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Spot tracker is for the wife. 🙄
Spot tracker is for the wife.
Where does she go?
Probably off with another man. But whilst she's there she'll know where I fell to my death in Glen Tilt.
Someone in the thread above offered to post bit of info about the slightly trickier nav spot. I think it was the glen feshie landslip bit.
Will be up that way this weekend, would be great if you could add the info.
😀
OK.
From the Eidart bridge, and after Colins Howff, there is an obvious wide, muddy quad track. This can be followed but is messy and likely to be very unpleasant. Look for some nice singletrack running parallel. It crosses over a couple of times. Once you get to Ruigh nan Leum, just follow the big gravel track.
You then reach the Feshie. The big track fords it twice. If the water is low enough and you don't mind getting wet, crack on across it. Otherwise, a few metres before the ford you will see a thin singletrack climbing away to the right. Follow this uphill and across a couple of dodgy landslips. The two tracks then rejoin.
You then want to follow the new(ish) estate tracks past Ruigh Aiteachain and avoiding bits where the old path was consumed by the river.
You eventually reach the woods surrounding the Allt Garbhlach. The new track cuts off the old fire road, up a couple of steppy bits and, after a few twists and turns, deposits you at what is now a bit of a gorge. Descend this carefully on your left, cross the river, and find a scramble back up to the new track. OR, avoid the steppy bit by carrying on up the old landie track, following the line on the OS map. This takes you to a much easier ford. Push up the small embankment and keep following the old track until it meets the new one.
At Achlean, the route now goes further away from the house on the right than is shown on the OS map, towards a new radio mast. It's a big new track so you shouldn't miss it.
As far as the "official" CL300 route is concerned, the GPX file will be updated in the next couple of weeks.
For the group start, is it still the case that you can choose which order to ride the inner and outer loops? The new website seems to suggest inner then outer. Not sure what I prefer though. Evening food resupply options in Tomintoul then Braemar via the outer first or having fresher legs and mind for the rougher inner loop sections first!
The route is Blair Atholl - Gaick - Glenmore - Fords of Avon - Linn of Dee - Inverdruie - Tomintoul - Braemar - Blair Atholl. In that order. The inner loop is done reasonably early on.
FWIW, we had another fast finisher last week; 20hrs 5mins
20 starters now and a couple more swithering. Anyone thinking about turning up on 12th September should really get their name in now.
There was not an option on the order on the old site either.
Resupply works well at the morlich cafe then I rode through to tomintoul for my next stop at the old fire station....unless it's changed hands avoid...it was a necessary evil at the time of day. Then braemar for an early lunch
Quite excited. Currently in Laggan and hoping to try the inner loop tomorrow to get an idea just how far beyond me the full thing would be. The comments above seem to suggest the inner loop is more harderer than the outer per km (though obviously much shorterer)
Wish me luck
@balfa - the ITT route has always been inner part first. The 20km from Glenmore at about 80km in is much the hardest part of the route. The Geldie-Feshie watershed is frustrating rather than hard but probably depends on how saturated the ground is.
hoping to try the inner loop tomorrow to get an idea just how far beyond me the full thing would be
The bit between Glenmore and Glen Derry is easily the hardest, most frustrating bit. When you're doing this bit you'll be annoyed at how slow you are going. Bare in mind though that you'll reach here pretty fresh and ahead of your desired average speed as the bit from Blair Atholl to Glenmore is all pretty fast (unless of course you are trying to ford waist-deep rivers 😉 )
So I had a go Easter 2019.
So happy as I left Blair Atholl. Didn't notice I had pressed navigate to start of route(Aviemore) rather than follow route.
Interesting night spent on the top of the Cairngorms.
Um. So I've installed Viewranger and tried to download the gpx from Cairngorm loop.com but whenever I try to download the gpx it asks me for a password token.
Confused
OMG
You people are insane😁. Did the inner loop today from Feshiebridge. Started off lovely and then got betterer all the way to the top of the Bynack More shoulder. Then it just went to shit and stayed that way for a good 20% of the rest of the ride. I thought I was moderately competent on a bike but just got my arse handed to me on a plate. I don't think I've walked do far since I walked the Yorkshire 3 peaks.
Fair enough, I was very nervous about cracking my cheesy carbon rims 500 miles from the nearest bike shop🙄
And a 100mm Anthem was perhaps not the best tool for the job.
But even bearing that in mind I did a phenomenal amount of pushing, and it wasn't even that wet. Took me over 9 hours to do the route ~95km or so with supposedly 1333m of ascent.
I just can't begin to understand how y'all do that and twice as much again in the same ride. Serious respect to you.🤩🤗
The bit round Ryovan and Derry lodge was amazing, but there was just too much other bits that I couldn't do.
Missed dinner at the hotel so just had a pot noodle.
Really glad I sampled that section before committing to the full route.
Good luck everyone.
It's been said before, but that bit after the Bynack Mor descent up to around the top of Glen Derry is by far the toughest bit. Most of the rest is on good tracks, gravel roads and tarmac. I've told a few folk not to worry too much about the time it takes to do that section as you'd have a good, fast ride to get there and then a good, fast ride afterwards so you do make up lost time.
It took me 9 hours to do the inner loop (albeit with a start and end at Aviemore) last summer.
FWIW, I'd have thought a 100mm Anthem was a pretty good option. Most of the HaB bits aren't rideable regardless of bike so something light that can be pushed carried works well. (Maybe I shouldn't also point out that folk have been doing it on "gravel" bikes. 🙂 )
Gravel bikes! Them nutters!
Comment might be angled a bit towards 13thfloormonk as he's planning on doing the outer loop in a couple of weeks on a Cross bike. But after witnessing his bike skills and lack of fear whilst riding his cross bike, I think he'll be alright.
On the group start three years ago the inner loop (Feshie Bridge to Feshie Bridge) took me 10hrs on a rigid 29er. It was very wet though - see the Fords of Avon picture on the CL website. Bynack Mor down to the Fords is rough but mostly rideable, from the Fords to the Lairig an Laoigh is basically a push but I think Ian Barrington managed most of it on a fat bike.
The outer loop will be mostly fine, a few bits that I'd walk if on a gravel bike such as Loch an Dun and the head of Glen Tilt but the rest of it would be fast.
If you want to see what a fast ride looks like, check this Strava activity out - https://www.strava.com/activities/2530211870/ About 7h30m for the inner loop. And that time is 2hrs off record pace!
Fitness and general all-round toughness, and kit, aside - it's the river crossings that scare me. That's not part of my biking experience down here. What's the technique? Strip down and go across bare-foot to keep yer socks dry? Or just embrace the wet and plunge in? How do you not drown, and how do you decide when to go for it and when to admit defeat and turn round? Or is this one of those 'if you have to ask that, stay away' type questions?
It was this ride that inspired me to get back on the bike but it's taken me a few years to even get close to the sort of fitness where I'm thinking I might be able to give at least some of the route a shot in a very non-competitive style!
Ten hours for the inner loop sounds like the plan for my attempt. I won't be breaking any records, slow and steady. That Strava route in the post above is impressive.
Fitness and general all-round toughness, and kit, aside – it’s the river crossings that scare me. That’s not part of my biking experience down here. What’s the technique? Strip down and go across bare-foot to keep yer socks dry? Or just embrace the wet and plunge in? How do you not drown, and how do you decide when to go for it and when to admit defeat and turn round? Or is this one of those ‘if you have to ask that, stay away’ type questions?
be sensible is my advice , dont be a hero , if you get in trouble in fast flowing water up there no one is coming to help you in a hurry.
I had an incident doing a November round on the CL a few years back and i was very lucky that a group were in the bothy and had the fire going , i ended up falling* into the feshie in sub zero temperatures back of 10 pm and the options were stop drop get naked and get in my bag or push on to the bothy and risk the windchill coming down the glen.
By the time i got there i was frozen and practically sat on the fire. - in the morning my clothes had frozen to the floor and i had to use the bothy shovel to get them free/ light the fire and defrost them before i could get back to aviemore. - the train back to Blairathol is pricy on spec and also longer than expected.
Had that been the Avon .... its a long way to anything resembling warm - and even option 1 relies on my dry bags functioning properly after a fair bit of jiggling.
* Wasn't even high water just an innoculous fall from a misplaced wheel pitching me over.
it’s the river crossings that scare me. That’s not part of my biking experience down here. What’s the technique? Strip down and go across bare-foot to keep yer socks dry? Or just embrace the wet and plunge in? How do you not drown, and how do you decide when to go for it and when to admit defeat and turn round? Or is this one of those ‘if you have to ask that, stay away’ type questions?
It varies. If you know it's the only crossing I'd take socks off and insoles out of my shoes then put shoes back on. If you know there's more to come I'd leave everything on 'cause they are either wet already or will be soon after. I definitely wouldn't go barefoot - the water's cold and you can easily cut a toe on a sharp rock and be bleeding profusely without knowing.
Here's Ian Fitz in (and I mean "in") the Fords of Avon three years ago.
The technique here is to keep the bike slightly downstream and in front of you. Keep the front wheel pointing into the current, you probably won't be able to hold onto the bike if you don't or if you do it will pull you over, the back of the bike will just move to align with the current. Use the bike as a "third leg": keep your legs grounded, move the bike forward; press on the bike then move each of your legs in turn. Repeat. If you do get swept off your feet, it was a close run thing in the above conditions, try and face downstream feet first. If you still have hold of your bike then try and use it as a rudder to ferry glide to the bank.
On the above occasion, the whole of the Nethy Bridge to Linn of Dee section was sodden, the main path was under 10cm of water so we were completely soaked anyway by the time we got there. One of the small burns was over waist deep, fortunately not a strong current.
It's worth getting a copy of Langmuir's "Mountaincraft and Leadership" it's the standard text for MLAs and the like.
Too late to edit!
Found this shot as well from the same crossing
ended up falling* into the feshie in sub zero temperatures back of 10
Of course, your first mistake there was fording the Feshie
Yep … I think maybe I need to just accept that I'm a soft middle-aged Southerner, and stick to the South Downs Way. No rivers there 🙂
Of course, your first mistake there was fording the Feshie
this i cannot deny how ever i couldnt find the turn to the high line(having never used it before) in the dark so just took my chances ..... id ridden through it several times when riding through the watershed in the past (in day light) without issue but i just got a bad line this time
What’s the technique? Strip down and go across bare-foot
There's clearly people on this thread with stacks more experience than me, but I would strongly definitely say "do not go barefoot"
Very difficult to stay upright even in a tiny stream. In the pictures above it would probably kill you
That one was fun. We then hit another, faster, river and turned back, only to find that the water level on this one had risen too. Deep water isn't too much of an issue. Fast water is.
A couple of other observations;
Fording with fatbikes is even harder.The river catches the big tyres AND they float anyway. You end up having to stop the whole thing floating away from you.
Low-slung luggage will also catch the water. Fork bags and frame bags can be a real liability. Higher slung bags will, of course, also stay drier.
Out of interest, what tyres are you guys using?
I've got Maxxis tyres currently on my Scalpel (High roller 2 on the front and Ardent in the rear). Which are great for my local riding in the muddy woods but can't help thinking that something faster would be more suitable, maybe a pair of Vittoria Mezcal Graphene?
Thoughts?
I ran specialized fast tracks. 2.3
I run with Bonty XR3 front /XR2 rear. There's not much soft terrain on the CL, the Geldie-Feshie watershed is probably the biggest stretch, so you don't need a huge amount of tread.
Bontrager XR4s. They were already on the bike and I didn't see the point in changing them.
Interesting pics of rivers, I'd be tempted to remove luggage and cross with that and then go back for bike. Then again I say that knowing full well I'd just plunge in and hope for the best!
I saw a vid of a tour divide set up the other day on that there ewe tube and this bloke had a carry handle on his top tube, I reckon that could be useful.
I like the carry handle idea. My scalpel top tube just above the shock gets used like a handle, not quite the same though.
Thanks for the info on tyres, it's definitely given me some food for thought.
I'm not intending on taking my shoes off, I'm going to wear waterproof socks and have a dry pair for sleeping in.
I did a dry run of my packed bike tonight, a pretty setup it is not. I'm just too tight to buy the proper bike packer stuff. 😏
Don't worry about kit or what things look like. We all turn up thinking we've got it covered only for someone to appear in the bikepacking equivalent of a thong! 😂
Packing is a bit of an art. There's several ways you can go about it but I try and have "wet" stuff at one end and "dry" at the other so will have tarp & bivy bag at the front and sleeping bag and dry clothes at the back. Or maybe the other way round depending on weight and bulk of the two groups of kit.
Don't use the stuff sacks that come with items like sleeping - they make the items an awkward shape to pack and leave lots of gaps between them, just stuff soft stuff in and around the genuinely awkward things like mugs. Probably the difference between getting everything into a 5L bag and an 8L one. If you want extra protection for items put them in an open plastic bag or dry bag, stuff them into the main bag then lightly close the bag, that way you pack better but still get two layers of protection.
As for taking the bags off the bike for a river crossing - that means three trips across any given river, two of which will be without the "prop" of the bike.
Didnthurt, have a look about 10mins 30 into this, so simple but helpful!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=smFH2jsiSoQ
without the “prop” of the bike.
Not tried a river crossing with a bike, their floaty nature cant make them much use as a prop can it? I wouldnt want to cross 3 times though and the bikes in the pics are pretty lightly loaded compared to what I'd take.
genuinely awkward things like mugs
Nah, you lot are all backpackers so sport beards, casquette's and dangle f*&^$("g mugs
As Colin noted - fat bikes can be a bit "floaty" but not tried a deep river crossing with one myself - but standard MTB most definitely aren't. If you hold the bike at an angle to the current then it will be swept away but that's not "floating". Hold the bike inline with the current and it will stay in place (with a little help to push against the current).
Here's what my bike is likely to look like but no top tube bag and with a couple of Stem Cells for trail food instead. In there are all the items listed earlier by the OP.
Handlebar bag: Wet stuff - tarp, bivy bag, pole for tarp plus sleeping mat.
Jones bar bag: spare batteries, phone, cables, glasses
Frame bag: tools, spares, stove, mug and fuel, extra food, first aid kit, pegs for tarp, spare buff, spare gloves.
Saddle bag: sleeping clothes, microfibre towel, spare socks, sleeping quilt, extra thermal.
Not sure what else I need.
standard MTB most definitely aren’t
Mine is with 2.25x 26 tyres and a heavyish steel frame.
I'm liking the handle on that bike, nice bodge.
Also I'm taking a tiny packable backpack (just like the video), just I need to carry something like a sandwich or whatever.
Still unsure about the tyres, I'm pretty happy with my tyre setup as it is. But after the ride I did at the weekend on my cross bike with 38mm tyres and seeing how well it managed with rough trails. I'm now wondering would I be better off with something a lot racier. Maybe I'll have a look on Facebook market place for a pair of lightly used pair of xc tyres.
One week to go. Any more? Forecast for next Saturday is 14C, sunny and only 17% chance of precipitation.
Went for a shakedown ride today: 70km & 1200m. Without realising it I went at the same pace as Huw Oliver's record for the full loop - chuffin' Nora! Doing that four times in a row is some going especially given that the Nethy Bridge - Linn of Dee section is particularly slow.
13thfloormonk rode part of the route today, he managed a Strava KOM on one section. The Gaick river looked an easy pass. 👍😁
Yeah apologies all, amateur bike-packing skills here, there's a Torq Banoffee pie caffeine gel and a pair of flip-flops lying in the heather somewhere at the side of the Gaick Pass singletrack, shaken loose by my attempts to ride it on 40mm tyres and rigid forks...
I walked back to look for them but had no idea where or when they fell off, d'oh! Was really looking forward to that gel as well...
At the very least if you see them can you stuff them behind a rock so they're not an eyesore? Much obliged...