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Hi all,
I'm planning a day out in the hills next Thursday. Current thinking is a circuit of Lochnagar, though this is obviously contingent on the weather/snow conditions. Plan B would be a ride from Pitlochry and plan C would be to get pished the night before and stay in bed, riding on Friday instead.
CaptainMainwaring has emailed a suggested route to me which sounds excellent, though there will be a good bit of "exploration" involved which may involve carrying bikes, getting cold and pissed off before selling your bikes and watching shite TV for the rest of your miserable life.
Sound good? I'll post route details later on, but it's not one for Southern Jessies. 😀
So if you're unemployed/unemployable/enjoying an extended holiday at the taxpayers' expense, sign up below!
might be interested. Extended holiday. woop woop.
i might be interested in this. On "reading week" from uni. 🙂
Aye - could be up for that -but only if there are lots of rivers to ford.
I'm on holiday next week. Would need a lift mind, but otherwise I'm game!
Could probably be arranged Kit (I'm in Dunfermline). If the weather is half decent I might head up Wednesday afternoon/evening and stay in the bunkhouse in Ballater, possibly ride Friday too.
McMoonter had expressed some interest as well (another Fifer), so I'm sure we could come to some kind of arrangement.
I'll post route maps later this evening and decide on the exact plan next Tuesday when I see what the weather is doing.
Startie, I'd be game but I'm teaching at Gleneagles on Thursday.
Too far South for me....
Too far South for me....
Northern Jessie.
😆
Despite that route being partly my suggestion I take no responsibility for any misery or suffering incurred, except by myself. 35km and 1800m of climbing, all off road. 😯
May well be up for this - would be happy to offer you a lift, Kit.
one of my workmates is currently mulling over whether she's going to be off sick next week but assuming i'm not covering her shifts i'm definitely up for it
Here's the proposed route (somewhat truncated, but this is the meat of the riding).
[url= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2768/4016788771_1f9e05ec07_o.jp g" target="_blank">
Click for big.
Start at either Keiloch by Invercauld Bridge or at Crathie (which gives an optional finish via the cairns with some nice riding). There are various options on the way. Capt.M. suggested going via the Lochnagar plateau which would get the full Glas Allt descent, though it involves a bit of carrying to get there. I don't know what the Glas Allt descent is like, but I'm keen to give it a whirl. From Glass Allt Sheil we could head round either end of the loch aiming for the LRT up onto Broad Cairn which is more rideable uphill than the Coire Chash path. The bit from the stables to Broad Cairn summit is pretty much hike a bike and I'm not sure how rideable it is from there to Cairn Bannoch and beyond. The proposed descent to the Feindallacher Burn is also [i]terra incognita[/i] for me. So there we go.
What can possibly go wrong?
stuartie, as usual youve got me considering skiving off and cancelling my dental appointment to ride some orange lines on a map, didnt you get your boyscout map reading badge, arent the dotted lines the paths ?
mcmoonter will be too busy working to pay off his credit cards following his month long trip to oregon and california( oh how the other half lives )
ill let you know if i can make it
damn, I'm off the following week. Be interested in how you get on - the bottom half of the Glas Allt Shiel descent looks steeeeep!
Too far South for me....Northern Jessie.
Too far North for me...I`m off and I dont get payed till Fri 😥
the bottom half of the Glas Allt Shiel descent looks steeeeep!
Sure does. Possibly needs madder skillz than I possess nowadays. 😯
didnt you get your boyscout map reading badge, arent the dotted lines the paths ?
Nah - too obvious Colin. It's the un-dotted lines that interest me....
Reckon it would be a shame to miss the top 2/3rds of the Glas Allt descent which must be one of the best in the UK. The bottom bit from the waterfall is by all accounts only rideable if you are a mountain biking god. Would add about an extra hour.
It's the un-dotted lines that interest me....
That's precisely my main concern...
The bottom bit from the waterfall is by all accounts only rideable if you are a mountain biking god.
Looks like we're going to need Mr. Raddogair...
I've ridden the waterfall section a loooooong time ago after bivvying on the summit of Lochnagar on mid summers night with the dangerous brothers. It was rideable then with rigid forks and cantis. I didnt have the skills of Radoggair then nor now, but I got down ok
Dont even begin to think there is a trail from the ridge down to the Dubh Loch. Its a nightmare of a hike a bike. The descent from the Dubh Loch to loch Muick is pretty good though.
is the m.c. going soft first he anounces that road biking is the new mtbing
then he complains about a 7 hour ride up lochnagar which finished after dark.
You failed to remember the climb out from Glen Clova which preceded Lochnagar, the Dubh Loch hike of death the the bonk climb of doom back to Clova.
MC going soft? Not as soft as all those who are having trouble with their hair straighteners and calling off for tomorrow.
Who are the Dangerous Brothers anyway?
I know a Dangerous Dave but I'm not sure he has a brother...
Kevin and Stuart Dangerous. They are dangerous but not brothers. Kevin Dangerous runs Escape Route, the bike shop in Pitlochry. Stuart restores castles on Deeside.
It was rideable then with rigid forks and cantis
McM, I do believe I have a photo of the very bike:
[img] 
[/img]
You'll notice it's a "Dunehill" bike though...
When we first met Les Freres Dangereux they raced us down Mt Keen on bikes not unlike that. Kevin Dangerous rode a hybrid, half Ridgeback, half Raleigh Maverick . The Mavback. This was in 85.
Does your one have an Aboyne Rip Off Shop sticker on it? It could be one of Kev's
Ah... the legend that is the "Dangerous brothers"...
I'm about on Wed but the wife has the Thur pass - unlucky!
I've ridden the whole route you plan, not in the way you are planning but I've done all the bits if you get what I mean.
Your route starts with the the fireroad hell that is Ballochbui... it's truly soul destroying in there... you climb for hours... and the wind is ALWAYS in your face... being followed by blacked out landies is also not my favourite part of this. I avoid this now.
The lower half of Glas-Alt-Sheil is completely bonkers even on my big bike. Last month this was very washed out in places... previosly there was only one corner I did not get round but this summer it scared the hell out of me and I walked a couple of bits where there has been HUGE EROSION just past the waterfall.
Up the lightingstrike... good luck with this... the challenge is on you as it HAS been ridden by me this year!
From Pony Hut to Broad Cairn is a hike, after that your biking all the way. There is a route round the side of BC but it's actually easier and definetly better to shoulder your bike and go over the boulders to the top. When you get to Carn An Sagart More go straight up to the top - the path round to right halfway up is fun but go on up to the top, it's not much further. Find the crashed aircraft (Bristol Baufighter) and take the nifty singletrack down to the saddle (Schweet). I've never ridden from here on down to Invercauld as a descent but it's rideable on the way up so should be easy and probably fun.
Enjoy!
Cheers Messiah, you're a very naughty boy...
When you say the Lightning Strike, do you mean the LRT or the path that comes straight down from Coire Chash? I've ridden [i]down [/i]the latter and that was hard enough 😯
Hehehe - the one that comes down from Coire Chash is called "the streak of pants" - or the "streak your pants".
It's fun now but before it was made a proper path it was mental, especially rigid with canti's - as we all rode in the very early 90's.
Yes... the lightning strike is the switchback LRT.
Stuartie, I was riding with Colin today, word is that the weather could be pants on Thursday and there is the chance of a shift to Friday. True or False?
I'm entirely relaxed about which day we do this McM.
We can make it Friday if that suits the majority and the weather is going to be more favourable. Too early to tell at the moment on the weather front though...
What would Los Hermanos Peligrosos do?
They'd do it blindfolded down the Lochnagar steps
I'll not be out for this - have fun and take photos 🙂
Mmm ... wonder if I could manage Friday.
Weather indeed forecast to be pants for Wednesday and Thursday. Friday or Saturday should be OK for me. Will give me an extra day to get rid of the current man flu.
Would deffo like to find some way of doing the whole of the Glas Allt descent rather than just the bottom section as I don't fancy my chances of transforming from biking average to biking god within the next 4 days
Friday or Saturday is good for me. Colin can get his teeth seen to too. I should have the mothership back by then. We could car share from
Dunfermline.
OK, good.
Looks like later in the week is preferred. I'll make a definite decision tomorrow evening once I've got a better idea of what the weather is going to do, but let's say that Friday is looking more likely at the moment.
(Kit - cheers for letting me know. Another time...)
I'll look forward to seeing pics and post-ride report; and then decide if it's something I'll do next summer! Cheers - and enjoy the ride.
the dangerous brothers from aboyne are proper moonting legends, if youve got a spare 5 years,i could begin the stories.
kev just found a newspaper clipping from 1986 of him and stuart at the summit of lochnager on bikes on mid-summers in 1986 for stus 17th birthday (kev was 14 at the time) ............legends
Classic Kev Dangerous quote
"The older I get, the better I was".
Stuartie_c
Your route looks like a real classic. Were it not for the fact that my wife is overdue, I'd be joining you for the ride. There is so much good riding up there that I want to explore. Looking forward to seeing the pics on your Flickr account.
Out of interest, has anyone done a day loop from Ballater taking in Jocks Road and Glen Clova? I'm already planning a few missions for the early Spring up that way. I found a really tasty downhill trail that drops you into the centre of Ballater that doesn't appear to have ever been ridden. I fancy a weekend away staying in the Habitat bunkhouse if folk are up for that?
Cheers
Sanny
can sanny confirm the little known fact that weegies get a nosebleed if they venture above 3000 feet