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Cairngorms February 2017

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Early February 2017 I had a week off work and decided to head north to the Cairngorms once again. Last year sometime I requested to enter the group ride for the Cairngorm Loop  which is a mountain bike challenge ride that takes in most of the Cairngorms in two loops (see map here) there is no entry fee or prize money and you have to be totally self supported. It’s a tough challenge, 186 miles in 56 hours, most of it off road. The group ride takes place at the very end of April……February is usually not the best month to go mountain biking around the Cairngorms but this year has been relatively mild so far and not a lot of snow. The plan was to take my mountain bike and riding gear and also take my hill walking kit too so if riding was impossible then at least I had something else to do. I based myself for the week at Cairngorm Lodge Youth Hostel next to Loch Morlich, about 7 miles east of Aviemore, which is an excellent, comfortable base to explore the area from.

Lochan Uaine

Lochan Uaine

Monday   The first day was cold about 3 or 4 degrees but the weather forecast was predicting very strong gusty winds late on in the afternoon (80mph!). My original plan was to try and do the inner loop on the Cairngorm Loop with a bothy stop halfway at Derry Lodge but this wasn’t really possible with the forecast. So instead I headed off on some of the excellent trails around Loch Morlich and Rothiemurchus Forest, crossing the Cairngorm Club footbridge and onto the path that goes around the picturesque Loch an Eilein, a rocky side trail from here goes up to the lovely little Drakes Bothy before continuing on through the forest to Feshiebridge. Here I turned right along the B970 road and headed north-east to Inverdruie. After a short detour along the “The Old Logging Way” into Aviemore for some lunch I returned to Inverdruie and turned left over the bridge to pick up the B970 road between Coylumbridge and Nethy  Bridge, after 5 km or so turned right on a wide track and headed east to Forest Lodge in the Abernethy Forest, which is a RSPB national nature reserve centre, from here I turned south up the trail for the steady climb up to the Ryvoan Pass and down to the Bothy. By now it was late afternoon and the weather forecast was proving to be accurate, as soon as I left the forest I was buffeted by strong gusts and had to get off a couple of times and it was a relief to dive into the bothy to get out of the wind for 5 minutes before continuing downhill past Lochan Uaine and Glenmore Lodge back to the hostel.

Old Logging Way near Glenmore Lodge

Old Logging Way near Glenmore Lodge

Tuesday   The next morning the strong winds had gone but when I opened the curtains and looked outside i was amazed to see everything covered in 3 or four inches of snow, quite a transformation and it looked beautiful. No mountain biking today then, instead it was on with the big boots and hill walking kit. I headed off towards Ryvoan Pass again past Lochan Uaine then followed the trail that crosses over the River Nethy and goes around the back of Bynack More. As I gained height the snow became deeper and the path was difficult to follow and subsequently the going became hard work, eventually I made it down to the Fords of Avon, a strategic mountain crossroads with a small emergency refuge no bigger than a garden shed. Here I turned west and made slow progress in the drifts to Loch Avon which was partially frozen over then headed steeply uphill to a feature called The Saddle, then even steeper ground up through a weakness in the cliffs to the flanks of Cairngorm Mountain itself. After a bit of navigational faffing around I eventually located the Mountain Funicular Railway and ski runs of the Cairngorm resort and slowly waded my way down through the snow drifts and onto the never-ending road that leads back to Loch Morlich, arriving back at the hostel at 7.20pm, it had been a tough day out.

Loch Einich

Loch Einich

Wednesday   Back on the bike again and headed over to Feshiebridge via the same route as Monday to check out another little section of the Cairngorm Loop route. This section started on the west side of the River Feshie and headed south to Ballintean along trails, road and forest tracks to the hamlet of Drumguish, i then picked up the B970 road back to Feshiebridge. With this little job done I retraced my tracks back into the Rothiemurchus Forest, past Loch an Eilein to a cross roads about a km before the Cairngorm Club Footbridge, the route heading north went down to Coylumbridge but I headed south on the track that led to the remote and magnificently located Loch Einich. After a couple of Kms the trail became quite snowy but not icy and the tyres were gripping well, the trail split after a while and for some reason I took the high route and ended up doing quite a bit of climbing for nothing because it soon descended back to the lower trail, which gradually made its way up to the Loch, the terrain is quite easy but there are a couple of stream crossings to keep you on your toes and the snow was becoming deeper and harder to pedal through, especially with a bit of a headwind too, but it was all worth the effort in the end to see the Loch surrounded by imposing snowbound cliffs. The ride back down was a blast, downhill with the wind behind and a great bit of single track along the river which I missed on the way up. It was dark by the time I hit the forest again but a full moon provided enough light to high-tail it back to the youth hostel and it was a great way to end to a memorable ride.

Thursday   Similar ride to Monday, around Loch Morlich and through the forest to the Cairngorm Club Footbridge then at the crossroads I turned right on the very pleasant trail that heads down to Coylumbridge. I turned left here on to the Aviemore road then took the next left on a very quiet road that leads to Loch an Eilein and I done a circuit of the Loch once voted as Scotlands favourite picnic spot no less! then picked up the road to Inverdruie where I crossed over the river Druie on a shortcut to the B970 that leads to Nethy Bridge, I followed this road for a few miles before turning off right to cycle past Loch Garten which is famous for it’s Ospreys (which had long since migrated to sunnier climes for the winter), then onto Nethy Bridge. Here I took the road on the south side of the River Nethy that heads south back into the Caledonian Pines of the Abernethy Forest and headed for Forest Lodge and south again to the Ryvoan Bothy and back to the hostel.

Swing bridge next to the ford at Loch Pattack

Swing bridge next to the ford at Loch Pattack

Friday   I drove down the A9 to Dalwhinnie and parked up at the railway station, a good track runs along the side of Loch Ericht to Ben Alder Lodge where the trail leaves Loch Erich and heads to Loch Pattack. The snow was a couple of inches deep here but again it didn’t feel icy and the tyres were gripping well so it felt ok apart from being harder work than normal. I turned off left when I reached the Loch and crossed the the river on a rickety wooden swing bridge next to the ford, then kept left at the next junction on the trail to Culra Bothy and Lodge. This bothy is situated in a fantastic remote location amidst grand mountain scenery which looked even more impressive covered in snow. I was surprised to see that the bothy is officially closed due to asbestos being found in its construction and the outer walls of the bothy are spray painted with warnings, however all 3 of the rooms I checked out were open and the main room with the stove in it looked very usable. I had a quick look at Culra Lodge, a short distance away but everything was battened up. Back at the bothy I retraced my route over the swing bridge, here I briefly considered heading left just before the Loch on the track to Lochan Na Earba and onto Ardverikie and back via the River Pattack but decided to leave it for another day! Instead I headed back to the car the way I came. Before putting the bike away I had a ride to the Whisky Distillery at Dalwhinnie had a look around the visitor centre and tasted a wee dram of their 15 year old single malt which i had never tried before but will certainly get a bottle of it in the future.

Tyndrum to Inverness by Mountain bike

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Glen Coe and the West Highland Way

October 2016 saw me heading Back up to Scotland again to continue exploring some of the excellent off-road mountain biking trails to be had up there. Since my last trip up here a few weeks ago I had come across an event called the Highland 550 a very tough mountain bike ride through some of the remotest parts of Scotland. This trip was meant to be a recce of the start of that route though things didn’t go entirely to plan… The starting point for the Highland 550 is Tyndrum, a very well-known stopping point for hikers on the West Highland Way and I booked myself in to the “By The Way Hostel”, i chose a trekker hut, which looked like a garden shed with a bunk bed in it but it had electricity and even a heater which was nice because it had been pouring with rain since I got here and feeling cold and it continued raining heavily during the night as well and I kept thinking might as well get it all out-of-the-way now and it should be dry tomorrow…

Monday dawned and the rain was still lashing down, I was booked into Loch Ossian Youth Hostel tonight, many miles away, so I had no choice but to set off early into the deluge, as usual it’s the first few minutes are the worst, once you are warmed up it doesn’t seem so bad. The route follows the West Highland Way to Bridge Of Orchy then climbs over Black Mount and descends past the Glen Coe Ski Center and the Kingshouse Hotel, before reaching the formidable obstacle of the “Devils Staircase” which involves a steep climb/push to a summit then leads down to the very long descent into Kinlochleven. Here I called into the Co-op shop for a sandwich and then began the long climb (push would be a better word) up to the transmitter overlooking the village. Up to this point I was still following the West Highland Way but now I turned right and headed past the disused Mamore Lodge Hotel and continued past the two lochs on good tracks to the ruin of Luibeilt and was faced with the infamous crossing of the Abhain Rath. I had been at this point a few weeks ago and the river crossing wasn’t too bad but today, unsurprisingly, after all this rain the river was a different beast all together. After a lot of faffing around I decided on a crossing point, a place where the river split around a mini rocky island and went across with just my rucksack the first time then came back for the bike and carefully picked my way across bracing with the bike at times and was very relieved to safely get to the other side,

Loch Leven from the track below Na Gruachaichean

I called into the Meanach Bothy and was surprised to see there was still some whisky in the bottle there from my last visit and had a much-needed swig to set me on my way. Unfortunately my camera somehow got a soaking on the river crossing and I wasn’t able to take anymore pictures with it from this point onwards. Up until now the route had been on a recognisable rocky trail but in these conditions from the bothy to Creaguaineach Lodge on the shores of Loch Treig it was a very boggy and unrideable section and I ended up walking this whole section. When I got back home I read a very funny and honest account by a guy called Dave Barter of his attempt on the 2014 Highland 550 event and his video diary refers to this very section. It was great to be on a rideable trail again which follows the  loch side for a couple of km before a stiff climb up to the railway line and followed the wide rocky road all the way to Loch Ossian Youth Hostel, by now it was getting dark and it was great to see the lights of the hostel in the distance getting nearer and nearer. The small hostel on the shores of Loch Ossian is a gem in a wild and remote location, the central room contains the kitchen and dining area and has a great log-burning stove which makes it toasty warm, there are overhead racks on pulleys to dry all your wet gear (and cameras…) and  either side of the main room there are male and female dorms. There were 7 other people staying there when I was there and I had a warm pleasant night there with plenty to eat and drink. The weather front bringing all the rain had finally passed during the night and the next day was clear but cold, all the tops of the mountains had a dusting of snow on them and cycling along the shores of Loch Ossian in the shadow of the mountains my hands and toes certainly felt the cold. At Corrour Lodge the route heads North on a very wide smooth track, there is currently a big hydro electricity scheme being built up here and workmen were busy laying big thick power cables along the side of the track.

A Friendly Native...

As I entered the forest I noticed my front disc brakes were screeching really noisily after a while I stopped and had a look at them and i couldn’t believe the state they were in… the pads had completely worn away and on one side they were down to the bare metal!  all the rain and grit and mud from yesterday’s ride had taken a terrible toll on them and I wasn’t carrying any spares. My intended route around the back of Binnein Shuas to Wolftrax and then over the Coireyairack Pass to Fort Augustus was no longer possible. I needed a good bike shop and headed for Nevis Cycles at Aonach Mor trail centre. I descended down to Luiblea and turned left on the A86 and headed for Spean Bridge, then turned left to Fort William before getting off the very busy A82 as quickly as possible by heading up to Leanachan and on the bike trails through the forest to Aonach Mor. Unfortunately the shop there was shut for the season so after treating myself to burger and chips at the Pinemarten Cafe i cycled another 5 miles or so to the main Nevis Cycles shop at Inverlochy just outside Fort William and they had the exact brake pads I needed. I spent the night at the Bank Street Hostel in Fort William and on the way there I noticed a sign for the Start of the “Great Glen Way” to Inverness, that got me thinking…  As mentioned before my intended route today would have been going over the Corrieyairack Pass and stopping in Fort Augustus for the night, from there I wanted to head up into to Glen Affric and check out the bothy there and then start heading back via Morvich, Rattagan, Corran and the Scottish Coast to Coast route along Loch Quoich and Loch Garry to Invergarry then back to the car at Tyndrum along the WHW again. The distances were now starting to look too big for me so I had a re-think and decided on Wednesday I would now cycle up the Great Glen Way instead, which runs between Fort William and Inverness and is 73 miles long and largely follows the Caledonia Canal and is very well signposted all the way and has lots of information boards along the way explaining the history and significance of the Great Glen. I stopped off at Fort Augustus for lunch then continued into a hilly forest section heading for the “Lochside Hostel”  3 or 4 miles past Invermoriston on the shores of Loch Ness. Thursday it was back onto the Great Glen Way passing through Drumnadrochit then another climbing section, steep at times, through the forest then onto very quiet minor roads and lanes all the way to Inverness arriving at about 2.00pm. I was pre-booked into the “Inverness Student Hostel” which is centrally located close to the Castle, then spent the afternoon exploring the town.

The Devil`s Staircase, Kinlochleven side

I got an early start on Friday and the plan was to cycle back to Fort William along cycle route 78 which is part of the Caledonia Way (which runs from Cambeltown to Inverness – 237 miles). This was mainly on quiet roads to Fort Augustus, then it was back onto the Great Glen Way reversing my journey on the way up. About 10 miles from Fort William I noticed a problem with the free hub on the bike, sometimes I would pedal as normal and the pedals would just spin and not engage the chain at all, luckily I had enough time to make it back to Nevis Cycles again at Inverlochy while they were still open for business. It turned out that the “Hope Pro2 Evo” hub that is on my bike has 4  pawls and springs that engage and drive the bike forward when you pedal and also give it that distinctive buzzing sound when you freewheel, well it turned out that 3 of the springs on my hub has broken and I was operating on one at the end, I was lucky to make it to the shop! I spent the night in Fort William at the Bank Street Lodge again.

Another early start saw me back on the road for 8.00am heading for Glen Nevis and the start/finish of the West Highland Way, its uphill on wide stony forest roads for the first few km all the way up to the turn off for Dun Deardail Fort, then the riding becomes more interesting and apart from a short rocky section in the forest where you cross a stream and then carry up some steep steps on the other side it’s rideable all the way to the transmitter overlooking Kinlochleven, after this it’s a long steep technical descent into the town, I got off and walked most of it. I stopped off at the co-op again for a sandwich and a drink before starting the long climb up to the top of the Devil’s Staircase, the first half up alongside the giant water pipes is rideable, then it becomes largely a push job, at least for me. I was passed on one of the steep rocky sections by two mountain bikers coming the opposite way and was impressed by the way they seemed to float over some very tricky ground. Visibility was good and the views near the top looking over the Mamores was tremendous. From the top it another technical rocky descent down to the A82 road. After passing the Kingshouse Hotel I was getting hungry again so made a short detour up to the cafe at Glen Coe Ski Centre and had a burger and chips. From Glen Coe it’s a rocky climb for a while then a long fast, rocky descent down to Victoria bridge, then along the road to Bridge of Orchy and finally reaching Tyndrum and my waiting car at about 4.30pm.

 

 

West Highland MTB bothy trip, Sept 2016

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Many years ago with a friend I did a really good winter walk from Fort William up in the Highlands of Scotland. We got the early morning train from Fort William to the remote Corrour Station on the edge of Rannoch Moor and set off walking westwards back to Fort William, following the Abhain Rath River and over the watershed to the head of Glen Nevis and through the gorge to the car park at the road head. luckily here we managed to hitch a ride back to Fort William. The reason i mention all this is that about half way through the walk we came across the Meanach Bothy and i was very impressed with it and i knew one day that I would come back to stay overnight in it, i never imagined that i would arrive back on a mountain bike though…..

Loch Eilde Beag and the lonely boat shed

Loch Eilde Beag and the boat shed

I started this  2 day ride from Fort William,  where I was stopping at the Bank Street Lodge, a place I have stopped at many times in the winter when mountaineering around the West Highlands of Scotland, it’s a no frills well-run hostel in a good central location and a good place to meet people doing similar outdoor activities. I wanted to go as light as possible and in my small 20 litre rucsac I had my sleeping bag, a thin foam mat, a small stove and pot and lots of food as well as the usual bike essentials. I didn’t want to arrive at the bothy too early so set off riding up Glen Nevis just before noon and soon turned off on the broad trail for The West Highland Way and steadily climbed through the forest overlooking Glen Nevis. After passing the signs for the ancient Fort of Dun Deardail the trail got narrower and rocky and there were some stair sections to carry the bike over before continuing on the rocky old military road which is nearly all rideable. I followed the West Highland Way all the way to the turn off for Kinlochleven, the WHW turns right here and descends into the village but I carried on past the masts and past the derelict remains of The Mamore Lodge Hotel and climbed steadily up a good double width track. After a couple of hours seeing no one I suddenly started seeing lots of runners, its was the Salomon fell running weekend and today was the first of three days of running events, the first event was The Vertical Kilometer, a race from Kinlochleven to the top of Na Gruagaichean (1056m). Tomorrow would be a fell run round the Ring of Steall, then on Sunday the big one, the Glen Coe Skyline  (a 55km gruelling circular route over all the Glen Coe mountains, including Curved Ridge and the Aonach Eagach). Still on the same track the trail heads NW and the next landmarks are Loch Eilde Mor and Loch Eilde Beag with its lonely boat house, shortly after this the trail reaches a crest and in the distance you can see the ruin of Luibeilt and the Meanach Bothy.

The ruin of Luibeilt and the Meanach bothy

The ruin of Luibeilt and the Meanach bothy

The trail descends to cross the Abhain Rath river at the ruin of Luibeilt (more wet feet!) and 300 metres to the right is Meanach Bothy which has two rooms plus a loft accessible via a metal ladder if things get busy. I got there about 6.00pm which gave me a good hour to fill the water bottles, do the bothy book and generally get organised before the light faded. Then it was on with the stove and lots of food and drink, by 9.30pm it was pitch black outside and i was tucked up in my sleeping bag with only a flickering candle for company drinking a small bottle of Glenfiddich which my sister had given me for Christmas, i was keeping it for a special occasion and this seemed to fit the bill. The next morning I picked up the trail 350m west of the bothy, this heads north over the hill and eventually drops down to the Lairig Leacach valley about 5km away, a lot of this section is steep, rocky and unridable and involves quite a bit of bike pushing, however at the end there is a good descent down to the Lairig Leacach Bothy where the trail flattens out a bit. This bothy which is a lot smaller than the one I stopped at, had a group of people camping outside of it and they were getting ready to climb the nearby Munro of Stob Ban when I passed by. After the Lairig bothy the going is very easy, a wide stony track heading down towards Spean Bridge direction and through a forest for a while passing “The Wee Minister”, shortly after this I turned off left on a track sign posted to Spean Bridge and entered the Leanachan Forest. As usual in forests like this I got a little bit lost but eventually came across one of the Nevis Range man-made mountain bike trails (The Cour), so I followed this knowing it would bring me out at the Aonach Mor Ski Centre car park. It was a lovely sunny day now and there were lots of Mountain bikers out enjoying the man-made trails that start and finish from here, the braver ones doing the World Cup Downhill Course or the Red Giant XC course, both of which you can use the Gondola to get yourself and the bike to the top. I headed for the Pinemarten Cafe to put some calories back first. Suitably refreshed I tried a couple of the intermediate blue routes, Broomstick Blue followed by Blue Adder (which has a really good twisting descent)  both were good fun and then set off on the side road to Torlundy and picked up the cycle way that takes you most of the way into Fort William.

Cairngorms mountain bike tour Sept 2016

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During this weeks holiday I had hoped to do the classic Scottish coast to coast mountain bike route that runs from The Kyle of Lochalsh on the west coast of Scotland to Montrose on the east coast. A big problem with doing this route are the logistics of getting yourself and a bike up to the starting point, I had hoped to take the train up to the Kyle of Lochaslsh but I was told all spaces for bikes were full up on the days I wanted. So instead I started looking around for alternatives ride ideas and came across a great one in a book called “Scottish Mountain Biking – The Wild Trails”  by Phil McKane (Vertebrate Publishing). The ride was a 4 day tour of the Cairngorms and had the added bonus of taking in large chunks of the C2C route I had originally wanted to do. Also being a circular route I could drive up to Scotland with the bike in the car and then ride a big loop back to the car. I already had the four Landranger OS 1:50,000 maps I needed (35,36,42,43) from previous mountaineering trips up here and I set about penciling in the route onto the maps. The more I looked at it the more i realised what a great route it was, it turns out that the Cairngorms are ideal for cross-country mountain bike  touring, I would guess that well over 90% of the route is off-road using estate roads, stalkers paths and ancient drovers routes through the mountains. In a nutshell the plan looked like this :-

  • Blair Athol    –   Starting point, leave car here, ride to Kingussie.
  • Kingussie      –  “The Tipsy Laird” bunk house, ride to Tomintoul.
  • Tomintoul    –   The Smugglers Hostel, ride to Braemar.
  • Braemar       –   Stay at  the Youth Hostel and ride back to car at Blair Athol.
Cairngorms map and my route

Cairngorms map and my route

I drove up on the Sunday and spent the night at Pitlochry Youth Hostel about 7 miles away from the start in Blair Athol and made an early start on Monday morning. Quiet roads and tracks follow the main A9 road to Dalnacardoch Lodge, where you cross the busy A9 and the wilderness riding begins on good wide tracks, through the forest to begin with then onto open countryside. The weather was quite wet for the first couple of days and this made crossing the numerous fords on the route quite tricky at times, sometimes having to wade knee-deep carrying the bike on my shoulders to get to the other side. The hardest riding of that first day was along the banked shore of Loch an Duin which was very narrow and boggy at times, after this it was good double-width estate roads past Gaick Lodge and then surprisingly tarmac road for a good while down Glen Tromie. At Tromie Bridge I turned left and headed for Kingussie passing the impressive ruins of Ruthven Barracks on the way, which was well worth a look around. I stopped at the basic but cheap bunk house attached to the Tipsy Laird pub on the main high street.

It rained hard all during the night and for most of the next day as I retraced my way past Ruthven Barracks to Tromie Bridge and picked up the trail to Glen Feshie, crossing a couple of fords on the way. The river Feshie was looking flowing strongly after all the recent rain and i crossed it at the wooden bridge and headed north up the hamlet of Feshiebridge passing the airstrip of the glider station on the way, i turned right here into the forest hoping to navigate myself to Loch an Eilein, i dislike riding in managed forests as it hard to know where you are exactly when surrounded by trees, especially with an old map and tracks going in various directions, however this time i got lucky and picked up the very nice small trail to the lovely Inschriach Bothy. I had been to this bothy a few years previous on a day walk with a couple of friends and it was good to come across it again. After a sandwich in the bothy and adding another layer i set off again on the narrow rocky trail down to Loch an Eilein and then picked up the wide smooth trails that lead to Loch Morlich via the Cairngorm Club footbridge.

Drake`s Bothy near Loch an Eilein

Drakes Bothy near Loch an Eilein

There are lots of way-marked trail around this area and seems a good place to come for day rides. At Lake Morlich i joined the main road that heads up to the big ski centre passing the youth hostel and then branched-off left on the side road that leads up to Glen More Lodge – the Scottish National Outdoor Centre, a place i knew well from having done a couple of courses there many years ago. Continuing along this track brings you past a magical little lochan and shortly afterwards you branch left heading north past Ryvoan Bothy and into the forest, i missed the turn off right here for the ford and ended up at Forest Lodge and i done a u-turn here heading south then east to Loch a Chnuic, some careful navigation is needed here to pick up the small trail to the narrow cleft of Eag Mhor then it’s onto the Braes of Abernethy to the hunting estate of Dorback Lodge. It had been a long wet day so far but my target for the day of Tomintoul didnt seems so far away now, however as i set off across the moors to Letteraitten i came across several 4×4 vehicles  and then the sounds of gunshots nearby and beaters waving white flags, there  was a shoot in progress and my intended route over the moors to Tomintoul was not possible. i had to retrace my route to Dorback Lodge and then down the access road to pickup the main A939 road into Tomintoul, a road that had several steep climbs on it but then again Tomintoul is the highest village in Scotland! i finally reached the Smugglers Hostel at about 6.00pm tired and dripping wet, it had been a long day but an enjoyable one.

Day 3 dawned dull and misty but largely dry just the odd light shower, the target for today was Braemar directly south of Tomintoul. I was on the road by 8.30am and had a short tour up and down the long main street of the village before heading off down the road that turns into a track that follows the River Avon south. i followed this wide easy trail all the way down to Inchrory Lodge, where i left the river Avon and kept heading south into Glen Builg via a vague boggy section then an improved track to Loch Builg after passing some small lochans its south again to the flanks of Cullardoch where a very long climb awaits you. Just before the climb starts i came across a brand new shooting hut, a high-class one that wouldn’t look out of places on the slopes of verbier. Once the high point on Cullardoch is reached all difficulties for the day are over and its a very fast descent down to the forest where there are some very nice old Scots Pines to be seen. Invercauld House leads to the main road turning left over Invercauld Bridge and you pass the old bridge of Dee (Brig O`Dee) after a couple of miles Braemar Castle comes into view and then the village itself, after exploring the village a while and a very nice meal at a local cafe i checked into Braemar Youth Hostel.

The narrow watershed area leading to Glen Tilt

The narrow watershed area leading to Glen Tilt

Day 4 and the last day of this tour of the Cairngorms and the weather was the best yet, sunshine and light winds made the 6 mile ride along the tarmac to the Linn of Dee a pleasure, i stopped to take some photos of this impressive gorge before leaving the tarmac and heading west on a good track along the banks of the River Dee as far as the “White Bridge”. Here i left the Dee and headed south crossing the Geldie Burn and up to the ruin of Bynack Lodge, the grassy rocky track climbed steadily and was fairly obvious to follow as it made its way to the watershed and the start of Glen Tilt, here the valley narrowed sharply with the river and trail squeezed on both sides by steep grassy slopes. The very narrow trail became quite a technical challenge to ride with rocks peppering the trail and a large drop on the left hand side i got off and pushed a lot of this section. eventually after 2km or so the terrain opened out again and the going became a lot easier, shortly afterwards the Bedford Bridge came into view which provides a great viewing point for the spectacular Falls of Tarf waterfalls. All difficulties were now over as you follow the River down Glen Tilt, which was looking at its best in the bright sunshine, on a good track for mile after mile downhill, eventually joining the road at The Old Bridge of Tilt, not far from Blair Athol and my waiting car.

 

The Sandstone Way – July 2016

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Sandstone Way map_edited

The Sandstone Way is a new long distance mountain bike trail in the north of England that runs roughly north to south through the sparsely populated county of Northumberland, it begins in Berwick-upon-Tweed and ends in Hexham, though it is equally possible to do the route in reverse. It is 120 miles long and loosely follows a series of sandstone outcrops and rock features familiar to walkers and climbers who visit the area. Well over half the route is off-road on a mixture of bridle ways, byways, forest tracks and unclassified roads all linked together by very quiet country roads. The driving force behind the creation of this route is Ted Liddle from the Tyne Valley MTB club. The official Sandstone Way website and map give loads of information and are a great help in planning the ride.  Its not a technical mountain bike route, there are no jumps or scary descents but it is a tough route and it certainly warrants the use of a good quality mountain bike, a hybrid or cyclo-cross type bike would struggle on some of the rougher rocky sections, especially in bad conditions. The route is signposted all the way though at times I did get a bit confused and you certainly need the Sandstone Way map to guide you. Time-wise you could take a leisurely 4 days to enjoy the route or if you like a real challenge and are very fit you could try to do it in a day, it has been done, Rich Rothwell (an endurance mountain bike rider) managed to get round in just under 11 hours, he used a full suspension mountain bike and said he was glad he did!

i decided to do it over 3 days and left home early on a Sunday morning to get the train up to Berwick-upon-Tweed arriving there just after 11am in the morning, you need to book a space for your bike in the goods wagon as there was only hangers for 3 bikes on the service i used. After a quick look around Berwick i headed down to the river and the bridges across the Tweed and found the official start of the Sandstone Way, right next to the Youth Hostel. The first 10 miles or so follows the coast and cliff tops and is fairly flat before gaining height as it skirts the edge of the Kyloe Hills to Detchant, here you turn right for a hilly section around Greensheen Hill. I saw quite a few hikers on this section who were doing St Cuthberts Way, a long distance trail (62.5 miles) between Montrose and Lindisfarne. The bike route then descends and passes very close to St.Cuthberts Cave, an impressive sandstone feature and well worth a short detour. Quiet roads take you past the craggs at Bowden Doors, then through Chatton and Chillingham before an energy sapping grassy ride up to the transmitter above Wooler, you get a good view of the town from up here and today the annual Glendale Festival was on and the main road through Wooler was shut and live music was being performed on a stage and there was a party atmosphere in town. I was booked into Wooler Youth Hostel.

The Sandstone Way start in Berwick-upon-Tweed

The Sandstone Way start in Berwick-upon-Tweed

A nice feature about the Sandstone Way is that at certain points it offers a choice of routes, these could be used for day loop rides or bad conditions alternative or simply a more challenging option. The biggest route choice occurs on leaving Wooler, the normal way heads south to Alnham via Ingram and is waymarked with the familiar green roundels  while a much more adventurous option heads south-west and into the heart of the Cheviot Hills and is not way marked at all – this is the way I went. The weather was good, a little windy but visibility was good, I took the precaution before I left of packing the OS 1:25000 map of the Cheviots and a compass and I’m pleased I did, a lot of the time there was a recognisable bridle way trail to follow but at other times it petered out to nothing and I was left scratching my head as to which way to go, sometimes having to bushwhack and push the bike over some very rough ground on a compass bearing to try and pick up a trail again. It was quite a relief to finally emerge at Alnham and pick up the normal route again. I finally arrived in Rothbury just after 5.00pm and made my way to Tomlinsons Cafe down by the bridge, which has a rather nice bunkhouse attached to it and has the added bonus of being right on the Sandstone Way route. I was surprised to find out that there was only one other person booked in that night.

Day three dawned nice and sunny and I was on the road again by 8.00am as it was going to be another tough day to get to Hexham, about 49 miles away. It’s quite a hilly start to get out of Rothbury up to Sharpe’s Folly tower before a flatter section and a short downhill to get into the forest, from here it’s a long steady climb up to the foot of Simonside Craggs on a wide, stony forestry track with good views over to the Cheviots, shortly afterwards the track finally starts heading downhill and it’s a fast ride for several miles through Harwood Forest until you arrive at the Elsdon road where you turn right and are soon going downhill passing Winter’s Gibbet on the left hand side. As you approach West Woodburn another one of those route choices appears, conditions were good and I was doing ok time-wise so I chose the more challenging option involving a steepish climb up an old road to a green lane route.

The finish in Hexham next to the golf clubhouse

The finish in Hexham next to the golf clubhouse

This grassy and rocky lane was very well-defined at first but after a dip halfway along it seemed to disappear altogether and I just headed for a small forestry plantation visible in the distance (see photo below) and was relieved to pick up the green way-markers again to Bellingham where I stopped at the bakery to refuel. Leaving Bellingham it’s another stiff climb leading up to the transmitter above Shitlington Crags and then some tricky route finding as you cross first Houxty Burn (there is a bridge to your right!) followed by Wark Burn. A roller coaster road section leads to a nice off-road section into Simonburn, which has a cafe if you feel the need. Another stiff road climb takes you up to Hadrian’s Wall at Black Carts, then it’s across the fields dropping down to the South Tyne at Fourstones where one last climb takes you up Warden Hill before dropping down to cross the river and the route follows the railway line into Hexham and the Sandstone Way’s marker stone near the golf clubhouse, arriving at about 5.00pm. The railway station is not far away and I was on the train with my bike going home before 6.00pm. I had enjoyed my time doing the Sandstone way and found it a worthwhile challenge and certainly would consider doing It again sometime, maybe taking two days now that I know the route, going from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Rothbury in one day (and sticking to the signposted normal route) then Rothbury to Hexham the next day.

And finally, already done this ride? Maybe found using a bike a bit tame?  Then how about running it?  check out the Sandstone Way Ultra  There is a good route guide PDF file available here too.

Etape du Dales 2016

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The Etape du Dales sportive is an event I have wanted to do for a long time, I have cycled many times in the Yorkshire Dales and knew the route well but have never previously linked it all up. This year the omens were lining up nicely, the race date coincided with my weekend off and more importantly the legs were in reasonably good shape from all the training we had been doing for the Mallorca 312 event at the end of April, so after a quick check online to see if spaces were still available, I entered. The Etape is 110 miles long and has about 3500m of climbing in it. According to Wikipedia the Etape was started as an alternative to the regularly oversubscribed Fred Whitton Challenge (112 miles, 3950m climbing) over in the Lake District and while it may lack the horror of being faced with a climb as steep and gnarly as Hardknott Pass after already cycling a hilly 100 miles, the Etape is still a significant challenge for most cyclists, with several long, tough, climbs. The ride features 8 climbs.

  1. Fleet Moss
  2. Buttertubs
  3. Turf Moor
  4. Tan Hill
  5. Mallerstang
  6. The Coal Road
  7. Dent Head viaduct
  8. Dale Head

imageThe event starts at Wharfedale Rugby Club in Threshfield, very close to Grassington. I drove over here late on Saturday afternoon, the day before the event, to register and to get familiar with the layout and then had a wander around the attractive cobbled village square in Grassington with its numerous cafes, pubs and shops. After this I drove over to Kilnsey and had a meal in the Tennants Arms Pub, the barman recommended a special on the fish and chips, he said it was quite substantial and he wasn’t kidding, the fish must have been at least 18 inches long, even a couple of locals kept glancing over to see how I was getting on. The plan had been to find a campsite nearby but it was such a pleasant and calm evening I decided to find a quiet bivi spot instead and sleep out in the open. Once the sun went down it did get chilly, down to 1 or 2 degrees but tucked up in a warm sleeping bag inside a gore-tex bivi bag I was comfortable and was treated to a calm starry night. After a restless night (I never seem to sleep well before big events) I was up at 5.00am for a breakfast of muesli and coffee before packing all the gear away and then driving the 10 minutes or so to the start of the event, the marshals were already in place directing the cars into adjacent fields for parking. After reassembling the bike from the car and attaching the race number with its integrated timing chip, the next major decision was what to wear….. It was still rather chilly but everyone seemed to agree that the weather was going to be ok, dry with light winds and sunny, so I set off with a gillet, arm-warmers and gloves and crossed over the starting line, which made a reassuringly large beep sound, at about 6.40am. You can start the challenge at anytime between 6.30am and 9.30am and with over 1000 entrants it’s a good way of spreading the cyclists evenly over the sometimes narrow country roads. The first few miles up to Buckden are quite flat and a good opportunity to find a group of cyclists going at your own pace, at Buckden you turn off left to Hubberholme and Yockenthwaite along a beautiful valley and today the cyclists had it all to ourselves as the road was closed to vehicles as they were repairing the damaged road from the previous severe winter. It’s a gentle climb mostly until you reach Oughtershaw, there the first test of the day starts, the climb of Fleet Moss, even though this is from the “easy side” it’s still a long tough climb. About half way up i came across a cyclist who had snapped his chain and was asking passing cyclists if they had a chain tool, as it happened i did so i loaned it to him and carried on hoping to be reacquainted with it someday! From the top of Fleet Moss it a terrifyingly fast descent down to Hawes and you could certainly break your personal speed record down here, as well as your neck probably if you came off, I like to keep it below 40mph though and keep the wheel wobbles under control. After passing through Hawes main street you turn left on the Sedbusk road and arrive at the first feed station (22.5 miles).image Feeling good at this point and with plenty of fluid in my bottle I didn’t stop for food and just passed over the timing mat and continued up the road heading for the next big obstacle, the climb over Buttertubs, going in the same direction as the Tour de France riders went back in 2014, this is the easiest direction but the 17% climb up to the cattle grid certainly gets the heart rate soaring, once over the grid however it’s a steady climb and not too bad and I was treated to lovely weather, beautiful views and another blistering descent towards Swaledale where the route turns right and it’s a fast run down to Gunnerside and onto Low Row, here you turn left onto a steep side road that links Swaledale with Arkengarthdale. This small side road is the start of the climb of Turf Moor and it was the only section of the route that i hadn’t done before (the bit leading up to the ford). From the main Swaledale road I have often glanced up when passing and thinking, crikey that looks a bit steep, and once on it, it didn’t disappoint, it has just recently been resurfaced with loose stone chippings which made things interesting, once past the cattle grid it eases off a little but is still quite tough. Eventually you drop down to the infamous ford at Surrender Bridge, where a small stream, maybe 2 metres wide and a few centimetres deep, crosses the road, the problem is that the surface underneath the stream is covered in very slippery green moss, I had done a mountain bike route up here previously with a friend and we tried to ride through it and before we knew what was happening we were both lying in the water, so today i unclipped and used the little footbridge to the right. Apparently during last years event there were about 20 bathers…. After a steep but thankfully short climb away from the ford it’s a fast downhill section to Arkengarthdale where the route turns left and heads north-west for about 8 miles to the pub at Tan Hill, it’s a steady climb most of the way but the road is very exposed to the elements and if there is a head wind it can be a tortuous section. The second feed station was located outside this iconic pub (47 miles completed) and was well stocked with energy drinks, sandwiches, fruit cakes, bananas and boiled potatoes, all of which went down a treat. The route then turns left and it is another fast descent down Stonesdale Moor with a couple of technical hairpin bends at the bottom to keep you on your toes before you turn right on the undulating road through Birkdale which eventually climbs up to the border between the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria before yet another blisteringly fast descent all the way down to Nateby. Here you turn left and begin the long drag up Mallerstang past Pendragon Castle and up past the viaduct at Ais Gill, the high point on the Settle to Carlisle railway line, before eventually you swoop down to the third feed station at the Moorcock Inn (69 miles). imageI had been feeling pretty good on this ride so far and had been pushing quite hard on the climbs but on that last climb up to Ais Gill, while standing up on the pedals I started to get little twinges of cramp in the front of my thighs, this seemed to go away when I sat down again but I was worried because I knew full well what was coming next….the crux of the whole ride, the long steep climb of the Coal Road. From the Moorcock Inn you turn right along the B road through Garsdale then turn off left and climb steeply past the railway station of Garsdale Station, from here the road curves to the right and gets even steeper through the plantation, I was in serious trouble here, because as soon as I stood up on the pedals I got painful cramps in the front of my thighs so was forced to sit and slowly grind away but I could feel the energy slowly draining away but I was determined to keep pedalling and get past the steepest bit, at last the gradient eased a little and I tried standing up again to stretch my aching legs out but again I got cramps straight away, so I was forced into more slow, painful, grinding all the way to the very top, what a relief it was when the road finally flattened out and I began the long technical descent past Dent Station and the hairpin bends to the t-junction at the end. Here the route turns left and follows the stream for a while as it flows over great slabs of limestone, the road then starts to ramp up as it approaches the Dent Head Viaduct and then gets even steeper and turns into quite a vicious little climb which had me zig-zagging across the road and I was mightily relieved to get past it and I knew that once back on the B road the next few miles down to Horton in Ribblesdale, via the Ribblehead Viaduct, would be a lot easier and fast, even with my tired legs I made good progress. imageAfter Horton the route continues down to Stainforth where you turn left and is the location for the fourth and final feed station at 90 miles completed. Straight out of the village you are on to the final big climb of the day up Silverdale to Dale Head, the hardest bit is at the bottom where the road ramps straight up, levels off, then goes up again, once over this I found, much to my surprise, the rest of the climb was ok and as you draw level with Pen-y-Ghent on your left all major difficulties on this ride are over and the last few miles are a pure joy, you are on a narrow strip of Tarmac going through some stunning scenery, the last descent is another fast one down to Halton Gill where you turn right and can zip along the narrow lanes of Littondale at a cracking pace, through Arncliffe to join the B road that goes past Kilnsey Crag and into Threshfield, here a couple of left turns take you back to the pot-holed lane that leads down to the Rugby Club and the Finishing line. All the riders were entitled to a free meal in the rugby club house, I went for the pork pie and mushy peas and a cup of coffee all of which tasted delicious, in the mean time my finishing certificate was being printed off with my times through all the feed stations printed on it. My time for the ride was 7 hours 38 minutes which considering the difficulties I was having from 70 miles onwards I’m pleased with, with hindsight I now realise that I was pushing too hard on the Buttertubs, Turf Moor and Tan Hill sections and paid the price later on, maybe a more even pace/effort strategy would have got me closer to that much sought after gold standard, especially as the conditions on the day were almost ideal, with a new course record being set by Thomas Denwood from Harrogate Nova, beating Malcolm Elliot’s 2010 time and stopping the clock at a very impressive 5 hrs 40mins 32 seconds.

  • Gold : less than 7 hours.
  • Silver : less than 8 hours.
  • Bronze : finishing inside the cut-off time.

 

 

 

 

Derwentwater swim header

Derwentwater Swim

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Dreaming-up and executing your own mini adventures is always more satisfying and certainly cheaper than signing up for something and handing over a wad of cash, but when things go a little wrong then it is up to you to get through it and find a way out…..

August 2013 and a group of us headed over to Keswick in the English Lake District. In the last few years we had been bitten by the Triathlon bug and had become increasing addicted to tight-fitting lycra and neoprene. The Lake District is a fantastic location for triathlons but you always know you’re in for a tough day over there, the lakes are usually cold, the biking hilly and the run is normally up a mountain somewhere, but today our focus would be on swimming.

Three swimmers and two canoeists at Nicholl End Marina

Three swimmers and two canoeists at Nichol End Marina

Derwentwater lies at the foot of Keswick and is in a beautiful location, it is approximately one mile wide at its broadest point and three miles long and today we were hoping to swim those three miles. Nathan and Josh had volunteered to paddle along side of us in a safety canoe. The way we planned it was to use two cars, we drove both of them to the finish and left one there,  then drove back to the start at Nichol End Marina in the other car, an elegantly simple and foolproof plan i think you`ll agree.

The weather wasnt the beautiful blue skied day we were hoping for and there was a bit of a breeze blowing on the shore but it was ok and everyone felt good and eager to get into the water. From Nichol End we set off swimming and turned left to get to the northernmost tip which looks well-defined on the map, however it soon got very shallow and clogged up with weeds, so we went as far as we could before turning south and heading for our goal – Kettlewell car park – at the far end of the lake.

The first half a mile or so felt great as you are in a natural sort of bay and it is quite sheltered but as soon as the lake broadened the water became quite choppy, that gentle breeze on the shoreline became quite a stiff head wind in the middle of the lake and we were swimming against it and getting battered by 6 to 10 inch waves whipped up by the wind, this resulted in us getting a face full of water every time we came up for a breath and was hard going. We were in effect swimming the wrong way for the conditions on the day, going south to north would have been so much easier.

We battled on however, ticking off the land mark islands in the lake as we went along and stopping to tread water, rest,  and re-group with our support canoe every now and then. Soon we were past St Herbert’s island and out into the roughest part of the lake which felt more like swimming in the sea at times and our progress was slow and hard but eventually the end of the lake started coming into sight. That last half mile seemed to go on forever and we were getting cold and tired, our thoughts turned to the waiting car and dry warm clothing, steaming coffee and sticky cakes, boy would they taste good ! The southern end of the lake is clogged full of weeds and gets shallow, so again we went as far as we could before turning left and heading for our car. We dragged our cold tired bodies out of the lake and helped beach the canoe, i guess we were in the water for nearly 3 hours. We were elated at having completed our objective in such challenging conditions especially as none of us had swum that far before.

Kettlewell car park after retrieving the keys

Kettlewell car park after retrieving the keys

All eyes turned to Andy to get his car open and get the coffee flowing so we could get warmed up, we watched him rummaging in the canoe for the keys. After a few seconds we started to notice a hint of panic in his searching and then the awful truth dawned on his face as he turned to us and said    “i think i left the keys in the other car….”   That next few seconds were like one of those old spaghetti westerns were the tumble weed is blowing over the desert and the only sound is the wind and a distant bell tolling as we stood there in silence, open-mouthed, looking at him in disbelief.

We will be forever indebted to the kind female canoeist who was there with her daughter and just about to set off on the lake who offered to run Andy (still dripping wet and bare-chested ) all the way back round the lake, through Keswick, to Nichol End in her car, while we huddled together like penguins trying to keep warm in a survival shelter (which she also lent us). Many thanks indeed!