Bivvy a month 2020.

[RIP]

Not up to me guv, you'll have to have a quiet word with The Management. Ride round the car park indeed. It's up to us BaM-ers to maintain our high standards while the world collapses around our ears .

Still, be nice to see another rafting report with some of your luvly pictures.

Going to be interesting to see the scores on the doors in December after all this .

[redefined_cycles]

I just thought I'd post here for a bit of motivational therapy. Am currently on 1 of 12 BAMs. Today was meant to be the one for this month. But as I was sorting out the bike, I became soft

So sad... only 6 days remain

[ScotRoutes]

Get yer feckin' arse into gear young man!

[redefined_cycles]

Get yer feckin' arse into gear young man!

Thanks Colin... Yes. I really have no excuse especially since there's a decent enough field away from people not too far from me... and I have gravelly (if a bit tight at front but new fork stuff coming soon enough) bike to get there a bit faster...

[Raggedstone]

8/8 20/20

It's been a bit busy this month so a bit late with the August report although it was September before I got back ..
Along with quite a few others this month's BAM was the viewtastic WRT . I met P Sling at some friends of mines place near Llangurig who kindly supplied parking and quantities of pre ride tea in true tradition . I have heard a lot about two bothies in the area but never seen them so Peter took me on a guided tour through the woods to find them hopefully sometime soon the opportunity to actually stay there may be a possibility . We rode on to the garage in Ponterwyd for supplies then on up to Nant y moch to find a bivvy spot which after a bit of wandering around we found a nice looking place next to a recreational area in a very peaceful spot !

As the night went on I became more convinced that we were next to a main road as various motorbikes went by on their way to the woods for some nocturnal pleasure . We were also visited by a four wheel drive just after we got set up .

The one good thing in the morning our next stop was a cafe in Borth which was a very long way away down a long hill , we had an excellent alfresco breakfast on the promenade in glorious sunshine .

As they say what goes down must go up and we certainly did on a mission to find the elusive underground wheel which again due to Pete's navigational skills we eventually did but there was to much water coming out of the entrance to go in . We were hoping to get to HQ for tea and cake and onto the Star for food but we were to late so popped into Mach for food where we bumped into Reg and Steve making plans for their evenings entertainment !
After Pizza and chips we headed up to the forest on the back route into Stu's for the night to see lights in the woods which was unexpected as it very steep over the edge of the track they were Boners who were full of tea and cake going the opposite way to us and had hammocks slung from the trees though im not sure that one of them stayed that way as i heard avery loud crack followed by giggling . Probably the best night's sleep I have had on a bivvy followed by a short ride for further refreshments then back through Hafren to base . Brilliant weekend and quite stunning views and great company .

[RIP]

Get yer feckin' arse into gear young man!

Yes, premature softness not allowed on this thread! Show us that stiff upper lip or whatever it is that Boners are renowned for!

Reg 'Finbarr' Perrin

[RIP]

In fact you'd be doing a great public service Shaf - there's seems to be a shedload of stuff about bikes in This Place at moment but somewhat less actual, er, you know, bikepacking kind of thing. Your BaM Thread Needs You!

[Borderer]

I just thought I'd post here for a bit of motivational therapy. Am currently on 1 of 12 BAMs. Today was meant to be the one for this month. But as I was sorting out the bike, I became soft

So sad... only 6 days remain

Have you ever made yourself go and then wished you hadn't?

Well then. Get on with it.

[Raggedstone]

9/9 21/21
The weather forecast said that the weather was going to change so as it was warm and sunny i thought i better make the most of a free weekend after a lot of deliberation i decided to go to Clun and make it up from there another late afternoon start saw me head up towards Bury Ditches somewhere i had never been a lovely climb up an old sunken lane followed by an overgrown track which left my legs stinging to say the least, viscious buggers this time of year .

The Ditches were in an amazing position and quite impressive . A look at the map and a night in the woods on the Long Mynd seemed like a good idea a pleasant evening ride on the lanes got me to the woods i spotted a couple of bivvy spots but carried on up to the top in the fading light it got quite windy up there and to compound that more bloody lights in the trees so went back down set up my sleeping quarters and settled down to voices and music coming up from the valley probably some of those young people you hear about as luck would have i had some ear plugs which were deployed and very effective . I lay in my bivvy bag and looked at the stars an amazing sight and dozed off

After the clear skies of the night before i was hoping for a good sunrise but it was cloudy so had breakfast and got going, i found the source of the lights a tent pitched in the woods . After consulting the maps i decided on a day of old roads and fortifications so dropped into the valley heading for Bishops Castle after a spin along the Portway to Pole bank .

I didnt really expect to find anywhere open in Bishops Castle for more breakfast but salvation in the form of the ever reliable Spar shop .

After coffee and things up to the Kerry Ridgeway the clouds were lifting so the views were improving i left the ridgeway and headed for Newcastle looking for a place we used to camp a long time ago after an evening in the three tuns i did find it i was hoping it may be a good bivvy spot for the future but it has been subjected to some brutal landscaping . I remember as do the others that were there one night some local lads went by in an old car hanging out of the windows with shotguns all innocent fun . One hell of a climb got me up to a section of Offas Dyke which was a byway its amazing the manpower that must have taken to dig .Time to head back to the van on a route that reminded me why the area is known as the Shropshire Hills area of outstanding natural beauty the Hills bit especially .

[redefined_cycles]

I just thought I'd post here for a bit of motivational therapy. Am currently on 1 of 12 BAMs. Today was meant to be the one for this month. But as I was sorting out the bike, I became soft

So sad... only 6 days remain

Have you ever made yourself go and then wished you hadn't?

Well then. Get on with it.

Am on it. Having to dangle the (Hario coffee dripper) mug. I think I just have one aim. Sleep and then continue over the little Peaks mtn (or hillock) over to Wessenden Head and then back down towards Meltham and home. Watch this space... I have coffee (but a tiny portion that'd fit in the tiny container from the missus' secret stash... don't tell her)...

[redefined_cycles]

Anyone wants to have a good laff then I'll tell you it only took me the best part of 45 minutes getting the stupid idiot (talking about myself really) looking like this...



Seems like each time I just get worse at setting up

[Borderer]

You are out there, that's all that matters.

[ScotRoutes]

You are out there, that's all that matters.

This!

What is that shelter? It looks very low.

[redefined_cycles]

You are out there, that's all that matters.

This!

What is that shelter? It looks very low.

That's cos it was... that's cos I'm hopeless at pitching and only remember when I'm out there actually pitching...

Oh... its a summat Knot... Stu knows it well

[RIP]

Good man Shaf, as B and S said - you did it. That tarp does look quite 'low rise' though doesn't it - but let's be polite and say what a superbly stealthy low bivvy you have there .

Nice photo of a Spar there Kev, that proves it was a proper outing. Pop into a Spar. It's the law. . Oh, and earplugs you say? .

[UnderTheRadars]

Hmm maybe I should start doing this BaM malarkey, I mean it’s a perfect time of year to start

[sean_iow]

Hmm maybe I should start doing this BaM malarkey, I mean it’s a perfect time of year to start

It's quite a good time to start as you'll be finishing your year next August so you will finish in the better weather. Starting in January means cold/wet bivis then into the better weather but then you need the will-power to keep going when it gets colder/wetter again. So this way you only have one winter that's 8 months long* then the 4 month 'summer' as opposed to a 4 month winter, 4 month summer then another 4 month winter.

* I'm not bothering to try and determine spring and autumn as it seemed like it went from winter straight into summer this year? And two days ago it still seemed like summer but now it's grey, wet and cold so straight into winter?

[Borderer]

Hmm maybe I should start doing this BaM malarkey, I mean it’s a perfect time of year to start

Do it. It's a genuinely life-enriching thing to do.

[ScotRoutes]

Hmm maybe I should start doing this BaM malarkey, I mean it’s a perfect time of year to start

Maybe start FAM?*

* Fake a Month

[redefined_cycles]

Good man Shaf, as B and S said - you did it. That tarp does look quite 'low rise' though doesn't it - but let's be polite and say what a superbly stealthy low bivvy you have there .

Nice photo of a Spar there Kev, that proves it was a proper outing. Pop into a Spar. It's the law. . Oh, and earplugs you say? .

Polite was that Reg thanks

Let's just say that mine works more like a high rise bivy. In fact it was so bivvy-esque without a bottom that a slug decided to hop in and was working its way up to do a drop (on me... into my mouth ). Anyway... enjoyed that so thanks. More work needed if I'm gonna get through the winter without risking the missing of any prayers (unless I just went out for an hour or 2... but we all know that's just being soft... right ) cos of the cold. Was about 6c but the windchill even with the high rise bivy was not too happiness-making...

[UnderTheRadars]

Hmm maybe I should start doing this BaM malarkey, I mean it’s a perfect time of year to start

Maybe start FAM?*

* Fake a Month

Heh I’m at 42/42. 511/511. 12/12.

wasn’t the need for the explanation, I got it as soon as I saw FAM. Heh!

[whitestone]

Guys, can you please not upload directly from your phone or without resizing images - this page takes forever to load because of 4mB and larger photos. They only need to be in the region of 100 to 250kB, no-one is going to notice any reduction in quality on their screens.

[sean_iow]

I came across this on the way one for Reg and Sean

Nice I've never seen one with a rounded top before, adds to the list of pointless* objects to locate.

* See what I did there

[redefined_cycles]

Guys, can you please not upload directly from your phone or without resizing images - this page takes forever to load because of 4mB and larger photos. They only need to be in the region of 100 to 250kB, no-one is going to notice any reduction in quality on their screens.

Bob... is that what I did? It was via Imgur app which i thought resized it to smaller automatically?

Just checked and imgur resized above pic of mine to 729kb.. how do I conpress it more please

[Borderer]

Guys, can you please not upload directly from your phone or without resizing images - this page takes forever to load because of 4mB and larger photos. They only need to be in the region of 100 to 250kB, no-one is going to notice any reduction in quality on their screens.

Bob... is that what I did? It was via Imgur app which i thought resized it to smaller automatically?

Just checked and imgur resized above pic of mine to 729kb.. how do I conpress it more please

Yours were alright. It was Raggedstone's that were the problem I think. They took ages to load for me anyway.