Bivvy a month 2019

[RIP]

Well RC, you should certainly be awarding yourself lots of 'I wasn't soft' stickers if nothing else! Top effort there. Unless I misread it, do you need to have another bash at it then? Only the most churlish of us would deny you a BaM surely - although it raises philosophical questions of how long a sleep counts as a sleep and whether winks are sleep or what level of consciousness counts as sleep. One for the Authorities there.

Also I can only apologise on behalf of the whole of Leighton Buzzard for the grumpy reception you received. Then again it was only 6am!

[Bearbonesnorm]

Also I can only apologise on behalf of the whole of Leighton Buzzard for the grumpy reception you received. Then again it was only 6am!

Can you also do something about the litter outside the station too please Reg, ta.

[Bearlegged]

Where's that quote about bivvying being a series of unsatisfactory naps?

[RIP]

Yeah that's Mr Climber's motto.

"litter" - that's Shaf's bike! Oh, the plastic cup. Well there's something weird going on there. Nobody'd be brazen enough to drop one in full view of the entrance surely, so maybe it's just appeared through some sort of wormhole in the spacetime continuumumummumum wossname thing. One minute minding its own business in a nasty C*sta in Heckmondwike and the next it's floundering like a beached fish on LB station forecourt. Anyroad I'll nip round later.

Talking of Heckmondwike, I hear their new MP is called Willy Eckerslike. Great name. Will he do anything to help keep the place clean and tidy?

Talking of willies, despite the fact that I'm the first to praise language as a fascinating, fluid, constantly evolving entity; and am endlessly entertained by what Mr Fry would call its beautiful textures and timbres, I'd like to start a new campaign to ban the written use of 'where' as a substitute for 'were' which now seems to be creeping in everywhere, or possibly everywere. 'Of' instead of 'have' is bad enough.

EDIT: ARG! Just noticed a missed apostrophe! Strike me down with a semicolon NOW!

[Borderer]

As a nurse honey is being shown for its antibac properties

Does it not have to be fancy expensive raw honey or something though?

[redefined_cycles]

As a nurse honey is being shown for its antibac properties

Does it not have to be fancy expensive raw honey or something though?

Thats what the powers that be would have you believe (inclyding the research I imagine but I have it on good authority* that they can talk tripe without you knowing sometimes) but I once heard/read about this one local (not to me but a UK) farmers hiney had more of that "manuka rating thingy" than much of the manuka itself. One thing though, try and get a good honey (I stay away from any blends cos they tend to taste filthy) with the country of manufacture aswell as nothing other than 'honey'in the ingredients...

The thing regards the local honey. I heard (over the grapevine mind you) that the local honey to oneself is best for oneself (seemed to work for me as my usual is from the Rawhoneyshop.com which has good stuff)....

*It was on an 'assessing the journal evidence' for nursing type course. At the end of the 2 weeks the senior course leader - who was at that time the highest authority on evidence based research local to us - stated something to that effect (that no matter how well presented and robust and honest the evidence might appear, when the BSers wanna BS you, they find means and ways!

[redefined_cycles]

Reg, I'm still working on your reply (gotta work a few days as am a bit broke now) but in the interim: 1.yes i shall be back and hopefully this time successfully ride through your beautiful area. 2. I should've picked up that litter which for some reason I didnt see (maybe my mind protecting me from extra stress)... sorry

[RIP]

Reg has honey in his tea, which is an affectation if ever there was one but he likes it .

[redefined_cycles]

Reg has honey in his tea, which is an affectation if ever there was one but he likes it .

Probably explains why Reg is so sharp and able to tackle whatever Stu throws at him (not forgetting why Reg has such youthful looks aswell off course)...

[redefined_cycles]

Yeah that's Mr Climber's motto.

"litter" - that's Shaf's bike! Oh, the plastic cup. Well there's something weird going on there. Nobody'd be brazen enough to drop one in full view of the entrance surely, so maybe it's just appeared through some sort of wormhole in the spacetime continuumumummumum wossname thing. One minute minding its own business in a nasty C*sta in Heckmondwike and the next it's floundering like a beached fish on LB station forecourt. Anyroad I'll nip round later.

Talking of Heckmondwike, I hear their new MP is called Willy Eckerslike. Great name. Will he do anything to help keep the place clean and tidy?

Talking of willies, despite the fact that I'm the first to praise language as a fascinating, fluid, constantly evolving entity; and am endlessly entertained by what Mr Fry would call its beautiful textures and timbres, I'd like to start a new campaign to ban the written use of 'where' as a substitute for 'were' which now seems to be creeping in everywhere, or possibly everywere. 'Of' instead of 'have' is bad enough.

EDIT: ARG! Just noticed a missed apostrophe! Strike me down with a semicolon NOW!

To be fair Reg, I did think he was taking of (I mean 'about) my bike aswell and had thought the whole trip to work about the most appropriate response. But then, there it appeared, a nasty cup from a nasty Costa in Heckmondwike. I'm sure it wasn't there when I took that pic

[redefined_cycles]

Well RC, you should certainly be awarding yourself lots of 'I wasn't soft' stickers if nothing else! Top effort there. Unless I misread it, do you need to have another bash at it then? Only the most churlish of us would deny you a BaM surely - although it raises philosophical questions of how long a sleep counts as a sleep and whether winks are sleep or what level of consciousness counts as sleep. One for the Authorities there.

Also I can only apologise on behalf of the whole of Leighton Buzzard for the grumpy reception you received. Then again it was only 6am!

Firstly before elaboration (hopefully that's a word and if it's not it will be soon enough in one of the dictionaries) on the grumpy reception and when/if I'll be frequenting Lieghton Buzzard any time soon, a word about noteworthy birds (ahem).

As with most other green folk, we do like a spot of wildlife and I'm hoping to invest/upgrade my 8x21a binoculars to something just as small and able to fit in that feedbag (Acepac) from Stu (which worked wonderfully btw). So, at mile 40ish (just assume 'ish' on everything please to do with whereabouts it happened or was spotted) I saw my first decent birdy, a heron. Then later on I noted a couple of whats seemed to be gold finches but they looked more bright red and some other peculiar pattern/colours!

Off course I was hoping to see the Buzzard of Leighton but it never appeared. However, before that I'd seen (as the sun was coming up) what I thought to be a baby dear. I've never seen an animal run that fast and the time when the sun had fully gone down a few hours earlier, it was a lazy fox. Stood in my way and just seemed to stroll into the bushes instead of the usual scattering away!

Also as the sun was just coming up and as I rode through the section where the baby deer was, there were pairs of birds: looked like standard (slightly smaller than) robin sized brown birds. What was wierd and wonderful about these was that they seemed to be camouflaged in the side of the path and only appeared and zoomed away as I came within 3 metres of them (maybe my lights startled them but I have no idea exactly what they looked like as they were that fast).

So onto the other (grumpy) birds. The receptionist at Lieghton Buzzard, I have to agree with Reg. It was 6am and with my black hands (buffed leather glove colour issues and the dye has just about come off my hands now) and soggy state with army issue overpants. Possibly red eyes aswell (me, not her) we can easily overlook her daunted self

But the other lady, she was just rude and horrible. Had that attitude all over her (just like my ex wife) and look of disgust. But, to be fair, it wasn't in LB and closer to Landan and also, I did have a non-folding bike at peak time (against the rules ). I had no choice and thanks to aforementioned receptionist for not mentioning it and letting me plead ignorance...

Legs aching, but felt good. Yes Reg, I shall be visiting again imminently. It was a route I planned to be a 'not everyone will be able to finish it in 24H' kind of ride... so far 2 people completed it during the charity ride. I'm the one thats now 'failed' it for the 3rd attempt. So stats for the ride are looking rather good and I do hope to bag it soon enough...

Thanks for listening

[RIP]

Compliments on your doggedness Shaf, it'll happen. Ta for your compliment too, it must be the honey cos isn't anything innate . No buzzards in LB but plenty of red kites and herons...

Right, chores beckon unfortunately.

PS it's a lovely bike which does the job

[TheBrownDog]

The Three Lions Tour makes it 6/6 for me with Reg and Sam (Old Allen's on here, but we need that changed to The Old Alien, which is quite funny) It was a great afternoon's ride with some hilarious typically BearBones moments as Reg guided us round his borough for about 25 miles, three pubs, a gang of pirates on unicycles and a perfect bivvy spot. Full pic heavy report over on the Three Lions Tour thread later today if I can get off the sofa.

[RIP]

Yep, 3LT for me too. 6/6, 6/12, 41/41.

Next BaM planned for end of July which is too long to wait, however it should be a good one - starting on a hill below sea-level at a railway station that you can't get back from to a beach that's miles from the sea. What jinks to work it all out eh!



'Reg'

(edit: PS. BTW, c'mon gimme a break with the "Willy Eckerslike. Great name. Will he do anything to help keep the place clean and tidy?" )

[sean_iow]

June 6/6

Having watched GBV's (girlbikevan) video I thought I'd embrace the "It's a holiday not a race" spirit and LSMS (Take Slightly More Stuff) this month. I have the new SMD Deschutes to try out and I knew the perfect spot. This is on the farm where I rent a lock-up so I text the landowner to check it was ok (didin't pay anything so within the rules) and also to make sure they weren't going to be out rabbit shooting as getting shot at might take the edge off.

Extra kit/stuff I took which I normally don't have included;

Stove, ti pot, collapsible mug, ti bottle opener, bottle of ale (first time I've taken beer on a bivi although I have stopped at a pub on the way before) porridge for breakfast, chocolate coated pretzels (these are amazing and I had to leave half the pack at home as it's impossible to stop once you've eaten one) sleeping bag instead of quilt, change of clothes to sleep in and the mini-tripod/phone holder/bluetooth shutter switch - picture taken with this new setup is on the photo thread and I am really pleased with the results, I'll be using it again.

I set out post dinner which was Mexican (the wife left me ready-meals to put in the oven as she was going to the Isle of Wight Festival) and a quick add up of the calories on the packets says 1500kcal! That kind of calorie intake of Mexican food followed by riding could be considered race training but I think it was just me being greedy It was a leisurely ride (15 miles) to the farm, stopped by my lock-up to fill up a collapsible water carrier and use the facilities and then up the valley to my spot. It was dry but getting cooler. I chose a location that was slightly sheltered but not too much as I wanted see how the Deschutes coped in the wind. I could always move if necessary. Once set up and with my kit sorted (which included the repaired mat which had let me down, literally, on the HT550) I opened my beer and started on the pretzels, all very civilized At about 10:30 I text the wife to say it was getting dark and I was going to turn in. There was also a slight drizzle. After about 10 minutes in my bag the drizzle stopped, the clouds cleared and it got light again, full moon

I slept well in the new shelter, I clipped the net of my bivi bag up to one of the loops which holds the doors back and this kept the net off my face. I didn't bother setting an alarm (it's not a race) but was awake at 07:00 as it was light. With one of the doors open I cooked my breakfast from by bag without setting light to anything I had an ASDA porridge pot. When I packed this the night before I was concerned that the foil lid would get damaged so I had a rummage in the recycling bin in the kitchen for something to cover it. I found the lid of a Seriously Spreadable cheese pot which it turns out is such an exact fit that it clips onto the top of the porridge pot. I will be using this again and it is now stashed with the bivi kit



As I ate breakfast it started to rain so I delayed packing up to see if any would come in to the tarp but I remained dry.



Packing up was easy and I didn't get wet at all either. I had my new mini groundsheet/mat to kneel on* and that and the extra space made packing away a doddle. I even had space to put my waterproof on once everything else was packed up. Took the Deschutes down and headed down the valley for home. I went a different way down to the road from the way up the night before and I didn't really know where the track went. It turns out it wasn't the one I thought it was but it was going downhill and toward the road. I came to a gate which I had to lift the bike over so I may have strayed into a neighbors farm but no one noticed. In addition I came across a sheep laid on it's back so good job I had gone the wrong way. It was in a shallow wheel rut on a slope and I guess it had slipped over** and of course they cant get back up. I stopped and rolled it back onto it's feet and it ran off without even a thank you*** The rest of the journey home was less eventful apart from it was chucking it down. Luckily the wife went to the festival again as within an hour of getting hoe I had every door in the house decorated with drying/airing kit

That's 6 out of 6 for me and it couldn't have been more different from last months near hypothermic shivering on a cold bothy floor

*On the Saturday I had the sewing machine and fabric out for a new project and the wife asked if I knew where the sitting mats were so she could take it to the festival. I made these some years back and it's just a square of cordura which is hemmed all round. I said I could go one better and cut a square of lightweight groundsheet material which didn't even need hemming. It was 600x600mm so that should weight 33g I was so impressed I cut one for myself. It folds down to nothing and will be coming on all future trips.

** I nearly slid off the track on the bike myself. Perhaps if the sheep didn't sub standard all over it they wouldn't fall over?

*** The wife says sheep cant talk and that's why it didn't say thanks but a baa would have done.

[middleagedmadness]

The interior of the deschutes looks absolutely HUGE in that photo Sean

[redefined_cycles]

Enjoyed that Sean. Thanks very muchly. Interested in what groundsheet your talking of?? Is it just some tyvek??

[sean_iow]

The groundsheet is just an offcut of this

https://www.extremtextil.de/zeltboden-n ... 0g-qm.html

I used it as the base for a bivi bag I made. It's just a bit 600mm x 600mm but it gives me something to kneel on whist I lay my bivi bag out and put the mat and bag in it. Once the bivi is laid out and ready I can sit on that to keep off the ground.

The groundsheet is also handy during the day as you can sit down for a rest without getting a wet behind.

[MuddyPete]

Three Lions Tour - top stuff chaps.
Love the exclusive merchandise, too!

But: unicycling pirates ...I wonder if we could get them to join the Flaming Feathers dance troupe for July BaM?

[pistonbroke]

Caro a month continues.
Some may recall that following the passing of my mother earlier this year, I resolved to do this 1,000m climb once a month this year. I've managed 6 from 6 and this month's proved the most pleasurable. I've ridden up in high winds, encountered snow at the side of the road, set off down not being able to feel my fingers but yesterday was perfect. Still conditions, temperature in the mid 20's and fantastic views. Managed a gear or 2 higher as well so it must be doing some good.
Details of the ride here https://www.wikiloc.com/cycling-trails/ ... p-37829824

[middleagedmadness]

As the boy decided he wants Bivi a month I dropped out of rtts so I could spend the night with the boy , anyhow as today is a inset day ,he got home from school ate and packed the bikes ,a pleasant bumble up the canal to chase water where we saw a family of deer just watching everything around them ,from there it was down to the redmore inn ( yes mart it's still pricey) a few pints (coke for him) and a few pedal strikes to the Bivi spot ,no tarp needed and very little darkness ,I think it was properly dark for all of 2hrs ,up at 5 packed away and off home ,a pleasant night again spent with my lad ,6out of 6 for me and 2 this year for Fionn

[ericrobo]

Wednesday evening set off on a full stomach (not good considering what's coming ) to ascend Winter Hill (at least a mile of technical uphill), just as HR was getting uncomfortable a text came in !! good reason to stop !

Had a great spot a mile west of the top, had my eye on it for a while, and set up my Trailstar

Here's a photo just after 10pm

BAM June 2019 by Eric Robinson, on Flickr

Rained a bit in the night, but morning was alright, this is 7am

BAM June 2019 by Eric Robinson, on Flickr

No rush in the morning as BG Caf only opens after 10am, a good brek + 2 pots of tea, then over to Wigan to a friend's for lunch (and a lot more tea)

Leisurely ride home over the hill

About 30 miles and 3000 feet

[ScotRoutes]

Already done a June BAM but no harm in another eh?

Goodbye Spring by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

Hello Summer by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

That's metalheart and I done the series of two equinoxes and two solstices. I feel some pagan ritual should have been enacted

[Borderer]

Nice one Colin.

[metalheart]

6/6. 8th in a row, and as Scotroutes says the fourth & final solstice to make our equinox/solstice for a year.

I did offer to channel the inner Ramsay Bolton with Ross but he wasn't particularly keen (what's a little flaying between friends, eh?)



A fairly short number (in distance), out to Carrbridge (for evening meal) then up to the top of the Goat Track. Perfectly timed, the sun was just setting...



It never really seemed to get that dark..





Bivy set up: