slowupslowdown wrote:Audax / roadie style adventure this end to put in the miles ahead of big rides in May and June.

235miles in total.

Ended up on Donna Nook sand dunes which were lovely but it was very cold and only took a summer bag to reduce bulk on the bike.

Not the best nights sleep but with sand pegs now on the shopping list, any future dune camping wont result in the gogo collapsing quite so much!

Any seals?

sadly not! that would have been ace!

Well that’s 4/4 for me and the first weekend of the month which is a record for me…

I won’t double post but I had an excellent beach bivi with JohnClimber, Summittoppler and 99%chimp on Newborough beach in Anglesey.

Great ride, great company and stunning scenery. Right up there as one the of the best trips I’ve done

Couple of pics

4/4 for me. Three nights out in April - Penrhos Isaf bothy, a small wooden cabin at Nant-yr-Arian and a stealth location in Llanwrtyd Wells so we could catch the first train out at 6:15am.

Ian wrote:4/4 for me. Three nights out in April - Penrhos Isaf bothy, a small wooden cabin at Nant-yr-Arian and a stealth location in Llanwrtyd Wells so we could catch the first train out at 6:15am.

As above for me too.

EDIT:

My full ride report: http://www.composite-projects.co.uk/201 ... coast-ish/

Ian looked happy to be there though.

Peter and myself went out to give him a taste of the kind of thing that might be instore at the WRT ... 'twas bit blowy but rain free which in my book equals a result. Sadly there were no knee deep boggy death marches, never mind, maybe next time.



My evening residence.



Peter getting packed away.

4/4

Thanks to Stuart for a great two days. Two main learning points were that central Wales is far lumpier than the Ridgeway and it's clear from the photo that I carry far too much gear for an overnighter.

April ticked off last nite with a ride from home to Brown Clee and back. Set off yesterday afternoon and was set up by 7pm ready to watch the sunset with a brew. Sun was up again this morning and I was back home for 11am. 50mile round trip. Cracking nite, cold and breezy though!!
Can't get Flickr to work for some reason. Cant get the BB code
https://www.flickr.com/photos/120615004@N05/13759767485

4/4 for me with another Surrey hills overnighter last night. My brother was testing out his new Wildcat and Alpkit gear in preparation for our Scotland trip next month.

Definitely the warmest and most comfortable bivy of the year so far. We woke to a glorious morning and the first cuckoo of spring. Marvellous.

4/4. Bit of a continuation of my failed March ride. Got a train to Chester and cycled South towards Telford and onto Cannock Chase where I camped near the German war cemetery. Next morning picked up water at Tackaroo and then to Birches valley to make breakfast and use the facilities. I then went to Hicks Lodge for breakfast before picking up local trails home, about 135 miles in all.

I had created a gps track to transfer to my unit. Usually I check it is there but I can't have. When I got to Chester no trail to follow so made it up as I went.

Breakfast was some choccy Readybrek and powdered milk made up in a bag where I just added hot water. Put some chia seeds and sultanas in there as well.

WRT next.

I will be trying first bivvy on the chase one day this weekend as it's on my doorstep.

jay91 wrote:I will be trying first bivvy on the chase one day this weekend as it's on my doorstep.

Well good luck on the chase, as much as I like a blast round the trails it's not a place I would rush to bivi in. If local I guess you know all the doggers spots right?

I'm in Birmingham by the way. If you fancied meeting for a local-ish bivi some time give me a shout.

Barney how did you get this picture by the way?

Sneaked April in with the missus and youth's

Only about a 5 mile ride from my parents place but considering my eldest dosnt have an MTB just now and was riding his BMX it was enough.

Nice breezy spot for it


Tent for them two as it was set to be chilly


A rather too small tarp for me and the missus.
It was her first experience of a tarp, she likes, though it was cold enough to get a decent frost on and a bit of ice in my water bottles :-/

Great stuff FLV. Must have had some very high quality time.

bivvied with my girlfriend in poor show weather last night. Saw a hare - easter bunny? - and believe it must have frozen to death. Landscape completely covered in white stuff. Tested my DIY Primaloft quilt weighing in at 320 g. Temps down to -3 °C, I was cold but not shivering. I don't think I'll do it again on purpose

composite wrote:Barney how did you get this picture by the way?

Its one I took with a GoPro 2 on the wide setting. There was some raised ground just opposite so I scrambled up in the morning and took the pic
Height + widescreen = a view which looks a lot higher than it actually is!!!

4/4

Checking out the route i have in mind for the Tdf trip in July. Great to discover a few new trails and ride a few i havent ridden for years.

The sun was shining and i was running out of pack space, so after checking the weather forecast i decided to leave the jacket at home. Its a steep climb out of Halifax but the down on the other side more than makes up for it



After that, it was a bit up dale, down dale as i made my way across Calderdale, but someone had kindly built me a bridge across one of the valleys



More ups and downs before arriving at the pub for a swift half (and a cheeky water re-fill) before making my way up on't Moor to bivi down of the night.

Awoke in the morning to a fantastic sunrise



I wondered why i was a little cold during the night. It seems like it was a little colder than i was expecting



After a cold start it warmed up as i started to make my way home and found a few nice bits of singletrack and the sounds of the steam train in the background



A bit of getting lost and a footpath that went through someones garden. It was time to think about lunch. The sun was out, the chippy was open and there was cricket playing. What else could a Yorkshireman want



Up and over to pick up a cheeky decent down into Hebbers before heading home

I used to work behind the bar at Dick Hudsons

Aprils effort for me was eight nights up in Scotland on the islands of Aran, Islay and the mainland. Had one night on a campsite for a shower the rest were wildcamps. Managed to lug my loaded trailer ( 15kgs dont ask ) around for 400miles, came back with some seriously tired legs!

Fantasticmrmatt wrote:I used to work behind the bar at Dick Hudsons

It must have gone downhill since you left. They now sell coffee

blackhound where did you end up after the chase, sounds a good trip, jay91 where do you live i,m in rugeley

Paramart. I live top of pyegreen/hednesford

jay91 martin said he sent you a msg to say who,s local to you, we will have to sort something out, i went with martin and neil 1st time for yrs but with less gear and even with a slight weather blip it was ace, i ride with the wmmtb.co.uk group as do mart and neil usually ride up by pye green tower area some good trails

April in the bag, so 4/4



http://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2014/04/ ... e-out.html

5/5

Got a ride in last weekend, nobody else out? On Saturday rode with 'Numplumz' Jack to Knighton who then rode home. I headed back to Rhyader and was in town mid afternoon and ahead of time. Instead of cutting short I rode up the Elan Valley and stayed at Nant Rhys bothy before doing 30km home on Monday.

Totals for 3 days was 191km with 3,505m of climb.

P5041326 by blackhound59, on Flickr