Did a bikepacking/hillwalking ride from Bonar Bridge to Beauly (via Ullapool, Dundonnell, Shenavall, Poolewe, Kinlochewe, Glen Torridon, Achnashellach, Glenuaig and Strathconnon).

Will write a proper ride report with some more photos when I get the chance.

Very excited. I’m up in Moray a few times a year and even though there is plenty of good riding on offer already the area lacks the destination trail centre that the terrain deserves.

Stayed in Tomnintoul in March and took a little spin up Cairn Daimh in the snow. The hill has a lot of potential and the not yet open bits of trail I peaked over the tapes at looked great. Hopefully the build is getting back on track given the delays due to the weather.

Aye, I really enjoyed the Beinn Damph loop and would second third that. The descent from Drochaid Coire Roill to Annat is superb. Lots of rocks, slabs and a lovely finish through some woods above the pub.

An out and back to Craig bothy from Diabaig is worth a look too. Not much altitude gained or lost overall but lots of lovely slabby stuff and a real technical challenge in places. There is a short carry in the middle, but it’s worth it.

Andy Farish tracked at Finish — at 09:46:21 AM (BST) 05/31/13

Well done Andy, especially after putting in a few extra miles on day one.

Looks both vertically stiff and laterally compliant, will keep his sleeping bag dry too.

Wow! Cap doffed to everyone who rode/is riding this. Much respect for even starting such an epic – overused word I know, but I think this might almost justify it – ride.

Will be riding a couple of these trails (bonar bridge – ullapool – fisherfield – torridon… ) as part of bikepacking trundle next week, albeit much s l o w e r. I shall raise my hipflask to all of you as I do.

I’m surprised at how many times I have checked http://trackleaders.com/highland13 over the last few days and, knowing a little bit of the terrain, astonished by how the competitors have progressed.

chapeau fellows.

I got one from here to use bikepacking as it fits quite neatly in a full suspension frame.

http://cyclecomponents.com/1/sv/artiklar/jandd-frame-pack-svart.html

Sweden is EU so no import duties. Can’t remember how much postage was but I think the pack was about £35. Delivery was less than a week iirc.

Not had the chance to use it yet, but the build quality seems really good.

Google translation of the text for the video.

If your anterior chamber is abused as a swimming pool, which can be certainly a little irritating in the long run. It is believed that the worm came as the eye in the bloodstream through an open wound.

Fired you an email earlier today, hopefully it made it through.

Which bit of Clubbiedean is getting attention this time?

Is it the roadrat wheels? Had a couple go on mine quite soon after I got it. Once one goes the rest are normally quick to follow IME.

Went for a full rebuild after the second instance, been fine for the few years since.

Coire na Ciste at Cairngorm has the potential to be the absolute #1 goto mountain biking destination in the UK.

Absolutely, they have already ruined the hill with the ski area (I say that as someone who uses it fairly frequently) so I don’t see why the addition of a few well designed blue through red and black dh runs would make that much difference. With some decent downhill runs in place I can’t see anyone pedalling off up and across the environmentally sensitive plateau.

Eagles?

Was up at Glenmore for a scrambling course at the weekend. While I can’t vouch for the mountain biking course I can add a +1 for the cake, food, accommodation, beer and especially the standard of tuition. All very good indeed.

Nice detective work.

It is a hideous typeface though. From its fussy little tittles to its frustratingly just off horizontal baseline serifs I find it excruciatingly loathsome.

Don’t use it jools182, I implore you. There can be no reason to justify type this ugly.

Based on my hazy recollections – I was eleven – it was pretty good and there was a bit with huge piles of bricks to play with. No technic stuff which was a disappointment at the time.

There was some half decent small scale rollercoastery stuff and unsurprisingly lots of impressive things to see built with Lego. I vaguely remember piloting a lego boat around a canal system.

The driving school was ace and despite being pulled over by the local police for driving on the left I was given my Legoland photo drivers licence to take away with me 😀

One from an Aesop Rock tune that I’ve always liked…

This cat is asking if I’ve seen his bit of lost passion.
I told him yeah, but only when I pedaled past him.

The bicycle is a comfortable and cheap way of getting about.

A great boon to man.

Ideal for shopping, easy to park, handy for work.

A faithful friend ever ready to take tired workers back home, and after work to bring relaxation, health and happiness.

From the end of the film Nedrapier was talking about.

Turns up volume as a mark of respect

[\m/] [-_-] [\m/]

ooh, I like music map.

hows about some meshuggah?

Is that cape part of the print or will it flap around in the wind as you hum the Superman theme?

Cyclists who don’t moderate their speed to their environment annoy me. I see some folk who travel at the same speed whether they are in traffic, cutting up over the pavement at lights or on busy shared paths where there are children, dogs and ducks on the loose. Honestly can’t get my head around it.

I find the drivers who are so determined that they must pass me that they are willing to take on speed bumps at over 20 mph and ground their bumpers quite incredible, but the noise their cars make as they hit the ground brings a smile to my face.

eugh, don’t like dates, but I can relate to the subject. I discovered kimchi coleslaw at the weekend, yum 😀

oh, also. I would be very carfeul about eating large quantities of dates.

Yup, looking forward to the new album.

A friend persuaded me to see Autechre play at the Venue in 1997 and BoC turned out to be the support.

Loved it at the time and while their name stuck in my head I didn’t discover any of their albums for a few years after that.

That April fool story is ace… I quite enjoy BoCs cryptic marketing and live elusiveness, but it obviously makes some folk a little too fanatical.

‘Siege of Bitterns’ 😀

Thanks somafunk, will give that a shot. Have some pulycaff cleaner which I assumed is similar to the puro stuff.

These things are like Fox forks, great results but a lot of maintenance to keep them going.

I feel inadequate with only 2.35 inches available 😥

Have a great weekend fatfolks 🙂

yay, this thread fixed my Baby Class 🙂

Got it off ebay for super happy cheap, but the flow started to drop after I descaled it. Reckon some scale must have made its way into the solenoid and jammed things up. Opened it up, gave it a clean and it’s way better.

Aye, the two minutes statistic is a little alarming and lacking a reference to back it up.

19 years. if you live in Scotland, all you’ve got is 19 years before you’re out on your arse.

At least everyone will have a suspended coffee waiting for them when their lives falls apart and they are out on the streets. That’ll make it all better 🙄

Nice idea, but as much as the thought of helping people will give folk a warm fuzzy feeling with their brew, I don’t think it deserves this level of publicity at all.

This, on the other hand, is a fantastic way for a business to make a difference and I hope it spreads. Tasty food too.

http://www.social-bite.co.uk/%5B/url%5D

Social Bite prepares hand made food every day, using fresh, healthy and local produce. No sell by dates. No preservatives. Just the best local ingredients, served up daily. Our food is competitively priced, offering outstanding value for money.

But the main difference between social bite and the rest is that 100% (every single penny) of profit goes towards solving social problems. This is not a token gesture. This is not a PR spin. This is just a different kind of business. A business to help others. This is a Social Business.

Bike breakfast?

Lay on bacon rolls, danish pastries and coffee for those cycling in on a given day. First Friday of the month, something like that.

Make it a tasty treat for those that do ride and tempting enough for those that don’t to consider jumping on their bike next month.

I suggested this at my work but it was scaled back to microwave porridge and fruit juice to keep it healthy 🙄

They were surprised at the lack of uptake for some reason.

Thanks to this thread a few bits of vinyl arrived in the post today. A couple of this years recommendations and something to fill a glaring gap from the past.

clutch – Earth Rocker

Steve Mason – Monkey Minds In the Devil’s Time

Clutch – Blast Tyrant

Lots of other stuff worth perusing in the thread too. Hoping that Chvrches can pull off a decent album. Lauren Mayberry’s voice is fantastic. Just love this tune. Perfect elctro pop.

I also fancy the Public Service Broadcasting record and I’m tempted by the Serafina Steer album after seeing her a year or so back, then there’s all of the other stuff to chuck into google/spotify/soundcloud and see what comes back. Great thread.

Also, we definitely need a Clutch appreciation thread 🙂

Tomahawk – Oddfellows

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away

Mogwai – Les Revenants

The Knife – Shaking the Habitual 😯

cool, thanks for the reassurance. I’ve never put a dent like that in a frame before and hoped it wouldn’t be critical.

It’s only 5p sized and a mm or so deep. Unfortunately it is in a place I will notice all the time.

The new duck egg one looks lovely, so I will have to try harder to kill it 😈

three pages of egg chat.

But still nobody has posted the perfect method.

Simmering water, fresh eggs. Pop the egg – still in its shell – into the pan for 10 seconds. Retrieve it with a spoon and crack it open into the simmering water.

The 10 seconds in the shell helps things coagulate nicely and gives great results without messing about with cling film, vinegar, swirling or bespoke poaching pans 🙄

Serve on sourdough toast with asparagus and a splash of Frank’s Rd Hot sauce.

Think I might have one you could have. I use hope matchmakers with my SLX pods and might have the original clamps in a box somewhere.

Is it a right or left hand pod?

Was great fun today, had only been up on a very snowy day earlier in the year and didn’t get a proper feel for the circuit. It’s coming along nicely and some more bedding-in should help with the 😯 loose gravel moments.

Will be interested to see how good riders take some of the technical sections. Not sure if I’ll ever have the right ‘flow’ or whatever one needs to get down the dual slalom with any kind of dignity… but it’s fun trying 🙂

Thanks folks, ended up going for a couple of laps of Cathkin Braes as it was the simplest option to tie in with other plans.

The Largs riding sounds intruiging. I’ll maybe post up if I’m through that way again… exchange guiding for somebeerforyourfridge?

Stunning day up at Cairngorm today. Perfect conditions and not crazily busy.

Since they ran the piste basher to the top of the hill I thought it would be rude not to walk to the summit and get a run in from the very top.

😀

Now sitting outside in the sunshine on the Moray coast with a beer.

Can Scotland be like this more often please?

Vinyl Killer?

I have had a Project Debut for about six months now and am pretty impressed with it.

Bit late in the week with this, but the good news is that it’s almost the weekend again 🙂

When the wind dropped and the snow started to fall more vertically than horizontally last Sunday afternoon I took a trip up Carn Daimh.

A mixture of sunshine and snow showers with ice and snow everywhere underwheel. Only one section unrideable due to a winters worth of deep drifted snow with a not quite cripsy enough top to ride.

Can’t wait for the new Glenlivet Estate trails up there to be finished, nothing is open or rideable yet but the sections I spotted look like they are shaping up very nicely. That hill has a lot of potential.

I’ll definitely miss the place, not my local-est of LBSes but was always worth going out of my way to visit.

I doubt the new owners will ever achieve the ‘above and beyond’ level of service that TBC’s staff delivered as standard, but hopefully they’ll give it a shot.