Early start to the weekend for us with an xc ride and exploration to find some new trails.
Had to stop at the brewery for a couple of recovery drinks.
Got to keep hydrated in this heat.😉

Ours started early to take advantage of the good weather, two days riding and walking around Peebles. Had a pootle in Glentress and now back at the camper for breakfast. Abigale has set off for practice. Will probably set of out again at lunch time.

One from Tuesday

Evening light

Pure sweatfest yesterday afternoon

Sweatfest

North Yorkshire moor gravel riding, not far from the RAF base.

A quick cart around Rossendale and a brew in Waterfoot

Took Lewis to Cademuir forest for his first take of off-piste type trails.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2mbNMhw]CB1D6269-B0CC-4FFD-8304-7357940F517C[/url] by Aberdeen_lune, on Flickr" alt="Gairnshiel" />[url=https://flic.kr/p/2mbL8sw]1F8A6F53-07B1-4398-BE0E-CB37B3634CAC[/url] by Aberdeen_lune, on Flickr" alt="Gairnshiel bridge" />[url=https://flic.kr/p/2mbQdQ4]CFEAFB02-8F4F-4064-BD7A-F52721529B9F[/url] by Aberdeen_lune, on Flickr" alt="Beers" />

Lovely road ride today. Aberdeen, Balmoral, Braemar, Linn of Dee, Gairnshiel and a pint at the Broadstraik on the way home. Strangely Aberdeen is hotter than Deeside today.

No tame photographer here, so off-bike pics only;

No beer either, so here’s the obligatory ice cream pic;

It’s hot out there.
Eeb blast today at Glenbena and Inners.

Very jealous, one of my sons has covid so we are all isolating.

We set Abigale off for the practice and did 28 miles up and down at Glentress. It was hot, blue sky’s and the trails were dry and dusty. Tomorrow will be some of the same for us whist she races.
Got back to the camper and spent the evening sat out with liberal amounts of gin and tonic.

Missing walnut

Mostly in the sea.

A few hrs in the Fod this morning, crazy hot by midday.

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A trip round Perthshire!

Edit – And a photo posting experiment!

Cwmcarn and environs off-piste.

Beach, swim. Loverly
Stopped for a Magnum on the way home. Tripster fancied a sit down

Out early and spent eight hours up and down in Glentress whilst the Enduro was on. Felt for the riders who had an hour delay on stage one due to a crash.
Although it was cloudy the heat was still sapping on the climbs. Gave what water we had left to some of the riders climbing back up to stage four.

Battenberg icecream on the way back, homemade cake and a well earned gin and tonic at the camper

Fab day out in the Yat. Hot and dusty Then this happened

A pictorial essay in three images 🙂 That hurt a bit. Very sore hand now but could have been a whole lot worse.

You can get Battenburg icecream? 😍

Too hot for mincing about on the moors today!

Sheffield out to Foolow (near Tideswell) for an overnight bikepacking trip Saturday, early start this morning to get home before the heat built. Yesterday was hard going, six pints of shandy weather.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRdreyCB7J5/?utm_medium=copy_link

Saturday, GF wanted a shot at the Ullswater shore trail to test her “lockdown skills” so looped that in….

Sunday, explored more Southern Upland Way – section between Wanlockhead down to the Dalveen pass, followed by a blast down the Roman Road into Durisdeer…

Friday evening – checked out a “gravel” route that’s been popular on some local Strava groups lately, with my own detours to and from. It was good but there’s better in the area.

I’m off work next week so will hopefully have some time to fix up the full suss as it’s been a bit neglected of late.

Monday Night Pub Ride Crew away day, north of the border, for fun and frolics in the baking hot sun at Kirroghtree, followed by the pub, then big barby/piss up at Duncfest.

Sweating like a 1970’s TV presenter

My mate Rich taking a break after the ball breaking climb up White Hill above Abbotsbury (Dorset) on Saturday in the 30c+ midday sun. Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that ……….

Went to Lakes, it was ace… but too hot to take a lot of pics.

I’ve volunteered to help replace the deck on a bridge over the River Eidart in the Cairngorms. I was asked to check out the condition of the timbers and to get some measurements to took that as an excuse to head down for a bivvy.

Weather was looking settled, but breezy so I opted for bivvy bag and tarp, the midge being less of an issue and that offering more flexible pitching options in an area somewhat lacking in dry, flat ground. On the way up Feshie, I opted to take the dry, high, but exposed line, bypassing the double ford otherwise required. I passed 6 or 7 other tents on the way up to the Eidart. I guess that counts as fairly busy. As I neared the Eidart, I had that choice of the old, stony walkers path of the newer, mussy quad track. Normally, I’d choose the former but this time the quad track had dried up and it was like a soft, brown motorway. I met 8 other cyclists coming towards me (two pairs and a quad), evidently doing through trips. When I got to the area of Colins Howff, I spotted what I thought was a jumble of rocks on a wee hill but it turned out to be the ruin of an old sheiling. It was sheltered, dry and not overgrown so I bagged that as my bed for the night. As I did so, I heard some chatting and two more cyclists appeared – this time heading for the Geldie. I shouted a friendly hello and it turned out that one of them recognised me!! After a wee chat I urged them to press on. It was already well after 8pm and they were making for their car at Linn of Dee.

Time to pitch. I thought I’d use the tarp as a “roof” for my shelter, took it out, unfolded it and…. it was the wrong tarp. I’d mistakenly packed the micro-tarp. Now I had a problem. I only had the Tigoat Kestrel as a bivvy bag and it’s barely showerproof. That meant that my legs would be exposed to any rain that might fall – and it was looking increasingly likely to rain. I had a brief moment of panic but then realised that I had the Schnozzle bag for my mat, so I slipped the foot of the bivvy bag into that to make a double layer. (Have I just invented the half bivvy bag?)

Normal service resumed. Meal, drink, snack, sleep. I had a decent night and it actually didn’t rain.

I got up early in the morning to survey the bridge and check out part of the old Right of Way. I’d spotted a lovely pool last time I was here and fancied a swim but just couldn’t find any way down to it short of jumping in from an overhanging rock, which would have left me with no way out 🙂

Return to Aviemore was via the new forest track linking Feshie and Tromie. It’s a big climb up from Feshie to the start of the track and it (currently?) ends a couple of km short of the good track in Tromie so I had five, relatively easy, river crossings to cope with on the way. If it’s ever fully linked up, it’s going to be a great option. I even met up with metalheart on the way back for an al fresco lunch at Loch Insh (that was pre-arranged though).

View from the bivvy spot.

Making myself at home

Eidart bridge

Yeah – it was a bit hot.

Ford over the Feshie. First time I’ve used this one. It was only ankle deep but I can easily imagine it being impassable.

July BAM done, so 7/7. 56th consecutive month (though some shit news at home means that might be the end of my run)

Monday (Glasgow Fair w/e so still counts 🙂 ) – Drumlanrig

@jodafett – where was that? Am exploring a lot more of Perthshire right now although granted it’s a big area…

I did a little Dartmoor mission on Friday night.

We travelled to Braemar to explore some lesser ridden Cairngorms singletrack (although true ‘Gorms connoisseurs probably consider these trails passe by now 😎).

Stunning conditions, in fact I don’t think I’d ever want to go back and ride a lot of this as doubt it would ever be this dry again, literally eating didn’thurt’s dust on the last big descent (until purely by necessity I had to let him open up a massive gap in front to let the dust settle before I got there, nothing to do with my limp wristed noveau gravellista descending skills… 🙄).

Doesn’t get any better.

@13thfloormonk

where was that? Am exploring a lot more of Perthshire right now although granted it’s a big area…

It was the top loop of this route –

Edit – Can’t seem to link from Komoot!The route was from Pitlochry up Glen Fearnach to Fealer Lodge across and down to Blair Atholl via Glen Tilt then up to Bruar Lodge and back down to Falls of Bruar, across to Loch Tummel then over to Aberfeldy then looping back to Pitlochry. 100 mile loop.

It was ace but the section from Loch Tummel to Aberfeldy was a bit much. Too steep to cycle up and too rocky for a gravel bike coming down from Beinn Egagach. I camped at Loch Bhac which was lovely. I’m going to try the lower loop next. I used the Rob Roy Way from Grandtully back to Pitlochry but would stick to the road next time as it was another hike a bike with a forest road decent into Pitlochry.

Oh wow, nice!

I’ve looked at that Loch Tummel/Beinn Egagach link before, will maybe take 29er if I ever get round to checking it out.

My stomping ground is a little further south at the moment, anything within a half day’s riding there and back from Auchterarder.

That Beinn Eagagach bit definitely works better in the other direction (and with some suspension 😬 )

That Beinn Eagagach bit definitely works better in the other direction (and with some suspension 😬 )

Yup! 43mm tyres didn’t quite manage it!

Don’t know if you’re aware but a brand new access road has been built running from the Loch Tummel side of Beinn Egagach to the West. It doesn’t appear on any map or Google earth etc. There’s a construction site on the side of the hill but don’t know where the road links to as the nearest main road seems a long way off!

Do you mean to the East from Beinn Eagagach?

Do you mean to the East from Beinn Eagagach?

Yeah! Meant to say East 🙄

Aye – that’s the access road for the new barytes mine