Here’s some from here:

A Cairngorm Loop

Alladale Loop

Another Scottish Coast to Coast

For ice and snow, I’d say the Schwalbe Ice Spikers are spot on – did the job for me last winter:

Thanks Druidh, routes have been created called “Glen Geldie – Glen Feshie” and “Lairig an Laoigh”, it’s pretty easy to work out with a map too – Explorer 403!

Looks right to me! I can upload/email the gpx files if anyone would like them – I’m sure there’s a site I can use for small files?

The bags were all spot on with no issues to report at all. Bar bag and seat pack are both the large size and I’ll definitely be going with this set up for these weekend trips in future!

Yup, what Druidh said for getting round to Loch Morlich from Feshie. Mal-ec, you won’t be disappointed with the seat pack – it held a surprising amount and was very stable the whole time.

Great place to tour and if the wind is with you then there’s no tough hills to deal with! The wife and I did it by taking the bikes on the train to Oban, then bought Island Hopscotch 23 tickets. This route uses 45 ferries and goes from Oban –> Barra –> Eriskay –> Uists –> Berneray –> Harris –> Skye –> Mallaig. Then we jumped the train home – this also has the benefit of two stunning train rides!

I think your good work has paid off druidh, as the two bad ones seemed very straightforward compared to previous years!

Skink, I recorded the two days on endomondo, so could export to gpx from that if it’s any use?

Day 1 – Glen Geldie/Glen Feshie

Day 2 – Rothiemurchus/Lairig an Laoigh

Had a feeling that was what you were after – feel free to let me know if you get there first! Think I did a bit of t’internet research and saw something advising against trying to do the pathless link into Srath Dionard that way, but I still reckon it’s tempting. I’ll maybe stick up some piccies from the C2C we did across that way – don’t know if I ever got round to it at the time.

We went this way a few years back on a Coast to Coast to Coast loop. The track heading South West from the lodge is an easy ride on a good solid estate track. Directly West is more scenic but a bit more hikey-bikey. You can also continue on to Kylestrome from Loch Stack on a fully rideable track over the hills too. Don’t know about the tracks to the North of the Lodge though!

Jump a train to Blair Atholl, Kingussie or Aviemore and there is tons of the type of riding you’re after within easy reach. There’s also loads of people on here who can suggest routes that are interesting without being technical.

I’ve lived in Aberdeen for 12 years and have never regretted coming here. I think if you’re more interested in what’s outside the city then it’s a better option than Edinburgh just for how much quieter the roads are once you’re out of town.

There are nice areas to live within the city such as the West end and Rosemount (My ‘hood) and I think the city itself is pretty much the right size of city with just enough to keep you entertained in terms of nice places to eat, cinemas etc. The traffic is bad at rush hour, but I don’t really notice since I ride everywhere. There are great places to live in Deeside, but you pay for the privilege. Other surrounding areas aren’t that cheap either, mind!

Probably Aberdeen’s main problem is that it takes a long time to get anywhere else that isn’t in the Cairngorms direction, but as stated by others there are great forests, mountains and beaches all nearby so the need to travel perhaps isn’t as great.

Looks a great way to spend the weekend in my neck of the woods, thanks for sharing! I headed West and got myself some weather yesterday, North of Loch Cluanie.

On the way up Carn Ghluasaid.

Colder than it looked.

Lunch on Sgurr na Conbhairean.

Ridge to follow next.

Sail Chaorainn.

Then back the way I came.

Looking across to the South Glen Shiel Ridge on the way down.

I’ve spent today hiding from the wind!

So that’s four volunteers for the Tour Divide, could form a splinter STW version…

I’ve got the 2 man version of this:

Scarp

It’s under 1.5kg in it’s summer guise and goes up to 2kg for the tough winter configuration with extra poles. Absolutely love it – the 2 man has double openings, which is great for sharing. One day mine will be doing the Great Divide, god only knows when…

Hehe, was hoping you wouldn’t miss that one Druidh! One day I will sort out a website with all this stuff and mapping included – might have to give up working before I get the time to do it right though!

Infamous Burger from the Cairngorm Hotel should fill you up, Mountain Cafe also has plenty of nice stuff to eat too.

Here’s one, but I’d like to see more of yours please – looks amazing!

I’ve faked them so Brian doesn’t go mad when he realises how much we were lying…

Thanks for the nice comments, distances were roughly:

Day 1 – 65km, 1300m ascent
Day 2 – 85km, 1488m ascent
Day 3 – 75km, 1000m ascent
Day 4 – 61km, 600m ascent

trailofdestruction, I pick the routes through a mixture of looking at OS maps on my PC and remembering useful tracks/paths that I have used on weekend bivi solo rides. If you’re thinking of doing a route somewhere up here just ask away on email or whatever and I’ll be happy to advise. Loads of others on here are doing the same thing, which is what makes this site special.

First night in a bunkhouse and the next two in B&Bs, hence the lack of luggage. There plenty of options along the way if you wanted to wild camp – I went for the incentive of pub meals at the end of each day to keep the troops happy!

Two reasons for missing it out – the first was that I knew that might be a bit much for my buddies at the end of a long day and the second was that it is on next year’s route and I like every C2C to be completely different!

Don’t think I’d do it with semi slicks, as there is still mountain biking involved, but I suppose you could rattle along a lot of it that way! For something like that, I’d normally take a decent multi-tool like an Alien, plus a shifting spanner, spare tube/puncture kit, cable ties and a couple of spare powerlinks for the chain – The rest I’d leave to fate!

Apart from a few uphill technical bits on Glen Kinglass, I reckon you could fly along the majority of it on a CX bike – I thought about it but went for comfort! Plus, the original route had more roughness to it…

I think there’s a lot of variability in what people think they should be doing. I was abused by a “cyclist” in a car a few weeks back for being in the primary position approaching a roundabout on a 30mph dual carriageway to turn left. If I’m close to the kerb I am guaranteed to be cut up by someone from the outside lane veering left to get round me, despite the two lanes continuing after the roundabout! I was quite amused when I caught him up by his opening gambit of “I’ve got 6 bikes”, which apparently gives him some authority on these matters?

I’ve got one of these for running which has two hip pockets that make a camera easily accessible. Big enough for my Canon G12, to give you an idea of the pocket size.

Inov8 Race Pro 12

Yup, Koolstop dual compound here – last a long time and I think the design prolongs the life of the rim too.

Sorry, missed the questions – I’ve had a week off in Applecross getting away from it all, thanks for the nice comments! The Kettle is an mKettle[/url], which holds about a pint or so of water and runs off whatever bits of dry wood etc you can get burning in it. Stick half a firelighter in and it boils quicker than any stove I’ve ever used! It’s a bit handier than my ghillie kettle as the size is ideal to lob in a pannier.

For the hammock, I just put my Thermarest between the two layers of the hammock and was perfectly cosy in my 3 season sleeping bag plus silk liner. Might be a different story on a windy night, but I suppose that could be sorted by varying tarp placement.

My favourite is a couple of Ortlieb front rollers on a rear rack plus bar bag or roll up front to balance weight up. Plenty of room for anything you might want to take, including a decent size tent. Trailers are handy if you want to go out for the weekend and don’t have can’t/can’t be bothered fitting your pannier rack before then!

I always like to do at least one winter bivvy on my own each year if possible – you can do everything at your pace and it’s good to feel a bit scared on your own in the dark in the middle of nowhere!

I’d always just gone with shorts, but gave some Salomon running tights a go when running in the hills this year. I find my knees feel a lot better for the extra warmth with the temperature below zero and the wind blowing!

Could be a good idea using blogger if I can get my act together! I think I actually have yours bookmarked – remember reading it before me and the wife did a bike tour in the Hebrides, very useful

Overshoot, was about 48km the first day and 72km the second. My feet were higher, but that was mainly down to me not managing to set it up level – still comfy though, no need for a pillow either.

Druidh, I’ll have to organise something like that – I’ve got a photo gallery thing set up on my website which has photos commented by me for a couple of coast to coast rides, but I need to organise something with a bit more prose in it, I think.

I recorded most of the ride in endomondo, which I could probably export as gpx, or just convert my route from Memory Map if you’d like it in it’s entirety.

Cheers chaps, I’ve never done any blogging other than my threads on here – think most went in the hacking incident back in the day. The hammock is a DD hammock, though I opted to sleep with the midge net open, funnily enough!

If you have a PC with Windows on it, then Windows Media Player can act as a media server for your PS3. You can set it up using the Stream tab at the top of Media Player window. A DLNA NAS will do the trick nicely too, capacity is up to you really and the file format shouldn’t matter.

We have a “V” reg Octavia estate (1.9 TDi, 150,000 miles) and an 06 Mondeo estate (2.0 TDCi, 60,000 miles). Both are great cars and can take a bike in the boot without putting any seats down. I slightly prefer the Mondeo as it’s a Ghia and is all nice and comfy inside, plus the flat loading area is great for sitting in at the end of a day while you have a brew! Octavia gives better mileage on country roads and is easier around town to park and stuff. I think a mountain biker would be happy with either of those two.

I have the paid version on my desire and the option to install it appeared on the Android tablet I got afterwards without needing to pay again, which was nice.

I use it all the time and it works great with all the maps I have. On HTC Desire here too.

I like Vader’s plan the best if you want to have the best of both worlds. Otherwise, Newtonmore to Laggan along the road will take you no time at all if you want to make an easier day of it.

It’s a great ride, don’t forget there’s plenty of undulations round the coast road to cope with as well! Me and the wife did it last February and conditions were fine as the road was clear and there was even a view from the top! Will be back again next month to stay in our usual haunt so will probably do it again unless the weather finally turns, in which case I might have to pack the mountain bike.