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Short local one for me this morning ...
Boys’ day with my son today meant ice cream and wildlife hunting by bike - 
saw a deer close up in the woods, a sparrow hawk right above our heads and even found a mole which was sadly dead but perfectly preserved. Still never seen a live one. Plus obviously some great Singletrack and rope swinging.
Time-limited yesterday, and also weary from 3 days winch and plummet in the Tweed valley, so I did a Hamsterley loop out of the forest on the bridleways/byways. Had a good time in the face of a stiff breeze and occasional rain (yay!). The heather is starting to flower and is looking great (photo on the byway around Five Pikes looking towards Weardale):
@sharkattack ouch that looks sore! Hope you're ok (and is the bike ok?).
@northernsoul yeah, I'll survive thanks.
I'm sore and stiff as a board but I didn't break anything. The bike is fine. We managed a few laps on day 2 but just easy stuff.
Great afternoon blast on my first day off this week; heather turning vivid purple now, bone dry singletrack running incredibly fast - and literally not a single person encountered during the entire ride. They can't all be in the Lakes, can they...?
Back to my local woods. So many Covid trails went in, then were abandoned then the loggers came in and cut through most of them, now a few have been rebuilt so I'm building a map to create some loops. It's way easier on the eBike as the woods are pretty extensive and htere are lots of "is that an animal track" and "do I want to lose loads of height" here which are non issues on the E.
I just like riding my 5010 tho. So much more fun in the tight stuff. Every time I think I should sell it, I ride it and then think "nope, not happening" 🙂
This bit here is normally a real effort to get over. Because it's underwater. I have never seen the stream bed behind it dry. Mad.
On hols on Lewis, partly visiting my youngest who has moved here to escape his parents.
Just rode out along the coast, distant view of St Kilda , fifty or so miles away.
I have some amazing photos of clear blue sky, dark blue sea, distant islands, green moorland. But the STW images upload doesn't want to know.
@northernsoul yes the bike is fine, thanks for asking. It must have gone upside down because the tops of the brake levers took a beating.
Body is wrecked though. It's day 7 and I'm stiff as a board. I've honestly never been in such pain considering I didn't break any bones.
The leaves are turning brown and falling, it must be autumn. No, it's a drought.
Took today off since the sun was shining. Rode at the fabulous Tollymore. Tried wee Champery, and scared myself - damn it was steep. Still I survived. Just a great day to be on the bike.
Bit of a sad sight - two recent fires have taken quite a chunk of heathland in Sherbrook Valley.
Ride was great though.
Another local woods ride for me once the kids were in bed. Starting to drop dark in the woods not long after 9 now, will need the lights back soon! Did see 5 owls though, so timed well for wildlife! 
Too hot, too spicy 😉 34 degrees and it felt airless. Hot from above, hot from below. And I was on the eBike.
Pointed phone at eclipse. Not sure it captured much. Still glad to be out.
Eclipse was a bit of a non event as didn't have anything to view it through and expected it to go a little darker than it did, but nice to be out on the moors and witness it nontheless. Only looks dark as I tweaked the exposure settings on my phone camera
A few from yesterday evening
Went up Helvellyn with my lad on Tuesday - he wanted a return trip as last year we didn't quite make the top (clouds down, blowing a gale, so discretion was the better part of valour etc). No issues with the weather this time though!
Out early to beat the heat on the climbs, picking up a cool tailwind for the long downhill home.... this track was running perfectly today, but I was stopping to check for punctures on Monday elsewhere, the handling was so squirrelly due to the dry, dusty surface.
Out early yesterday morning to beat the heat.
The Baitings Reservoir packhorse bridge is back....
Eeking out the Birthday rides. 3 out of 4 days. Turned quite autumnal on our local trails because- I guess - of the lack of water. The "please stop smashing the motor skid" changes appear to have done the job without ruining the way the bike rides the rest of the time.
2 rides today for me - one with the kids this morning (building some leg strength with the kids ride shotgun) and a local woods blast tonight. Stopped on the way back into the village to get a shot of the local church which we heard this week is going to be shut down. I’m not religious at all, but it seems a shame. 
Been absent from midweek riding for a few weeks while on holiday (not sure Alps riding counts 😎 ). Was back on it yesterday morning before rolling up at work to a minefield of an inbox...
Monday morning, Canada Woods trails in Falkirk with a bit of low lying mist around sunrise:
Today, not the usual aspect of the Kelpies statues that I post - this is looking east towards Grangemouth from behind. Bike included for scale 😀
A short local ride for me this morning. It looks like autumn already.
Im back in the Abondance valley on holiday, near Chatel. Had the most excellent bike ride today. Found some new (to me) trails. So much technical singletrack!
Im back in the Abondance valley on holiday, near Chatel. Had the most excellent bike ride today. Found some new (to me) trails. So much technical singletrack!
Just a gravel commute… but I saw a particular roo (among the many I see on this route) I hadn’t seen for a long time. I call her Twitch.
5:30am midweek ride...to access more midweek rides. 
Climbed in sun, just beat the deluge home as black clouds swept down the Happy Valley....
Camping in the Lake District with my youngest, who is only just discovering the joys of mountain biking, so we did a nice low level ride around Hawkshead and Windermere.
FLIC.KR 
1000km up on the Whyte. In just over two months. Going to need lights soon tho 🙁
Forgot to take any photos so here's one of all the bikes piled up before we headed into the pub 🙂
75km loaded gravel ride yesterday evening, trying to dial in my set-up for "The Land Between" next weekend. Bike = 95%. Gear = 85%. Rider = 34.72%! Nice evening for it, and got home just as the first drops of last night's rain started ...
Just your average Tiree loop.
(30mph wind was either challenging or delightful, depending on road direction...)
How are you finding Coll and Tiree in cycling/rough camping terms? Quiet, rammed with tourists? I've got 10 days off in September, weighing up options.
Gorse and heather in full bloom here, but a distinctly autumnal nip in the air this morning. After a record breaking summer, can the weather stay good for me....?
How are you finding Coll and Tiree in cycling/rough camping terms? Quiet, rammed with tourists? I've got 10 days off in September, weighing up options
Wild camping is banned. That said, I'm sure with care you could in the dunes. But a lot of coast access is overlooked by houses/through a croft. And no bushes or trees to hide you digging a hole....
There's some 'Croft pitches' that the community provide, but no facilities and only one public loo at Scaranish.
We stayed on the Tiree Campsite. Basic OK. The uncleaned and dirty state of it not OK. I spent an half hour when we arrived with another guest cleaning the kitchen, mouldy fridges, brushing the floor etc. But there's only one site....
Of the few businesses serving refreshments and food, we're yet to find one that didn't operate on 'island time' - not open on days they said they were, closing early, and similar. Make sure you have spare food and a stove....
Middle of the season and not that busy at all.
We've had a great three days. Really good cycling. Constant wind. Some nice hills. Great local people. Brilliant bookshop. Amazing history. Stunning views.
Sadly we should be on Coll but broken and cancelled ferries mean we are heading home rather than risking being stranded until Tuesday...so we need to return.
Today:
Final week of August and the last two decent days of summer seem to have fallen on my days off....cracking morning, stitching together all my favourite local stuff while it's still bone dry with 1200+m of often brutal climbing. Big Dales classic tomorrow?
Clouds and a stiff easterly chased me west over Embsay and Malham Moors to Weets Top for, given current conditions, the crazy fast descent to Calton. Couldn't waste the last dry day of summer but I'm feeling it after a summer spent battering myself. August Everest in the bag, time for a break.
I've been running 650b wheels on the gravel bike since I built it 3 years ago, I decided to give 700c a go and got some Easton wheels off of eBay, I think I prefer the 650b and 2.2 Conti Racekings over the 700c and Conti terra Adventures, I'll give it a few more goes but can see the 700c wheels getting sold on
Im both stoked and gutted. I finally rode the Bourgeoise trail from Col de Joux Plane (Morzine) down to Samoens. I was on my e-bike. When I finally popped onto the road, I checked Trailforks and saw that the trail went down the road from then on. I also saw that I had just missed the bus back up to the Col. Therefore, I just started following the signs back up towards Morzine. And it’s only this evening, as im looking again at Trailforks that I’ve realised that the flipping trail does go down the road for a bit, but then heads off-road again. So I only ride half the bloomin’ trail - after all that!
Solo one for me tonight, didn't fancy being the only rider out of 5 not on an ebike!
Fantastic evening, loads of wildlife about, trails a bit more grippy than previous weeks.
Perfect ride.
The last photo is a blurry bird of prey who was swooping tree to tree long enough for me to get my phone out and take a blurry picture.
@johnhe - I've ridden the whole thing. It was amazing. A few years ago now but I still remember the loons chucking themselves off the parachute ramps. GMBN had a vid of them riding it recently as well.
Nowhere near as epic but determined to get out before the rain. Glad I made the effort
Elbows up in support of our Canadian colleagues 🙂
Golden hour
Pub? With my reputation 🙂
