Bivvy a month 2020.

[ScotRoutes]

Aha. I was wondering about the funky colour.

[whitestone]

Not quite as glorious as Colin's night out Headed out into the Dales with no real idea of where we'd bivy but the strengthening wind meant somewhere sheltered was in order. We ended up in the woods next to the barn/shippon where we'd had the winter bivy so Zip and Eric will know exactly where.

Did our cooking in the shippon:



A couple of Firepot meals - pretty decent for freeze dried, one was mushroom risotto and the other Daal and rice. Oh, and lots of chocolate

The floor of the wood was really deep in pine needles, etc. So much so that pegs didn't work! You had to be 150-200mm down before you got into anything that would handle the tension from the tarps. I ended up using small branches but even this wasn't easy as most were so damp and rotten you couldn't use them.



The evening's entertainment was provided by a bull who decided that the grass was greener on the other side and that he fancied the cows next door rather than the ones he was with so he pushed over the wall of the field to get closer This was when we realised that there was no gate between the field he was in and the wood! Fortunately he was more interested in the girls. By the time we got up this morning he was back with his proper hareem.

This morning I discovered I'd lain a little too much towards the foot end and the bottom of my quilt and underside of the mat were wet. Just about managed to dry them out before it began to rain. Pootled back via Mastiles Lane and the café at Airton.

[ericrobo]

A bit different from last December Bob & Cath.... green instead of white...

Always difficult to get (yourself/selves) out when month end is approaching- well done

[Borderer]

This is such a great photo Ben. Don't forget it at the end of the year when it comes to photo comp time.... Or print it out and put it on your wall. Cracker. I love it.

[JohnClimber]

7/7 ticked off last night.
My longest ride of 2020 - 122 miles in 26 hours
My hilliest ride of 2020
My first ride with mates since lockdown
My first (2) pint in a pub since lockdown (after a long day it want straight to my head #CheapDate)
Found a cracking new bivi spot
My 2nd night in the Alpkit Kloke (and the 2nd night of heavy rain in the Kloke)








3 from around these parts and one new convert to the cause

Mini film to add to this link later

[summittoppler]

....and here's a few from me.
Started nice and flat cycling along the coast from Conwy
20200726_121145 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Once I met up with John and Brian things changed....
20200726_173702 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20200726_165413 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20200726_173030 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20200726_182347 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Was good to finally meet up with Lee and a couple of jars
20200726_184539 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Then it was a nostalgic ride on Llandegla's original trails!
20200726_204415 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

A cracking wee spot
20200726_212002 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

But the forecasted wet weather kicked in at break camp time first thing...
20200727_062545 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20200727_063637 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

We soon parted company and I made the solo ride back up to the coast
20200727_073226 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

And this proves that a straight tarmac road is too technical for me, I'm sticking to the mountains!
20200727_085843 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20200727_101136 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Cheers guys that a bit of a beasting for me!

[JohnClimber]

Last night's shakey camera mini movie
https://youtu.be/dJmsZVDz1hk

[RIP]

Emergency last-minute "Live BaM In Progress" for no good reason at all.

Chuck a few basics in the Brompton bag and see what we can see just outside town somewhere.

Wander the lanes a bit, getting dark, best make a decision. OK these luxury motel rooms don't seem to have any existing bookings so in we go.

Yes, lots of rooms are free, some alfresco and some with thick feather beds disguised as straw bales. One even has a roof!





Not sure what the previous incumbents have been up to



Even offers breakfast!



R

[sean_iow]

You gone full on vagrant recently your recent BAMs have an air of 'post apocalypse' about them, which is somewhat appropriate.

[RIP]

After all the lockdown garden bivvies I can't seem to shake off the 'men in sheds' syndrome!

Had vaguely registered that spot while out on bike rides, but actually investigated it this time. Glad I didn't check the support posts until this morning, looking closely one's completely missing - very dodgy! Very comfy indeed but unfortunately in my excitement at finding a new spot I omitted to remember the travellers mobile homes place up the road (the one I mentioned a while ago where two ponies wandered out of a hedge in front of my bike on a 60mph road). I can manage barking dogs but I hate generators! Why the hell do you need a genny on a mobile park? It was easily half a mile away but still a right racket. One reason we only ever went on one family canal holiday.

Anyway that meant an early rise, and riding back through the empty lulled and dumbfound town which was interesting. Ooh I've gone all Dylan Thomas now.

But yes I'm really into trying to find man-made shelter on the fly. And the more industrial the better. Very difficult these days because people seem to insist on tidying away perfectly unserviceable structures . I guess my finest hour was the infamous hen-house / derelict caravan / collapsing barn West Cumbria three-nighter of a couple of years ago .

Reg 'Captain Willard' Perrin

[Raggedstone]

7/7 for 2020, 19 consecutive months
Finally a trip to the hills of Wales and a proper treat it was to . I had a good idea where I was going to bivvy but there were a few unknowns between the start point and there . I didnt set of until 6 o'clock I new there would be plenty of places to stop if I didn't make the intended spot one of them was a very smart shed /shelter in the middle of nowhere probably a bit posh compared to some of the recent finds . I met a couple of people out walking who were very friendly and chatty which was good . The unknowns which used to be a massive puddled big trot through forest to reach the fence line has been felled and has become a really enjoyable ride so as I was ahead of schedule I decided to visit the areas high spot which was a wonderfully Welsh bog trot / wheel swallowing track !
Who knows where this is ?




I found a great spot amongst the heather with amazing views if you stood up, discreet at tarp level so tha became the bivvy spot . Genius idea to put a shirt over pillow and sleeping mat I knew where it was all night which is a first bit of rain through the night but nice and warm under the 150 quilt .The morning came with a nice sunrise.


Packed up breakfasted and gone by 6.30 starting at over 600 metres it was a long and almost all rideable descent back to the van .

[RIP]

Hmm.. good new game that Kev, nice one... masts.... hmmm... not that easy.... from the surroundings and whatnot I'm gonna take a stab at Radnor Black Mixen?

If it is, I hope you popped in to Dolyhir Quarry on the way home to tick that too .

PS can you PM me your email address?

[RIP]

That's just reminded me about Stu's game of "gridref that viewpoint" that we played a while ago. Enjoyed that while it lasted .

[frogatthefarriers]

BAM July 2020. 7/12

A post somewhere here mentioned a Hoffmann kiln. It reminded me of one such near me, so for July's bivvy I puffed up to Minera quarry, the home of said kiln, a climb of 1000 ft in nine miles. Not far from home I noticed my back tyre was going flat and stopped to pump it up. Now it's only last week that I'd changed the Stans fluid so it should'nt be happening. As I pumped i could hear hissing - a hole in the sidewall. Tilt and shake bike to seal it and off to go. Not. Half a mile later, flat again. Repeat a couple more times before I had an idea. Plug it with something. Only thing available was a piece of tissue, I poked a little roll of it through the hole, and huzzah! Success.



Dinner was a chicken tikka with salad, wrapped in a garlic naan from an Indian takeaway in Coedpoeth. Yummy. So good. Followed in short order by a pint of bitter at a pub along the way. It wasn't far to my prospective bivvy and I was soon there.



I had to wriggle my bike past the frame closing the entrance, but soon managed to set up my bed.




While I was getting my bedtime cuppa I could hear voices that I assumed were from people passing the entrances ( there are many of them) to the kiln but then they got louder and eight head-torches appeared around the corner.
"Hello" says I.
"Hello" say they. Then I notice that they're all wearing boiler suits and plastered in mud. A Hah! Cavers. There is an extensive cave system under Esclusham mountain and one of the adits is in the quarry.

When I settled down to sleep I noticed a faint smell of the soot/tar you get in chimneys. The older of you will know what I mean - the younger, brought up with central heating, not so much. I wondered if it was safe to stay, but did anyway. I ain't dead so obviously it was. I guess it was the smell of all that coal burning that had soaked into the brickwork.

Next morning..


All that pile of stones on the right is the kiln. Big innit?

Here's the adit to the cave, Called Ogof Dydd Byraf (don't ask me, I dont speak welsh), or ODB to cavers. I've been down there a few years ago. very physical with lots of wriggling and squeezing.


And a peep in through the hole in the door plate..


The end of the tale is an easy, mostly downhill ride home.

[RIP]

Really excellent that Lu. Very original. Know what you mean about the coal smell, used to get it in railway tunnels too for obvious reasons.

[Wotsits]

July
John Fargoist & myself with a beltin overnight in the Pennies

[JoseMcTavish]

Just trying to catch up here with my paltry efforts during lockdown. I really struggled to feel motivated with being limited to the back garden, but have got nothing but admiration for those who made the best of a bad lot and put in some highly entertaining posts in this thread!

April - went for a pootle in the woods and slung the hammock up at the end of the garden. Didn't spot the nearby bothy in the darkness...





May - another short ride for the sake of it and utilised the "homework/bird hide" tent I had pitched for the kids to try and gain some concentration time during the working day.





June - Mixed it up a bit by riding in the night, kipping in the bivy bag, then riding to the office for some emergency work before extending the ride home.







That took me to 6/6 for the year and 30 in a row, but I was as close as I've ever been to not bothering!

[fatbikephil]

August done in a midge infested hellhole that is Drumtochty forest. Set off from the house at about 11 and meandered my way north, north east - ish across Perthshire and Angus all on mostly traffic free wee roads and the odd track. Up into the woods to find somewhere to stop which turned into your typical bivvy spot finding nightmare - your knackered (110 miles), its getting late and every spot you see is midge central. Eventually found a windfarm at 400m but it was a choice of pitching on a concrete slab, a gravel track or a raised peat bog. Eventually found a breezy spot just back into the woods but as I set to throwing the deschutes up, the wind dropped and the midge apocalypse commenced.... Thank f*** for smidge and a large mozzy net.....


On trend bikepacking on my gravel bike


Really not pretty. Black stuff on (mostly) the outside of the net are dead midges.


The pitch


The Stock Mounth. Not the most optimal trail for 40mm schwalbe marathons but we got there eventually


Night two (after two nights kipping in my friends back garden) was in this fine shed, near to a road in the Central Highlands..... I'd only meant to stop to make and eat tea but I got struck with a healthy does of CBA and spent several hours sitting, eating, drinking and reading followed by a blessedly midge free sleep.

[RIP]

Smashing little shed that - planned or just saw it?

TWO mozzie net layers, arg . I know you have the run of the whole country up there but I reckon I'd swap all that for a mozzie-free night tbh....

[fatbikephil]

Smashing little shed that - planned or just saw it?

Bit of both - a couple of guys in nearby Duinish bothy (Scottish winter bivvy 2017 venue) put me onto it, then I read about it in a guide book, checked out soon after then forgot about it until this trip.

[whitestone]

Nah, you've beaten me and my Google-fu there Phil

[TrepidExplorer]

Just in case the rest of August went to poo, Landslide and I thought we'd make the most of a glorious weekend to get bivi in. Bad planning saw us leave my place at 8pm and headed towards Cut gate. We craved a little breeze so bypassed the woods but instead ended up in a gale (for August) so we carried on over the top and didn't stop until midnight.

So much for glorious weather, I took one pic. .

Lanslide captured the bivi spot which we renamed Butlins, given the rush for the paddling pool at 6am.


I had an incredibly exciting ride the next day, reinstating my crank several times and stopping to pick up a roadie who got a bee under her glasses and a nasty sting. I limped home and slept a lot after spending the night in a breezy tarp that kept me awake and all the midges decided to join me in the bivi bag.. oh, and I slept on a rock.

[Bearlegged]

It wasn't all bad planning. It did mean I got a big plate of pasta and some fresh plums.

Riding over Cut Gate in the dark on the gradventourer was challenging. Tiredness was setting in, I wasn't doing a good job of picking lines, and severe underbiking didn't help. My tyres hate me. I now have a new mountain bike (first ride was this evening), which will accompany me on any future excursions over that particular trail...

We got to the bottom, checked the wind direction, and pitched tarps. Having done this, the wind changed direction. I couldn't be faffed re-pitching, forced Trep to have a beer (having carried two cans all the way to camp, there was no way I was carrying them home) and we also shared some mini pork pies.

I slept pretty well by my usual bivvy standards, though was a mite confused when I woke up and Trep's tarp had changed shape. Apparently the wind and flapping had annoyed her. With her tarp set lower, my tarp was now exposed, and it started flapping instead. Apparently this annoyed Trep too. I just dozed off again.

The morning consisted of finding a little shelter for a brew, disappointed ducks, tyre woes, and smashing it* back along the A57 to Sheffield.

I mentioned to Trep that I'd assumed this "ride late into the night" thing was her "event technique" (mine being don't enter competitive events, and stop for beer ASAP). She countered that it's not an event thing, she just likes riding when it's quiet and there's nobody else about. I had to agree.

Despite being the nominated BAM photographer, I took very few pics. There was a really cool blood red moon/death Star at one point. But the pics didn't come out.

2020 BAM 8/8
2020 total bivvies 9
Current streak (months) 21

*By my modest standards

[RIP]

Nice little outing there T & L. Things are always better when they go a bit awry .

having carried two cans all the way to camp, there was no way I was carrying them home

But you presumably still did even though they were now empty .

Apparently the wind and flapping had annoyed her. With her tarp set lower, my tarp was now exposed, and it started flapping instead. Apparently this annoyed Trep too. I just dozed off again.

Love this bit - sounding just like a happily married couple after a week or so of 'wedded bliss' . Mr & Mrs Perrin spring to mind.

disappointed ducks

??? intrigued!

mine being don't enter competitive events, and stop for beer ASAP

[Bearlegged]

1. I can confirm the empty beer cans did come home with me. Along with a giant Doritos bag, a Foster's can, a plastic spoon, and a Lucozade bottle, all courtesy of assorted arseholes who managed to pack the stuff in, but not out.

2. No comment.

3. We sat down for a brew, they swam and waddled over, we didn't feed them.

4. Cheers.