Tag Archives: mountain biking

Glen Kinglass, Mull and Ardnamurchan, July 2021

Sometimes the best adventures happen by chance….I had been keeping this week free as my sister and her family were planning on the long journey up from Kent to visit us, however just days before setting off, my young nephew tested positive for COVID and everyone had to isolate… I didn’t want to waste this week off, so I hastily started gathering my bike packing stuff together and gave the mountain bike some much need attention and made sure my tubeless tyres were topped up with fresh sealant. With not much time to plan I decided to go some where familiar and so made an early morning start for the 6 hour drive North up to Tyndrum in Scotland and parked up at the Green Welly shop, a familiar landmark on the busy A82 road to Glen Coe and Fort William. After an hours faffing around in the carpark, the bike was back together again and the bags strapped on, clothing and food decisions were made and I was off riding by noon. The weather was still glorious if a little breezy but this was to be the last day of the heatwave…the plan was to check out Glenkinglass, a well known and popular off road cycling route. From Tyndrum it’s an easy ride North following the West Highland Way and crossing the A82 at Bridge of Orchy, then along the very quiet road to the Inveroran Hotel. I had passed here many times before but never called in, this time I couldn’t resist and had a very nice pint sitting outside in the sunshine. Refreshments over I continued over the Victoria Bridge and turned left at Forest Lodge and headed west along the Abhainnn Shira, it would be off road all the way now to Taynuilt. I didn’t know how far I would get today and there are loads of places to camp/ bivi along the way, but with the lovely weather and the dry conditions making the boggy bits easy, I was flying along and was really enjoying the riding and the scenery. At the mouth of the River Kinglass the track crosses the river and heads South-West following the edge of Loch Etive, the views are great but the wide track undulates a lot with plenty of stiff, short climbs and I found this quite a gruelling section, I finally rolled into Taynuilt at about 7.30pm, tired and hungry. After a quick look around I called into the Taynuilt Inn for burger and chips and a much needed pint. I was looking for a bivi site now and checked out the Old Pier area but there were already quite a few camper vans and tents down there so I continued on the Oban road for a while and turned off at Airds Bay, where I found a grassy spot next to the loch, it seemed ideal and I was soon unpacked and tucked up inside a cosy sleeping bag, inside my bivi, supping on a small bottle of whisky… however it turns out this was not a good place to stop after all… Loch Etive is a sea Loch and during the night with the tide coming in, the water was definitely getting closer… but it also was raising the water table, so everything was getting decidedly squelchy everywhere, in the end I had to retreat a few feet higher up the shore… big lesson learnt, well at least I know my bivi bag is waterproof! The next morning I was up early and away on the A85 for the 12 miles or so into Oban, passing the impressive Connel Bridge on the way, 4 miles before Oban there is a signposted way for cyclists which takes you down to Ganavan Bay and a very pleasant quiet road into town along the coast. I headed straight over to the ferry port to find out when the next ferry was leaving for Mull and bought a ticket. It was here I got chatting to Indra from Wales…. she had travelled up to Scotland yesterday with her fully loaded touring bike and had had a bit of a nightmare due to delayed trains and missed connections, which meant her bike was no longer booked onto the trains she needed to catch. Her original intention was to start her tour from Lochailort but with all the confusion she decided Oban was just as good! As we chatted on the ferry I found out her plan today was the same as mine, to cycle the southern road loop of Mull, clockwise from Craignure and maybe head for the bothy at the end….We stocked up on goodies from the little store and I left Indra to write postcards to her friends and I headed off alone on the ride, which starts off easy enough before a long steady climb up through Glen More and a fast descent down to the road junction at Loch Scridain, the last time I was here I turned left, for the long detour to Fionnphort and ferry to Iona, but today I turned right around the head of Loch Scridain for a few miles, before another steady climb takes you over to the wild feeling Loch na Keal. At the road junction I carried straight on to Salen and called into “The Little Bespoke Cafe” for a much needed toastie and coffee. Suitably refreshed I then set off to check out the nearby Tomsleibhe bothy, which was open and unoccupied… I was there just over an hour when I heard someone else arriving… I was delighted to see it was Indra and we had a good catch up of the days event and I also had the chance to check out her bike – which was a rather fine looking Dawes Super Galaxy tourer, equipped with large Ortlieb panniers, I did wonder at the time what on earth she had in them as they weighed an absolute ton….over the next few days I would find out and the answer was….a little bit of everything!

The next morning we set off in the steady rain to do the Northern loop of the island, from Salen we rode the loop clockwise along the narrow twisty roads that included several long climbs before enjoying a really fast descent down to Calgary Bay, where we stopped for some food and coffee at the Calgary Arts Cafe and tried to dry out a little. By now the weather was improving and the rain jackets were soon off as we huffed and puffed our way steeply out of Dervaig and managed to hear and spot a distant Golden Eagle. We stopped to admire the view and take some photos high above Tobermory before dropping steeply down into the colourful harbour village. We wanted to catch the ferry from Tobermory to Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsula but we were unsure of the times, so we headed down to the harbour to check the timetable, it turned out we were in time to catch the 6.00pm sailing and even had time to get some tasty takeaway fish and chips from the mobile chippy on the Fisherman’s Pier. We stood on the upper deck of the ferry for the half hour or so journey to the peninsula with the warm air from the ferry’s funnel protecting us from the cold Atlantic wind. Once off the ferry we decided that the legs still had enough energy in them to get us to the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, 6 miles away, we were partly lured on by a sign pointing to a hotel on the way (the thoughts of pub meals and beer did cross my mind) but it turns out the hotel closed some time ago and it seems to be a community garden place now, however the lady who lived there very kindly filled all our water bottles up…..needed for the camp tonight. It was about 8.00pm when we finally got to the lighthouse and from there Indra spotted a fine looking white beach in the distance, so we headed there to set up camp, it was actually a bit trickier to get there than it looked….. and involved a tough yomp over long tussocky grass, a boulder field and a couple of small streams but it was all worth it in the end! We soon had the tent and my bivi set up, carefully avoiding the scores of tiny little frogs which appeared to be everywhere and soon the stove was purring away as the sun was starting to set and the temperature dipped. Indra muttered something about it would be nice to go for a swim and I unenthusiasticly agreed as I pulled up the zipper on my jacket and cupped my chilled hands around the stoves flame….she disappeared into her tent and a few moments later to my amazement, reappeared in a swimming costume, cap and goggles, she was going for it and no messing about neither as she ran through the sea and dived in…… to say I was impressed would be an understatement!!

The next morning we were up early and after a quick brew, we fought our way back to the road and cycled the 6 miles back to Kilchoan and called into the “Puffin Coffee” cafe for much needed coffee and sausage and bacon sandwiches, which went down a treat. Fully refreshed we set off on the 19 mile section of road to Glenborrowdale and then along the shores of Loch Sunart to Salen. Just before Salen there is a very nice sheltered bay with a little path that takes you right to the rocky edge of the Loch, here we stopped to get the stove on and made a meal, once again the lure of the water was proving too much for Indra and it wasn’t long before the swimming costumes were back on for a chilly but enjoyable 10 minute swim in Loch Sunart. Back at Salen was to be the place where we went out separate ways, Indra planned on heading North to Lochailort train station, where she would get the train home early the next day, I was thinking about heading East to Ardgour and the ferry to Corran and cycling along the A82 for a few miles before picking up the West Highland Way, which would be off-road all the way back to Tyndrum. Indra spent almost an hour on the phone trying to confirm a place on the train for her bike but with no success. Having been refused access to a train already this trip she was reluctant to head to a small station without this reassurance, so we looked at the map…after some head scratching we decided on a new plan, in a nutshell the idea now was for us both to head to Oban… (via Mull again!) from here we could both easily get to where we wanted to be. So we set off on the flat, pleasant road that skirts Loch Sunart, past Strontian and around the head of the Loch before heading South on the A884 that goes to Gleann Gael, this route has a sting in the tail though, in the form of a hill that literally goes on for miles, it was gone 8.00pm by the time we finally got to the top, once over this formidable obstacle however there are 2 fantastic warp-speed descents to enjoy… About 4 miles before Lochaline (where the ferry leaves from) with the light fading we pulled off and found a place to camp and get the stove on….it took a while before they found us but word soon got around and before long it felt like half the West Coasts population of midges had come to join the party….. Indra had a rummage in her cavournous panniers and produced some smidge and a bush hat with a midge net on, I told you she had a little bit of everything in them!

The next morning we rode down to Lochaline for the short ferry crossing to Fishnish on the Isle of Mull and had a quick bacon sandwich at the ferry cafe before cycling the 6 miles or so down to Craignure and waited for the next ferry to Oban. Here Indra met up with Ruth, another cycle tourist whom she met on day 1 of the trip and had a catch up. Back at Oban we all went for a quick meal and pint at the Corryvreken pub before dashing off to catch the same train, Ruth and Indra heading South and me getting off at Tyndrum to see if my car was still there….it had been another memorable Scottish adventure…..

Rode past here many times but this time the temptation proved too much…

Riding West along the Abhainn Shira shortly after the Forest Lodge turnoff, heading for Glen Kinglass. — Rode past here many times but this time the temptation proved too much…

The Cairngorm Loop April 2017

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http://www.cairngormsloop.net/map.html

The Cairngorm Loop is a 186 mile mountain bike route that takes in some of the best tracks and trails that the area has to offer, the challenge of the event is to complete the 186 miles in under 56 hours. You can do this at any time but twice a year (April and September) there is a group ride, effectively a race, there is no entry fee or prize money and it is totally unsupported, you ride as if doing it yourself and no caches or pre-booked accommodation is allowed. More information about the challenge is on the Cairngorm Loop webpage. I put my name down for the April group ride and this was to be my motivation over the winter to get in shape to complete the challenge, it also gave me some time to think carefully about the gear and equipment I would need and also plenty of time to get the bike in good mechanical working order. The bike I use is a 7-year-old Specialized Rockhopper SL hardtail mountain bike, with a 21 inch frame, it has 26 inch wheels, Deore XT gears, Avid Elixir disc brakes and a Rockshox Reba front fork. It fits me well and has an excellent light weight aluminium frame. I hit the trails at the weekend with it and use it for commuting to work during the week, I try to clean it regularly, particularly the drive train and keep it well lubed. However little problems were starting to mount up though, skipping gears, damaged chainring teeth, hard gear shifts, rattling pedals and a rough feeling back wheel…. time for a major overhaul.

Preparing the bike…

Wheels The wheels i have at the moment are an upgrade from a couple of years ago and they have Stans ArchX tubeless ready rims and run on Hope hubs which use cassette bearings, which makes servicing a bit easier.The front wheel was running smooth but the rear wheel was feeling rough so I took the cassette cluster off and then removed the free wheel body, on Hope hubs this just pulls off and comes off with a pop, being carefull not to lose the washer which sits behind it. This gives access to the rear wheel bearings and I could feel with my fingers that one of the cassette bearings was turning very roughly and needed replacing, you tap these out with a drift (or a screwdriver if you are feeling brave…) Hope sells servicing kits which makes knocking these bearings out and back in square a lot easier. With the new bearing in the wheel it was turning smooth again. Before replacing the free hub I removed the 4 pawls and springs (responsible for that distinctive Hope buzzing sound) and cleaned everything up for inspection and found out that one of the springs was broken… this seems to be a problem with Hope hubs as I have broken quite a few, anyhow I replaced it with a new one and greased everything and popped the freehub back on the wheel and made sure it was spinning ok.
New cassette (Shimano XT M770) 9 speed 11-32 ratio, replacing the old 11-34 cassette as I found I was very rarely using the largest 34 cog.
New chain (Shimano HG93) 9 speed. The last time I used a reusable link to join the chain, thinking I could then take it apart for cleaning, in practice I never did though so this time just used the pin Shimano supply with the new chain to join it together. Those re-usable links are handy to keep in your saddle bag though together with a small chain tool for any problems out on a ride.
New chain rings (Shimano Deore FCM590) 44-32-22 ratio. I took the crank arms off the bike to clean everything up and fit these 3 chain rings. You need to make sure you fit these the right way round, particularly the middle one. I fitted the last ones and I think I put it round the wrong way…. I’m sure now that this was responsible for some of the gear change slips I was getting as the Ramps and teeth profile wouldn’t be aligned optimally. With the cranks off it was a good opportunity to clean and re-grease the bottom bracket too.
new Jockey wheels (Shimano 105 RD-5700). This set is compatible with lots of derailleurs including mine, again care need as they are slightly different, the guide pulley is the top one and the tension pulley is the bottom one. I took the derailleur off the bike to replace these as I wanted to give it a good clean and was surprising how much gunk came out of it. After a good soaking with bike spray and oil it was moving much more smoothly.
New gear cables (Shimano MTB stainless steel gear cable set). Everything you need in one bag, cables and outer housing, end caps and cable stops too.
Headset service The bearings at the top and bottom of the steerer tube taken out cleaned and re-greased. I use a small neoprene collar attached with Velcro around the bottom of the steerer tube to help keep the worst of the mud and water out of the bottom bearing.
New pedals (DMR V12 platform pedals). The old pedals were the original alloy ones that came with the bike, they were still usable but were starting to rattle quite a bit.
New tires (Schwalbe Nobby Nics Evo, tubeless snakeskin, (26×2.25) pace star compound). The rims on my wheels are ZTR Stans Archx which are fully compatible with tubeless setups so this is the way I went front and back. The front tyre inflated straight away and soon after I heard the explosive pinging sound of the beads locking into the rims but with the back tyre I had a much harder job, even getting it inflated was tough but to get the beads locked in I tried all sorts of recommended tricks, washing up liquid on the beads, putting a tube in and trying to seat it that way (that got one side seated ok…) what done the job in the end was removing the core from the tubeless valve to allow a greater airflow from the track pump into the tyre, then pumping away furiously until finally with the sweat pouring from my brow I heard the explosive pings of success as the beads locked in. Once the beads are locked in you can deflate the tyres and the beads will stay in place, then you can inject the recommended amount of sealant into the valve hole and put the core back in and inflate the tyre as normal. They should now be immune to normal punctures as the sealant will quickly find and fill the hole in the tyres as it is spinning inside the tyre. The sealant does eventually dry up so check every now and then, I still carry a spare tube, patches and inflater just in case though!

Clothing and equipment…

Something you have to think carefully about is the clothing and equipment you take with you on the ride and that is largely dependant on the weather you are expecting, in Scotland at the end of April that can be a very tricky subject to predict! True to form the week before I travelled up to Braemar, winter returned to large parts of the country for a few days, with fresh snow and freezing northerly winds. On a bike it’s the extremities that feel the cold first, so a warm hat that fits under a helmet and winter mountaineering gloves went in the bag, along with a lightweight Montane insulated jacket which provides instant warm, particularly under a thin waterproof. Footwear choice is very important too as the route fords several rivers with no real choice but to wade straight across and this can lead to very cold feet, after much thought I decided on using my old Mammut summer walking boots, they were lightweight, comfortable and had room to get a nice thick wool sock inside too, which I was hoping would feel warm even when wet and they would be perfect on the hike a bike sections too.

Another big choice has to be made about your sleeping system, how much do you intend to get? and where do you plan to get it? There are bothies on or near the route but conditions on the ground may make you slower than expected or they could be full when you arrive there. I decided to take a lightweight down sleeping bag and a Alpkit Hunka bivi bag, so in theory I could stop anywhere. If you intend riding in the dark you need a good light and these can be expensive, the best mountain bike specific ones are probably by a brand called Exposure, I did have a look at cheap Chinese ones on eBay and was tempted but in the end I decided I would just use my old MYo XP head torch and some spare batteries. I probably would have left the stove and pot in the car just to save weight, the ready cooked meals in a bag are just as nutritious cold. Also there are places on the route to buy hot food if you arrive when they are open. To carry all this gear I used an Apidura seat-post bag (compact size,11 litres), this carried my sleeping bag wrapped inside a plastic bag and I also used a very light-weight OMM 20 litre rucksack for the other stuff including food, some tools, spare socks, maps, compass and a small first aid kit etc.

Waiting for race day…

I drove up to Braemar on Thursday arriving just after 6pm, I got something to eat then reassembled the bike and packed some gear for an overnight bothy stop and set off on the 6 mile ride to the Linn of Dee, just past the car park there is a signed track that heads off north into the heart of the Cairngorms, I took this and headed for Derry Lodge, an old abandoned shooting lodge. I was surprised to read on the notice board that there were plans to turn this lodge into a hostel with warden accommodation, I had mixed feelings when I read this, it certainly would be a good location but I think also it would lessen the remote feel and the commitment needed for the long walk or ride to access the Cairngorms from this side. Also there is a very nice bothy nearby and I wondered what the impact of a hostel would have on that….. it was starting to get a bit chilly when I arrived at the bothy, there were 4 people already in, 2 young guys and a Dutchman with his son, they had the stove going strong and candles lit and it was a very cosy warm atmosphere. They had been up in the hills the day before and said the conditions had been really tough, deep soft snow in places, cold wind and rivers in spate with a thaw setting in.

The next morning I wanted to recce a section of the race route from Glen Derry to the Eidart bridge as I would possibly be doing this section in the dark come race day, so I headed off past Derry Lodge and then north up Glen Derry to the edge of the forest to check the terrain out, I turned round here and headed back to the Linn of Dee and carried on west along the track to White Bridge and followed the track heading along Geldie Burn, a couple of hundred meters before this track crosses the river there is a smaller track heading off on the right, this leads eventually to the Eidart bridge. Up until now the cycling had been easy with a nice firm stony track to follow but now on this smaller track it was much harder because it was so wet and boggy and in places soft snow, in fact I ended up pushing the bike nearly all the way to Eidart bridge, this was as far as I went and I now retraced my route back to Braemar, however things didn’t go smoothly, just before White Bridge on a rough land rover type track I caught my front wheel in a rut and I came off the bike and my left knee hit a rock with some force. At first I just tried to walk it off and ride the easy bits but it soon started swelling up really badly and I slowly realised the race tomorrow was over for me, all that preparation and planning ruined by a lapse in concentration on an easy track, by the time I eventually reached the car in Braemar it was hurting quite a lot and it was difficult to bend it. The next day I went to the hospital to get it checked out and an X-ray confirmed that I had a clean break of my left knee cap and I’m writing this with a full leg cast on wondering when I will once again be back in the Highlands…..

Discussing this accident with friends when back home we talked about the best ways to get help if ever you are out in the wilds and need to contact the emergency services, this little video by Lyle Brotherton contains some very useful information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPZv_8dABfU

: Sign on the Linn of Dee road

: Bob Scott`s Bothy

: Bob Scott`s Bothy

: Bob Scott`s Bothy

: Bob Scott`s Bothy

: Confluence of the Eidart and Feshie rivers

: Eidart Falls

: Eidart Bridge

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

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

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

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

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.

: Cairngorm Club Footbridge inscription

: Cairngorm Club Footbridge inscription

: Lochan Uaine

: Lochan Uaine

: Old Logging Way near Glenmore Lodge

: Fords of Avon Refuge

: Fords of Avon Refuge

: Fords of Avon Refuge

: Track to Loch Einich

: Track to Loch Einich

: Loch Einich

: Ben Alder Lodge

: Ben Alder Lodge

: Approaching Loch Pattack

: Swing bridge next to the ford at Loch Pattack

: Bridge near Culra Bothy

: Culra Bothy

: Culra Bothy

: Culra Bothy main room

: Culra Bothy plaque

: Dalwhinnie Distillery

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 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.

: West Highland Way

: West Highland Way

: Looking down on Loch Leven from above Kinlochleven

: Kinlochleven from the West Highland Way track

: Loch Eilde Mor

: Loch Eilde Beag and the boat shed

: Meanach bothy with the Grey Corries in the background

: The ruin of Luibeilt and the Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: A wee night cap…

: Approaching the Lairig Leacach bothy

: Lairig Leacach bothy

: The ” Wee Minister” on the trail down to Spean Bridge

: The “Wee Minister”

: Aonach Mor gondola station, the finish of the mountain bike World Cup Downhill course is on the right

: Ben Nevis distillery at Lochy Bridge, 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

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.

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

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.