a few pictures from last nights trip
IMG_20180212_085816 by IMG_20180212_081042 by Stuart Dean, on FlickrtpIMG_20180212_081037 by Stuart Dean, on Flickrs://www.flickr.com/photos/140212909@N05/]Stuart Dean[/url], on Flickr

forgot the breakfast IMG_20180212_095155 by Stuart Dean, on Flickrakfast

Dave Barter wrote:Heading out into 3 feet of snow tends to slow you down a bit

I think there was a couple of foot of snow when we were heading up there. Unfortunately by the time we got to Scotland it had melted so we were just left with some very swollen burns

Dave Barter wrote:

whitestone wrote:

Dave Barter wrote:2/2 Ben Alder bothy on a stupendously ridiculous weekend with Chicken Legs and my hike-a-bike record broken by 5 miles

Where on earth did you head in from to get that much hike-a-bike? We managed a couple of Km heading in from the south alongside Loch Ericht.

Heading out into 3 feet of snow tends to slow you down a bit

Tsk, you mean you didn't check out the SAIS website first? http://meagaidhblog.sais.gov.uk/ Seriously its a good source of info on snow conditions and depths for the central highlands area. The other areas tend to focus more on conditions higher up so of less use to us bikers.
Good effort tho, any pics?

Loads of ace pics and report to follow.

Here's my video from my bivvy#2 last week at Galloway. new camera and editing software with a slightly different angle on things...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BXxmMhOfqY

good that Jeff. looks fantastic.

ton wrote:good that Jeff. looks fantastic.

Cheers it certainly was

BAM 2 for me with Scott and Stuart.

A trip through North worcestershire out to Shropshire for me. A quick pub stop on route for a coke turned into 2 pints of Butty Bach and me leaving the pub late and happy. Follow this by a good climb up the Brown Clee and a frozen water bottle by the end of it and i made it to Scotts 1 hr later than expected. The three of us then headed to another pub for more beers and banter before a good old climb upto the summit of Brown Clee again where by 1am we got into the tents and bedded down to a windy night. I woke to ice on the inside of the Lunar again so went back to sleep for an hr to then wake to sunshine. Stuart and myself dropped off for a breaky then i headed off back across Shropshire leaving him to get back to Shipton. I took a longer route home with only one cafe stop for more food then arrive back at 5pm job done cheers to the guys for their company.

20180212_114357 by mjc_226, on Flickr
20180211_164237 by mjc_226, on Flickr
I met the local mole exterminator , heres him getting me pissed on route
20180211_173456 by mjc_226, on Flickr
20180211_230518 by mjc_226, on Flickr
20180212_080936 by mjc_226, on Flickr

Think you must have a filter on there Mike because I don't remember being that grey

Thats what comes of a crap old phone!!

At least you can post pics ,me being the thick I am got my 13 yr old to do it and it took all of 30 seconds

Got February in last night, even though temperature was +1degree, it did feel cold, and rain in the night...

B4E7E8B3-2132-4526-A3C1-4DC1FFC774C1 by Eric Robinson, on Flickr

Not sure if this be the right place to ask such a thing or is there another thread!?!

I'm planning to do my first BAM this month and need to make it around the Malton. Thing is, from my commutes from Dewsbury to York (Malton is past this) I've never really noticed any decent places to have a secret bivi (am on road bike as on a mission to complete the 200 best climbs as suggested by Simon Warren).

The climbs which I will be dping this month are just south of Malton (place called Grimstone). Anyone know any decent bivi spots not too far off the rd..?? Please... thanks

Feb ticked.

Another short coastal trip on the Costa del Moray. Definitely milder than the Aviemore area though the ground was frozen and there was still the occasional frozen puddle.

P1040913 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr


P1040917 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr


P1040923 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr


P1040924 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr


Ross is trying BAM for the first time. I've assured him that's all the hard work done

Like your last pic Colin :)

Mike wrote:Like your last pic Colin :)

Ta. I reckon it looks even better cropped to 16:9.

Picture one is that the malthouse at Burghead on the skyline?

It is.

That last one is indeed lovely. It's also from the surrealistic school of art - looks like you're floating above the ground motionless. Must be all the air in those fat tyres .

It was supposed to be a gravel ride.........
The idea was to do some of the route yet to be released for The Dirty Free(ver). I've been sworn to secrecy so no route notes.
An episode of viral arthritis was still plaguing me so I thought I'd take my fat bike. Nice sit up ride position. I also suspected there would be some snow. There was quite a bit of snow in places.

For those of you planning to do the Dirty Free(ver) it is on a par with its costly sibling.

No computer for me so links to photos for proof.

https://instagram.com/p/BfYlbL-gBdh/

Ps. Met a couple into wine at the bothy. Very nice chat about the notes and complexity of their 16 year old wine while I tucked into my sainsbuurys whisky in a plastic tesco brandy bottle. Unsurprisingly they refused a drink of mine.

2/12 done... (in a new tent)
Untitled by S, on Flickr

BAM February 2018 Llanarmon D.C.

Started at Llandrillo and headed up the Wayfarer.



A couple of cups of coffee at the Hand in Lanfair D.C. and warm some life back in to cold wet toes,


before climbing out to bivvy in some woods I'd noted in an earlier ride.


An ideal hammocking spot except there's no water in the immediate vicinity.
I'd set up camp and eaten by 8 o'clock and was going to read a bit from my phone, but said phone was flat so nowt for it but to snuggle down and go to sleep. But it's only 8 o'clock, and I'm not sleepy. And the owls are having a concert. And the bloody pheasants are crashing about in the trees making that god-awful alarm call every few minutes.

Before retiring I'd heated up most of my water for a hot-water (platypus) bottle, thinking I could warm up my frozen feet, and have pre-warmed water for breakfast and a cuppa. It would have worked, in the morning it was at body heat, but I didn't take enough care balancing pan on stove and the lot went into the pine needles. I had enough (cold) water left to make my porridge and half a cup of tea.

As I was packing up I found out why there were so many pheasants. My camp was next to where the gamekeeper had his feeding station. He came whistling by on his quad bike with a bag of feed on the back. When I say "whistling", I mean he was actually whistling, calling the birds which were following him in hundreds.

Onward then, to LLanrheadr-ym-Mochnant then up to Pistyll Rheadr to look at the rheadr

This was a departure from my planned route which would have been on the other side of the valley. After lunch in the cafe (home made steak pie, chips and veg) I climbed up the path

to look at the falls from the top. It's a lot steeper than it looks in the photo. From the top there seemed to be a good path heading across to join where I had originally intended to go. Inevitably, the path disappeared and I was left with a wet-foot river crossing followed by a horrible steep tussocky mossy HAB before finding rideable track.

I found a mine adit above Llangynog and crawled in to see, but it was only 50-ish yards along.


A bit further down there's this ideal bivvy spot for those that like sleeping on the ground



Sheltered on four sides, flat, dry and free from sheep poo. You couldn't ask for more.

It'll soon be March

Got my Feb bivvy in last night, in the local woods. Left the house around 9 and was asleep by 9.30. A cold night - my water bottle was full of ice this morning, but I was almost toasty in my Cumulus down bag (its only a 150, but really warm).

A long ride home looking for some bird hides I've seen from the train, but they are locked behind nature reserve big gates and guarded by geese.

Saw some great crested grebes doing their mating ritual at the local lake and then dropped by a place we used to go to as kids on hot sunny days - it hasn't changed much - and bonus spot was a kingfisher.

Home for breakfast and defrosted toes.

Simon72 - is that Northumberland? It looks like a ruined house I found last summer