Virtual Winter Event 2021

[RIP]

by the way do any of you ever sleep in such church porches?

Scott Scattamah is your man there . Graveyards = Reg possibly..

Back to "that" ford, GR10.... Crystal clear water, could see to the bottom this time, it looked quite inviting and I reckon no more than thigh deep across. I'd be up for that actually..

Noted

[psling]

by the way do any of you ever sleep in such church porches?

Yes, on occasion (including one in the Black Mountains) but never on a weekend; I always worry about early services on the Sunday morning when someone might rock up at 05.30 to put out the hymn books for a 6.00am service

[Dave Barter]

My set of grid refs would have seen me use a ferry and also head up onto Dartmoor. Devon police have said several times in the media that they are looking to turn away visitors and only residents should *really* be exercising on the moor. I also remember the "locals only" signs on two shops. To be fair the guidance on exercise is "stay local" and go from your house. The would have limited my bike riding a lot.

Also a few of the GRs given to me by Jeff are "cheeky" one of them is cheeky in the extreme but is just about doable as a long walk. So why not try and run it and the other (also cheeky) that would keep me properly local.

I took my Gopro along for a laugh/swear and made a little film. Not sure running really makes the most engaging visual experience but you at least need to see the steps Jeff tried to send my down on a bike.

Lots of swearing inside and no virtual meal as without beer and nakedness ..what's the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pitFI_S ... e=youtu.be

[sean_iow]

I enjoyed that Dave, good work. I've been taking my GoPro on some runs and experimenting with it as I've a few running projects I might film. I might follow your example and run to some of my GRs whist I wait for lockdown to end.

[Boab]

I went out for a short ride yesterday, slept in the garden and went out again today for a ride. I've decided that it's just a BaM, and I'll be saving my (Virtual) Winter Event GRs for when it's slightly less clarty, icy and I can sleep somewhere other than the garden.

[Verena]

Yes, on occasion (including one in the Black Mountains) but never on a weekend; I always worry about early services on the Sunday morning when someone might rock up at 05.30 to put out the hymn books for a 6.00am service

Whereabouts in the Black Mountains? Llanelieu caught my eye the other day...

Good point though about the Saturday night...

[JohnClimber]

My highest point GR ride and Sammy Brunch meet up

2 minute mini movie link here
https://youtu.be/HD5JGa4DFh8





Steak, mushroom and eggs

[summittoppler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pitFI_S ... e=youtu.be

Nicely done Mr B. Was good to see it in 'real life' as opposed to Geograph view!
Fair play on the running, I gave that poor show up after 26 around London!

[shutuplegs]

I headed out to a select few of my nearest GR’s. I planned the route essentially by linking several of my local loops together and really enjoyed ‘turning left instead of the usual right’ at many junctions.

No snow in the South Downs but had some wind driven freezing fog which was building up ice on the windward side of trees on the ridge. With not many other folk out and low light it was quite spooky.

Got the tarp up in the garden and had a lovely kip there Saturday night, will also post in the BaM thread to begin my attempt.

Thanks stumpy for my GR’s, looking forward to ticking off more when we are allowed. Especially getting over to the far side of Southampton water when the Hythe ferry is back on...[googles pack raft hire...]

Thanks to Reg and JC for organising.
Is there a tin being rattled somewhere for a donation?

[RIP]

Is there a tin being rattled somewhere for a donation?

That's a nice thought 'Legs. To recap, the main focus was for Stu's challenge - 20 of us (or whatever it was) have given him 20 GRs (or whatever it is) to visit at the same as we all did our 10. We offered a choice of two charities for each "sponsor" to chip ten quid into if Stu visited their GR. There's also a side bet which I'm hoping people and Stu have forgotten about.

But there's been quite a bit of chat about every other Winter Eventer chipping something in if they wish. Could do this at any time (and winter would seem a good time to do it for obvious reasons!) but Stu's sponsors will presumably wait until he's completed the challenge.

Anyroad, the charities were The Wallich - a Welsh version of Shelter - and, er, well, Shelter. You could chip in to one, or split across both, or whatever. The links lead directly to a GiftAid donation page.

Thanks 'Legs and anybody else.

The Wallich: https://thewallich.com/donate/one-off-donation/ - just one click and there's a tickbox for Gift Aid

Shelter: https://england.shelter.org.uk/donate - also just one click with Gift Aid.

[shutuplegs]

Cheers Reg, some worthy causes there I’m sure.

[ScotRoutes]

I'd planned to complete the BB(V)WE while it was still actually Winter and as the equinox was fast approaching I thought I'd just combine my normal equinox/solstice bivvy on Friday/Saturday but I got a call to go get my AZ vaccine on Friday morning and knowing how bad some folk have reacted to that I had to bring my plans forward.

My 10 GRs were nominated by seannyd and I'd planned a route that would be two loops from home, enabling me to come home in the middle.

Setting off from home, I had quite a long first stint, including a fair hill towards the end. It takes me up to a lovely loch that I'v long considered as an overnight spot.

Checkpoint 1 - Loch Gynack



From there, it was downhill to Newtonmore, a quick shopping trip in the Co-op and then along to the famous Motor Grill where I was able to buy a coffee and black pudding roll, sitting outside in the lovely sunshine.

The next leg was to my furthest South point

Checkpoint 2 - Phones Lodge



Some beautiful artwork on the gateway



More than can be said for the lodge itself, which looks quite out of place on this Highland moor.

From here, it's a trip along an old General Wade Road, now mostly consumed by the moor, but this lovely old bridge remains.





Checkpoint 3 - Ruthven Barracks.

This is where General Wade was making for!



A short tarmac section took me to Tromie Bridge and then a section of the CL300 route before I detoured up Glen Feshie on one of my few out-and-backs.

Checkpoint 4 - Carnachuin "Bridge"



Only a couple of fragments remain and the original track down to it is completely overgrown. I took a look at it and quickly decided that I wasn't going to get any closer.




Back down Glen Feshie and then a bit more tarmac bashing to the next GR.

Checkpoint 5 - Loch an Eilean



I looked at my Garmin and realised I'd have done 95km by the time I made it home. That's just plain untidey so I took an extra wee detour to round it up to 100km.


I stopped at the friendliest (if not the best) pizza restaurant in Aviemore. The proprietor let me have a bath, take some clean clothing and even to swap bikes over


After dinner, I set off up towards Loch Morlich for my "Brucie Bonus". I thought it was only right that at least one of my checkpoints should be done in the dark.

Checkpoint 6 - Badaguish Outdoor Centre.



From here, I made a short trip down to a relatively secluded lochan and set out the bivvy bag. The only dry spot was a bit of a slope but it worked fine. I fell asleep listening to the croaking of many frogs/toads.





Day 2

I woke up just as the sky was beginning to get a bit lighter and fired up the stove for a brew.





It was lovely and calm with just a chill in the air so I was in no hurry to move but I really needed to get underway.

My pennance was the toughest climb of the day, up a big gravel track.

Checkpoint 7 - Rothiemurchus Lodge



I reckoned that was close enough as I didn't want to disturb anyone so early.


Back down to Loch Morlich and up past Ryvoan Bothy. I had very tired legs at this point. I think I'm just not re-hydrating enough on these longer days.

Still some snow in the lee of Meall a Bhuachaille.



I found the turn off I was looking for though.

Checkpoint 8 - Ford on the River Nethy



Not many folk using it these days. There's a bridge a couple of km downstream that works out much better. This used to be much, much narrower and there was a fallen tree you cold just about scramble across to the other side.

Back up to the main track and all I could think about was the shop in Nethy Bridge. I got there, bought some more water, hot food and a coffee and sat outside in the sunshine again. Very pleasant it was.

From here, I had what I'd always thought was to be the worst part of the experience. My next GR meant I had to ride on the very busy A95. This is frequented by big lorries carrying whisky (and supplies) and I'd always choose to avoid it. I made a couple of wee detours - old roads/forest tracks - but then had to endure it for a couple of km before my turn-off.

Checkpoint 9 - Standing Stones



These aren't signposted and probably get very few visitors. The tallest is just over 2 metres in height. Not a bad outlook South over the mountains.

Now I had to get back onto the A95 for another 3km or so before I could find a quieter route. Only one close-pass!

Checkpoint 10 - Kinveachy



Well, I'm not sure what seannyd had in mind when he sent me to this one but this is the only notable signpost so it would have to do.

From here it was a pleasant spin back home on very familiar tracks.

Overall, I did 162km with 1,556m of ascent. Elapsed time was 26 hours but I was only moving for 11 hours of that.

That felt almost like a "proper" bikepacking trip, especially day 2 as I had all my kit with me. Thanks to seannyd for the GRs. I hope I did them justice!

[redefined_cycles]

Hold on... so is it still winter?? I'd planned to complete a winter attempt/finish at the Peaks100North but then thought March had brought spring with it..

Now I'm slightly (but not overly) confused. Can someone break it down and have I still got time for a (kindof) winter attempt.

[ScotRoutes]

Hold on... so is it still winter?? I'd planned to complete a winter attempt/finish at the Peaks100North but then thought March had brought spring with it..

Now I'm slightly (but not overly) confused. Can someone break it down and have I still got time for a (kindof) winter attempt.

Saturday is the first day of Spring so you'd best get a move on.

[RIP]

Hold on... so is it still winter?? I'd planned to complete a winter attempt/finish at the Peaks100North but then thought March had brought spring with it..

Now I'm slightly (but not overly) confused. Can someone break it down and have I still got time for a (kindof) winter attempt.

Saturday is the first day of Spring so you'd best get a move on.

Certainly is! Although Mr Climber has given us all special dispensation to delay our (V)WE's right up until the end of August due to The Situation. Congrats on being the first finisher Colin .

Us Sassies will have to wait until April to do it properly with bivvy included.

[redefined_cycles]

Hold on... so is it still winter?? I'd planned to complete a winter attempt/finish at the Peaks100North but then thought March had brought spring with it..

Now I'm slightly (but not overly) confused. Can someone break it down and have I still got time for a (kindof) winter attempt.

Saturday is the first day of Spring so you'd best get a move on.

You just saved winter

[Charliecres]

Nice trip, pics and tale, Scotroutes.

I love how those standing stones have been fenced in. It looks like someone thought they might make a run for it.

[JohnClimber]

My delayed Bear Bones Virtual Winter Event mini movie
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ozp93R4I ... .be#dialog

[Charliecres]

Finally got around to an attempt on my VWE route on Thursday/Friday. I’ll post up a report shortly, when I’ve recovered.

[sean_iow]

I forgot to post here to say I'd done mine, the report is in the BAM thread.

[Charliecres]

I finally got a chance to attempt my virtual winter event route last week and it ended up being a great little adventure. In the end I missed out on one of my grid refs (boo) but to counter that I did manage to pick off my trio of suggestive place names, which was a bonus.



Balls Cross (fnerk!)



Cocking (spfwurk!)



Titty Hill (gnfprrt!)



(I was also hoping that somebody responsible for pointing travellers towards South Harting might have had the wit to create a S.HARTING sign - but no luck.)

Anyway ... with a forecast of 2C overnight and sun on Friday, I set off at 7.15 on Thursday evening, hoping to get a few miles done before finding a suitable bivy spot.

I picked off two fairly local grid refs at Leith Hill ...



... and Holmbury Hill



... before heading off into the gathering dusk and less familiar territory in the Weald. And that’s where I started to thank my lucky stars I hadn’t set out on this trip in winter conditions. Much of the off-road between the North and South Downs turns into knee-deep clay-based gloop for the wetter months and long stretches of my route would have been impassable just a few weeks ago. Now it was like a stormy sea of concrete waves that was just about rideable but distinctly uncomfortable on a loaded gravel bike.

The bluebells, wood anemones and primroses made up for the pummelling and at one point, confused by baffling signage, I found myself off-piste and weaving through a particularly magical section of flowery singletrack before popping out on an old bridge by my third grid ref - the old Rudgwick brickworks.

That was my self-set objective for the evening achieved, so I was now looking for a suitable spot for a bivy. Trouble was, I was still a bit too close to civilisation, so I carried on through the grounds of a posh school and past some very flash houses.

Eventually, I found myself clattering over more solidified hoof prints in another bluebell wood and a quick look at ViewRanger confirmed there were no houses too near so I hopped off the trail and bedded down among the primroses. A quick cheese and onion roll then kip.



I woke up to deer barking and a chilly morning. Very, very chilly once I emerged from my wood, with some interesting industrial archeology along the way ...




There was a thick frost and my gloves were feeling decidedly inadequate. I also realised I’d forgotten to switch off my Garmin the night before and was down to 6% battery. D’oh! Still, I had a battery pack so plugged that in and carried on. Should be OK, I thought, but then I hit the worst horse-churned bridleway to date and the battery pack bounced out of its stem cell and onto the ground, smashing the USB port into the bargain. B******s!

Plan B - I had the route on ViewRanger on my phone but not enough juice to just load it up and follow it. I’d have to check it, memorise the next section, switch it off and then open it up again when needed. Eurgh! That was going to be a major faff.

It was still too cold to stop for breakfast so I pushed on till I got to the green at Petworth, where a bench in the sun called to me. Porridge, coffee and an abortive attempt to fix my battery pack later, I was on my way again, heading for the South Downs. Beacon Hill was my next checkpoint, at 48 miles in (via two of my three suggestive bonus locations). Graffham Common was a highlight on this section, with firm, smooth, sandy trails and beautiful sun-soaked evergreen forest.

The climb from Cocking up on to the Downs was long and steady and the sun was now shining, so I stopped to stash my softshell half way. It was properly glorious up there, with lambs bouncing about all over the place and cheery walkers sharing the trail.

I’d forgotten what a beast Beacon Hill is, with some obligatory hike-a-bike to the top (for me at least) and I was very happy to stop for a flapjack and a glug of water to enjoy the 360-degree panorama. I chatted to a chap who volunteered that last time he was here he’d challenged his son to run to the top, which he’d done, and then passed out. I’m not surprised.



At this point I was already beginning to have doubts about whether my phone and/or my motivation would hold out for the full route but I thought I’d just carry on and see. I wanted to be home at 5pm to meet my wife, who’d be back from work around then, and my calculations told me it was going to be a close thing.

Anyway, I’d earned a descent and it was an interesting one - very steep, very grassy and not a little sphincter-twitching. Fortunately no cartwheeling horror crash in front of the hikers. Phew.

From here it was mainly road through the Hartings to Nyewood and my next GR. it was marked as a brewery on the OS map but I couldn’t see any beer-making going on. Shame.



Now I had Titty Hill in my sights and fortunately the next off-road section was more pleasant. As well as a silly name, Titty Hill had this impressive oak. I just had to take it’s picture.



I now had some height to lose on reasonable tracks but I was conscious I was also losing time to faffy navigation and a general lack of get up and go. Having ticked off another GR at Linchmere Common ...



... I arrived at a main road, I made a decision to bin my most north-westerly GR and make up some time on roads through Haslemere. That would get me home in good time for gin and a slap-up meal with Mrs C.

As a consequence the next bunch of miles were a bit roady and dull but I picked up my route again soon enough at Winkworth Arboretum, my next GR. Sadly, there are no bridleways through the arboretum, so no amazing tree pics.



From here I was on familiar territory. I still wasn’t feeling super-energetic, so skipped a bit more off-road in favour of speedier tarmac. Pretty soon I was tackling my last significant hill - Combe Bottom, beloved by Surrey’s roadies and a fair old sting in the tail of this ride for me.

From there it was a spin along the top of Ranmore on gravel and finally more tarmac to pick off my final GRs ...



... before a roll down into Dorking and home to an empty house. I’d caught up more time than I’d anticipated and beaten my wife home by more than an hour. Time for a snooze in the garden and a chance to air the sleeping bag.

Thanks trob for my GRs and thanks to John and Reg for organising the VWE.

[Bearlegged]

That's a nice write up, I enjoyed reading it!

[Charliecres]

Thanks!

[RIP]

Ditto!

Cock and Balls, marvellous - Stu will be proud of you .

[fatbikephil]

What bike yer got there?