Bivvy a month 2020.

[sean_iow]

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

So me quoting him and including the picture hasn't helped It's a very nice post box so worth the wait

[redefined_cycles]

BAM Sept: 2 of 12

Almost didn't go out again and end up once more stuck at no complete BAM. Thankfully Bridget and Reg and Colin interjected and suddenly I was motivated. Spent the day retensioning the rear whee to be spot onl just so I could get it out there... So thanks again.

In pics...


Managed to the Wynnster synthetic bag donated almont with some other gear. Shame about the coffee cone which I had to dangle.


Found a decent spot not too far pretty quickly. Pity it took almost an hour on a shoddy pitch but being low at least kept a bit of warmth in (maybe).


One side I'd had my bike pushing against to keep it closer to ground but this bad-boy thought it's an invite to crawl up n get me. So after my first 1h45 of sleep I tackled him (maybe a her... didn't think to check) to the ground.


Then after another few little bits n bobs of sleep, I knew I needed to get going before the sun got up as I needed to say my prayers but not on this wet n cold grass... So off I went.

Pic missing here is where I continued up the ST but being the first time ever bringing a road bike, in the dark, the little rocky ascent got the better of me. Didn't manage to clip out of the new CB pedals (thanks dear forum member for these black ones to go with the gold from BDS) and ended up with bike above me to the left. Couldn't actually get up as my head was 'trendelberged' down. After pushing the bike off me nicely, I managed to gather myself and continue on forth.


Then it happened. This bit of singletrack would make Stu proud Naturally I walked as much as needed and got myself a stick to keep grinding the muck of my front -1mm gap either side - wheel. Pretty therapeutic...


Just before sunrise I managed to cstch my prayers after an ablution that didn't freeze me to death. Should've remembered to keep the water in my bag! This beautiful horse reminded me of the Wild Horses- Silk Road documentary. He/she was just galloping as if doing a show.

Incidentally to the left there's a golf course and the 'mowers' were out already. So I'd say if anyone wanted to BAM here then they'd best be off before 5am (just saying).

Now that prayers were done which is always at the forefront of the brain, I could do an impact assessment on the '1mm wheel'. Got myself a new stick and gave it all a clean with water flush for good measure...


Ain't sunrise gorgeous, even when the suns not even there and your freezing. Thankfully I'd brought my waterproofs and had everything on.

From hereon I decided breakfast would be at 'a bench'. Wasn't actually sure which bench but then I spotted her. What a beauty. My right foot was numb and nose running. I needed my weetabix and coffee that was ground just 8 hours earlier.


Have you ever seen such a pretty bench. Balanced bike and sat down and then noticed the rubbish bin... Eurgh... erm.. who cares. Coffee out first and filtered/poured over and then used the pot to have the weetabix. It's somewhere st this point I realised what a blessing the bin was and wouldn't need to carry any soggy rubbish.




If you zoom in you'll notice I've sorted my 'dangle-cone' dilemma. Now it was sat nestly upside down with the milk bottle gone to the rubbish. Also this rosd to the right is what I'd always used as gentle double-track so good assessment for my Egen. She handled it perfectly with not even a dab (kindof).







Got home with mucky bike and quickly sneaked it through living room and a quick wash. Missus'll never know and it lives to, erm, live in the living room another day (not today).

Ahem... and they all lived happily ever after

THE END

[Borderer]

Well done Shaf. Very glad I don't have to do that ablution thingy outside in the cold. Is that like a full strip wash then or just selected bits? Not taking the piss, just genuinely interested. I didn't realise that was required in Islam and it's good to learn. But yeah, it adds quite a extra dimension of difficulty for you.

[redefined_cycles]

Well done Shaf. Very glad I don't have to do that ablution thingy outside in the cold. Is that like a full strip wash then or just selected bits? Not taking the piss, just genuinely interested. I didn't realise that was required in Islam and it's good to learn. But yeah, it adds quite a extra dimension of difficulty for you.

Good question and its the one that I'm always trying to find a solution of the winter stuff for... (answer might be a bit back to front, sorry)...

So generally the full ablution means that after passing wind or going toilet or to sleep, one would need to complete it with water. If water wasn't available after a good and thorugh (like proper) search then summst called tayammum could be made which is an abridged solution using touching of a rock or sand stone and making the action of cleaning...

The actual ablution is (clean) water properly washing (like at least once) both hands to arms/elbows... Face from hairline to below chin, ear to ear. A wet hand wiping the hair (or head.. at least a third of). Both feet to the ankles.

The things that I take advantage of (which some are compulsory anyway, like the shortening of a travelers prayers) is that when I'm a teaveller of a certain distance (I do this at work), like on the BB200 I need to shorten the prayers (compulsory) and have an option to join certain ones (so out of the 5, 4 could be combined together... erm, I'll atop there as it's getting cimplex

One thing to note though... In an emergency in Islam I'd be obligated to take the easier/preserving of life option. So say for example I fell poorly on a ride and needed MTN rescue etc... Then pending warm/safe water etc I would be required to use the easier/safer option (like the taymmum/rock wiping thing).

Lol... I think I've answered your question

Another thing on the preservation of life (oneself or a fellow colleague muslim etc) is that it overules the actualy obligations as such. So say, someone practicing islam was dying of starvation and the only food avaiable was pork chops (using this as the extreme example to drive the point), the muslim would be required to take the pork chops (only the amount to sustain life)...

Comprehensive?

[UnderTheRadars]

That’s some dedication

[RIP]

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?

Compounded by reading the FaM post, I think that takes the biscuit (*) for the most confusing post I've ever seen on Here, Sean. Nice one . Anyone remember the John Cleese "moving coats around on the pegs" sketch from Meaning Of Life? This is even more confusing than that.

(*) Abbey Crunch obviously. Or Tunnock's CW. Which isn't really a biscuit.

[UnderTheRadars]

Heh, it all makes sense for those who know of the other place


F = Fakes = habit of dropping out of things (in my case 99.9% caused by anxiety/mental illness)

I’ll have a tunnocks if there’s one spare

[redefined_cycles]

Reg/Colin... Whats Fake a Month?? Backyard bivy?

[redefined_cycles]

Heh, it all makes sense for those who know of the other place


F = Fakes = habit of dropping out of things (in my case 99.9% caused by anxiety/mental illness

I’ll have a tunnocks if there’s one spare

Lol.. I was gonna ask that but always get worried they might be lurking in the trees

[UnderTheRadars]

We like to lurk in trees or bushes


*rustles*

sorry that’s another in-joke

[redefined_cycles]

That’s some dedication

It's less complex than I made it sound as it's actually only 5 daily prayers at certain times of the day which I need to try my best to catch

[RIP]

Heh, it all makes sense for those who know of the other place


F = Fakes = habit of dropping out of things (in my case 99.9% caused by anxiety/mental illness

I’ll have a tunnocks if there’s one spare

Lol.. I was gonna ask that but always get worried they might be lurking in the trees

What? The caramel wafers?? They are pretty damn impressive things but.....

[RIP]

Or Tunnock's CW. Which isn't really a biscuit.

And I stand corrected. From the horse's mouth - they are a biscuit.

https://www.tunnock.co.uk/products/caramel-wafer/

[Borderer]

Impressive stuff Shaf. Thanks for the education.

[sean_iow]

the most confusing post I've ever seen on Here, Sean. Nice one .

Thanks, it made perfect sense to me, but I was having a full conversation with Ralph on the Trossachs Loop so perhaps I'm not the best judge of reality Talking of which I ended up singing Ralph's theme tune out loud as I rode round the south side of Loch Lyon in the dark, only one verse so far...

He's Ralph the bikepacking monkey
He's Ralph the bikepacking monkey
He doesn't do much peddling but he doesn't mind a bivi
He's Ralph the bikepacking monkey

Can be sung to any tune you fancy as the words don't rhyme and they don't fit any tunes anyway I found that about 10 repeats through this verse was enough for one rendition.

[psling]

One side I'd had my bike pushing against to keep it closer to ground but this bad-boy thought it's an invite to crawl up n get me. So after my first 1h45 of sleep I tackled him (maybe a her... didn't think to check) to the ground.

Slugs are hermaphrodites Shaf, so "him" was both a him and a her

[redefined_cycles]

One side I'd had my bike pushing against to keep it closer to ground but this bad-boy thought it's an invite to crawl up n get me. So after my first 1h45 of sleep I tackled him (maybe a her... didn't think to check) to the ground.

Slugs are hermaphrodites Shaf, so "him" was both a him and a her

Ace... Thanks v much for that. I shall go and teach the world

[redefined_cycles]

Impressive stuff Shaf. Thanks for the education.

[Raggedstone]

Thanks for that Bob I will have a look to see what I did . I used Imgur and thought I did the same as usual but it was a long day and late at night .

[Raggedstone]

Well I am baffled had a look and the files are huge compared to everyone else's and compared to my other posts with pictures . I did the usual process upload to Imgur then using BBCode for boards and forums copy and paste them to the forum post . I will remove the pictures until I figure out what has happened any advice welcome .

[BigdummySteve]

September BAM 9/12 45 months in a row

A combined veloviewer and bam trip saw me out in the Cotswolds again, a late start so only 20 miles of pleasant riding. As time got on I started to scour the map for possible Bivvy locations, I always enjoy not knowing where I’ll sleep. The first location I chose was a dead end, deer fences prevented access to the enticing flat ground, then I spotted this


Looked promising, flat remote and hopefully the trees would provide some shelter.

Perfect!


Just as the sun was setting I had a visitor, a hare who came within 5 yards of the tent, just managed to snap him as he loped off

[RIP]

Top stuff, HOTT. "then I spotted this". But surely it was blindingly obvious what with those little Altaplex-shaped marks on the map to guide you in?

"enjoy not knowing where I'll sleep". One of the highest pleasures. And costs nothing.

Sorry you missed our 'comedy placenames' outing. There was some talk about a possible Leamington-start thing in Nov.

[Charliecres]

Squeezed a just-in-time September bivy in last night.

Got back from a week away mid-afternoon, lobbed some kit on the Stooge and headed off to meet my mate Toby. A short and uneventful ride brought us to a closed pub (boo!) but the posher one up the Road was open and willing to sell us beer (hurrah!).

Straight after the pub was a stiff road climb, followed by a stiff off-road climb that took us to a spot I’d discovered a few weeks back while exploring what looked like an interesting but faint bit of singletrack. At the end of the (dead-end) track was a secluded clearing where “bushcrafters” had built a sleeping platform, a couple of log chairs and the inevitable fire ring.

I’d have given the sleeping platform a go out of curiosity but it looked like someone had fed the fire with a good chunk of it so we talked nonsense for a bit and then bedded down at ground level. Barking deer woke us a couple of times but other than that we slept well and were away at 7am.

There seemed to be loads of activity on the ride home - various dog walkers, a photographer taking a better a better shot of this view and a cow doing yoga. Sadly no pic of the cow.



That’s 7/7 for me since my March BaM start.

[JohnClimber]

Just about got this month's in last night too.
9/9 for me
My longest ride for several years too at 152km yesterday, then just 20km home this morning in to a head wind.












My biggest single day ride for several years

[TrepidExplorer]

September bagged the top loop of the HT as a reccie. That's all but one or two bits seen now.

The most amazing weather window. I think I've used a few years weather-luck with this one.
https://trepidexplorer.blogspot.com/202 ... d-how.html