Bivvy a month 2023.

[KernowSteve]

Good stuff. What's that big bucket next to your stove? Portable mini-bath perhaps?

That'll be the windshield for the stove!
Although the pics don't show it , there is actually a small reservoir and leat system in amongst the industrial remains along with several uncapped mine shafts and adits! Not the sort of place to wander around in the dark unless you want an unintentional possibly last ever bath

[RIP]

That'll be the windshield for the stove!

Ah! I guess it does get a bit breezy up there

Although the pics don't show it , there is actually a small reservoir and leat system in amongst the industrial remains along with several uncapped mine shafts and adits! Not the sort of place to wander around in the dark unless you want an unintentional possibly last ever bath

That's just the sort of place that I love nosing around . Fascinating area.

[JimmyG]

Looks at watch meaningfully, pulls out whistle....
Nearly the end of the third quarter folks. Remember you can go out tomorrow for September as long as you pitch up before midnight....

... and the clock ticks ever onwards. I've had a very busy month (more domestic admin than usual, an overseas holiday, visitors, etc.) and I'm really cutting it fine this time. It's probably be an eleventh hour job (literally) but it's definitely happening tonight! Already packed but stuff to do first.

[Raggedstone]

I have just realised I haven't posted here for this month September was done at the start of the month on our Wye not tour of the Forest of Dean

9/12 for this year

[sean_iow]

Mine was on my big trip with Mike (see report) but there's 6 nights to choose from and the one I'm counting* is in the next installment which I'll not get round to posting until Monday.

* Chosen out of the 6 as it was the highest

[frogatthefarriers]

I've had 5 September BaMs but there's no point without the photos, so they'll have to wait (well 4 of them) until I get back; or find out how to get images from Goole photos.

Same is true for October BaMs.

[frogatthefarriers]

, just the usual stepping in Sheep s#@t whilst peeing at 2am and then bringing lumps of it back

Ah the joys of camping - waking up with sheep-currants between yer toes in the morning.

[NeilA]

BAM September 30
9 of 9, 21 of 21
Would you believe for my September BAM I planned the last day!

And slipped in a backpacking wild camp to Bredon Hill the day before.
So come the day there I am with my friend trekking the hills enjoying excellent scenery and history, but with weighty rucksacks and unfamiliar legs.
Back at home by early evening.

Thence to the usual pack drill.
The rush is on to eat a frugal meal and quick beer asap, gather kit, fit lights, bike luggage and load.
Its dark and off I go.
Past the local playing fields, home for my last 2 BAM's.
Onwards to Lulsley.
My target, a couple of fields in a lovely, quiet farming area close to the Teme.
Stealth mode not a problem since an invite from Miranda, my friend and nearest friendly neighbour, secured my wild spot (on her land!) .
By my standards I arrive early at the destination, a sensible 2200 ish! Although my Strava seems to be hours out of kilter timewise.
My second consecutive night using the Vaude Bivi 1P tent. A cracking piece of kit but not easy to fall in love with.
So there I am, after a quiet night, head lain on my air pillow (now an absolute must have) with the side door open, viewing the morn come to life. No rush, this is the life. An eternity later I am making up, exploring the field, discovering a glorious covered way (should've taken a pic) and enjoying a tea across the road with Miranda. Okay am still bordering on the glamp side of wild but hey ho.
Kit wise, my first try with an Alpkit Airlok Dual 13 litre handlebar bag for a tenner. Just what I need in the quest for a sleek and lighter load. On that note, on order is an Alpkit Deluge 13 litre handlebar bag. The Deluge is their most recent incarnation. I have the 20 litre version, a significant improvement on the Airlok, with its robust material and backboard to maintain shape.

Done it, no tales of woe or procrastination. And the fires are starting to burn in the belly. That much I promised.

Thoughts centre on an earlier BAM in the month of October

[fatbikephil]

'Tis the end of the third quarter! And what a summer...
A fair few cheeky bivvys this time which is always good to see and some fine outside catering. As of now I have the following as being still up to date. I'm awaiting Boab and Jimmy's reports - both indicated they were heading out but nothing has been heard from them since - should we be worried?

Sean_iow
Verena
jimmy G
RIP
Blackhound
Frog
Bearlegged
Raggedstone
FBPhil
Josh
NeilA
Gecko76
Wotsits
Leerowe76
Kernowsteve
Boab
Stinginglip

Jose McTavish still to check in

Some prizes for this quarter:-
Poshest spot - Reg on Lord whosis's front lawn
Most chiropractical bivvy - Verena's July river bank bivvy (also best outdoor catering)
Raggedstone get's best fry up (always a popular one that)
Josh gets the 'summer? what summer!' soggy trail award for August
NeilA the most dubious bivvy spot (childrens play area) Gecko a close second!
Leerowe the dossing on a park bench award
And Kernow Steve - the 'you're all wimps I'm pitching a flat tarp on a wind and rain swept hillside' award - chapeau!

Right, it's now Autumn with winter a'coming, so gird thy tarps and get out there!
P

[Boab]

I'm awaiting Boab and Jimmy's reports - both indicated they were heading out but nothing has been heard from them since - should we be worried?

Started writing it earlier, but too knackered to focus on a screen for longer than five seconds. It's been a good three minutes trying to write this without drifting off into some day dream or other...

[fatbikephil]

I'm awaiting Boab and Jimmy's reports - both indicated they were heading out but nothing has been heard from them since - should we be worried?

Started writing it earlier, but too knackered to focus on a screen for longer than five seconds. It's been a good three minutes trying to write this without drifting off into some day dream or other...

Sounds interesting.. glad you made it home though
Now. Where's Jimmy??

[Boab]

With the rather tasty Costa Rican coffee consumed, we headed out the door on Saturday morning with the plan of trying to reach the Ridgeway and find somewhere to kip. Due to the sloppy planning, I hadn't finished plotting the full route, so I had no idea about resupply options on the bits I'd not ridden before, plus I had no idea how far along the route various places were. It all started of nicely though, with glorious sunshine.


I passed the spot where I'd been planning on bivvying and headed off towards Graffham Water. The only reason for heading up that way, was to increase the mileage before we eventually hit The Ridgeway and turned for home. It wasn't all plain sailing, as this bridleway I was on suddenly turned into a dead end footpath, go figure.


The route I'd planned had various bits of the F U R T H E R East route that I rode that June, although not necessarily in the same order or direction. This meant I occasionally had flashes of deja-vu as I suddenly remembered what was coming, or that I'd gone in the other direction. I was trying to maximise the usage of bridleways, I figured miles of grassy field edges would be prefect training for the BB200. Which is exactly what I got, that special kind of ever so slightly bumpy surface that you can't see, coupled with grippy grass, meant the legs were already feeling it by the time we reach Santa Pod.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from the Forty Foot Lane byway into the back of Santa Pod, smooth gravel maybe, instead it was a proper clart fest, that had the bike sliding in all directions other than the one I wanted. I don't mind the back wheel sliding a bit, but when the front wheel decides to do its own thing, then I'm out. So I was slightly muddy when I ground to a halt next to a high viz clad lady and ask for direction across the site and where the nearest water tap was. Santa Pod was pretty quiet in terms of the number of people, and very loud in terms of what-ever the hack was thundering down the strip at 160MPH; the high banks meant I couldn't see what was going on. I imagine if they were nearly full with campers and cars, getting across the site could be, er, entertaining, but on a quiet day, no worries. More bits I remembered from F U R T H E R East were ridden, in the same direction this time, including a couple of tilled fields, which was a bit of a chore.


It seemed to take an absolute age to get to the M1, but was only about nine hours in, one of the problems with not knowing at what point stuff was coming. For some reason I had it in my head that it was only 198KM to The Ridgeway, when it was in fact more like 255KM. So knowing that the M1 meant I hadn't even got round Milton Keynes started messing with my head and the doubts started to build. I was also running low on food and had no idea where I'd get resupply, I knew there were some village shops, but wasn't sure which villages, or when they were open till. Thankfully the village store in Castlethorpe suddenly appeared and I set off again with loads of supplies.

It got dark, I put my lights on, I continued. At one point I ended up down a bridleway that was blocked by a locked gate, which turned out to be HS2. A van suddenly turned up with some high-viz clad men asking what I was up to as I manhandled my bike of said gate. The sate of the bridleway on the other side was a mess, but we eventually made it out the other side scratched, stung and sweating buckets. Shortly after getting back on the road, I was due to turn off onto another bridleway, which was again blocked by what looked like a locked gate, there was also loads of signs age and the road I'd been on was closed, which all freaked me out a bit, so I back tracked and found a route around it all.

I seemed to be o na never ending sequence of quiet back country roads at this point, which was boring. I was also suddenly aware that there was no way I'd make it to the tap on The Ridgeway as my next source of water. With all the doubts, detours, blockages etc, I decided to cut and run for the Co-op garage in Chinnor, which is open till 23:00. I got as far as the outskirts of Thame, where upon a service station complex appeared, with an ASDA 2 Go as the petrol station. I even managed to get some savoury vegetarian food for the first time, which was heartily dispatched.

Spirits were slightly raised by this, and I realised the route went quite lose to the West of Thame anyway, so headed out that way and picked it up again. The bridleway after the M40 was a proper slog, right through a herd of sheep, and their fluent as well. Shortly after Little Haseley, I took the wrong side of a hedgerow and ended up doing a loop around someone's garden or something. I was pretty tired by this point, at it was sixteen hours and 238KM in. Once back on the right side of the hedgerow, the next notable thing to happen was at midnight, when I set off a siren while following the right-of-way through a farm yard. It was loud and all the lights came on, I didn't hang around; the thing was still blaring about five minutes later. My penance was having to drag my bike across a ploughed field shortly afterwards.

The thing I've forgotten to mention up to this point, was my GPS wasn't charging. I'd started charging it when it got to 30%, thinking I've put 20% or so into it, just to get my to The Ridgeway, where I'd charge it properly when stopped. But no, it just wouldn't accept anything from the battery pack no matter what I tried. This was just extra anxiety that I didn't need and as I didn't know when The Ridgeway would actually appear, I knew I was going to have to stop before getting to it as I was getting to the end of my tether and near the eighteen hours riding time goal I'd set myself. The final straw was the last sequence of bridleways that passed Brightwell Baldwin, that had me off and pushing and cursing. Narrow and overgrown, with dangling dog rose, brambles, nettles fallen trees and bushes, I kept on having to dismount to duck under stuff, or squeeze around things, enough was enough.


I woke with my alarm at 06:00, not that I'd slept much thanks to the variety of owls hooting and screeching their heads off in the trees above me. I lay there wondering why the my face was getting wet when there wasn't any rain forecast. I then remembered that I'd only checked the weather for my home end of the route and not The Ridgeway end. I'd just climbed out of my bivvy bag, when a quad bike with full beams on came flying down the bridleway, I was suddenly thankful I'd not kipped under one of the horse trail jumps on the bridleway, but rather fifty metres or so up the side of a field. Amazingly, The Ridgeway appeared after about 2KM of riding, but given the slope the byway was traversing, I'd glad I stopped where I had, at least it was flat.

I missed the tap after the M40, but it didn't matter, as I had enough water to make it to the Co-op in Princes Risborough. I was now on mostly familiar territory, having ridden the Icknield Way multiple times. I'd tried to charge the GPS overnight, but it had only got to 32%, it was now at 11% and I knew I'd need it until at least the other side of Frithsden Beeches. I plugged it in again and it seemed to start charging, so I left it while I climbed out of Princes Risborough via Kop Hill. Wow, I made it about half way up before the legs gave out, what an absolute beast! And there was me thinking it would be a good alternative the the horrendous push up the stupidly steep and slithery dirt path from Whiteleaf to the chalk figure.

We encountered HS2 issues again, the bit along the A413 towards Wendsover has a big diversion that they've built, but then another part is all blocked off and you have to cross the roundabout and try an escape down a small road that's sign posted for the Chilterns Cycleway. Nothing much to report after that, other than the GPS kept discharging, but then charging up again to around 35% before cutting out again. It was busy though, both in terms of traffic and walkers (both with and without dogs). The number of times I came up behind people ringing my bell and giving a cheery morning, saying it louder and louder, before I ending up screaming EXCUSE ME! from about two meters away, was sadly more times than I care to remember.


The wall out of Frithsden was a delight as always, and we were soon at Dunstable Downs filling up with water and trying to get more charge into the GPS. More supplies were sourced in Dunstable and I headed off around Houghton Regis. Why they haven;t put a shared use path all the way round to the bridge over the A5 I have no idea, a horrible little bit of road. The shared use path up and over the bridge is now in a right state, with cracked tarmac, and thigh high weeds growing everywhere, a real sorry sight.

Rather than doing the slog fest around Tebworth, Fancott, Upper Sundon and on to Streatley, I decided to take a bridleway that ran parallel to the A5, cross the M1, then take the road through Lower Sundon and onto Streatly Wish I hadn't bothered, while the bridleway was OK, the road afterwards was horrible, busy with impatient drivers going at silly speeds. I honestly not sure which is the worst of the two. Thankfully some of my favourite bits of the Icknield Way were after that, so it was all good again, apart from the odd idiot dog walker. I was really feeling it now and decided to head pretty much straight home, which meant I knew the way. The GPS had given up any pretence of taking a charge and was slowly running out of juice.


By the time I hit the Melbourn, it was claiming it had 1% charge left, it was still claiming this an hour later, shortly before it died. I'm amazed it lasted so long, but has now added another level of anxiety to the BB200 prep, as I'll definitely need to charge it to get all the way round. The sun made a proper appearance at this point though, and it was nice to finish the ride with a bit of a sunset going on. 255KM on Saturday, followed by 180KM on Sunday, so all in all a pretty good weekend out on the bike.

If you've read this far, then I'm truly sorry, I was only going to write a paragraph or two...

2023: 9 / 12
Total: 37
Streak: 9

[fatbikephil]

Boab gets the prize for longest ride before and after a bivvy!

[RIP]

Yeah that was impressive stuff! Lots of eventful moments, cap duly doffed Bob. "Why they haven't put a shared use path all the way round to the bridge over the A5 I have no idea, a horrible little bit of road" - yep, the whole area's horrible of course. I like the sign next to the new housing estate at Thorne: "stylish contemporary living" or some such lunacy. Perfect if you like living next to a stylish and contemporary dual carriageway and the largest Aldi depot in the world or whatever it is....

[sean_iow]

Chapeau Boab

You know the 200 in BB200 stands for 200 km? You rode 55 km more on Saturday and only 20 km less on the Sunday, so no need for BB200 anxiety

[Leerowe76]

Cracking riding & pics Boab, great prep for the BB200

[Leerowe76]

Thanks for the write up Phil, glad to jump on the award train

'Tis the end of the third quarter! And what a summer...
A fair few cheeky bivvys this time which is always good to see and some fine outside catering. As of now I have the following as being still up to date. I'm awaiting Boab and Jimmy's reports - both indicated they were heading out but nothing has been heard from them since - should we be worried?

Sean_iow
Verena
jimmy G
RIP
Blackhound
Frog
Bearlegged
Raggedstone
FBPhil
Josh
NeilA
Gecko76
Wotsits
Leerowe76 most dubious bivvy spot
Kernowsteve (extreme tarp pitch)
Boab

Stinginglip and Jose McTavish still to check in

Some prizes for this quarter:-
Poshest spot - Reg on Lord whosis's front lawn
Most chiropractical bivvy - Verena's July river bank bivvy (also best outdoor catering)
Raggedstone get's best fry up (always a popular one that)
Josh gets the 'summer? what summer!' soggy trail award for August
NeilA the most dubious bivvy spot (childrens play area) Gecko a close second!
Leerowe the dossing on a park bench award
And Kernow Steve - the 'you're all wimps I'm pitching a flat tarp on a wind and rain swept hillside' award - chapeau!

Right, it's now Autumn with winter a'coming, so gird thy tarps and get out there!
P

[JimmyG]

Bivvy A Month 2023: September. Well, I left that one very late indeed. In my defence, I’ve had a very busy month – a two-week holiday in Vancouver, my daughter visiting us last week, painting and decorating plus a lot of other mundane but essential admin. Anyway, after a very enjoyable week, my daughter headed back down to South Wales on Saturday morning (30th Sep). This left me that one night to get out before the clock struck midnight and October was upon us.

Sod’s Law decided it would rain on and off throughout the day and into the night. Nevertheless, I was packed and ready to go… just as soon as I’d endured my local football team labouring to a 0-0 draw; then gone home to watch ‘Strictly’… er, I mean Scotland v Romania in the Rugby World Cup!

Meanwhile, the rain had started again and truth be told, I was in no hurry to leave the sanctuary of my house. Needs must, though, and I headed out into the rain at 10.30 pm. I’ll confess this one was very much a case of just getting September ticked off with the minimum of fuss, to keep my run going. To that end, I decided to spend the night in a covered porch outside the changing rooms in a public park.

Needless to say, it wasn’t pleasant riding in the lashing rain but at least I didn’t have far to go – a mammoth distance of 2.9 miles, in fact. On arrival I saw that some alfresco tipplers had clearly been there recently – two empty vodka bottles, an empty wine bottle, various soft drink bottles plus sandwich and crisp wrappers were proof of that. Oh well, I thought… at least the rainy conditions meant it was unlikely they’d be reappearing that night.

Blurry I know! by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Another blurry one by Jimmy G, on Flickr

I got set up quickly and settled down to enjoy two cans of beer and some mixed nuts. I should add that I’d brought a tarp with me – not for overhead cover but to mask the telltale silver colouring of my Ti bike from the dog walkers, etc. who'd undoubtedly be making an appearance early next morning.

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

I didn’t have the best of sleeps, to be honest, due to a steady stream of cars passing the park and continuing until well after midnight. Eventually, though, I did manage to get some fitful sleep until my alarm sounded at 7 a.m. I was up straight away, packed quickly and soon trundling home for a proper breakfast.

Edinburgh skyline on a damp Sunday morning by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Rest assured I WILL do better in October!

In summary, that’s 9 from 9 in ‘23, making 69 consecutive BAMs.

[JimmyG]

I'm awaiting Boab and Jimmy's reports - both indicated they were heading out but nothing has been heard from them since - should we be worried?

Started writing it earlier, but too knackered to focus on a screen for longer than five seconds. It's been a good three minutes trying to write this without drifting off into some day dream or other...

Sounds interesting.. glad you made it home though
Now. Where's Jimmy??

I'm still in the game Phil - by virtue of a skin of the teeth job on a rainy Saturday night. See above.

[fatbikephil]

Well done Jimmy for going out in that - I caught it for the last 30mins of my ride that day and was glad I had a warm and dry house to return too.
Another fab cheeky shelter to boot

[JimmyG]

Well done Jimmy for going out in that - I caught it for the last 30mins of my ride that day and was glad I had a warm and dry house to return too.
Another fab cheeky shelter to boot

Cheers Phil. As I said, though, needs must!

[Leerowe76]

Nice one JimmyG

[JimmyG]

Thanks Lee. Not my most demanding BAM by any means but it got the job done.

[Fargoist]

Used to be good yoga classes in that park on Sunday's, a bivi and yoga class following morning would be ace.

[RIP]

Right, let's get this quarter's show on the road/bridleway/track/tussock then. A "local bivvy for local people" here - MuddyPete and myself - after two "big" ones for me recently. To keep the interest up with local ones we often cook up some ridiculous contrivance for getting ourselves out. I found some photos of our National Tea Day outing from a while ago, yeah this one....



... which amused us no end, being easily pleased as we are. So I had a look what was being "celebrated" in October. Well obviously National Temperance Day the other day, but that didn't really suit our demographic. But yesterday had several - National Taco Day, National Cinnamon Bun Day, and yes, National Vodka Day! Now that's more like it. Actually I really don't see the point of vodka, apparently the less flavour and smell that it has the better quality it is. Ridiculous idea. Anyway, a quick trip to the shops, and a quick call to MuddyPete (note: I've never seen Pete "Muddy".. I think we should be told....) and away we go.

A quick diversion via the pub for a "quiet" drink first turned out to be anything BUT quiet. Of course, Oktoberfest. That would explain the back yard being full of German (I may be wrong...) people and an oompah band. Arg! After a couple of trad tunes, things went a bit weird and we ended up with a Germanified version of Long Way To Tipperary etc etc. Still, those dirndls are rather agreeable aren't they .





Suitably oompah'd, off up the woods we went to enjoy our late Taco/Bun/Vodka Day.... tacos with refried beans, chopped toms/onions, salsa, sour cream, and coriander... vodka and lime with home-made cocktail umbrellas... nice cinnamon buns...







Bivvy spot was hidden away in a giant rhododendron thicket.. Pete kipped in the red light district....





A very comfy night for Reg and I can confirm that my new spinnaker groundsheet worked a treat, with none of the anticipated slippage and a bone dry mat in the morning despite the wet leaves underneath.

I indulged in another experiment at breakfast, with my new MYOG SanitiserStove(TM). In the spirit of MYOG the pot stand was made out of the metallic supports from a filing folder, although these were somewhat less successful than the stove I have to admit. Still, the sanitiser bloomed into life and was perfectly hot enough to boil my porridge water. I've got almost 5L of the stuff leftover from You Know What so I reckon that'll do me for breakfasts for about the next 100 years.





As luck would have it, today is National Do Something Nice Day - away you go!

Pics by Reg n Pete, 10/10, 10/12, 94/94