit to try and wanted all the other variables to be the same, so I'm claiming it was for scientific accuracy and not just because I couldn't be bothered to look for another location In addition, I did sleep really well there last month, better than at home, so fancied another good nights sleep.

The new bit of kit is the Mountain Warehouse Extreme Lightweight Down Blanket, which has been purchased with the intention of making an underquilt for the hammock, but I thought I'd give it a try as it's intended to be used. 'Blanket' isn't really a very good description as it has a short zipper and a draw-cord to make a foot box to use it as a quilt, similar to an Enlightened Equipment Revelation or current version if the Cumulus quilts. However, it was only £49 in the sale so a fraction of the cost of a big name quilt.

I'll weigh it and measure the pack size when I get home but it's not much bigger than my Cumulus 150 quilt packed down and I'd guess around 500g. The quality of the fill is lower than the branded quilts but that's to be expected at that price point. The tag said the original RRP was £179 (from memory) but I'm not sure anyone has ever paid RRP in Mountain Warehouse. When I looked on the website this morning it appears to be no longer available so I leave the review there as you probably won't be able to get one unless there's stock in a local store

The bivi was the usual summer local, nice ride out after dinner, not too far but nice for it not to be 20 degrees. When I first left home there was a very dark sky and I thought even a drop of rain, this would be an issue as I hadn't packed any form of waterproof shelter. There's a mini mountain bike festival this weekend on the Island, my route went right past the site and I'd hoped they might have put the marquees up ready and I could sneak in to one for shelter but no such luck. To be fair the lowest recorded wind-speed at the site is about 70mph* so they'd have blown away before the weekend

Arrive at spot about 10pm, set up, brush teeth and off to sleep. I woke a couple of times as I was cold, not too cold, but just enough to wake me. I hadn't clipped the back of the quilt together and I think it was the draft. A check on the thermometer in the morning showed it got down to 8 degrees so a fair bit colder than forecast (it was 12 degrees last month with the 150 quilt). I was only in shorts and long-sleeve base layer. With long-johns and a lightweight jacket I think I'd take the new quilt down to 5 degrees. I'd also brought my Klymit mat** which isn't designed for use with a quilt as it requires the insulation from a sleeping bag to fill the holes.

Woken at 04:00 by a bird singing but even they realised it was too early and shut up after 20 minutes, perhaps the other birds told him to keep it down. Eventually I had to get up and pack up to head for work.



Standard picture as proof of bivi.



Second opinion on the quilt from my experienced bivi companion. He's quite famous now by all accounts. At the Jennride when stopped for dinner Mike heard someone say 'there's Sean, I wonder if he's got Ralph with him?' They were too shy to ask I guess, but if they'd come over I'm sure he'd have signed an autograph for them



One of the best things about summer local bivis is how little kit you can take. All my gear is in the front bag (mat, pillow, bivi bag, quilt, base layer) and it probably weighs less than it would on a Monday morning on the commute when I'd have a shirt, trousers, tie etc.

In work early for the first coffee of the day.

7/12 and 41 in a row (40 for Ralph)

* There may be times when it's less but when riding across this section of down there is always a headwind and usually quite fierce.
** I would use my 3/4 Thermarest Uberlight but is has a slow puncture and despite submerging it in the bath repeatably until my hands went numb (too tight to use hot water) I cannot find the hole to be able to patch it

[benp1]

** I would use my 3/4 Thermarest Uberlight but is has a slow puncture and despite submerging it in the bath repeatably until my hands went numb (too tight to use hot water) I cannot find the hole to be able to patch it

If it helps, Thermarest will probably find it for you. They say they charge but I had an issue with my Xtrem and couldn't find the puncture at all, I was happy to pay. It's not really that convenient trying to submerge a lilo in the bath. It came back with two very professionally done patches and no charge. I've always had excellent service from them

[RIP]

Sean 41, Ralph 40. Lost track a bit. Which one did he miss? Did he have a note from his mum?

[Bearlegged]

I think he got FOMO after Sean's first one in the series.

[sean_iow]

My first in the streak was March 2020. I wasn't doing BAM but had a new (to me) bike and it's now a tradition that the very first ride for a new bike is a bivi. I allow myself a 100m spin in the road outside my house to make sure it pedals but that's it. I realised that if I didn't get out that month I might not be able to ride it for some time.

The next month would have been the first in lockdown, I took Ralph as we weren't allowed to go with anyone else not in your household. Weird that I took him for company as I normally go on my own. Maybe I was worried the neighbours would think I was weird biving in my garden if I didn't have a 4 1/2 inch tall monkey with me

If I ever stop BAM I'll find someone to take him to catch up his missing night out.