Cairngorms Loop 300 - September Group Start?

[whitestone]

Here's my SPOT page - https://maps.findmespot.com/s/SKQQ

Hopefully it works - SPOT have updated their mapping and sharing and I think I've done it correctly. I'll try and get the device pinging sometime today so there's something to show.

[u02sgb]

I'm in too. With a previous time over 50 hours I'll be happy to get in under two days though!

Aiming for one sleep and enjoying the sunshine and gentle winds (must ignore the weather forecast, must ignore the weather forecast...).

Stu.

[sean_iow]

I always spend ages messing about at the start of a ride I'm tracking, thinking it's not updating and re-adding the share address.

I'm glad it's not just me that does that. I've learnt to just ignore it now as well. It seems to take a couple of hours after I've started for it to catch up and show the tracking.

[sean_iow]

I see there is now a Cairngorms Loop Instagram page Ready for the start line pictures? Good job I've trimmed my beard ready

[whitestone]

I see there is now a Cairngorms Loop Instagram page Ready for the start line pictures? Good job I've trimmed my beard ready

There should be a rule: "Any social media posting during your ride incurs a 1hr time penalty per posting."!

OK, three days to perfect my scowl

[ScotRoutes]

It might have changed but it was certainly the case that Spotwalla needed you to "wake it up" if you hadn't used it for a while (possibly months). I think you had to send some sort of traffic to it before an event. It was done as a means to reduce the amount of polling it had to do from the findmespot site for devices that weren't being used.

[Bearlegged]

Cairngorms Loop Instagram page

What's an "individual tone trial"? Can you get time bonuses based on your singing? Or do you need to get colour swatches stamped at regular checkpoints?

[ScotRoutes]

I don't know what you mean...

[stevewaters]

I see there is now a Cairngorms Loop Instagram page Ready for the start line pictures? Good job I've trimmed my beard ready

I am surprised that any of us are young enough to have an Instagram account ! - Isn't that the app that airbrushes skin, paints on ridiculous thick eyebrows and makes "Bambi" eyes ?

- At least our arses should be sufficiently "pert".

[sean_iow]

I am surprised that any of us are young enough to have an Instagram account ! - Isn't that the app that airbrushes skin, paints on ridiculous thick eyebrows and makes "Bambi" eyes ?

That's the one, although the filter I use makes me look like a balding, weathered 50 year old, when I'm actually a buff 25*

* In my mind anyway

[FLV]

Have you set off yet Sean?

[sean_iow]

Have you set off yet Sean?

Not yet, I'm on the 09:00 ferry tomorrow morning.

I finished work at lunch time to finish sorting the kit etc. but seem to be drinking tea and watching that bike race in France on the telly

[whitestone]

Following instructions that we weren't going "posh" by stopping at a Travelodge , we've booked into the same campsite as you so should see you sometime Friday afternoon/evening. Lookout for a dark blue Peugeot Partner van

Currently having a breather from digging about 20m of drain from our greenhouse to hook up with a land drain in the field.

[sean_iow]

Lookout for a dark blue Peugeot Partner van

Will do I'll be in a white yaris, it's our newer posher one, much better for driving but terrible for putting a bike in due to the narrower boot and the way the seats fold. The next time we buy a car I'm taking my bike to the test drive to make sure it fits.

I'll have my red hilleberg nallo 2 gt so easy to spot that. We camped at the NT campsite at Wasdale Head once and I could make out my tent from most of the way up Scarfell Pike might even have been able to see it from the summit if it wasn't for the weather.

[bigtalljohn]

I've set up a tracking page on my website
https://maps.findmespot.com/Track#history/assets
Don't worry if it looks like I'm not moving, that's just me consolidating last position. The wind may become a bit of an arse but it is what it is and a midge free ride is good.

[bigtalljohn]

I'm in too. With a previous time over 50 hours I'll be happy to get in under two days though!

Aiming for one sleep and enjoying the sunshine and gentle winds (must ignore the weather forecast, must ignore the weather forecast...).

Stu.

Unfortunately the weather forecast has been surprisingly accurate recently and we are proper hard core rufty tufty iron bru drinking high heal wearing lumberjacks just like our dear papa's

[u02sgb]

Yeah it's been pretty consistent all week too

[ScotRoutes]

What forecast are you looking at? Accuweather for Saturday looks pretty much perfect, with a few showers (5mm of rain) on Sunday.

I'll be checking out MWIS tomorrow.

[u02sgb]

It's the strong winds for the descent to Braemar that I'm keeping an eye on! All good Cairngorm weather though I suppose.

[whitestone]

What forecast are you looking at? Accuweather for Saturday looks pretty much perfect, with a few showers (5mm of rain) on Sunday.

I'll be checking out MWIS tomorrow.

MWIS https://www.mwis.org.uk/forecasts/scott ... onadhliath is giving gales on higher ground. Met office https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/sp ... utlook-tab is giving strong Southwesterlies.

It will be what it will be.

SEPA is giving the four monitoring stations mentioned on the CL website as being at the very low end of normal, not quite in the "low" category.

Cue a massive cloudburst over the head of Loch A'an

[FLV]

shhhh..... stop it you lot

[u02sgb]

Yeah, I said I needed to avoid the weather forecast now all I'm doing is looking at all the different ones!

[stevewaters]

Here's a consolidated post with all the tracking links:

sean_iow: https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id ... howAll=yes

whitestone: https://maps.findmespot.com/s/SKQQ

htrider: https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id ... a8174de58f

stevewaters: https://share.garmin.com/swaters

bigtalljohn: https://maps.findmespot.com/Track#history/assets - This seems to need SPOT login credentials.

- Any others ?

[whitestone]

In a Figs of the Cairngorm Loop posting ...

A test packing:



Still got plenty of room that front bag is actually only about half full.

[sean_iow]

My front bag is also less than half full. Neither are packed very tightly. As the way the bag attaches means it doesn't rely on the straps being tight to hold it on I don't have to pack it out to get it to stay put.

Same with the rear, it's at about it's minimum volume but the contents isn't compresses down.

I used to try and get my kit in the smallest space possible, but then mid ride if I needed to say put my waterproof back in the bag it was a faff. Now there's plenty of spare capacity. It took me a long time to realise it's the weight that's important, not how small it looks