was working in Norway last week , landed at 15:15 , Mrs T-r was out supervising a DOE group in Glen Tanar SO.

by 7pm i had got home, packed the bike , packed the van and driven to linn of dee to set off out glen geldie in an awesome sunset with my buddy Alex.

One of the many river crossings that night powered by petzl after Alex’ diablo ran out of power in a “oh crap ive been using full power” moment.

We made our way bogsnorkling and shoving through deep water before crossing the waterfall and traversing the washed out paths in upper feshie – no photos , twas dark !

We made it to Ruighe-aiteachain at 11pm to be greeted with an open door…. “hello” – “hello” … no reply. Quick look about reveals a broken door latch and the door had blown open. Haste repairs to the door latch to save it flaping in the wind all night took place before we got the stove lit to dry out the shoes and socks from all the bog snorkling.

cooking my dinner or my hot chocolate – who knows and drying out the boots infront of the stove.

unfortunantly after 6 years of abuse – my neoair has finally got a hole in the somewhere – so i went to sleep comfy as owt – woke up at 7am with it fully deflated – bugger – and i dont have a bath to find out where the hole is !

7am Start after a very quick breakfast we headed down feshie for The bothy at loch an eilean to start the singletrack. We were on a tight time frame so crossing the bridge to take in the feshie singletrack wasnt on our agenda this time.

Riding away in the morning

does any one know why the whirly bird was at st columbas ? (i know thats CGMRT HQ , i meant was there a SAR on yesterday)

We had a quick pitstop at the glenmore lodge visitors centre to replenish our breakfasts with soups and toasties – and some much needed caffiene

.

Slogging up bynack mor – Stuff the lactic ladder at golspie , this was a whole new leg burn riding up that – my 29er definantly liked the steps more than alex 26er 😀

Topping out on the shoulder.

heading for the descent.

Alexs photo of me ….

Bit of a shove through here to get to the fords of avon refuge.

Big country !

A stretch ….. Although if you were caught up there in a storm it would be paradise. Mental note – as everyone whos been there suggests NEVER plan to use this as an overnight stop.

Rocky trail was a struggle on full rigid loaded bike 🙁 ride a bit – push a bit – ride a bit ….

the edge of the WORLD !!!

someone riding a bike 😀

more bike riding – who woulda thought.

another of Alex’ shots.

heading down for glen derry through the larig au laroigh

Glen derry ….. punctuated by ridable or bunny hoppable drainage ditches .

6 days 22 hours spesh eschelon helmet boogered after a direct hit on a rock. On one of the fast downhill sections i went through some long grass – which was obscuring a large wheel sized hole about 2 foot deep – bike stopped instantly – I smashed my helmet , my oakleys and broke my nose. But seeing the rock i hit with the helmet i can deal with that .

Made it back to the cars at 4.20pm leaving 2 hours to get home before the deadline – which was still tight with all the 68bhp of my van !

#Jennride.

Fantastic! 😀
Except the crash and broken nose obvs. 🙁

my nose is actually working better than ever…… Its had a deviated septum for years and ive been for a rhinoplasty when i was 18. – its still deviated but less deviated now and i can breath proper feels like a new nose.

did 100k on the road this morning and felt a new lease of breathing when climbing hills , it must be what a car feels like when it has an airfilter change 😀

Not looking forward to the opticians tomorrow morning with those clampy specs they use :S

Win on the new nose.
*Like* on the ride.

Excellent, very inspiring.

Cheers.

Nice one Terry!

These pic filled stories have very much put ‘the middle of nowhere in Scotland’ very much back on the list 🙂

Superb.

And I think I know the hole you hit after doing a superman over it last year!

Great stuff! You got fabulous weather for it. I was out in the Cairngorms twice last week and it was scorchio though I gather the nights were more than a bit chilly.
Glen Geldie in the dark – well done sir, it’s a necessary ordeal of a glen to link up the good stuff though I’m not sure I’d rush back to do it again.

Nice one Sire!!

Some real mountainbiking. 🙂

Nice one OP! Looks brilliant.

Lush 🙂
Except nose/ helmet/ sleepmat/ river crossings by petzl!

tbh geldie in the dark wasnt so bad – in someways it was preferable almost….. the roar of the waterfall was disconcerting though – Very powerful sounding water !

Oh and finding ways across the rivers without getting soaked through – Maxx D shon up and down stream to find stepping stones.

Great stuff!

I wonder if it was related to this from Heavy Whalley’s blog — bit at the end makes ref. to a SAR hell going overhead. https://heavywhalley.wordpress.com/2015/10/04/a-special-day-in-the-cairngorms-an-emotional-visit-to-the-an-lurg-wellington-crash/

Yeah I was thinking the challenge might make it more interesting though in daylight it’s maybe easier to see where the burn crossings are. I think I remember rightly from my recent visit that it’s possible to not have to ford but this didn’t make any difference to my comfort then as it was constant rain and everything was soaked.

I know what you mean about waterfalls. Pattack falls in spate t’other week I found rather unsettling (though awesome too).

Nice work on the trip !Just curious why not stay over in the second bothy ?

thanks for that kcal interesting read- We probably passed them on their travels. The SAR chopper crossed us overhead also – its an eerie- as theres rarely a good reason for them to be out but its also majestic sight to see it in the mountains- even if i do regularly go to work on them. – not a patch on the old canary though.

The second both is not a bothy – its a mountain refuge , its 5ft high and has room for about 4 folk. if its full theres no shelter for miles – in bad weather i wouldnt bet my last dollar on you still having a tent in the morning regardless of how many seasons it is…..

One of the most powerful images i’ve come across to remind you to be responsible for your own safety in the mountains and one i remind my self of and post on here regularly.

Looks proper good that, bet you covered some distance. Not sure I fancy the river crossings in the dark, bad enough in the day.

Cracking weather for it.