Tilt

December 13th, 2011 • Mountainbiking
Tags: Glen tilt, Mountainbiking, scotland, snow, wilderness

Against advice we went to do the classic Glen Tilt route on bike.  It was said definitely a route for dry conditions, not on the back of one of the wettest weeks of the year.  we almost turned back in a snowstorm but with a chin to the wind  we were rewarded as we dropped down into Glen Tilt.  The pictures cant do it justice.  Classic and Epic.

Back to the Homelands

June 8th, 2011 • 3 comments Cycling, Mountainbiking, Mountains
Tags: go pro, heed in the clood, homelands, inverness shire, kilmorack, Mountainbiking, n8, scotland, spad

Filmed in the hills above where i grew up in Kilmorack, Inverness Shire – a place where I’ve spent lots of time learning how to ride Mountain Bikes. When visiting family now, I still like to head out for a bike ride up in the backwoods of my old stomping ground. I thought it was about time a bit of it was captured behind a lens since it’s had such a big influence on my life. The trails are not particularly technical but very fast and flowing so great if you want to get some speed up… plus its a fantastic place to get a lung full of fresh air and a panoramic from the Moray firth to Glen Strathfarrar.

SPAD

Devil’s Staircase / Ciaran Path

November 11th, 2010 • Cycling, Mountainbiking, Mountains
Tags: blackwater dam, ciaran, devils staircase, kinlochleven, Mountainbiking, outdoor, scotland, sorley, spad, video

The Devil’s Staircase was apparently named by General Wades soldiers because of the difficulties of carrying building materials along it – its a steep, rough, rocky path which is dangerous and unrelenting… and thats why its great for mountain biking! Well going down it anyway.
We left Glasgow early and congregated with the rest of the 9 strong group at the bottom of the Staircase. The climbing is tough from the offset, but great for getting the circulation going on a cold November morning. We made it to the cairn in pretty good time and so we continued to fire down the first of the fantastic descents on the route. Very fast singletrack, with lots of different lines to choose from and wee jumps if you wish to get in the air for a moment… So far there had only been one puncture, which is pretty good out of 9 on a rough path like this. We turned right and cycled along the huge concrete piping that leads you up to impressive Blackwater Dam.
The next section is the Ciaran path which is 8kms of rough and very technical downhill. There we’re a number of bogs to jump over, as well as 1 or 2 ‘over the handlebar’ maneuvers… but no big injuries! A few broken spokes, a bent derailleur hanger and another puncture though… Eventually we made it to Kinlochleven for a coffee stop. Only 3 wanted to do the return journey. The others had decided to to take the long route by road and meet at the Clachaig Inn. Bowie, Sorley and myself headed back up towards the devils staircase. It was getting dark but as long as nothing went wrong then we would be back at the car soon… of course something went wrong! The path claimed another inner tube and so we spent ages trying to mend it with crap repair patches… after much faffage and eventual success, we set off down the staircase with bike lights on full beam. My hands we’re now completely numb, but it didn’t matter as the descent back to the car in the pitch black took no time at all and was amazing.

SPAD

Ben Alder circuit for Birthdayboy Bawheed

August 24th, 2010 • Mountainbiking
Tags: Ben Alder, ben alder bothyBealach Dubh, Mountainbiking, Sron Bealach Beithe

I fist met Somhairle at playschool almost 3 decades ago.  Since then he’s had a few nicknames (although not nearly as many as Spad it must be said), but we’ve remained friends none-the-less.  In a celebration of the start of his 30th year in existence the three of us took off for a circumnavigation of one of Scotland’s most-difficult to get to Munros, Ben Alder.   The forecast might’ve looked crap, but as the adage goes – you snooze you loose – so on we went despite the fact snoozing was pretty tempting at half six in the morning.  It stayed a bawhair off crap all day as we picked our way through Glens, over the the bealuchs, through bogs, around lochs under mountains fixing punctures while eating Haribo and sitting looking at the wilderness.  We found some twisted aircraft metal on our way through Bealach Dubh before the descent into the glen.  Ben Alder bothy in the sunshine was a rare place to be where we sat chatting to a Liverpudlian, who we met a few times on the way round,  before tramping up and over Sron Bealach Beithe with our tyres sinking frustratingly into the bog when the path was just getting under way.  But we’d paid our dues, and the descents reminded me yet again how good it is to be on two wheels in the wilderness.  One crash from the now expert crashist Bawheed and three punctures courtesy of the drainage ditches (and some miss-timed bunny hops) kept us in our place.  Back at the pub Fash n Chaps n a shandy sorted us out before the Citroen took us the backroads home three muddy bikes stuffed in the boot – HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAWHEED!

A Week on Mull – SGC 2010

July 21st, 2010 • 3 comments Cycling, Gorge Walking, Hill walking, Mountainbiking
Tags: 2010, Ben, Gorge Walking, JD, john, misha, Mountainbiking, mull, scotland, SGC, spad

Well its that time of year again when the Scotstoun Gentlemen’s Club (SGC) head out to the hills for a week of outdoor pursuits – This year we went to Mull. Unfortunately we spent the week trying to predict the unpredictable weather! Nonetheless we made the best of it and got out on the bikes to Tobermory via Loch Frisa, Coastal walking on the Ross of Mull and gorge walking up in Glen Forsa and also by Loch na Keal. So much to do on this Island – definitely heading back there soon.

Spad

Cairngorm Cluster

September 11th, 2009 • Bothying, Mountainbiking
Tags: bynack stable, Cairngorms, derry lodge, glen derry, Mountainbiking, rain, ryvoan bothy, strath nethy, wet, white bridge

Sometimes things go to plan, and sometimes they don’t.  After a couple of days of pushing bikes through the wind and rain in the Cairngorms I think it’s fair to say that this one didn’t go quite as planned!  The remote tracks in at the back of the Cairngorms didn’t make for easy mountain biking after several weeks of rain, but these are the sort of weekends that you learn the most, and the team pulls together to finish what was started, in whatever style (hopefully we’ll be able to post a video of kathryn nose planting into a bog).

Tim/ Kathryn / Spad / Somhairle / Robin / Misha

ROUTE:-

Friday:
Glasgow > Aviemore by Train (with bikes)
Aviemore > Ryvoan Bothy for sleep (night cycle with a stop off at glenmore lodge for a pint).

Saturday:
Ryvoan > fords of Avon (carrying bikes through Strath Nethy on all but short sections)
Fords of Avon > Derry Lodge (pushing bikes before descent through Glen Derry).
Derry Lodge > Corrour bothy for sleep (pushing bikes through night and arriving at 11pm).

Sunday:
Corrour bothy > White bridge
White Bridge to Braemar (planned route through Glen Tilt to Blair Athole train station changed because of time limitation).
Braemar > Pitochry by taxi!!
Pitlochry > Glasgow train  (back at 10 ish)

all looking like serious mo fo’s in those pics so if you’ve any to add (or video) give me a shout misha @ high-8.com