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Me and a couple of mates wanted to make a week out of the world cup, so rode to Ft William via Bridge of Orchy, Kinlochleven and Spean Bridge.
I started with a quick warm up in Edinburgh (courtesy of H.R.H the queen)
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First part of the journey was a visit to a certain Glen Coe bothy I had read much about, and then the trails beneath the cliffs in the background...
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Followed by a quick dunk at the foot of the Devil's Staircase...
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And then the storming descent down to Kinlochleven
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Day two was spent exploring some trails in the K-Loch, before heading up and over the Lairig Leacach to Spean Bridge (mental note, ride this the opposite way round in future...)
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Day three was spent on the Witches Trails, which were pretty underwhelming except for the mini green pump track in the car park, and the views of the north face.
Day four was spent scrambling in Glen Nevis, before the world cup mayhem started. Was anyone else transfixed by the new red route snaking down the ridge?
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(apologies for the nasty photoshopping, i took the photo out of the gondola skylight so it came out pretty bad;y...)
Sorry for the picture-fest, I've got a new Canon mini-SLR and am enjoying the results! Also, I couldn't recommend my new Marin Rocky Ridge enough for this sort of thing, it climbs with a surefootedness that belies its weight, geometry and 5 1/2" coil Foxes. My new 1st choice for big days in the hills, and dare i say it, multi-day camping trips (what flat bars and bar ends for hardcore hardtails?)
I guess the bothy is Jacksonville?
FIL was early member of creagh dubh and lived there for a while.
(apologies for the nasty photoshopping, i took the photo out of the gondola skylight so it came out pretty bad;y...)
Didnt even think there was any until you said that. Then checked the pictures, still didnt see any. Im either blind or youre too self critical!
Nice photos though, looks like some great riding.
And for flat bars, has to be salsa doesnt it?
...so rode to Ft William...
Exsqueeze me, but lemme get this straight - you [i][b]rode to[/b][/i] Fort Bill [i][b]from [/b][/i]Embra..?
Bar ends? I like the Cane Creek Ergos. Very comfy and a nice grip on them. If you have ODI-style lock-ons, they fit straight on to them (or will fit the normal way too).
If you want something lighter, I have some Smicas which I'm not using. These are the 58g ones.
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PM me if you're interested.
geoffj, who was FIL? I've only read a few bothying/climbing books and don't really follow climbing much, although i knew enough about the Creag dubh to feel a little sacreligious standing there with my fancy lycra gear 😀
the photoshopping was in the last pic, the foreground was almost black so i had to try and select it and adjust the exposure, if you look at the edge between land and sky its a bit sudden!
I had Salsa bars in mind, if only so i can run my mini bar ends without the fashion police coming calling. Druidh, cheers for the offer, but I've already got some ancient Woodman stubbies that I'm really happy with.
HH, no. 🙂 Train to Bridge of Orchy, riding to Ft William, then train back from Ft William (possibly the most memorable view of the week was looking out of the train window down to loch treig from corrour. It was like a cauldron of mist but the sun was illuminating it while the mountains were rearing up either side etc etc
...wanders off to read some poetry and weep at the beauty of it all...
househusband - Member> ...so rode to Ft William...
Exsqueeze me, but lemme get this straight - you rode to Fort Bill from Embra..?
That wouldn't surprise me....
Is that a kilt you're wearing in picture 2?
Looks fantastic by the way, you should wear it more often, it suits you! 😉
Fabulous weather, great shots, must have been a great ride.
SB
Still cant see it..
Wouldn't surprise me either. The big show off!! 😉
Sorry, did the old edit-a-roo while others were posting.
Jojo, it was nice to see you at the weekend, can I just apologise in case i wasn't all there? A week of broiling sunshine, various alchohols and other substances may have left me a little insensible.
no kilt, just some specialized baggies. Riding in a kilt would certainly be pretty cool though (or perhaps precisely the opposite when i think about it...)
Pah! - that's nowt.
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LOL
I do like your wee photo-essays Ian. I must come along on one of your trips some day this summer (after Transalp madness is out of the way).
Agree about riding the Lairig Leacach the other way BTW - very disappointing descent down to the bothy.
Stuartie_c, it would be an honour, I had planned a two day dash from aviemore to blair athol via glen tilt and potentially the 'secret' howff, will be in touch...
The worst thing about that descent is the knowledge that once it was singletrack all the way down 😥 Thankfully the guys i was with were a little too tired to lynch me, and at least two of us had had a lot of fun on the climb up Allt Nam Fang.
Monk. My FIL was Charlie Vigano, he climbed with Johnny Cunningham, Pat Walsh et al. in the late 40s / early 50s.