Bivvy a month 2023.

[josh]

This thread make all areas of the Uk look like a place to visit, even the south

This is one of the main things that discovering the idea of and doing BAM has highlighted for me – I don’t need to wait for ‘big’ trips to Wales, or the Lakes etc to have an ‘adventure’, there’s enough woodlands and fields around that when you’re in them, seem plenty big enough, even if you don’t have the expansive views you’d have somewhere else. And enough bridleways and lanes to link together a nice enough route.

Starting BAM in January this year has meant that I’ve already been out on more rides and spent more nights outdoors than I would have done by this point in the year normally – in previous years I’d have only just started ‘camping season’.

I’m very grateful for the shift it’s had on my way of thinking.

[RIP]

^ exactly this. The ridiculous local jaunts that MuddyPete and myself got up to during 'lockdown' (remember that?) prove what can be done with seemingly threadbare material. May I point you in the direction of our 'Four Compass Points Tour' (aka 'State Of The Nation Tour') in this very subforum, which arose from being forced to 'go local'?

It's frequently claimed that mind expansion and 'experiences' have to involve travelling vast distances before you even start. Not true.

Gorilla tape

Thereby proving Reg's Maxim that all you need in your toolkit (and indeed first aid kit come to that) is duct tape and cable ties.

[Blackhound]

Does Scunthorpe count as a good place to head for? A localish bike shop, Velotastic in Chesterfield, publishes routes from time to time. I had done a chunk of one last year and they recently included a 101 mile route North from Worksop. I had been planning a 90-100 mile route from Derby along NCN6 to Worksop and then along the Clowne Greenway and Five pIts trail and home. I thought it would be a good idea to join the two routes and make it one big route of about 200 miles. How hard could it be?

I set off from home around 0830 and took a slightly different, longer route out then i usually do. I diverted away from the route near Worksop to grab A Veloviewer tile I was missing and then headed North along bridleways and tracks unknown to me. I was running low on food and wanted a meal but was not seeing much but I stumbles acoss a Co Op in Misterton and filled up. Just as darknes was falling I got a puncture which I managed to fix in the light. I pushed on a couple of miles to the Keadby canal tobed down. A couple of hours earlier I gone along a track that had not been used for a while. I thought it was overgrown with grass but there was also a load of nettles and I got badly stung down the front of both legs. This was keeping me awake. On the other side of the canal was a railway line and a couple of trains came past as I was settling down. An hour or so I heard voices and I wondered who was on the canal at this time, turned out to be P Way staff on the railway talking loudyy while checking the track for faults.

I got up at first light as the nettle stings were still bothering me, they continued to do so well into the evening, over 24 hours from the incident. I headed to Scuny McD's for breakfast which was a few miles of route. Heading South on quiet roads and a few bridleways I made better time than Saturday. A cafe on the A614 did me a nice egg and mushroom cob, cake and coffee and then I crossed the road into Clumber Park which was very busy on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I pushed on past CreswellCrags but I was feeling really tired and the drag up to Clowne was a bit f a struggle. Perhaps I didnoteat ordrink enough or my fitness levels are down. We are having a lot of work at home and I have not been riding as much as usual, (As I write it is almost 5 weeks since we had hot water!). The Five Pits can be lumpy on sore legs and their are three tough climbs around Alfreton / Heanor so I decided to take the 'easy' option to Chesterfield and get a train. That was a tough section from Polsbrook, I got off and walked one climb.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9125730000
https://www.strava.com/activities/9125744012

5/12 and 17 consecutive months

[Blackhound]

Double post

[Moder-dye]

Well I wasn't up to camping last night, but I did feel up to a ride out 20km to an interesting patch of woods north of Little Brechin in Angus this afty and found what looks like an ace hammock spot. So fingers crossed I can get my BaM in next Tuesday or Wednesday night when I'm back home.

[sean_iow]

Ralph, myself and Mike are on a bivi now, found a flat bit of grass by the dam at the end of Clatteringshaws Loch in Galloway Forest Park - makes a change from a local school night one



A nice spot but only whilst there is a breeze, that's now dropped so dived into the tent as it's a cloud of midges outside

Original plan was White Laggan bothy but there were already 6 people there. We were early enough to be able to ride on. Saw 2 more walking in as we rode down to here.

Rode farther than planned, 44 miles, but that does make it a shorter ride back to the van tomorrow.

[Raggedstone]

Whoops i forgot to post this !

April BAM done as part of the WRT a glorious evening spent in the hills between Cwrt and Bryncrug just for a change all set up early enough to enjoy a nice evening lounging around .
PXL_20230429_192521064 by Kevin Hawker, on Flickr
PXL_20230429_190606463 by Kevin Hawker, on Flickr

4/12 for this year

[Verena]

Nice!

Did mine Wednesday night, will try and post later...

[Verena]

Ok, so my May BAM happened Wednesday night. My daughter and I had found this amazing place a couple of weeks ago, a quarry which I've been meaning for ages to try and find a way to, which we did, and I thought it looks a lot like Thingvellir in Iceland, just without the annoying tourists https://www.buubble.com/wp-content/uplo ... scaled.jpg. And, even better, at the edge of it there is a large, completely flat grassy area overlooking the valley below, and heading towards East for those all important sunrise views... perfect for my May bivvy I thought.

I left home around half past seven, plenty of time to ride into a beautiful sunset, and I couldn't have been happier. It feels like ages since I last left home for a BAM not late, in the dark, after everyone at home is ready to go to bed...
IMG_20230524_210614 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

I turned off the tarmac for the short ride up a track to the quarry, went through a gate, went on a bit, went through the next gate, which I remembered would lead through a large lush field full of buttercups and other wild flowers....there followed this little sequence in my mind as I rode on: hmm, where have all the flowers gone - oh there's sheep poo - oh look there's sheep in the field now - wait a minute those are rather big sheep - ah I see, they're cows - oh they're looking at me - now they're walking towards me - oh well wait and see maybe if I go very gently - oh now they're running towards me, eek, reverse, reverse, and back down I went, and just about made it through the gate - phew.

They all came over to take a good peek at me and, from the safety of the other side of the gate, looked friendly enough, but I wasn't in any kind of mood to take chances, not with mothers and young calves and one of them with a ring through its nose!!
IMG_20230524_212910 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

Well there goes my perfect bivvy spot I thought, time for a plan B. I could've tried to get there the other way round, or I knew another nice spot up on the other side of the valley, but it was getting dark, I had no proper lights, and more importantly, I couldn't be arsed...
So I went down the lane a bit, checked field gates left and right, and found one to my left, which meant views over the valley and into the sunrise, which had young crops growing in them, so i thought, that'll do nicely, no farmer will plant grain crops then put any animals in that field.... I ducked behind the hedge and walked along the edge for a bit (I always think those places make good bivvy spots, well hidden), past loads and loads of stingy nettles, and found a bit of grassy edge which wouldn't damage the crops and looked reasonably level.

It wasn't

But the views were gorgeous, I was happy, and it was a great reminder that after all is said and done, bivvying was always meant to be just finding somewhere to kip, which is always good to remember can be done just about anywhere...
IMG_20230524_214326 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

Made a cup of tea, made my bed, knocked over my cup of tea, made another cup of tea, settled down for some snacking while drinking tea and watching the stars come out, then settled down from what would turn out to be one of the more uncomfortable nights spent bivvying... Colder than expected (no hat, no warm socks ), gravity was being a bitch on the slopey edge, a ridiculous number of pees needed, and hayfever had suddenly kicked in with a vengeance, making my eyes incredibly itchy, and I really felt like taking them out and popping them in a glass of milk for a bit. Or the fridge.

At some point I gave in/up, and moved to the flat bit/ditch right on the edge of the crops, accepting that my mat would get a bit dirty . And got some sleep at long last, which was evidenced by me waking up from a dream involving chasing around after about twenty greyhounds that were trying to escape from some farmer's barn, with my throat on fire (hayfever again).
But!!! it was 4am and the first sliver of sunrise was to be gawped at in wonder. Which I did, over a nice cup of coffee in bed.
IMG_20230525_041032 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

IMG_20230525_043230 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
And coffee in bed I deserved, because, it was in fact my birthday!
I can promise you, eating a BIG tub of homemade strawberry birthday cheesecake at 4.30 am is the best!!
IMG_20230525_044552 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

IMG_20230525_044634 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

Sun was just rising as I left, and I was home by seven - brilliant way to mark the day

IMG_20230525_052729 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

[Bearlegged]

Ooh, there's a good BAM report.
Happy (belated) birthday V!

[ledburner]

Ooh, there's a good BAM report.
Happy (belated) birthday V!

Many happy returns!

[RIP]

Yes, good stuff V. A stalwart of this parish. Superb effort with the sunrise cake .

"eyes..... I really felt like taking them out and popping them in a glass of milk for a bit" - clever party trick that, can you show me next trip please?

[RIP]

Out last night with MuddyPete. Things a bit hectic family-wise so will attempt more verbiage later, but 'Spot MuddyPete' competition (not hard):



Wot're you smiling at?



5/5, 5/12, 89/89

[Blackhound]

Happy belated birthday Verena. Extra marks for candles on your birthday cheesecake.

[RIP]

Defib to kickstart houses in case of power cut...



Misplaced monolith. Everyone knows Leighton Buzzard is built on sand not granite..



Due to a miscommunication at the planning stage, the Leighton Buzzard branch of HS2 was built to a reduced gauge of 2', and only one track instead of two. A speed limit of 20mph also renders the tilt feature of the trains superfluous....



And the same to you too....



Reg regrets not bringing the seatpost-mounted lawnmower attachment...



Pete and Reg - Has Beans?....



I can feel a revisitation of the postbox collecting game....



Were you looking at my bird just now, mate?...



Oh go on then, just a quick one before bedtime...



Everybody, especially a 'Boner, loves a badge....

[gecko76]

Both finger and bike now pretty much healed completely, it's good to be back into things properly. Took off around 9 yesterday evening with stove and dangly mug this time just because.

Need to sort my navigation because ended up switching between three different routes to get to where I was heading, all uphill. There's a patch of woodland we use with the Scouts about ten miles out of town which is great for wide games. There's also another souterrain nearby but when we checked it out recently it was full of rocks and a dead fox that turned out to be a hare.

Massive it was. Saw a lot more not dead ones this morning and a couple of deer crashed through as I was packing up. It's surprisingly hard to find a flat place to sleep in the dark.

Or perhaps it isn't. Anyway a short trip along the road this morning and a suitable spot for breakfast (Eccles cakes and Korean coffee). Not actually used the stove for a while and it took a bit of coaxing, but the light means it's working.

Strangely all uphill on the way home this morning too, but that might have been the lack of sleep. Might take a can of that spray adhesive they use for carpets next time.

[Retiredtester]

Me and the boy left it late again. Neither of us were feeling particularly up for it, despite the glorious weather, and pip's mood wasn't improved by an impromptu face plant into a stand of nettles.

Anyway, we plodded along 30k of the south downs way and stopped just East of ditching beacon, near Black Cap, for those that know. We hopped over a gate and found a beautifully flat, out of sight and sheltered from the wind spot against the hedge. The large number of drying cow turds scattered liberally around us suggested we might have company, but happily it never materialised. Having managed a somewhat more successful pitch of the alpkit Ordos, we gorged on pasta and called it a night.

I woke insanely early, thanks to the participants in a 100 mile ultra selfishly clanking their delirious way through the nearby gate and i started to pack. We set off in bright sunshine, looking down on the mist below and then swooped down ditchling beacon to call in at my stepdad's for a coffee. He casually informed us that we'd inadvertently camped in a sssi, the maximum fine for which is an improbable 20,000 quid! A lucky escape.

This left a 40k road and bridle path mooch home to the seaside, again bathed in sunshine. Cheers, May!

[MuddyPete]

Pete and Reg - Has Beans?....

Bean cycling!

Without doubt the best local bivi I've had. We were "lost" in a tiny oasis of calm sandwiched between Milton Keynes, Luton, the A5 and M1. Amazing!

We done Reg for winkling that one out of nowhere

[Leerowe76]

I didn't get time to to do the May BAM earlier so it ended up being the Jennride 2023 Edition BAM, great event as most will know lots of new & old folk met along the way.
2x slashed rear tyre in the first morning, plugged up and held air till the end although I was waiting for the 3rd or either of the first 2 to fail oh and a popped fork seal, Epic but brutal route around the Lakes with some great scenery

pro-FLyjPP58 by Lee Rowe, on Flickr
Double plugged

20230527_204341 by Lee Rowe, on Flickr
Lovely until the midges came out to play

pro-6zkupxtD by Lee Rowe, on Flickr
Nice & quiet so I thought until 1am ish when a couple were arguing over the pub bike being stole or misplaced, lots of F'in & Blinding before they disappeared back to their campsite, thank god

May BAM complete 5/12 - Jennride Edition

[boxelder]

Where's that second camp spot Lee - Torver?

[Moder-dye]

Great seeing everyone's May BaM

I'll be out tonight to a new location that I think will be pretty cool in the hammock. Bug net fitted now as I'm a total midge magnet and they're definitely nibbling.

[Leerowe76]

Where's that second camp spot Lee - Torver?

Both the same spot mate, Just before the Eagles Head pub Satterthwiate

[Moder-dye]

May won't be completed for me

Ironically while sorting the bike out yesterday afternoon I stood on some fucking sharp stone in my flip flops and the ball off my foot between my big and first toe feels like there a lump there and it's bloody painful. This morning the front of my foot around those toes is all black and blue and still painful to walk on

So no May BaM, health and other commitments didn't allow it it earlier in the month, but my bike does now have nice new riser bars on it, sadly I just can't pedal the fucking thing

I'll get June's in as soon as I'm able at my newly sussed out hammock haven.

[Lazarus]

Last day of the month Lazarus is erm out on the last day of the month - was not optimistic given my ribs but i am vaguely optimistic i can ride* and "sleep"on an air bed**


* true
**False

[frogatthefarriers]

May 23 BaM - Last minute, but Dunnit! 5/12 for 2023 and 101 altogether.

These...


...cattle troughs are on a local loop that I pass once or twice a week.They look to have been dumped in a wide part of the Bishop Bennets way, by the farmer. There's a lot of rubble and old fencing posts and rails - mounds of it - a right mess. When they first appeared they were empty but of course, the rain has filled 'em up to the top, putting a really daft idea into my head.

A water bed...




I left home late hoping to get set up before it got too dark (we're in unexplored territory here), armed with a lot of paracord and a big piece of damp-proofing polythene. It all worked out as I'd hoped - mostly..

This lady was wondering what I was up to..

... Hey Girls, come and look at what this nutter's doing..

First, I had to fiddle about trying to get my in-bed selfies. Easy enough, but I'd put my bottle of Madri on the edge while I wriggled into my bivvy bag. Disaster, almost. The bottle fell over and poured most of my beer out on to my bed before I noticed.. Still not too bad but, being on polythene, it had nowhere to run away, naturally flowing to the lowest point which happened to be where I was sitting.

Out of bed, then and undo some strings to tip the beer puddle out.

Finally, I was able to settle down and wait for true darkness to come so I could watch a chain of Starlink satellites fly over. But, the direction I was facing (West-ish) was the wrong one to see them from without disjointing my neck. Out of bed again and turn around to face the right way. It would have worked but by the time I'd settled again, I'd missed them by 4 minutes.

You'll be pleased to know that after all this palaver and a good slug of Zubrowka, I slept like a top, and woke to the sound of geese flying over at 6:30. Too early to get up, but when I tried to turn over and grabbed the concrete side for leverage I got concrete, not the expected
polythene-covered concrete. Oh Oh!That's right, my sheet had slipped but thankfully not dipped into the water.



Oh well, time to get up after all. By the time I'd struggled out of the bivvy bag, some water had got in but my stuff was still dry inside the bivvy bag and I packed it all away before tipping the water off the membrane and wrapping that up too. When doing this, I hadn't noticed that my weight had made a fold in the plastic that my selfie stick and glasses were tucked in there. When the water went, so did my stuff, into the trough. Into the green, horrible, insect-infested, scummy water.

Off came the shirt and teeshirt to expose enough arm to feel around in the bottom. It wasn't as deep as I'd expected and no muddy muck for stick and glasses to hide in so they were soon found. It wouldn't have been a great loss if they hadn't but, nobody likes to lose stuff, do they?

Here's a picture of my bike on the way to a bacon butty cabin before going home