Bivvy a Month 2017.

[MuddyPete]

Reg - Are you sure the barmaid said 'shed'? Did you have any company in there?
Surely you can't count it as 'bivi-a-month': you slept indoors!

It's amusing to think there's perhaps dozens of bewildered dog walkers/farmers/commuters/grave diggers around the country stumbling across a slumbering mound and a bicycle, thinking "Why on earth would someone want to sleep in a hedge/ditch/graveyard, on their own, in February?", completely oblivious to the community behind it .

[RIP]

Arf! Well I must admit we were getting on like a house on fire so the whole shed business might have been a spectacular backfiring situation, >groan<. Only joking Mrs Perrin honestly.

Indoors??? It was bloody freezing in there man! I had to move a wheelbarrow out of the way, and some headstones. There were some pretty worrying noises outside during the night I can tell you, and I had the door well wedged shut although come to think of it they were presumably perfectly capable of just walking straight through it.

On a different note I'm finding it quite difficult to regulate my in-bag temperature these days. Despite the sticky toffee pudding I felt fairly chilly in the immediate post-installation minutes although I had bamboo socks, pants, leggings, and two tops on. Half way through the night I had to ditch everything waist-downwards. Normally I'd leave them in with me but for some reason chucked them out, which made their 4am replacement rather tortuous.

Be interested hear how others deal with it all.

Oh and one for a Pickers wry smile if he remembers it: I finally left my Koala top strap undone one too many times and got the thing wrapped round my rear cassette sigh. Need a new clip now. I need a special alarm to tell me it's not been clunk-clicked like seatbelts....

R

[Pickers]

[slowupslowdown-under]

Managed to sneak in a superb night out under the stars at Deep Creek on the Fleurieu Peninsula here in South Australia last Friday night

Have a look here to get an idea of what the place looks like:

http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/ ... park#about

It was good to have the Tripster all bagged up again!

90km in the end with a heap of climbing up and down the creek gullies that are prevalent when you get down towards the coast here.

Tried out my new second hand MSR NX1 tent. Packs down very small and the poles fit in the Apidura frame bag nicely too. Great piece of kit - really liking it!

Lovely ride back to the truck in the morning before it got too hot!

[Wagonwheel]

2/2 Lots of lessons learned with this local one nighter. Put land cruiser tyres on longitude and headed out last Thursday for a road ride with a e few tracks up to the top of Brendon Hill.
After the nice warm weather packed light(mistake number 1) headed out about 8pm and a lovely ride through lanes with a stop for a snack in Tewkesbury and then up to the top of Brendon, all going well till near the tower when the wind picked up but found a nice sheltered spot for the night.
Laid out hucka bivi bag and placed sea to summit mat inside with alpkit quilt(mistake number2) try gear before hand, you are all right not enough room in bag for mat and me.
Just as I had all ready laid down for a bit of whisky and wind changed direction and started to rain(mistake number 2 ) even less room in bivi when pulled over head with draw cord pulled tight.
Temperature dropped to about +1 and by 5am had had enough so tried to light the stove(mistake number 3) too windy to get stove alight and not enough practise with 8gram stove so packed up quick and was home by 8am to cook breakfast for the family.
Lots of mistakes made and I have been doing this for 30 odd years now but still had a great time with 50miles covered and some sleep on a hill. Bring on March.

[PeterC]

Bit Late posting, but February now done giving me 2/2.
Decided to head up along the (anti) flood dyke of the River Koros then back down the other side of the river to a couple of likely spots. First one was good but went on to the second at the confluence of the Koros and Hortobagy Berrettyo which gave a nice view down the river. First time out for the new TiGoat Kestrel and DD superlight tarp. Initially rigged as a lean to as it was a wee bit windy so a bit more room/shelter, but as the wind dropped and the forcast was for light rain in the morning changed it (at 10pm) to an A frame for better rain protection. Just as well because the rain came in earlier and heavier than forecast.
Had a very comfortable night, which was good as it's been years since I did a "proper" bivvy (January was camping).
What a difference a month makes, last bivvy was about 10km downstream from here with 15cm of snow and the ice on the river 20cm thick. However, the thick sticky mud on part of the return leg almost led to a sense of humour failure, almost but not quite. Though I did have to hose both the bike and me down when I got back home.
I'm really pleased with the new tarp and bivvy setup, thanks to all on here for the advice and pointers to the Kestrel.
I've created a Flickr account so hopefully a few photos should appear below.
DSCN1344 by Peter Cairns, on Flickr
DSCN1353 by Peter Cairns, on Flickr
DSCN1356 by Peter Cairns, on Flickr

[JohnClimber]

Bugger.... I thought I'd bagged my 12 out of 12 this month but looking back I've another month to do

11/11 from me
3/3 this year

[Farawayvisions]

Bivvy a month-February.
20 miles there, 50 miles back. Caught two ferries, missed one. 2 Bikes, a hill in a dark skies reserve, and strangers in the night.

http://www.farawayvisions.com/bivvy-a-month-february/

Wildcamp on Old Winchester Hill small.jpg (42.7 KiB) Viewed 9716 times

[javatime]

February done last weekend so now on 2/2

Quiet lanes and Sustrans paths after work then over the Severn Bridge in sunshine and then up to beyond Devauden to check on this years future llama do delivery.



Work seems to be in progress



Big views across to the Black Mountains - Sugar Loaf is out there.



All downhill to Chepstow, sit down fish and chips by the bus station with a nice bottle of beer before pitching the tarp.

A look around Piercefield House in the morning, yours for 2 million (some work required), then back to Severn Beach and just in time for the morning train home and escaped the afternoon deluge !



Photo of a man taking a photo of the bridge....

[ScotRoutes]

Piemonster had a couple of days holiday left to take so we opted for a days riding round Perthshire and a short ride to a bivvy spot after drinks and food at the Atholl Arms in Blair Atholl.

A cold day, with snow in patches, meant we avoided the high road out of Trinafour. Still went over the Schiehallion climb though.

P1030672 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr


P1030668 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr


With a couple of options for bivvy spots looking to be seriously cold, we made for a wee folly overlooking Blair Atholl. Views were great (when the sun came up). Though I had frost forming on the tarp as I was rolling it away this morning.

P1030693 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

P1030696 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

P1030708 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

Early one for March then, and should have another one this weekend.

Clocks change next month, so longer evenings and hopefully warmer nights.

[crewlie]

3/3. Grabbed the chance to get out again before we leave the dusty trails behind and head back north. Aimed for a spot I'd used before up on the Col de Murs. I took the longish route around along the canal then a long steady climb up onto the plateau.
Arrived just after dark to find my water bottle had disappeared from my under downtube Monki cage somewhere along the way. Still had just enough water for a cup of tea though, thankfully.
Pitched the tent onto almost solid stony ground, but there was no wind and plenty of rocks to help hold everything up.

A beautifully clear cold night, but I was toasty after February's miscalculation, Cumulus 150 plus Cloud cover over the top this time.

March 2 by Mark Berry, on Flickr

DSC01424 by Mark Berry, on Flickr

Woke after dawn to another clear day. Packed up and started to retrace my route to try to find the missing water bottle (I hate the idea of leaving stuff behind, even if accidentally). Found the thing unsurprisingly halfway down a rocky downhill bit.
Bookmarked a derelict farm building for another time in less kind weather, then back down some nice bits of singletrack to face packing and shopping.

DSC01450 by Mark Berry, on Flickr

March 3 by Mark Berry, on Flickr

[RIP]

Lovely pics Mark - jealous. Some intriguing graffiti (graffito?) there - "bikepacker was here" in French? If you fancy another March BaM it'd be great to see you on Chilterns SpringThing 25/26th...

[TheBrownDog]

3/3 for me then. Didnt want another late departure so I tore myself away from Eng v Scot at half time to follow a 20 mile route a friend put together ages ago. The air was warm and the going muddy. Dinner was lamb shank and mash with roasted broccoli and my bed for the night a bit of woods near Latimer that I'd not stopped in before. I had a nice enough night woken by heavy rain on my tarp at 3am. Quite like that sound. Thankfully it had stopped by 6 when I woke again and gave me time for coffee and to pack up before it started drizzling and I came home on the lanes rather than slog through the axle deep mud again. Everything is covered in slop so I will now spend an hour or two washing it all down for the next time.

[Sussex Paul]

3/3

Out into the surrey hills this time, a full moon meant we were able to ride without lights for some of the more open sections, sadly the rubbish camera on my phone meant I wasn't able to do it justice, so just pictures from the following morning



And a brew by the pond



The rain that had been promised by the weatherman finally appeared at around 8:30 am, so a pretty wet ride home, but the bacon butty at the national trust café made up for it.

[metalheart]

3/3: The Moray Way.

Myself, ScotRoutes and my mate David decided to do the the Moray Way.

I intend writing it up as it was a mini-epic (day one = 15 hours, day 2 started with me trying to do an impression of Greg Mays chundergnome). Here's a couple photos...

Morning has broken by Metalheart-UK, on Flickr\

Waiting for the train... by Metalheart-UK, on Flickr\

[JohnClimber]

I've finally found (with a little help) my story that Bike Radar have buried in their website since March 1st.
If you can be bothered it's on the link below.
Have a look for the "Feature" called "One man, a bike and a tent: a bivi a month for a year'"

http://www.bikeradar.com/?google_previe ... 7696005017

But here's the better link
https://sfp.sharethrough.com/creatives/ ... w6eErbsmnY

[Piemonster]

3/3: The Moray Way.

Myself, ScotRoutes and my mate David decided to do the the Moray Way.

So, did anyone snore?

[ScotRoutes]

I don't think so. I certainly didn't hear any....

[Piemonster]

Feck

[ScotRoutes]

More from the trip Metalheart and I did last weekend.

http://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2017/03/ ... o-way.html

I can only say that Stu would have loved the route.....

[metalheart]

Good write up ScotRoutes, it's like I was back there for a minute....

I'd forgot about "saving the food" for when I really needed it... What a chump

Glad it was last Friday and not this, would've been soaked into the bargain...

[RayKickButts]

Sadly for this trip number 3 of 12 i lost my bivi companion to mechanical problems of the four wheeled type and fat bike drive issues, as we both want to do all 12 on fattys. So with bike loaded up and the only weekend i could get a trip in due to commitments, i trundled my fat bike out of the garage and started my ride from home.

My aim was simple get out and over to Margam mountain and kip by the trig point as it makes a nice base for a tarp, i headed from Bridgend out towards Cefn Cribwr and the horrible M4 climb, its about a mile long reasonably steep and with a loaded fat bike i wasnt looking forward to it, but to my i rode it pretty easily so fitness must be coming on in leaps and bounds. The brucey bonus to this beastly climb is the fast road descent the other side, fast and twisty a loaded fat bike just flew down the lane.

From here it was around 2-3 miles of quiet lanes to my proper off road start point of Craig Yr Aber woods and the long pull up the fire road track of 2.2miles all uphill.

I probably haven't mentioned and should how crap the weather was at this point, thick fog,driving rain and strong winds all make for a long ride uphill[

About half way up the Craig Yr Aber climb and the for rolling in


I also at this point now have a song stuck in my head, ive know idea where it came from but stuck in my head all weekend... Tie a Yellow Ribbon round the old oak tree!!!!!

On reaching the top of the fire road and crossing over to the deforrested Cwm Cynffig forrest i stopped to get my bearings as the for was really pea souping it now


So after a drink and re fuel on nuts i made my way across the top locally known as "Sheepshit Alley" and my stop at the only water source. I filled up and at that point a ghostly figure loomed out of the mist shouting my name, which was a tad odd!! it turned out to be a chap named Andrew who i bumped into everynow and then, not very often you run into a another fat bike while out and in these foul conditions


After a chat and starting to get cold i headed off to the trig point, it was at this point i found the boggy track of watery deep frog spawn doooooooom, after a proper trudge along the overgrown track for about 20-30 mins i got to the trig point and a desolate scene, the area must have been hit by tree disease and there were rotten trees and dodgy looking ones all ovet the place not a spot i wanted to bivi


so i back tracked to a obvious open area and found a break in a young stand of pine trees and found a nice spot and began to set up home for the night and came up with a rather cool tarp set up



With my tarp up and plenty of room and all my kit sorted and tidy i got a brew on and fed myself.

The night was loooooong the constant dripping on the tarp and teh wind blowing the trees was getting a tad like torture so out came the hip flask and i managed a weee 9 hours kip
The morning loomed and i walked out to the clearing and was gutted to see the weather was still bad so decided just to back track my route home

So bleary eyed i trudged back along the boggy track of watery deep frog spawn doooooooom


The fog was worse and after a few minutes of map work got myself back on track. The brucey Bonus for doing the route back home this way is the 2.2mile Craig Yr Aber fire road descent which is very fast and furious easily reaching speeds of 40mph, grinning like a loon i hurled myself down the trail dreaming of summer days where the suns burning your arms and legs.

Not much to say about the return route from here, a road trudge and a big climb back to Cefn Crbwr.

What can i take away from this pretty grim one nighter..... i bloody love it, i dont care what the weather does, it just tests your metal and you learn what you can put up with even if it is for just one night, i also love doing solo bivi's lots of time to think clear your mind after a busy week, but most of all it the love of riding my bike in the wilds of Wales... now where will number 4 be .... WRT

[RIP]

"wasnt looking forward to it"... "thick fog, driving rain and strong winds"... "really pea souping it"... "Sheepshit Alley"... "foul conditions".. "frog spawn doooooooom"... "desolate scene"... " torture".. "bleary eyed".. "pretty grim one nighter"...

What a lovely report Ray! Really inspiring and "don't be soft" easily achieved. Felt like I was really there ( but good job for you I wasn't, I might have given up at the frogspawn stage! )

And the final point: "What can i take away".... "i bloody love it" . Says it all really.

("Take experiences, leave goodwill" - a nice new motto)

R

[RayKickButts]

"wasnt looking forward to it"... "thick fog, driving rain and strong winds"... "really pea souping it"... "Sheepshit Alley"... "foul conditions".. "frog spawn doooooooom"... "desolate scene"... " torture".. "bleary eyed".. "pretty grim one nighter"...

What a lovely report Ray! Really inspiring and "don't be soft" easily achieved. Felt like I was really there ( but good job for you I wasn't, I might have given up at the frogspawn stage! )

And the final point: "What can i take away".... "i bloody love it" . Says it all really.

("Take experiences, leave goodwill" - a nice new motto)

R

Thank you RIP .... there was one incident i left out but i'll own up to it now.... My camp was around 600yards into a pine forrest .... after i had eaten around 1800-1830 i must have fallen asleep with a full belly and a few shots of whisky well i woke up and thought i'd gone blind, i thought my hat had gone down over my eyes, so after a explore i found it on my head where it should be, maybe it was the whisky but i couldn't compute how dark it had gotten as i hadn't thought i'd fallen asleep, i couldn't see my hand when it was touching my nose.... after some searching i found my head torch and looked at my watch it was roughly a hour since the last time i'd looked.... i'd forgotten how much light the forrest blokes out and along with the fog as well it was proper pitch black. In the summer i think this will be my go to overnight spot i think i'll push in further and make a semi perm camp up with a lean to frame and fire pit all welcome as long as you bring a hip flask

[ScotRoutes]

Brilliant report. I like the man vs adversity of it all. And you even look cheery!