Joining the bandwagon (27.5+ & bike packing….)

Thanks Sanny, as it so happens I’m out on BAM#1 tomorrow. Cycling extents still tbc… Meeting up at the pub, I fear the worst.

A filter is on my to buy list. Relatively relaxed about using stream water ‘neat’ in the highlands but it’s a necessary part of the ‘toolkit’. Just bought a gps so it’ll need to wait a while longer.

I’ve ridden the Geldie bone dry in the past, just not the last time….

Funnily enough (amongst other things) I’ve picked up a hyperlite, tested it out (along with a Helium 2 tent) on the highlands BB winter bivi last month.

mh

BAM#1:

Bit of a token effort (20km round trip). But, hey, it is January.
Scotroutes was the routefinder general and had scoped it all out beforehand. Piemonster was sicked off…
Started with our tea and beer in the Bothy Bar, a ride out in the dark and drizzle to a wooded bivi arriving the back of 11…
Took the bag and tarp this time (was getting criticized for a tent the last time… 😈 aye piemonster I’m looking at you).
Some more practice for the ‘real thing’.

The tarp setup by Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr

SR surfaces… by Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr

BAM#1 the bivi spot… by Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr

Good weekend trip and got the year kicked off.

Took the opportunity to nip in past Escape Routes en route where Kev skinned me the usual £100+ shop entry fee… 😉
It was good to catch up with him (and Colin, obvs).

When I started this, oh pretty much a year ago, things were pretty different. I’d done exactly one bivy and was full of questions as I’d worked out on the hour and a half ride in from my mates house that a rucksack wasn’t the way to do this kind of thing…

Now I’ve completed 5 of the BAM2017, plus a couple of trips in the latter part of last year including a full on ICL reported earlier. Hey, I’m almost a veteran now!

I’m also a fuly fledged member of the B+ brigrade, my SolarisMAX having been bought to serve as my bikepacking mule (after deciding my medium Solaris is too short for long days in the saddle).

So, with no mates and May fast receeding into the distance I needed to get a quick bivy in.

Since starting this, things have definitely changed, and not just my bike and experience. My folks were ill and died in July. ‘Freed’ from their care an oppurtunity of a better job and relocation northwards presented itself and I availed myself of it. Having moved and started a new job in the last month things have been hectic (hence having not managed to get a bivy in, piemonster and scroteouts decided to embark on theirs as I was flitting) so I needed a solution to my problem. It needed to quick and easy with not a lot of prep (although laying in supplies would have been a good idea!). I cast my mind back a year and decided my first solo bivy would be a return to Loch Eanaich (in the Cairngorms).

So friday am I packed the car an headed to work. After work I headed to Coylumbridge (via Smiffys for a smokie supper 😆 ).

Bike reassembled and seatpack fitted I set off up the track from the camp site.

Loaded up and ready to roll. by Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr

It was all pleasant going, not that steep, nice and dry and iirc the thermometer in the car was reading 26.5 deg C when I stopped coming up to 7pm.

Towards Loch Eanaich

None to shabby.

Approaching the Loch

I arrived at the end of the loch and struggled trying to find the nice spot to get the tarp rigged. It was pretty blowy and it was pushing the tarp downwards. So I decided to head back along the track for a more sheltered spot and soon found a stoney hollow out of the wind. However, it turned out to be a stoney hollow and impossible to get the pegs in… So I headed back to the loch

After some general fannying about trying to find a decent spot I had a sudden flashback that the last time we’d headed along the shoreline for about 0.5km to find the right spot so off I set and found the previous location which was much better.

Bivy erected (OR Helium)

The bivy pitched I decided to crack open my supper fit for a king!

Quality meal 🙂

Cheers!

Then rigged up the tarp.

Tarp rigged (Rab Siltarp1)

Then watched the sun setting for a bit

Sun going down

Before settling in for the night and being lulled to sleep by the lapping waters of the loch. It was quite a pleasant nights kip really (benefits of a solo bivy is the decided lack of snoring, well none to wake me up at least).

In my lack of preparation I’d not taken any water for a brew (and I couldn’t really be arsed bushwhacking the heather to get to a suitable source) the back of six I got up, decamped, packed up and headed back to the car.

Morning

The early morning ride was remarkably restitutional and the dusty trail, sunny morning gave me a general ‘at oneness’ with the world that I rarely achieve even kinda ‘finding myself in the moment’, at peace, enjoying the travelling at whatever pace I cared enjoying the scenery and not wanting to be anywhere else really. But all too soon I was back at the car, BAM#5 completed. So, off to Route 7 for breakfast (well, once it opened I mean, it was only the back of eight I left the layby…)

I guess that’s the circle squared now.

Signing off

mh

Looks fantastic. Red wine and chocolate, the supper of champions 🙂

8)

like!