Watching is twitter and tracker

Making good at 7mph with a long carry along loch lomond ESP with all kit and food on a pugsley ss

Think Aidan has the right idea – I spenttoo much time cranking big ring aidan is on 28:22

Tortoise power !

Link?

http://www.aidanharding.com/satellite-tracking/

Ta

cool, dig in!

is there a load of snow on the ground?
anyone know?

Good weather for it. Lovely and still.

Nomuch snow at all crisp frost – might be more so up on the high ground he’s Bout to come onto shortly !

good luck Aiden………….much respect.

i could never do long distance stuff by my self
i would be pretty scared and worried to enjoy it.

takes a very tough and dedicated person imho.

He didn’t make it – just too icy and dangerous.

There is a point at which you have to make that call. There is stupid (attempting whw double in winter)and there is downright foolhardy ( carrying on when its dangerous)

It is frozen hard here this morning – and the upper parts of the route would be deep in hard ice still.

Ahh well, wait on some warmer weather sir.

Needs ice spiker endomorphs! – just think of the cost of them !

Was alot of weight to carry along the loch too !

Where did he stop?

We rode from Kinghouse to Tyndrum on Sunday, the conditions were great! It was also pretty mild though, I guess perhaps there was a bit of a thaw on Saturday night. I was looking out for Aidan, had some chocolate and whisky for him if he needed it! 😀

Hope he wasn’t put off by the earthquake in Glenuig!

I’ll be writing up the sorry saga fully some time soon, but here’s the short story:

The first bit was fast. Conic Hill had some sheet ice over the rocks so it was picky to push up and required some pushing down. Loch Lomond wasn’t unduly affected by weather, but was hard work with a loaded fat bike. After Tyndrum was OK for a bit, but foggy. Visibility of 4-5m and solid ice on the trail in places made me walk bits that I would otherwise ride, but most of it was do-able.

After Orchy things got a bit scary. Visibility of about 2m and frozen fog on everything. A good-looking surface (gravel with small stones embedded) had me spun through 90 degrees and going sideways down the trail. I couldn’t even push the bike on the trail at that point – couldn’t stand up anywhere but on the heather. That was where I thought things were getting silly.

There was nothing to do but keep edging around the heather, though. I got out of the fog heading across to the Glencoe ski centre in good conditions. But, I had decided by then that the double was going to be physically beyond me. The question was, how much risk to take and feel like I’d had a good innings?

I bailed at Glencoe. If the Devil’s Staircase had been as bad as some earlier trail conditions, I’d have been in a really hazardous situation. One that I couldn’t justify to mountain rescue if they had to risk themselves to save me.

Looking back, I feel like I gave up too easily, but it’s easy to think that from the warm. I think I could have got to Ft William some time before daylight, but at least I haven’t broken anything before Iditarod.

A couple of notes regarding risks: I did break a spoke on the front wheel hopping around rocks on the edge of Loch Lomond. I also skidded nearly the entire length of a bridge when I saw how it dropped away at the far side; couldn’t lose enough speed so I had to commit and flat-landed a 3 ft drop unseen.

There are some photos here:

http://www.aidanharding.com/gallery/?album=1&gallery=5

Good on him for giving it a go. While he didn’t complete it, I very much doubt anyone should regard the ride as in any sense a failure. The pics on his site are ace.

TJ

Bit harsh saying that he is stupid for trying though, isn’t it? There are whole manner of great things that folk have achieved that could easily fall into that category. Stupid to me is spending your life sitting on your arse watching the telly and getting pissed up then bemoaning your lot in life. Or posting on a forum about other folk being stupid 😉

Aidan

Good on you for giving it a go! Chapeau!

Cheers

Sanny

I also skidded nearly the entire length of a bridge when I saw how it dropped away at the far side

i know the bridge – i did the same but riding a carbon light weight i HAD to loose speed ! – i grabbed the barrier in the end for dear life !

snow probably would have been preferable almost – harder going but safer !

Aidan

I know that very bridge. Me and a couple of my mates flew off it a couple of years ago when we were doing a Ben Lomond ride. It’s fine if you are expecting it…we weren’t ha! ha!

I wonder if a full sus 29er would make things easier for a future ateempt – something light but rolls well and easier to carry?

Fair play for getting as far as you did. The ice is a killer if you are on your own in the dark with no back up to reach you as your phone won’t work.

Will you give it another go?

Cheers

Sanny

sanny im not sure tj is having a go at aidan – i think its more in the crazy kind of stupid. not the idiot kind of stupid 😉

because i have to admit when aidan first told me about this i thought – your mad …. but he has a pedigree in being mad so i figured he would know where to draw the line !

*is impressed*

Aidan, bad luck with the conditions! We saw that fog on Saturday morning, was a bit grim.

I’ve also experienced that bridge, think I managed to stop before take-off though!

Sorry if my comments were taken the wrong way – It was meant as Trail rat says. I have done plenty of things in a similar vein that couch potatoes would think stupid.

I was following his progress on the satellite and tweets and rooting for him

Thanks, guys.

I’m not planning on doing it again. I didn’t really enjoy it as a ride. I don’t mind pushing my bike a bit, but Loch Lomond was plain silly.

TBH, I wouldn’t recommend the ride at all. I know some people will try to make it (like I did) just because it hasn’t been done. But, for me, I’ve seen it and would rather do other things instead of going back to the WHW.

Thanks, guys.

I’m not planning on doing it again. I didn’t really enjoy it as a ride. I don’t mind pushing my bike a bit, but Loch Lomond was plain silly.

TBH, I wouldn’t recommend the ride at all. I know some people will try to make it (like I did) just because it hasn’t been done. But, for me, I’ve seen it and would rather do other things instead of going back to the WHW.

sorry to quote the whole lot BUT – sounds familiar 😉

TBH, I wouldn’t recommend the ride at all. I know some people will try to make it (like I did) just because it hasn’t been done. But, for me, I’ve seen it and would rather do other things instead of going back to the WHW.

Its a different ball game in the summer on a lightweight bike with a small rucsac! 😀

I did the WHW in a day in ’95 and ride bits of it regularly. I think most of it is fine to ride and in nice scenery, the only section that’s a ball ache is Loch Lomondside north of Rowardennan or Inversnaid. But that shouldn’t put people off – just get the wee ferry from Rowardennan or Inversnaid and then rejoin the WHW at the top of the Loch.

Respect..

love to do something similar,

I bailed at Glencoe. If the Devil’s Staircase had been as bad as some earlier trail conditions, I’d have been in a really hazardous situation. One that I couldn’t justify to mountain rescue if they had to risk themselves to save me.

Good call, Killin MRT had a call out to three paragliders that day, stuck up Ben More after climbing up sheet ice/snow in trainers and jeans, then finding it too windy to fly off and getting stuck with ice all round about 50m below summit…

Good effort, and as others say, sunny day and light bike/pack and it is a different walk and ride altogether.

I have a theory that the person who does do the double will not be one of the obvious hardcore endurance riders that everybody thinks it will be. It’ll be someone who spends loads of time in the hills and is using the bike as means rather than an end.

Here (finally!) are my post-WHW thoughts:

http://www.aidanharding.com/2011/02/whw-postmortem/