Ok people , me and 2 others have a bike packing trip planned for last week in March , 180 miles round the Cairngorms loops, over 5 days and we will be planning hopefully to try and kip in bothies all being well but will need to be prepared incase this isn’t possible , any hints/tips on kit to take as there seems to be various lists of kit online ,
Cheers

fat bike for the snow!

Get yourself over to the Bearbones Bikepacking forum and browse for an evening or two. You should find all of those questions answered. If you want some specific information about route conditions, ask nearer the time and I’ll do my best to let you know.

End of March might be challenging. We were still skiing in May last year.

Also worth mentioning bikepacking.com has good general tips and lots of glossy pics. March seems optimistic though, even from my bikepacking novice perspective!

Last year’s CL group start was cancelled due to the amount of snow in May. As Scotroutes mentions it might be challenging in March. The Glen Feshie bothy (which I can’t spell the Gaelic name of) has been undergoing restoration work but could be open again.

Here’s a good a start as any:

Bikepacking 101

There’s a few bikepacking threads on here (that monster one especially….)

ETA: I did the inner loop couple months back. Wrote about it here: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/joining-the-bandwagon-275-bike-packing/page/2#post-8027832

The whole thread was my journey into bikepacking…. for what it’s worth.

That link whitestone posted mentions September as a completion date. Ignore that.

@ ScotRoutes: doesn’t say which September….

Ah. True.

There’s three main US sites: bikepacking.com; bikepacking.net; bikepackersmagazine.com on this side of the water there’s bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk

If you want some (opinionated [in the nicest possible way]) tips then look at the “reviews” section on the bearbones site, it’s not just reviews, it’s a blog with reviews, tips and comments.

Re: Glen Feshie. I had a look at the UKbothies forum and there’s a post saying the estate have only recently submitted plans for the bothy so it could be a while.

All you need right here o.p 🙂

Thanks for all the info etc so far guys !!! The reasoning for the end of March timing was to miss the midge season which I’ve heard is HELL ! Also to fit in with work commitments for the 3 of us along with holidays and wedding to attend , so we are fairly limited on time unfortunately 🙁

Re: Glen Feshie. I had a look at the UKbothies forum and there’s a post saying the estate have only recently submitted plans for the bothy so it could be a while.

Nah. The plans were submitted and approved months ago. Last time I was along there the roof was off and they’d already started building the new entrance porch and staircase.

As for the midges: suck it up. We had two bad weeks this year, both in August. Wear Smidge. Do you honestly think no one rides or walks in Scotland after March?

I have a wildcat mountain lion harness for sale, gimme an email if interested.

Midges won’t be around until late May at the earliest, and usually mid June before annoyingly bad, and usually gone by mid September. Cycle at >5mph and you’ll be fine. Pick stopping points wisely (breeze, away from still water) and shouldn’t even be too bad in peak season and too much smoke inside bothies for them! Smidge, Avon skin so soft, and a midge net and open fire can make peak July/Aug season bearable at walking pace.

In contrast we’ve have snow falling at low level in may bad enough we had to take shelter in a random building for an hour!

Mm certainly some food for thought all thanks !! Sounds like majority of ride will be unrideable from what I’m hearing ? Or will it be sections unrideable ?

CGL in March. Good luck!

This was in May 2 years ago:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/rxUHKs]P5020071.jpg[/url] by Greg.May, on Flickr

On the outer loop…

This looks like a good route HT550. I think the race is full for 2017, but the route could be done earlier. Plenty of bothies, and there are write ups of other people’s attempts.
“Bikepacker.com” and “bikepacking.com” are both full of interesting info.

A plan B might be wise?
I have a fixed date of the 14 April arriving in Caingorms so it might be Lochs and Glens North again for me!

HT550 is quite a “good route” alright. But not what would be suggested for a starter. Some…committing sections with no resupply. Also, quite a chunk of HAB.

S’alright I s’pose 😉

Some sections of the ht550 could still be fairly wintery in the winter. And committing. Last year the fisherfield section took me nearly 12 hours moving time in excellent conditions. Could be 2 days in the snow.

If you can cross the river…

GregMay – what ratio/cogs were you running when you did the CGL please ? 2 of us are ss also 🙂

chambo82 – Member
GregMay – what ratio/cogs were you running when you did the CGL please ? 2 of us are ss also

32/20 with front ring being oval – roughly a 31.

I carried – a warm sleeping bag, bivi, waterproofs, SPOT, Primaloft jacket, spare gloves, 2 tubes/pump/multi tool, some food. I did not stop bar to restock food and wee.

Chambo82, may I ask why you have picked the Cairngorm Loop.

From the sounds of your post (maybe I have misread it) you are not an experienced bike packer, not even an experienced mountain hiker/backpacker.

Going straight into a tough, remote mountain route in March is a bit like jumping straight into a F1 car without have done any carting…. ok, it’s not that extreme but I am just trying to point out that there are plenty of other challenging routes that might be a better fit. If it goes wrong then it won’t be just you guys that are at risk, someone has to come and get you off the hill.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a challenge and will be doing the Loop next year myself as it looks a corker.

Whatever you decide on, enjoy and be safe.

Echo others, March is more ski touring than MTB time in the gorms.

180 miles in 5 days is going to be hard if conditions are tough /snowy I would have thought. Don’t know the area but are there options for shortening the route / bugging out are there if the distance doesn’t go to plan?

In terms of tips – If you have a means of heating water (I use a white box stove and a ti mug) then pour and store bags are your friend.

Simply fill them with cous cous and stuff that keeps a few days – chorizo, mushroom, feta and loads of spices/flavourings. I made an envelope out of 3mm laminate flooring underlay foam, just slightly bigger than the pour and store bag, pop bag inside, top up with hot water and close up bag and envelope.

3 mins later, you have a really welcome hot and flavoursome meal. And also save you having to carry cooking stuff. They take up hardly any space – frame bag is ideal shape to take all of this stuff.

Right but if an update all, we have postponed the trip until middle of May instead March , obviously still not guaranteed decent weather but more chance than in March !! So now the list of gear is gathering momentum and training has picked up since before Christmas , just need to narrow down options on where to park and leave a vehicle for the 5 days and kit options , thanks for all the advice people, much appreciated and always helps to have unbiased opinions 🙂

Cheers Bob ;o)

@OP: being new to this game I’m finding that practice is needed.

Practice in packing for riding, riding with packs, unpacking and setting up, breaking camp and packing up again. It’s good to have a system, remembering where you put everything (i.e. Where the hell is the fire stick for lighting the stove when you stop for a brew…. 😳 )

I’ve done four bivis now and I’ve still not got it right.

I’d recommend that you have a couple of ‘dry runs’ first, even if it’s cycling somewhere fully laden, setting up camp, making a brew, breaking camp and riding home. Obviously better if you can actually bivi though as there’s nothing like the real thing.

If your packs are new they’ll take time to ‘settle’, you’ll undoubtedly pack ‘wrong’ the first time, you’ll find the places that your luggage rubs on your frame and learn how the bike handles with kit. The Cairngorms Loop is full on for a first trip, many times so if the rivers are high or other inclement weather. The grit also goes for your bike/contact points/brake pads.

It is absolutely stunning out there though 😀

To begin with we all take too much. A case of “I might need …”, by the time you’ve packed all the kit the bike (and rucksack) weigh a ton! Make a list or use a spreadsheet and list everything you take.

When you get back go through the list noting what you used and what you didn’t, ignore things like First Aid Kit and repair tools, pump, that sort of thing. Also, out of stuff you used, note what worked and what didn’t.

After a couple of trips you’ll start to see a pattern and realise that you never use half the stuff so you might as well leave it behind. Here’s a guide from the previously mentioned opinionated chap in Mid-Wales. You don’t have to go into race mode, after all you are out there for enjoyment but taking unnecessary stuff gets in the way of that and leaving it behind means there’s room for that bottle of malt 😆

Yep the plan is to get as much gear as possible to get a couple of practice local loops before hand , and the blog post was a great read and oh so true !!! Lol the idea of the ride is certainly exciting and we will be doing the ride to raise money for BHF in recognition of a very good friend of mine who is only 16 years old but unfortunately has just found out she has a serious heart condition which is going to require multiple operations along with a pace maker and is therefore life changing 🙁

Sounds like your taking the right approach. Its not always clear if someone is just looking at a map and think ‘that looks ace’ but not appreciating the full ‘magnitude’ of it… The Fords of Avon, particularly, can be a showstopper when in spate.

A worthy cause. We raised a decent sum for the BHF on behalf of my father after he passed last year. If you have a just giving page post it up nearer the time people on here are usually up for small donations. We can be soft touch’s on matters like that…

Yeh that’s fair enough will stick a link up nearer the time once I have the justgiving set up , really great cause and we usually do at least 1 BHF ride per year so thought we would give it a go ‘self supported’ , we are all experienced campers and mtb riders with a lot of experience it’s just combining the 2 now hence asking for advice on kit really , thanks again for tips and advice all appreciated