First time bikepacking adventures – a baptism in Scotland! (pic heavy!)

So after various posts about tents, bikepacking etc, we finally got round to giving it a go ourselves, and after slightly laughing at adsbatts89, we promised we’d do a write up of our first go.

The kit: Cotic Souls (his and hers – how cute), Alpkit Koala, fuel pod for me (I eat A LOT), Kanga for p20 and Joey with eBay straps for me, both with Sea-to-Summit compression dry bags, Blackburn framebag for p20. Tent (midge proof over the bivys): Terra Nova Solar Photon 2 (first look review here). Mats: Alpkit numo. Primus AluTech pot, gas burner and various freeze dried meals. Plus all the other bits and pieces.

IMG_3754 by ritcheyp20[/url], on Flickr

IMG_3755 by ritcheyp20[/url], on Flickr

The route(s):
Tour de Ben Nevis – pretty much as per the race route. Glen Nevis to Kinlochleven (via WHW) was an interesting warm up. We probably should have stayed on the forest road, rather than riding against the flow of walkers on the singletrack but they were generally amused by us and we got a couple of rounds of applause (sympathy vote I think!). After 8 miles I really questioned whether I was able to do this – the bikes felt heavy and I felt naff. However after stern talking too and the start of A LOT of malt loaf consumption, an improved mental state arose.

IMG_3771 by ritcheyp20[/url], on Flickr

We continued on to camp about 1 km from Meannanach Bothy.

IMG_3799 by ritcheyp20[/url], on Flickr

This was to be the possible test of our marriage! We knew the Solar Photon was small, and rain started to come in as we pitched it. To be honest, as long as you don’t try laying out your mats (something we quickly realised) it is perfectly liveable to eat in and shelter. There is no doubt the porch is small and from now on we will carry one large dry bag to put everything else in to leave outside the tent. However, the whole thing fits in the Blackburn framebag on p20s bike. Pretty impressive. We ended up with it in wind, rain and sun and it was great in all. It really needs the footprint – the floor is clearly waterproof but very thin – without it you’d be restricted where you can pitch. The floor is the other source of amusement …if the ground isn’t exactly flat the combination of the super light/slippy fabric and the Numo mats, you will spend most of the night sliding. Its fine, its not that bigger tent, there is only so far you can go. The inner is kept well away from the fly and we never got damp.

IMAG0089 by Tasha[/url], on Flickr

The next morning started with the awful push north and a pretty grim first 3 miles (not enough food!) but after that, despite some pretty heavy showers, it was great fun and largely downhill. Highly recommended route.

IMG_3813 by ritcheyp20[/url], on Flickr

The second route – feeling slightly over confident and inspired by fanatics thread, we headed on the Tour de Cairngorm as he plotted up, without going to Nethy Bridge. Well all we can say is the track from Bynack More to Fords of Avon and Lairig an Laoigh is AWFUL! It didn’t help that the Garmin showed 99oF and we aren’t as fit as we should be, but dear god, unless you are Danny Mac, I don’t see how large sections of that are ridable. I am embarrassed to say how long it took us to do the 15 miles to Derry Lodge that day, but it was too long and never to be repeated! Shot me if you ever see me heading that way with a bike!

Couple of photos of the nice bits…
IMG_3903 by ritcheyp20[/url], on Flickr

IMG_3919 by ritcheyp20[/url], on Flickr

Anyway, we had a great camp waking up in the woods.

IMAG0278 by Tasha[/url], on Flickr

And the following day was just another world. Jockthestore described it as ‘double track monotony’ but with fully loaded bikes, we decided we’d take that any day. Going was so much better, lovely weather and tail wind, we made it to Glen Brown (a vastly improved 39 miles!). I slept like the proverbial log!

IMG_3929 by ritcheyp20[/url], on Flickr

IMAG0288 by Tasha[/url], on Flickr

The efforts of the day before somewhat showed on the final spin back to Glenmore via Scotroutes Eag Mhor singletrack detour; which was lovely, but I was just too trashed too appreciate. In fact I added to the bruises I had collected on day 1, with another tired crash (and a bit of a strop!). The van was a welcome sight. 66 miles, 2060 m of climbing, 48 hours. Some absolute moments of hell and some moments of brilliance. I have no doubt that many can do it faster (I have total respect for the likes of Postierich, Scotroutes etc), but it felt like a pretty major achievement for us!

IMG_3876 by ritcheyp20[/url], on Flickr

So on reflection – yes we do like bikepacking. Our kit works – we need to work out how to deal with dry socks and wet shoes better on an evening (supermarket bags with holes in, surprisingly, don’t work!) and we forgot the antibacterial hand gel! 😛 The straps on some of the Alpkit bags are a pain in the backside, and I have no idea how Scotroutes gets all packed up, breakfasted and back on the bike in half an hour (blog stalking!) – no way we could achieve that. We certainly will do more stuff, but I don’t like pushing my bike for long at the best of times, let alone with a load of extra gear, so routes need careful consideration. We have wild camped before, and being in wild Scotland a mistrust of humanity wasn’t an issue, but we’d carry a lock on some other routes I am sure. To be honest, an owl made us jump the most!

Thanks STW, you have been an inspiration and we had a pretty epic holiday. Including a couple of days guided sea kayaking and wild camping at Arisaig between the two bike rides!

IMAG0213 by Tasha[/url], on Flickr

Nice!!!

Like that a lot. Ta for posting 😀

Brilliant. Complaining about it being too hot though – are you Scottish?

Couple of tips if I may….

Some seam sealant strips on the floor of your tent will make it “sticky” enough for the mats not to slip (I’ve still a tent to do this to too).

Organisation (and hence speed) comes with a bit of practice and repetition. While you might keep tweaking your gear etc, always putting the same stuff in the same place means it’s quick to pack and easy to find. This isn’t a just a racing issue either, when it’s cold and wet and you need to get going quickly to warm up, it makes a huge difference. Though some poo-poo the idea, I like having a few different coloured/sized drybags and always use the same ones (e.g. spare clothes in the yellow one, gadgets in the green one).

There are lots of routes that don’t involve a hike of death, though they are sometimes necessary to join up the good bits. The Fords of Avon to Glen Derry bit is certainly testing – especially if you’re not used to handling a loaded bike. Again – practice, practice, practice.

Nice write up, enjoyed reading that.

Fantastic scenery, nice one!

Aye, if you think Bynack More an the L&L is bad in the dry, add a couple inches of (running) ground water. Softy southerners mutter, mumble…. 😉

I think you’ll find SR only takes half an hour because he stops for a proper breakfast at the nearest available breakfast outlet!

Good that you enjoyed your outing though.

My next outing is the northern CL (but back via Geldie/Feshie rather than L&L). If ScotRoutes joins me I’ll put the stopwatch on just for accuracy sake! 😉

ETA: nice bikes… 😀

Nice write up. Looks a good break.

Good ride. Proper RSF mountainbiking 🙂

Looks like a great trip

Unless you’ve done it, it’s easy to underestimate the extra work required in riding a loaded bike off-road. But it’s bloody good fun!

Fab. And 2nd what scotroutes says, different coloured bags for different kit

Lovely. Really want to go sea kayaking up there!

I have no idea how Scotroutes gets all packed up, breakfasted and back on the bike in half an hour (blog stalking!) – no way we could achieve that.

Some morning tips:

Steps to a quick getaway:

Set up everything for a quick start before going to sleep. I fill my Jetboil with the right amount of water for porridge and coffee and keep it on standby in the tent’s vestibule. Have all the food you plan to eat ready (but don’t do this in bear country!). Then, this:

1. Make sure your alarm goes off loud as f@ck in the far end of the tent so you’re forced to get up to turn it off
2. Open the valve of your air mattress
3. Get up and light up Jetboil
4. Shut off the alarm
5. Put on riding clothes
6. Stuff sleeping bag
7. By now the water is boiling. Pour it into your favourite titanium cup and add porridge flakes. Eat and scrape the sides with your spork. Pour more hot water and add instant coffee.
8. Since the coffee is likely too hot, pack your stuff and roll up your sleeping mattress while it cools.
9. Enjoy your coffee. It also cleans your mug from the porridge. Kind of.
10. Stuff your gear into your seat and frame bag, then take down the tent and pack it along with your dry base layer.

I reckon it’s a lot easier to be quick on your own, you don’t have to consider the other person’s possible desire to be on holiday rather than a military exercise!

http://cog.konaworld.com/tag/erik-plankton/

nice little vid in there too.

Nice one! Great write up! I like to do my bike packing vicariously through others to be honest! 😳 😆

Enjoyed that, thanks for sharing!

Good write up that,thanks for posting.
I’m doing my first Bikepacking overnighter in a few weeks so it’s good to read other peoples experiences & opinions.

It’s 15yrs since I did Bynack and I some how forgot how bad the valley bottom was. It will be sometime before I head that way again…
I forgot to take the seat posts for bikepacking so we had to make do with the reverbs. Not ideal but it worked.
The bikes handled brilliantly, but the additional weight did show when climbing/pushing.
I really enjoyed waking up in middle of nowhere and heading off for a new day.
I’m definitely up for more of this, we just need to be careful with the route choice.

Scotroutes, I did think the same the sealant to stop the slipping!!

Lovely read that, thanks for posting. I’m always impressed by people who a) get out there and b) manage to take plenty of photos while doing it, I’m useless at documenting my own rides.

Awesome post. Just the sort that makes a 37 year old dad pandering after adventures!

Thanks all for the comments. Its certainly been an adventure. Some useful advice as well. We certainly will look at some seam sealant on the tent floor.

To be honest, we will always be in holiday mode, so if it takes us an hour to pack up, so be it, but some better organisation is probably a good idea anyway, to avoid my just dumping all the contents of my seat pack on the floor approach anyway!

Organisation (and hence speed) comes with a bit of practice and repetition. While you might keep tweaking your gear etc, always putting the same stuff in the same place means it’s quick to pack and easy to find. This isn’t a just a racing issue either, when it’s cold and wet and you need to get going quickly to warm up, it makes a huge difference. Though some poo-poo the idea, I like having a few different coloured/sized drybags and always use the same ones (e.g. spare clothes in the yellow one, gadgets in the green one).

This.
It amazes me how many folk strew kit around the campsite, don’t keep everything in its specific bag when not being used, don’t clean/wash immediately after cooking, don’t multitask while stove is on etc.
I add 5 mins to scotroutes plan if the day is particularly wet, as I cook and eat inside, having removed tent inner and pack all away having not set foot outside in the wet/wind/cold.

This week should see the arrival of my new compact sleeping mat, that’s hopefully the last piece of kit to get me going. Hope to do my first overnighter in the next couple of weeks.

Currently have one man tent (aldi) with alloy pegs, and a light(ish) sleeping bag (mtn warehouse). Rolled together they fit in my front dry bag. Poles go in the frame bag. Stove, food, spare clothes and mat should go in seatpack. Anything else to go in frame bag.

I’ll try and get a thread up after the first trip, if I survive!

Thanks for sharing

Has anyone got the footprint for the Solar Photon 2?

I’ve just received one, and it was described as Fastpack ready, meaning you can use the flysheet without the inner.

To me this would mean it has holes for each of the 3 pole endpoints. But it only has 2: one at each side on the door end, but nothing at the foot end meaning there’s nothing to mount that pole into. Does that match yours?

My alpkit has a separate strap in the bag for exactly this – you replace inner with strap.

To me this would mean it has holes for each of the 3 pole endpoints. But it only has 2: one at each side on the door end, but nothing at the foot end meaning there’s nothing to mount that pole into. Does that match yours?

I am 99% sure that ours had a hole in the middle of the footprint at the toe end to clip the pole into. I can double check when I get home later, but I think you have a duff one!

We did check, and ours has a tab in the middle of the back end of the footprint with an eyelet in it for the pole, so it sounds like yours if a defective one.

Thats ace. Well done.

good honest write up.. well done to you and your missus

good honest write up.. well done to you and your missus

Ta. Well apart from the misses was the one who wrote it 😛 😛

Thanks for checking ashat. I confirmed and mine does not. Back to the retailer!