[Closed] Cycling alone in the wilderness.

Tell someone where you are going and when you are coming back. Thats all I do. I don't own a mobile and they are not to be relied upon in the mountains. I winter I might have a jumper and a space blanket but not always

When you say wilderness where were you? No wilderness in teh UK south of perth

I recommend reading about Joe Simpson in 'Touching the Void', and about the adventures of Ernest Shackleton, then comparing their situation with you poncing about down a country lane without a mobile signal, and get a sense of perspective...

If out in the outdoors I carry a mountain first aid kit, space blanket, emergency whistle, more bike tools and spares than normal, a GPS and lights just in case. No penguins in the larder for me though 🙂

Wilderness?
Are you based on the edge of the Gobi Desert?

What is this "wilderness" of which you speak?

glenncampbell - what gear do you carry when cycling indoors?

I think its a wee bit unfair to say that, crikey, Its still just as possible to die of hypothermia/exposure after a crash in some ill-trodden gully, as on some difficult ascent of Aconcagua or wherever (and I often think these posh adventurer-types are askin' for it in a way that someone riding their bike for a bit of solitude isnt)

Yes, you're right, I'm sorry.

Perhaps his mum could read the books to him?

....(it's riding a bicycle in England, FFS)

by himsen up on the moors broken leg job ****ed.

ok ok I realise I'm not cycling in the Australian's outback here, but being stuck anywhere alone with no means of communication or passers-by to help you poses a problem.

Crikey obviously this problems never crossed you mind.

With temperatures as low as they have been in Scotland it wouldn't take a big off to land you in a serious situation.

Yes but to be fair Joe was prepared for the conditions he was in, no reason you should not also prepare for the conditions you encounter while riding in the UK. Simon and he only got into trouble as they ran out of gas (maybe an aspect of carrying enough of the right stuff) so had to move when they should have/wanted to wait out the storm.

Though MTB in the UK is not alpinism in Peru there is no reason not to prepare for the conditions. Hypothermia, trauma or weather dont really care who or where you are.

Now,Now, crikey, some of us do get away to places in Scotland where there'll be no-one along that trail for possibly days or weeks.
I try to take the most basic repair/bodge stuff , but dont have a phone, and dont usually tell anyone where I'm going either
(probably the only folk that'd be interested would be my slave-masters, and it'd be worth dieing to know they'd be even more in the s**t without me ) 🙂

It's something I think about a lot. Whenever we don't have people out I cycle by myself and it can be very remote. There are places I spend a lot of time where nobody else has been for a long time and where I wouldn't be found until the vultures had had their fill! A lot of time I'm trail finding too so I'm not sure exactly where I will be.

I try to tell my gf where I'm going, either an exact trail or a general area. I try to ride within my limitations but sometimes get carried away. I normally would walk anything that I'm not 100% sure I can do but I can get a bit cocky so some days that doesn't exclude much! I carry spare clothes, mobile and a full tool kit. I don't really carry first aid if it's just me. GPS, whistle and that's about it. I think that's all you can do. Be sensible obviously, when you're alone it's not the best time to do 'that drop' that you've been looking at for ages!

Well the OP is based in Glasgow so he's not far from proper wilderness is he?

Basic common sense applies as in hill walking. Take suitable clothing based on where you route goes and sufficient water/food. Basic multi-tool, chain tool, spare tubes & pump. Make sure someone knows where you're going. If you don't have a sound knowledge of the area you're riding then an OS map (and compass) is useful.

If your ride may extend into the hours of darkness then offroad lights should be left on the bike or at least a headtorch taken along.

I guess the difference with biking is the greater likelihood of accidents. I do a lot of riding by myself and tend to throttle back to about 90% on fast downhills or tricky technical bits coz I know that if I come a cropper there's only the dog to help me.

Despite knowing all this I came to grief recently by ignoring several of the rules whilst riding in an unfamiliar place. 2 punctures and a mechanical put me way over schedule and darkness came down, then snow. Didn't have any lights or a map. Got totally lost and cold(ish). Eventually located a road by climbing down a gully and fording a river then hiking through a dense wood. Then figured out where I was and rode back to the car. The dog loved it though.....

On most of my rides I never see another soul - one of the beauties of living in the north of Scotland and one of the perils.

One of the most important things is having enough food/energy drink.
Theres nothing more depressing than blowing up knowing you're miles from anywhere, especially if you're not sure of your exact location.

anyone know if a gps tracker like googlelatitude works outwith mobile network coverage? might be quite a useful feature to turn on if riding in an isolated area

some pedants/up their own bottoms type people on here... seem to be all based in scotchland too...

while not 'wilderness' per se, there are lots of places, for example, in NY, where i certainly wouldn't want to have an accident, especially at this time of they year, in the conditions which are present out there.

just cos it may be 'only' 3 miles to the nearest house, try walking that with a broken leg, or after hitting your head. its more than imaginable that people wouldn't come across you within an hour.

there ARE areas south of the boarder which do not see people from day to day, and just because they aren't in scotland it doesn't make them any less dangerous.

anyone know if a gps tracker like googlelatitude works outwith mobile network coverage? might be quite a useful feature to turn on if riding in an isolated area

It doesn't - it uses a data connection to report your location. Those Breitling watches with a geo-location system do though.

http://www.breitling.com/en/retailers#/models/professional/emergency/

Best get a mortgage first. Also might be overkill for Llangdella 🙂

hungry monkey, I'm in Scotland,I am probably 'up my own erse'admittedly, 🙂 but was putting that point across.
I was on a nighttime roadride last winter, totally blown and borderline hypothermic and nearly steered into a drainage ditch three miles from my house (on a main road). If i'd gone over, my body wouldn't have been found for weeks.

I suppose another dimension to cycling alone in Scotland is our Scottish outdoor access laws.

All the more likely to be off the beaten track.

Johnboy, stop rubbing it in for the English STWers 😉

oh, don't panic, i live in scotland (for now)... i just know about the massive chip you scotch-eggs have to carry around on your shoulders all the time... 😈

i know there is more 'wilderness' up here, but the typical comments that the scotch's bang on about how good old england is far too densely populated for you to ever be in danger, is total bollocks.

fact is, there are many many places in england where, if you fell off your bike and hurt yourself, you would be alone for quite some time.

while strictly not 'wilderness', perceptions of what constitutes wilderness are gonna change late in the afternoon atop a windswept moor when you've a broken leg, trust me...

i knocked myself out a couple of years ago in a quiet bit of woodland which i know people hardly go through. i wasnt that far from the road to eventually stumble out on. still it got my wife thinking, she insisted i highlight any possible bit of woodland i could be in on a OS map. so when i say 'just popping out for a couple of hours' at least theres a vague idea where i am.

OMG..... I'm quitting this dangerous madness right now. I'd never realised what a massive risk I was taking by riding a bike outside of mobile phone coverage areas....

Jesus wept...

Aye, crikey, but Jesus still told his mum where he was going, and look what happened to him 🙂

Frankly, I'm surprised I've lived so long...

just to clarify my position... i'm far from saying that noone should go into the wilderness, i love it myself - nothing better than a few days out camping/bothying.

but as an englishman, the whole scottish attitude of going on about how much more dangerous and 'extreme' scotland is is pretty boring...

I carry the same in a group as I do on my own. Suitable clothing for the weather, food, water and tools etc.

Be sensible, riding solo in the "wilderness" is something to be enjoyed not feared. It can be very different compared to riding in a group where you have a safety net of people to help.

Naw, hungry, I think that you're just taking our natural chip-on-shoulder and raising it with your inferiority complex 😉

but as an englishman, the whole scottish attitude of going on about how much more dangerous and 'extreme' scotland is is pretty boring...

But it is more extreme!!! How many people have died in the last month in the 'wilderness' in England?

Several people have perish in the Scottish mountains in the last month!!

No ones belittling England, I think the problem is you Hungary monkey.

Funny, I was thinking about this very point yesterday.

There I was, on my own, out the back of Ben Wyvis, on a track that obviously had had no traffic for some time. As I was lying with my face planted in the snow, my front wheel spinning 2 inches from my nose, and unable to get up because it appeared my shoulder had dislocated, I thought "Shit, I'm in trouble with the missus if I end up dead, I should have told her where I was going."

Luckily, I wasn't too badly hurt. After swinging from a tree my shoulder got sorted (eye watering stuff, not fun) I then had a trudge through about a mile of virgin snow pushing my bike.

I now have a map up in the kitchen and favourite routes marked (and named). Once bitten, twice etc...

hungry monkey - Member

oh, don't panic, i live in scotland (for now)... i just know about the massive chip you scotch-eggs have to carry around on your shoulders all the time...

i know there is more 'wilderness' up here, but the typical comments that the scotch's bang on about how good old england is far too densely populated for you to ever be in danger, is total bollocks.

Like this comment below, from that well-known Scotchlander???

TandemJeremy - Member

When you say wilderness where were you? No wilderness in teh UK south of perth

I've just been to the corner shop, no phone, no bivvy bag, nothing. I didn't even take a coat.

I like living on the edge, me.

Once, I even had a poo without checking if there was any toilet paper...

I've just been to the corner shop, no phone, no bivvy bag, nothing. I didn't even take a coat.

I like living on the edge, me.

Once, I even had a poo without checking if there was any toilet paper...

TJ is a well known die-hard scotchland immigrant... 😉

crikey, you should be more careful 😉

hungry monkey - Member
TJ is a well known die-hard scotchland immigrant...

I hope you have a map for all that back-tracking....

"how much more dangerous and 'extreme' scotland is is pretty boring... "

Bits of the highlands ARE very empty and rough - nice! That slightly scary feeling of isolation is a good feeling IMO. But know your limits eh?

>Doe anyone else go out alone?<

Yup - some of us were even cycling over big hairy arsed mountains before moble phones 😉

Don't go out alone anywhere you wouldn't seeing anybody come by for a while - I broke my leg in summer in that situation and it was pure luck that the bone stayed inside my leg - if it was open, I'd be dead. It's quite easy to immobilise yourself and if you don't get mobile coverage, you can die very easily. Having to seriously think about my options at the time was traumatic to say the least, and I was 'well prepared' (like a first aid kit and a whistle helped my floppy leg).

There are a few places where you'd not be found for a while in England, you could be lost practically minutes from your house if you were knocked out properly and just a littl hidden from view. It's just in scotchland you're more likely to be miles from people and in even more rugged territory, thats just the way it is. Thats why I prefer living here instead of England.

i ride alone often. Sometimes at night, and in snow. I usually take a phone, but I also take some spare clothes and kit to patch me up if needed. If I die, I die. It's the feeling of exposure and "wilderness" that makes it all for me.

surely TJ is right; there is no wilderness south of Perth but the fact that the original post mis used the word 'wilderness' doesn't make the thrust of his / her point irrelevant. Namely, when out alone and somewhere where you may not be stumbled upon for a few hours, then shouldn't you be careful to reduce risk of knackering yourself? I think the answer is yes. If on my own and there is noone about as is often the case mid week, evenings, nights on quiter stretchs etc then I ride that much more carefully.

I'm in support of the OP - perfectly reasonable, even sensible question - shame its been met with howls of derision from some.

PS - a sole is a fish - not surprising you hadn't seen one

Swalsey - Member
Don't go out alone anywhere you wouldn't seeing anybody come by for a while

I'm sorry, but that really is absolute nonsense. Some of my best trips have been cycling, walking and mountaineering in remote corners of Scotland where you might not see another person for days.

a word or two of warning for all you tough neysayers.......
a lad i went to school with died from hypothermia after falling and breaking his ankle and banging his head.

on a footpath 2 miles from settle in the dales.

Believe it or not I often don't see anyone mid-week on the trails in Hampshire. Frequent solo rider here.

In fact, when I broke my collar bone in Hampshire a few years ago, I just had to get on with it. Zero chance of anyone finding me on a rainy day. Checked bike over then pedalled back to car.

[i]I'm in support of the OP[/i]

Then you should stay at home, with a full mobile signal so your mum doesn't get worried too.

ton - Member
a word or two of warning for all you tough neysayers.......
a lad i went to school with died from hypothermia after falling and breaking his ankle and banging his head.

on a footpath 2 miles from settle in the dales.

When I go off solo into the hills, I usually call Mrs Druidh when I arrive back at the car, ready to return home. That, after all, is when I'm most likely to be involved in an accident.

Carry a distress flare if you are worried about solo riding in remote places

Edric 64 - Member
Carry a distress flare if you are worried about solo riding in remote places

See Tons point. Would you carry a distress flare in those circumstances?

At 16 I hitched up to Perth, then walked cross-country across to Fort William. Rang my mum (Hi Mum, I'm fine). Then walked to Ullapool, again cross-country. Then hitched home to Yorkshire. All in, about 4 weeks away.

Didn't consider it a problem at the time, but my mum mentioned it over Christmas - as my eldest is now 16 - that it was only when her and my dad went to the Highlands that they realised how isolated it is...

I always carry a whistle and foil blanket 😕

It's fortunate that large parts of the world were explored before the advent of mobile phones, otherwise we'd all still be living in villages frightened to death by the dark woods...

accidents happen everywhere. near or far from home.
one person's wilderness can be anothermans back yard.
so like the man from hill street said............'let's be carefull out there people'............. 😉

@ crikey

Um don't mean to be discourteous and all that, but think you've missed the point. OP was asking what emergency equipment people took and whether they rode alone, not whether he should stay at home with his mum rather than venturing out.

It's 2am and I just got in from my commute home along the River Severn.
Quite often in the Winter, as I commute one way, I can see my untouched tracks from my previous journey the other way, which makes me realise that if I had fallen in and been unable to get out for whatever reason, I would still be there 12 hours later.
I'd still rather ride along the river bank than along the road though.

Wow just came home from work and its seems what I though was a simple question (ok I admit maybe wilderness was the wrong word) has grown legs and caused great debate.

A simple answer like space blanket, whistle, extra clothes would have done the trick.

@Crikey I'm really sorry for upsetting you with my misuse of the word WILDERNESS. 😆

Thanks for replies people made for interesting reading.

druidh - Member

Frankly, I'm surprised I've lived so long...

I thought you were a ghost?

Sorry for the pedant point - wilderness is an overused word IMo - there is not much of it in Scotland and none in England. How far do you think you can get from a road in England? Its only a few miles in the wilds of Scotland.

However the worst crash I know of happened to Sharki - in the quantocks where you are never more than a mile or so from a road.

I went solo nightriding in snow in the pentlands - hardly wilderness but a immobilising crash would have been nasty as it was well below freezing - apart from I told my missus where I was going and when I would be back so hopefully would have been rescued before dying.

Its all about risk assessment and taking sensible precautions

I think it's just common sense to let someone know where you're going, and when you plan to be back - I once went out for a ride in the Cairngorms that I thought would be 2.5 hours but took over 5. GF was well annoyed, but justifiably so. If you have loved ones it's selfish not to take these precautions.

Plastic survival bag, foil blanket, emergency sweeties all the usual spares and tools, plus a spare chain. My rucksack weighs a ton with a full 3-litre Camelbak in it, too, but I'm superstitious enough to believe that the time I leave something out will be the time I need it.

A simple answer like space blanket, whistle, extra clothes would have done the trick.

LMAO - on a forum like STW? - yer having a laff! 🙂

I always take tools, whistle, space blanket, very small first aid (paracetamol, antihistamine cream, antiseptic - if I was ever to have to walk out with a broken shoulder or ankle I reckon a few paracetamol just might make it a tad less unpleasent) emergency food and extra layers.

I sometimes have a phone with me (I'm sure you all know this but dial 999 on yer mobi and it will find whatever signal it can - doesn't have to be your supplier) but don't regard it as safety equipment as too unreliable. Ditto GPS. I've thought of a big plastic bag just in case but haven't.

Not sure I agree with the statement thats theres no Wilderness south of Perth. Kielder is pretty isolated in parts. Surely it's open to interpetation of the word "wilderness".

Johnboy373 has asked a reasonable question and has had a couple of fair replies and some heckling, which is fair enough for here I suppose. If any of the hecklers here rode the Kielder 100 did you laugh at, or refuse to take, first aid kits or a space blanket? It's just common sense out in the hills, wilderness or whatever you want to call it. The point is that in the event of an accident in which you're incapacitated, and they do happen - remember you helmet? - you need a bit of backup. That's all.

Could Crikey have missed the point any more spectacularly?

Plenty of places in the British Isles, yes even in tame old England, where you could lie around unable to move, with no phone signal, without seeing anybody for quite a while. The OP asked what measures people took to mitigate for this, not whether Crikey was a big tough man who would never find himself in such a predicament!

The OP's question is very valid.
It's all about avoiding the plummet into the bottom of the incident pit.

I would carry spare clothes (full waterproofs, fleece, gloves and buff), a whistle, space blanket and atibonk food. Head torch and emergency LEDs for the road haul home. Money and a mobile phone can be useful too, if only for helping you once you reach civilisation - the escape route can place you a very long way from home.

There's actually no real wilderness in Scotland. That's just a term used to gloss over the genocidal way the original inhabitants of the highlands were removed.

But back to the point, when you're out on your own you should have enough stuff on you to fix your bike. Generally the worst thing with a broken bike is you have a long walk.

You should be able survive an overnight in foul conditions if you get injured. Bearing in mind that this sort of situation probably means not all your limbs are working properly 🙂 Warm clothes and food are essential. Usually water is chucking down or lying around in this country so no need to carry too much of that.

I carry all this, but I realised after my incident the other day that if I had been slightly unluckier, I would not have been able to pull on another layer, so from now on I'll carry a zip up belay jacket instead of a pullover fleece. I'm also going to add Buffalo bootees, hood, and mitts when I venture into more distant parts. Delaying or preventing the onset of hypothermia is probably the most important thing if you are physically not able to self extract from a situation.

You should make sure someone knows where you are likely to be, even if it's just to stop them panicking and wasting the time of emergency services.

Of course, you only need to carry this stuff if you are going to have an accident. If you're not planning one, you don't need it. Unfortunately my accidents have always been unplanned, so I have to carry it just in case 🙂

...is the best kind of cycling.

Regarding my previous Cycling Home At 2am post...
I live on my own and rarely carry a phone.
When I was single I used to joke that if I had an accident while bench pressing in my back garden I could be trapped under the bar for days before anyone found me.

I guess it does depend on how pedantic you want to be about the meaning of the word "wilderness" and whether the question is about being stuck a long way from civilisation with a broken bike and a long walk home, or being injured and unable to move with little hope of being found by a passer by.

Wilderness?? On your own?? Squeal like a pig boy!!

He he - Listen!..... I hear banjos

@crikey

Then you should stay at home, with a full mobile signal so your mum doesn't get worried too

FWIW my mum is 88 and doesn't know what day it is far less what I'm up to.

Useful tip; you can offset some of the weight of carrying an extra layer and food by not wearing 300 grams of pointless polystyrene magic-hat.

...I'll get my coat (but not my helmet)

yeah, you wouldn't want to take a helmet, especially if alone. I mean you might fall off and break it

Back to the original question, forget about squabbling over what wilderness is, assuming you're out there, solo, very remote and without any reliable comms.... has anyone used EPRB's or the more recent PLB's?

I'm not talking about whilst pissing about in the Peak, Richmond Park or the Quantocks but on land, in the UK when and where they would help in extremis.

ROFL!

It's mountain biking in the UK; essentially rambling on wheels, rather than death defying trouser filling extreme radness.

We seem to have bred a generation of folk who don't feel safe without a mobile signal, and probably couldn't get there without a Sat-Nav, couldn't navigate without a GPS...

As above, thank God we explored most of the planet earlier in our history, or we'd still be worshipping the turnip god to keep us safe from the scary wood beasts.....

Why have so many pillocks replied to this thread? It was a serious question by the OP but so many twonks think they would have the skills to live off the land for weeks till somebody bothered to report Rambo missing. Please answer the question with a bit of sense.

How far do you think you can get from a road in England? Its only a few miles in the wilds of Scotland.

The Cut Gate path is over 5 miles from any road at some points I think - I wouldn't want to be up there on my own with a broken leg as it starts getting dark at this time of year (there's snow on the tops in Derbyshire that's been there since before Christmas). I don't think the OP's question is odd at all.

I remember having a minor crash on an autumn evening on Stanage, no injuries and managed to get the bike working again, but I remember thinking then that if I'd hurt myself badly no-one would have found me until the morning, and I had no warm clothing. The fact that I was only 5 miles from the centre of Sheffield wouldn't have saved me from hypothermia. And wasn't someone rescued from a car hanging in a tree in a ravine by the A57 last year who'd been there for 2 days before being found?

All of which is not to say that I don't go out on my own, I do...

As this thread has already shown (I refer to Tons post of last night), a small off can result in major trauma only a short distance form home. Am I really to believe that folk on here are going out prepared for a major expedition when they are just taking a short-cut home from work?

...I for one am heartily sick of all the news reports about dying mountain bikers, whose bodies are only discovered years later, next to pathetic scratchings on the rock detailing their dying wish that they had thought to bring an extra jumper, an emergency locator beacon, a portable mountain shelter, a weeks supply of drinking water, a solar powered battery charger, 20 emergency flares and their mum.

Something really should be done.

crikey, FFS amigo!, stop being sensitive and diplomatic and say whats on your mind 🙂

Ok, ok, I admit I'm running with the idea and taking it too far, but you get my point of view.... 😆