No, not folk trying to ride the Westie in a day ;~) :
Alasdair
Leave a comment if it’s yours and I’ll put you in touch.
Just returned from a fantastic weekend riding in and around Fort William. Based on my post last week and after bumping into Chris Johnstone at Wheelcraft on Saturday the route was changed slightly to become a 70km classic loop of Ben Nevis. Alison, Superlight Euan and myself left the Braveheart car park in Glen Nevis on Sunday morning. We then rode the Westie to above Kinlochleven where we then kept the height gained and picked up the trail past Mamore Lodge to Luibeilt passing Loch Eilde Mor and Beag. When reaching Luibelt we decided to cross the river after Superlight Euan proudly informed us he made 58 glacier river crossings during a day ski mountaineering in NZ, so surely we would manage one in July. After plenty of hikey bikey and some fantastic scenery we reached the bothy at the start of the Lairig Leacach, a welcome stop after being in the wilderness for so long. After refuelling, we then descended the landrover track to Leanachan Forest where we traced some of the Witch’s Trails towards Torlundy, and then back along the cycle lane to Glen Nevis. A fantastic trip and one that should become a club classic.
Back from a fantastic weekend of racing at Kirroughtree. Weather held up and raced in the sunshine for the first time this year. New course again with some great decents. Our team were in line for a podium position until my other team members decided they were too knackered to do any more laps. Oh well, there’s always next year….. Try it if you haven’t already. D
Just like the heading says! I plan to head out at 7.45. Forecast is good. Anyone else planning on a spin?
On a different note, Shearer and I headed up onto Beinn a Ghlo group of munros near Blair Atholl on Sunday. After an initial hikey bike up to the saddle, we were rewarded with some mighty fine plateau riding and a couple of terrific descents. The final one of Carn Liath is a loose, steep and rocky stunner. The mountains have been on my to do list for a while and they definitely lived up to expectations.
Next up on the must do list are Ben Lawyers and the Inverar horseshoe – the latter being 4 summits on a big plateau. Ross and I walked it on a perfect winter’s day a couple of years back and the final descent would be amazing on the bike.
Cheers
Sanny
Tuesday ride: Local Ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 7pm
Wednesday introductory ride: Local Ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 7:00pm
Wednesday ride: Windy Hill, departs main car park, St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 7:45pm
Wednesday event: Navigation Skills Course, St Andrews Church Hall, 7:15pm for 7:30pm – only 2 places remaining – contact me if you’re interested in signing up!
Thursday ride: Road ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 6:30pm prompt. Duration: 1.5 – 2hrs
Sunday ride: Local Ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 9am – or, alternatively, suggest a ride for Sunday!
Hi Folks,
We have 2 places left on this Wednesday’s navigation skills course. If you’re interested then let me know ASAP. Details here.
I think it’s fair to say we got lucky with the weather today. Only 3 of us set off, with Chris and son absent due to late Friday night “pre ride maintenance”. Pushing and carrying up almost immediately, and stopping plenty to admire the views (and try and work out if we would be able to ride any of this on the way back down) , we eventually reached the plateau where some pedalling was possible.
Once on the plateau, the peak was in sight and surprisingly soon we were carrying up the final stretch to the summit, where we stopped for a bite to eat, phone calls to loved ones we feared we wouldn’t see again*, pictures of Jung to prove to his mates he had got up on a Saturday morning, and to admire the views all around us.
Saddles dropped, pads on for the two of us that had them, and it was time to see what the trail really would be like to ride. It turned out to be surprisingly rideable going down, with only the odd wrong line choice and one instance of chickening out robbing me of full man points, but the descent was making the carry completely worthwhile, and putting smiles on faces all around – including all but one of the walkers, who were treating us with the kind of respect and kindness normally reserved for escapees from institutions for the criminally insane.
Just before the plateau, a taste of things to come started, when the first puncture occured, my friend Paul being the victim. This was followed by a puncture for Jung, 2 broken valves attempting to replace one punctured tube, another puncture (Jung I think!) and finally having to resort to patches around halfway down the descent. Nearing the bottom, Jung had a final puncture, but to cries of “leave the weak”, he decided to just walk back to the car. I was glad (some might say “overly smug” I’d put my dual ply tyres on last night, despite the extra weight to carry up.
We again found ourselves having to walk (and pass bikes down the slope) at Granny Catcher, but managed to ride the rest of the lower section with man points intact, making it back to the car closely followed by Jung.
*may be an embellishment
A surprising 7 riders decided to ignore the forecast heavy rain and brave the results of the afternoon’s downpour. Continue reading
Anybody doing Kirroughtree this Saturday? I plan to do it, but travelling there and back in the same day (no stop-over). Cheers, Simon Haslam, and his singlespeed.
Tuesday ride: Local Ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 7pm
Wednesday introductory ride: Local Ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 7:00pm
Wednesday ride: Conic Hill Night Ride, departs main car park, Balmaha, 7:30pm
Thursday ride: Road ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 6:30pm prompt. Duration: 1.5 – 2hrs
Sunday ride: Local Ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 9am – or, alternatively, suggest a ride for Sunday!
Don’t forget to let me know if you’re interested in the navigation skills class provisionally planned for next Wednesday, 13th July. (See a separate post on WordPress for more details)
