Got away with the van for a few nights to south Peaks, which is not an area we know. After a week feeling very lousy, felt very pleased to do 25 miles (most of which were easy xc/road stuff!), now 6 months into my COVID recovery. Lovely area – we’ll be back, probably with the gravel bikes when I’m fitter! Who knows what we’ll do over the weekend, given the forecast.

Reply to myself: thanks to the person who hung my Goretex up in a tree after it fell out the holder on the bottom of my hip bag! Found it 2 hours later!

First ride at Drumlanrig since lockdown began. Was like bumping into that favourite ex-girlfriend, a bit familiar, a bit awkward and a bit moist.

Just a quick hack out tonight, over Deerplay and back home

I get every other Friday off so the weekend started today for me.

I rode at Pitfichie in rather grey and wet conditions. It was the second ride with this fitted.

Soooooooo good. I’m sure that the front tyre was glued to the floor.
With a coil shock and fork I reckon the bike is over 36lbs and is sooo hard to get up the steep stuff.

Pitfichie looking towards Bennachie

42 miles in the sun today.

Only 1 tonight, 28 miles, 2 pints of Estrella and a packet of crisps in.

This one was during the week, but I quite like it.

Autumn colours in May?

Nab Quarry and Goyt Valley. Luscious let me tell ya!

Biting off a bit more than a gravel bike can chew at the dirt jump and downhill parks at Pines

I didn’t do it

Heading North along the canals for a recovery ride this morning. Wet again.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kYCrF3]20210515_111231[/url]

My weekly weed find, one of the largest for a long time this morning, probably 2 bin liners worth!

And onto more run of the mill pics

These trails were bone dry a few weeks ago, thought the days of cleaning the bike after every ride had gone!

Discovering new riding spots nearby with some properly challenging trails. Some of us rode, some walked.

Reinstating trails after major FC logging. Including digging brush out of a decent sized bombhole. Which means we get to build some more interesting features.

Rain stopped play. Was quite happy as four hours of trail building has done for me!

Saturday – hunting new trails, found Bambi’s mum

This is turning into a gruesome thread!

Quiet ride…….UNQUIET RIDE!

Just a quick rip round the local today and only one pic.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kYEQkq]Quarry[/url] by multispeedstu, on Flickr

Wet hour and a bit at Puddletown once the downpours stopped.

Cannock Chase

Went to the FOD Saturday (no photos sadly) and half of the main trails were shut. Was really muddy everywhere, more like February than May!

Cwmcarn this afternoon, all open but very wet and again felt like the end of winter bar the temperature! The bit of trail in the photo is normally a riot of flowering trees on the right by now but that picture could easily have been taken any time in the last few months!

Anyone else finding it strangely un-spring like out there?

Yes the Forest of Dean today was a mud bath quite tricky on some of the trails going to take a while to dry up there two weeks ago it was bone dry and dusty and great as said above more like the winter just gone conditions mind it can not stop raining in Gloucestershire at present even worse tomorrow happy days.

Rode a new to us BW on the moors above Swaledale. Not technical but nice to do something different.

Then rode back over Harkerside and Apedale.

Just arrived for a bivvy

Friday evening, Loch Tummel and Schiehallion

Saturday, view from Carrot hill towards the Angus glens

Sunday, Sidlaws

Friday evening, Loch Tummel

Cool. I’ve paddled that river and the two drops at the end into the loch are fun!

Dog spin local

Whoop. Double riding weekend, on a loop round Froggat Edge. Having missed the whole of the winter riding due to COVID, the mud was a bit of a shock! Definitely found the limit of a Barzo in places. Good ride.

2nd hack of the weekend, great weather and strong legs for a change.

All finished with a light ale.

May BAM complete.

Bit of a weird one this. Normally I decide I’m going on a bivvy then decide where I’m going to go. This time it was the other way around. I’d recently discovered a new viewpoint in the area. It’s not far from home and I’d looked at it on the OS map a few times but that showed the wee summit completely forested. After discussing it with a mate, he’d headed up for a gander and took some great photos. I’ve since been up twice – once on foot and once on a bike. I found a couple of potential bivvy spots to try out so with a decent break in the weather I decided last night was the time.

On my previous visits I’d worked out that the top of the hill is regularly visited so made sure I arrived late. Having said that, at this time of year it’s light till after 10pm so arriving just as the sun was setting worked out fine.

On account of the weather forecast I’d not bothered with a tarp so after inflating the mat, rolling out the bivvy bag and stuffing the sleeping bag in I was already all set for the evening. Nothing for it than to have a beer I guess.

It was very still, the noisiest thing being the constant drone of bees. I don’t know what they were searching for as there is very little flowering under the tree canopy at the moment. After a while, as darkness fell and the air got a bit chiller, even they stopped and soon all I could make out was the intermittent chatter of ducks on one of the lochs below.

As it was getting chilly, I also slipped into the sleeping bag, staring up at the sky. It was around 80% cloud cover but I caught sight of a meteorite almost instantly.

Before long, I’d nodded off, waking up a couple of hours later to turn onto my side. I noticed that the clouds had been swept aside and all the stars were now out.

At 4:05, I was woken by a combination of increased daylight and a cuckoo announcing its presence.

For those not familiar with the Highlands and following the HT550 next week, it was already light enough to ride without lights. However, I was in no such hurry so turned away from the light for another nap.

By 5:45, the sun had risen over the Corbett of Meall a Bhuachille and was shining directly into my little camp spot. What’s more, it was reflecting of Loch an Eilean below me so it was like getting a double dose of radiation. That was it then, time for breakfast. Stove on for coffee accompanied by porridge bars.

Still aware that I wanted to be away before anyone got up, I decided to stretch my time a little. As I’d sat there, the day had sort of woken up. Noises were returning; the bees were busy again, the chirruping of wee birds, the song of a blackbird and more of those bloody ducks. Lots of gentle, soft noises. Then there was this harsh, scraping noise right behind me. I turned around to see a red squirrel run up a tree about 3 metres away. I could hear his claws digging into the tree bark and a little squeaking noise from his mouth as he ran up. The cuckoo turned up again too, so close I could hear it breathing in between each Coo-Koo sound.

Still in my bag, I lay back for another spell of quiet contemplation. So many of my bivvys are in places much more “spectacular” than this and yet they are often quite dead to the human eye and ear. This place was absolutely alive and I was just enjoying listening to it all.

Eventually though, I thought I’d best make a move. I didn’t want to be hogging the viewpoint if other folk arrived. Not having much with me it didn’t take long to pack up and I detoured back via Loch Gamhna and Loch an Eilean trying, unsuccessfully, to get a look back at my camp spot.

That one was definitely very good for the soul.

Very inspirational @scotroutes. Looks amazing.

Couple of nice pootles dodging the showers this weekend.

Day over on the Mynd – trails were as ace as ever.

Brilliant @scotroutes

We went for a pootle and walk – we discovered a ‘link’ I have long suspected was indeed there.

In this picture there is a track to the fence on the left, and another track ends at the pylon – and means we can access a local gravel loop without a big road return. For those who know, we are behind Andy Murray’s hotel here.

Saturday bluebells:

Sunday – wandered across the Ochils from Blairdenon to Wood Hill. Grand day out.

Crossing from Blairdenon to the top of Silver Glen:

Wood Hill:

28 miles along the Aberdeen coast yesterday…

@citizenlee – what an amazing ride, great pics.