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What approach would you take to Munro bagging? Are you a ‘gotta catch em all’, or a ‘when the sun shines I’ll bag another’ kind of person?
Our very own Sanny set out to bag the Munros by bike as an incentive to get out there a bit more and make the most of good conditions. It’s not about setting a goal and forcing himself up them come hell or high water. If you’d like to read about that and see a selection of the pictures he’s also bagged on the way, you should read Singletrack Issue 125.
Images: Sanny
Sanny now reckons he’s got less than 100 to go – though given his vagueness we can see he’s still not taking the counting and bagging terribly seriously. There’s no spreadsheet or ticked off Spotter’s Guide to Munros. He’s just quietly working his way up and down them over the years.
Others take a more focussed approach to Munro bagging, and Sean ‘Griz’ Green is one of them. He’s still working his way through them all, but he’s already made this video to explain what is driving him out there, up there, and over the hills.
Sean Green is a well recognised face on the mountain’s of Scotland. With a eclectic mix of tattoos, his grizzly frame and often with a bike on his back, a shrinking violet he is not. A childhood spent drawing patterns on himself while dreaming of the rugged peaks, whirling dervishes and esoteric endeavours that the Highlands provide left Sean with a drive to summit them all – “bagging” as it has now commonly become known as .
While he isn’t the first (Paul Tattersal can claim this feat) to make all 282 summits by bike, and being only just over half way through, Sean is a working guy with a young family – requiring a deft ability to juggle his own ambitions with the responsibilities of family life – that makes his project both long, arduous and at times, at risk of going unfulfilled.
Images: Andy Cole
In Sean’s own word’s the dream he is chasing goes beyond the physical experiences “I often get asked about my favourite descent. And that’s a really hard one to answer. I reckon there are maybe 6 or 7 that would battle it out for the top spot. What makes it so hard is the romanticism of these mountains and the emotions they evoke. Some of the best days on my bike, haven’t necessarily been on the best trails that these mountains offer, but instead, a combination of sights and feelings which filled me with nothing but ‘euphoria’ for want of a better word.
Images: Andy Cole
Standing atop the summit of Binnien Mor at 10.15 PM on a summers night, watching the sunset over the mighty Ben Nevis. Not a breath of wind, clear skies for 100miles in every direction, a feeling of true solitude and ultimately insignificance In this world. A clear mind to focus on nothing but your surroundings. All that matters is me, my bike, and making it off this mountain with the biggest smile on my face.
Those are the days I yearn for, the slithers of golden singletrack never before ridden, are just a bonus.”
After all this time staying close to home, does the prospect of ticking off mountains get your adventure whiskers twitching? Or is just being out there all the incentive you need?
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Ah the joy of Munro Bagging.
For me, it isn’t about the end goal of doing them all but just the opportunity to ride somewhere new and see what goes and, of course, what doesn’t. Some of the peaks such as the Aonach Eagach and the Inn Pinn are an exercise in doing it for the sake of doing it while doing it in the pissing rain and mist seems kind of pointless to me.
The expansive views make for a huge part of the experience so I tend to reserve my adventures for the good days when the sun is shining or when there is snow to play on.
Like Hannah says, I have no spreadsheet or tick list and I have a habit of returning to old favourites which makes doing new ones that bit harder! Ha! Ha!
Give it a go. It’s fun and you might just love it!
Cheers
Sanny
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/help-needed-to-put-the-mountains-into-mountain-biking-riding-the-munros/page/15/
The definitive Singletrack thread!
Cheers
Sanny
https://singletrackworld.com/2019/09/there-and-back-again-putting-the-mountains-back-into-mountain-biking/
Might as well throw this in too!
Yeah, I’ve given up on the idea of doing them all by bike. The good ones are amazing but I’ve done enough slogs up boggy hillsides and walked my bike down enough unrideable boulder fields to be able to appreciate that I’m there for a good time not to tick off a list.
It really is the best form of mountain biking, nothing else can match it. The planning, the maps, the challenge of getting up there, the long, long, technical descents. It’s amazing.
Hi Munrobiker!
Too true. They are not all classics but an awful lot are. I completely agree that it is the best kind of biking.
What have you got planned for this year when lockdown lifts?
Cheers
Sanny
I have 82 left, some i have did more than once. I have no timeframe to complete. I love the looks you get from walkers when they see some idiot blazing through a boulder field on his bike or riding down a section they have just scrambled up.
Nothing beats it for me.