Bivvy a month 2020.

[SeannyD]

Well that was fun. Really wild night glad I used a bivvy (academic really as I only have a bivvy bag at present). A tent would have been gone. A wee ride down the Fife coastal path and slept at one of the WW2 emplacements.

[Lazarus]

well this fool took a tent and forgot all his tent pegs - though i was in a diffferent area fromyou
I improvised for it was the only way to get BAM in as it was 11 when i stopped.

Tied the back to my bars and then used the two poles that go together to peg out the front - thanks to all the rain they went in easily and then used my woolftooth pliers to secure the front

Realistically i may as well have just slept on the floor as it would have been no less windy and a lot less flappy. In fact it was so windy i lost my pillow in the night as it simply blew away - I worried if i fastened the front and it all collapsed i would not get out so it was open at the bottom to make sure i got out in the event of collapse,which stunningly never happened.

it was sub optimal but thankfully warm for this time of year and no forecast of rain- the wind was so fierce it was lifting my svelt genesis longtitude at the back. Needed a piss at 6 and when i tured round the tent was just flapping in the wind - only my weight had kept it there. Time to get up then

Home and BAM for January complete - I wont claim it as Feb to as i think you need to 12 to really earn it.[i reserve the right to edit this if life gets in the way ]

[RIP]

. All good character-building stuff, enjoyed that.

[ScotRoutes]

Needed a piss at 6 and when i tured round the tent was just flapping in the wind - only my weight had kept it there. Time to get up then

Home and BAM for January complete - I wont claim it as Feb to as i think you need to 12 to really earn it.[i reserve the right to edit this if life gets in the way ]

I had a night out recently that required me to along the windward edge of the tent to keep it from collapsing. Not my best nights sleep.

The "rules" are clear. Last night only counts as January.

[Boab]

Well that was fun. Really wild night glad I used a bivvy (academic really as I only have a bivvy bag at present). A tent would have been gone. A wee ride down the Fife coastal path and slept at one of the WW2 emplacements.

Just noticed where you're at! I grew up in the Bay, used to play in those buildings down Braefoot before they blocked everything up. I'm up the road in a couple of weeks time, it did cross my mind that they would make for a really easy BaM from my folks house. Small world...

[Lazarus]

The "rules" are clear. Last night only counts as January.

My bad i though overnighters on the cusp could be claimed for both -if say i had aready done one in jan could i claim it as febs?

It was indeed charchter building and better than having just another night sat at home

[ScotRoutes]

The "rules" are clear. Last night only counts as January.

My bad i though overnighters on the cusp could be claimed for both -if say i had aready done one in jan could i claim it as febs?

Nope. Head out for one night on 31st Jan and it only counts as January. The only way to get both months in one trip is to do two consecutive nights.

[Bearlegged]

I absolutely agree it's only one night, but could you count it as February instead of January?

[RIP]

Well you probably could - but only if you applied the same rule in all the other 11 months...

Nah, it's a Rule (2) not a rule, you're stuck with it .

[SeannyD]

Hi Lazarus
I had a similar predicament, usual old man piss, trying to keep one foot in/on the bivvy whilst try to piss far enough away to avoid it seeping back on me.
I bivvyed at the little lookout on the rocky outcrop opposite (ish) the Sailing club.
Loads of nice wee trails at Braefoot if you like a bit of downhill. Some of the kids that fly down them are totally fearless.
There’s a little jetty there too. Crashed there last year could be quite nice in the summer though I’d avoid it if there’s a ship in as they are quite bright and loud.
Made that end of month mistake last year

[Lazarus]

I absolutely agree it's only one night, but could you count it as February instead of January?

My thinking was i had to be in the bivy before it became febuary as not really sure how it could count if i ditched after midnight. i was not going to achieve this if i sought lower ground/shelter
I guess for it to be feb just pitch after midnight as technically you do/did bivvy in feb.

[fatbikephil]

Yup that's my interpretation - pitch up before midnight and its a January (or whatever) bivvy, pitch up after and its a feb bivvy. So did anyone pitch up after midnight and grab the first feb bivvy??

[ScotRoutes]

Hmm. What happens if I pitch around teatime, then nap, then strike camp before midnight, ride a few miles and then pitch again. Is that two nights?

I don't think so. I tend to think of the "trip" as one thing. If I set out in January, it's a January bivvy.

[RIP]

I'm starting to read too much into this but if we get it wrong we could start collapsing into disarray and who knows where it will end (actually that was yesterday's achievement ).

So it's always been agreed (sshhh, yes it has) that a single-nighter, on the night including/following the last day of the month can only ever count as one. Fine.

But the question is now, which month, or can it be either.

If the months either side are claimed as per the Rules then maybe there's flexibility.

If January 10th was your January then going out on the 31st, never mind what time you started riding, there's no point lying down to kip at 23.30 on the 31st or you'd end up with two Januarys, but maybe if you lay down at 00.30 it would February's. You'd then not 'need' to BaM again until March 31st.

Problem now is (I'm going to hit Submit now before I lose track of this!)... (cont'd...

[RIP]

... problem, or problems, now is/are, is 'one BaM' indivisible, ie does it start the moment you ride off from home and continue until you return including all of the ride and the sleep no matter what time you lay down to sleep.

If the ride/sleep is indivisible, which IMHO is the case, then if you start riding at 23:59:59 on Jan 31st but don't lie down until 01:00 then it's a January BaM.

If the sleep is what counts - it isn't - then even if you start riding at 23:59:59 but not lie down until 00:00:01, two seconds later, you could count it as February (you can't).

That leaves a ride starting at 00:00:01. Well that's February obviously.

I'm sure I've missed an option there but damned if I can work out what it is.

Upon such questions have whole civilisations been brought down.

[benconnolli]

It isn’t a new day until you’ve gone to sleep regardless what the clock says*

I feel that I could be responsible for some confusion (blatantly wrong now I think about it properly) here having set off my 2020 saga on New Year’s Eve. It was a right story that I wanted to share with you lot and I’ve been out twice since anyway, because I like it.

The BaM is to remind me that it’s lovely out there, all the time, and a platform to share these stories. Not some hoop jumping exercise to prove how ‘ard I am on technicalities.

*or the sun comes up or you have your morning coffee, to stop this reasonable saying from being exploited and sleep deprived bikepackers desperately fitting their BaM in

[RIP]

I think you're treating my lack of seriousness, masquerading as seriousness, too seriously Ben

[benconnolli]

I am seriously literal like that. Words mean words to me or, more specifically, computer generated symbols mean words to me, a wry smile goes a long way in mockery or mischief and real life is less lost.

[RIP]

Aye I'd realised afterwards . It's all good clean fun though .

[fatbikephil]

Oh man, this is all just too complicated. I mean just think if a major cycle campaign organisation decided to promote the concept of spending a night out every month for a year got involved. What would they think of such discussions... how would they rule? Whats worse is that we are heading for another end / start of month weekend at the end of February so the dilemma will re-present itself!

Stu, its up to to you to make a firm ruling here!

[Raggedstone]

I think benconolli has it right the first night of the month follows the first day of the month and the first day of the month starts when you get up have breakfast and wonder where the hell the car keys are . The period before breakfast is the night of the last day of the previous month or possibly the night of the nought'th !
Now where the hell are the keys

[Bearlegged]

I reckon that a trip is a trip, and it will always cover two calendar days (00:00h being the tipping point).
I also reckon that if these two days fall into different calendar months, it's up to the bivvier which month they claim for.
I also also reckon that "Like A Ghost" Imperial Battenburg Stout by Polly's Brew Co is very tasty, and please don't shout too much this morning. Thank you.

[sqibjib]

Last day of the month wild camp in a local wood. Windy night be great to escape for the night. Late night gun shots from the near by RAF firing range was not called for scared the wits out of me. Great night out roll on February s night out.

[Lee H]

I was in real danger of failing my first BAM attempt before it had even begun, so took Friday off work and had a potter through the Surrey Hills. I had no real route in mind, save for the fact that I planned to meet my family for the Reigate Parkrun the next morning.

I start off on autopilot, climbing up past Polesden Lacey NT and on to the North Downs ridge. From there I picked a series of wet green lanes to get me to Newlands Corner and onwards to St Martha's and in turn exchanging 10 miles of claggy mud for a couple of miles of leg-sapping sand. I picked up the Downs Link and plugged my way across Blackheath before entering the back end of Winterfold Wood. The rainwater run-off had turned the bridleway into a stream, quite common after heavy rain, which resulted in an interesting half a mile or so.

I passed up a Peaslake Stores cheese straw in pursuit of bigger things and after a brief stop in low cloud at the top of Holmbury Hill for a photo I pushed on across Wotton Common and to the Stephan Langton pub in Friday Street for some hot food and a chance to dry out some layers in front of the log burner.

After a leisurely hour I had eaten and dried out, not really wanting to get back on the bike to be honest. I plugged on up to the top of Leith Hill before descending down to Coldharbour and Redlands Wood. What should have been a straightforward series of fireroads turned into series of diversions to bypass some sort of film set, but I eventually navigated safe passage to the other side, avoiding the trails I'd think twice about going down on my full sus!

The heavens opened just as I reached Holmwood Common but it was a relatively straight forward road ride over to Reigate where I scouted out a couple of bivvy options. I ended up almost hiding in plain sight, just a few yards off one of the main paths crossing the heath and golf course. Despite the overcast conditions the night sky had enough light to it to allow me to get my tarp set up without a head torch so as not to draw too much attention to myself - there were were still plenty of dog walkers about just below me.

The next morning I packed up before light and rolled down the road to the cafe in Priory Park and waited for my wife and kids to turn up. I was only cheering on them and the other Park Runners so treated myself to the biggest thing on the menu! An enjoyable ride and now looking forward to February.

[ScotRoutes]

That looks like a proper food:ride ratio