The “Who’s off to Fort Bill” thread…

Been a long time since I’ve been there for the DH, but do they still feed you ?

When I was there they laid on free pasta(coated in something red, not sure exactly what that was) up top of the mountain. And there was a BBQ after on day whatever.

Missed the BBQ. bit late getting there and all that was left was the burned offerings.

I say burnt, but they could possibly be donated those sausages to the local art school for charcoal drawing.

I expect now they charge more as an entry and offer no free grub.

What’s the current midge status?

Though it was a gig related  post

Yup heading up Friday and staying at camp wild.

https://www.smidgeup.com/midge-forecast/

Not getting this year due to work, don’t mind normally that I miss every other year or so but I’m slightly gutted this year for some reason

Picking up my kid from school on Friday and heading up then, staying in an apartment not far from the distillery. The forecast is ok and he’s super excited. Heading back on Monday, probably via Glentress.

What’s the current midge status?

I was wondering this as well.

Cotic have a stand (pop in and say hi to Cy, Mat & Will) but I have a longstanding and multiple times cancelled/delayed trip to Torridon planned this weekend instead.

For those riding uptop the event village – whats the deal with the bike park/store?  I’ve read that there are security staff and rider identification but to bring a suitable lock.

I’ve got a Pragamasis 19mm chain which would be ridiculous to carry around – but then I’m not convinced that some sort of cable lock would be any use at all.  We need to lock up 2 bikes – thoughts from anyone thats used it before would be appreciated.

Thanks

I haven’t used the bike parking bit but I have seen it and it’s a properly fenced in area. Seems very secure to me and anyone going at a locked bike with boltcutters would be very obvious

Thats what I was hoping hear – much appreciated Bob – sounds like my basic Kryptonite D Lock and cable will be ok then – I’ll leave the Pragmasis back at the camp site 🙂

been going for 20 years!

Wild Camp:  if you have young kids then park far away from the cow barn because there is a massive party there on friday and saturday night until the small hours. the party is pretty kid friendly, to be honest.  my boy is 14 and is looking forward to it after being there when he was 10 pre covid and last year.

The bar has undergone some changes in the last few years to get closer to legal (which is a shame in my view because I’m pretty sure that buying buttons that are exchanged for drink would stand up in the Court of Session in Edinburgh).  Daisy who runs the place is lovely.  it’s a bike ride up the hill to the venue via the back route past Torlundy junction and over the railway line bridge.  there is a bus that takes you up if you can;t ride.

Midge status:  the little f**ckers are out in force here in Bridge of Allan, it;s been wet and warm.  Anyone over the age of 12 should be drinking whisky heavily and ideally smoking a cigar.  midgie nets might work too.

Bike Parking: last year they had a ticketing system that you had to show the right ticket to get your bike back.  like a cloakroom at a club

Are the tickets digital or do they post out a wrist band or something? I was thinking of just driving up for Sunday but think it might be too late now.

Tickets are digital.

I’ll be staying well away while the circus is on. I guess a few people will be staying on a few days to do their own riding.

Will the gondola and Top Chief will reopen for normal use on Monday, anyone know?

Just heading up for Friday this year as I’ve got a festival here in Glasgow on Saturday. Friday’s usually the best day anyway as it’s far less crowded so you get to see a bit more in the pits and on track and is just more chilled, though the finish arena on race day is hard to beat

@rapiddescent – thanks for the solid advice – we’ve got a 2 year old in tow so will park up well away from the barn.

First time at Wild camp – but from what I’ve seen we’re not even going to bother taking too much food with us and rely on the breakfasts, burgers and pizzas for a few days 🙂

Still can’t decide whether to bother taking the bikes tho – proably not much ‘proper’ riding time for us so just used for getting to the venue and maybe bobbing to the shops – it was only the thopughjt of waiting ‘hours’ for the shuttle back that made me want to take the bikes

for this weekend, just take bikes for commuting – I used to park my van at the North Face car park and ride through the woods to the race (which was magical) but the forestry commission have closed the NF car park and the road to it for this weekend.  We always take bikes because if you leave after the race (when everyone else wants to) you’ll have to wait in the bus queue.  The buses are well organised but there’s 10,000 people leaving at the same time.

Wild Camp has the pizza/burger guy there this year (from facebook post) – but we’ll take food just in case.  the pizza’s were lovely last year.

in terms of “shops” – nearest is Fort William, cycle track all the way there and there is a foodie Marks and Spencers on the Torlundy side of town. (about 2.5 miles)

We’re mostly going with commuter/school bikes too, although I may stick a MTB in, as it’s easy enough to head in/out via some of the trails between the event and town.  The bike parking is/was pretty well supervised/controlled last few years, so you should be fine with any half-decent lock.

Midge nets, Smidge, long sleeves/trousers are definitely essential – if there’s a bit of a breeze it should be mostly ok, but once you’re in the woods, you’re ****!

I’m a local who uses and recognises Fort Bill as a truncated commonly used name for town. Like every other local I know.

I did a big shop yesterday so I can avoid the festering crowds.

Can I just announce that Fort Bill is full and there is nothing to see here.

Right then – will take bikes, and a bit of food, already stocked up on smidge and headnets.

Can you tell I’m excited about our first time at “Fort Bill” 🙂

@a11y

Sorry, just catching up. First runs start at 10:40, second runs at 11. The whole thing is finished & podiums done before midday. They use Wild Goat for the track.

Those relying on digital tickets, remember the phone signal can be terrible at the bottom, make sure you have them downloaded in advance.

Was at Glenfinnan this morning seeing the Train, the guy in the shop there said he hasn’t seen any midges yet this year so could be ok.

Looking at the schedule tomorrow, is there a list of who is in Group A vs Group B?

I’m not off but I am well excited about this season’s opener.

The Making Up The Numbers podcast/YouTube on the homepage was very good. Lots of chat on some upcoming riders I didnt know much about.

Very few people really get bothered if you refer to the town as Fort Bill ,although many don’t use that name themselves. Most I think call it town, some call it An Gearasdan . The name Fort William does’nt strictly refer to the town but to (surprise) the fort that was built here. The town that sprang up outside the fort was called Maryburgh.

Enjoy your weekend everyone

Zero midges today. The park and ride went well , a last minute day out for us.

Loved it.  Great atmosphere.

Respect those riders SO much .

Good job  Fort William and all involved today.

What a weekend! Great racing decent weather no midges

and Camp Wild such a friendly chilled out place to stay with regular shuttles to the event.

great weekend all in

What a fantastic weekend!

The racing was brilliant, a great atmosphere and got to meet so many legends of the sport.

We camped at Glen Nevis which was also really good – not too crowded and had great facilities.

I emailed a couple of days before we went about accessible parking at the park and ride (wife is a wheelchair user), and was told the info on the website was incorrect – however we could get parking at the Rural Centre on the road up to Nevis Range.

Rocked up on Saturday morning and got let into the Rural Centre – security guy also held the shuttle bus for us. He then came over and said “Don’t get out of the car, I’ve arranged for you to drive up to the main entrance and drop off”- Bonus!!!

Drove up to the main entrance to be greeted by one the events team who then proceeded to check to see if there were any accessible spaces left by the main building – which there were, so said we could park there for the day – Extra bonus!!! He took details and said come back up Sunday morning and if there was a space we could have it – which surprisingly there was – extra extra bonus!!!

The event staff were brilliant, despite all the running around they were doing they couldn’t have been more helpful and accommodating.

The guys on the gondola were happy to stop them to allow us to use the ramp to get the wheelchair in, and advised that instead of queuing just to go into the exit and they’d get us on.

I have to say I think it is the best elite sporting experience I’ve ever had – knocks the socks off F1, GT’s & Touring Cars for friendly and helpful.

Bring on next year!!

We may have gone overboard with the autographs though……

That’s amazing, glad you had a great time.

First time. Made the Sunday event. Fantastic atmosphere.

Next to zero mobile reception up there. Even after saving entry qr code to ‘notes’, the staff managed to print out my ticket.

The pickup points for the shuttle bus in town could have been made clearer. There’s only one street sign on middle st.

To those, unfamiliar with fort bill, it can be a wee bit confusing.

that aside, I’m really glad that I made the journey👍👍👍