Fat-boy-fat – can't see your email in profile?

Anyway, our route was as follows:

Day 1 – Start at Ardnamurchan Point. There is singletrack round the north site of the peninsula or you can take the single track road. Headed to Strontian and then turned north up onto the forest track up Glen Shiel. We then chain-ganged it on the road to Ft. William. About 70-odd miles.

Day 2 – Up the Gt. Glen cycleway to Ft. Augustus then over the Corrieyarrick pass to Laggan/Newtonmore. Again baout 70-odd miles.

Day 3 – Newtonmore up through Feshiebridge/Rothiemurcus area to Glenmore, then Ryvoan Pass, Glenmore Forest, over the Braes of Abernethy, Bridge of Brown to Tomintoul. A shorter day at 40-odd miles.

Day 4 – South from Tomintoul down Glen Builig (great singletrack) then east towards Ballater. then followed the old railway line towards Banchory, over Scolty Hill and The Slug to Stonehaven and then up to Dunnottar Castle, which a bit more of a scenic milestone to finish. Was 60-odd miles.

We had a good friend in a car that met us at various points with food and carried our overnight gear. I thouroughly enjoyed it. We did it in Sept 99 and were blessed with good weather. We did it for one of the mags – it was in MTB Pro I think in early 2000.

Thanks Junkyard but I'm looking to replace all the connectors as they have become badly corroded – I figure Goodridge stainless steel ones should last and I also have some spare Goodridge hose lying about. the Goodridge system also doesn't use olives from memeory.

CAMEROON!

Ardnamurchan Point to Dunnottar Castle (Stonehaven) – did it back in '99. Went via Glen Shiel, Great Glen, Corrieyarrick Pass, Rothiemurcus etc. 4 days of glorious riding and weather!

Wayne Kerr
Tom Morrow
Albert Hall
Stan Still
Anne Kersaway
Paige Turner

to name but a few…

Bluddy brilliant.

Monkeyp – I wouldn't say spec has been significantly downgraded: Shifters, ft mech and chainset is 2010 Tiagra and rear mech is 105, so not really that much different from '09 105. Frame is now Reynolds 725 rather than 520 and the fork is also DB chromo, rather than carbon/alloy, which I prefer. All pretty good for a grand. You even get reasonable pedals with it (M520s).

"tecjnical stuff"? – ya, for shure, jat is da shtuff we normally ride on da dual shushpension all terrain shycle, no?

I got one a few weeks ago and love it. It's not the lightest bike in the world it has to be said, but it is well comfy and great spec for the money. The disc brakes work well once bedded in, better than cantis, although the chicken levers have been removed already. Rolls really well along forest tracks, towpaths etc. but can feel a bit out-of-control down tecjnical stuff but hey, that's what my mountain bike is for…

Genesis Croix de Fer. Got one a couple of weeks ago thru B2W (£999). Love it.

I have one and it's great as a helmet light – I hardly know it's there it's so light. You can put rechargeables in it, I got 1500mAh ones on ebay to give the same burn time as disposables. They are slightly longer but the end cap still goes on OK.

Best cure for sea-sickness:

Sit with your back against a tree.

(Courtesy of Mr Tommy Cooper :lol: )

I have just bought a set for my son's 7th birthday. Can't wait!

…actually, most of the BBC Weather Girls. Especially that Louise Lear. Grrrr.

My tensile 18t freewheel clunks when I pedal and the whole drivetrain is almost new. I sound like I'm back riding an old Raleigh Strika when I was a kid. Still haven't worked out what's causing it…

Tesco Balance Bike – £37.99

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.205-5376.aspx

My elder son learned on it and my younger son is learning on it at the moment. they love it. Same idea as the Rothan but a lot cheaper. I just flipped the brake lever upside down and onto the left side of the handlebar so they learned from an early age that the rear brake was on the left….

'Fudge Packer' for a confectionery company….

Also a Weegie:

'Awright, Bawbag! :D

nbt, everything's new (and not cheap).

That was frankly awesome. Riding in a bunch of 300 at the start was pretty scary for a start. Managed to hang on to the front bunch and coasted past Lance on the top of the Glennifer Braes. Had a really surreal moment when I looked over my right shoulder and saw him there on his bike. He then drew level with me and we chatted for a wee while. Sanny had a chat with him too. What a top bloke. He didn't have to do that – he could've gone out for a ride on his own or with his couple of mates.

I'm still buzzin…!
:D

Got a bat stuck in my helment vent whilst riding home one night along the canal. Give me a bluddy fright what with all the noisey scratching about… 8O

Thanks for everyones offers to help. I’m on holiday the next couple of weeks but after that I’ll put a shout out for bodies and we’ll spend a couple of hours one weekend and gets some trails back!

Thanks y’all!

A few of us have been talking about getting up to the trails to the west of Craigallion Loch which was forested at the start of the year. A little bit of work removing branches/scrub from the trail and perhaps putting logs into vehicle ruts and we could have the trail back. I don’t think it would take a huge amount of work, ‘specially if we get a few bodies up for a couple of hours over 2 or 3 weekends….

lovewookie, that drop is further to the left near the top of the descent – a third option to Flux and Reubenator, if you like!

Haven’t seen you for a while although I pass the bottom of your garden at least once a week – where you been hiding?

I’ve just emailed the Access Officer at Stirling Council about the offending trees. Hopefully will get the wheels in motion to get them removed…

Can I make a suggestion?:

Following on from davidrussell’s post; someone (OP?) email the Access Officer of Stirling Council and send him the pic/let him know this path is blocked. It’s near the top of the Gowk Stane (the big boulder half way up)path. He will contact the local FC guy who will sit on the Local Access Forum with him/her. From memory this forest is owned by a private forestry company (Tillhill?) but the FC guy will know who to contact. The Landowner/forester has an obligation to keep existing paths clear under The Land Reform Act Landowners must manage their land or water responsibly for access.

I love Scotland!

I have tried many things (I used to work a lot outside in the Western and Central Highlands) and the only stuff that really works is 100% DEET. Just don’t get it in your eyes or on your lips. Oh and it strips the paint off a pencil….

Just remembered another one:

Drew Peacock (again, say it quickly).

There are a lot of cruel parents about…

Some real ones:

Albert Hall;
Tom Morrow;
Stan Still;
Lance Boyle;
Albert Ross;
Alan Bolt;
Paige Turner;
Patrick Fields (Paddy);
Terry Bull;
Anna Sasin;
Hazel Nutt;
Barry Cade;
Carrie Oakley;
Rose Bush

the list goes on and on….

One of the worst tyres I have ridden in the wet.

Allyharp,

We didn’t ‘miss the best bits’. :wink:

The ride over to the Wangie is worth it to create a long loop starting and finishing in Milngavie. Only a part of the route approaching Burncrooks reservoir is a bit vage but you just head for the Dam and cross the stream just before it – easy. You can also add on the climb and descent round the path from the Wangie to the Queen’s View Car Park if the weather has been dry…

Hadge,

Thanks. The last time i asked the lbs I was told the hub hadn’t been received from BETD as it ‘had just come back from anodizing’ so I suspect it wasn’t in stock (black 36H 120mm OLD fixed/free SS hub). I also suspect lbs weren’t exactly quick out the blocks with the order…..

Usually, I get a few every year here in West Central Scotland and they have been getting worse over the past few years… I have one of those ‘Tick Twister’ remover thingies and it is excellent.

The wee black **** in the picture with the match head is a sheep tick, I believe. Deer ticks are a different ball game – brownish and a fair bit bigger. Interestingly, a pal who lives in the Trossachs was out walking near Aberfoyle last week when he happened to spot a deer tick in a long blade of grass. He had a look around the area and stopped counting at 20! By the sounds of it this year might be the worst yet! :?

Owned by BETD now i believe. Did a bit of research on t’interweb on the hubs and they seem to get good reviews. Ordered a SS road hub from them through the lbs and they have been painfully slow at sending it out…

Aye, there are a couple of loverly mounds on that ‘lactate’ ladder… :lol:

Good music;
None o’ that press up nonsense;
More climbing rather than sprinting;
Fit burds.

(In no particular order).
:lol:

Toughen up, Princess!!