Bivvy a Month 2021

[Raggedstone]

2/2 and 26 consecutive.
I went for an evening ride up the Malvern hills to enjoy the sunset and took some food and drink with me in order to eat out for a change! i decided i would follow the example set last year and eat at the highest point in the area . I got there in time to see the last of the light over a funny place i believe is called Wales, i am not sure its real though some times you can see it other times there is nothing there other than greyness its probably a mirage .

IMG_20210226_184056432 by Kevin Hawker, on Flickr

It was cold and windy up there so dinner had to wait for a nice moonlit bench in the woods then home to a pre prepared bivvy spot in the garden for some moon appreciation time. I woke up to a frost and glorious sunrise . Hopefully one more garden bivvy then back to unknown .

[ScotRoutes]

I'd planned to set out earlier but got caught up in some fascinating "daytime TV" so I ate at home before riding round to a local loch I've pitched at before. This was actually my "B" plan. "A" was a sheltered, wooded spot I'd ridden past last week but the promise of a clear sky and full moon was too much.

Arrived, pitched, settled down with a beer and listened to the water gently lapping on the shore. The one downside of this pitch is that the best view is looking upwind, so when it got a bit more breezy I zipped myself in. Within 30 minutes the gentle lapping had been replaced by a more frantic sound as the water was driven by the wind. No matter, I was cosy and warm.


Awoke just before 6am and made myself a coffee to sip as I watched the daylight coming in . It really feels a lot different to my last trip as it's getting light much earlier again.

On the way home I saw some migrating geese, a couple of deer and a cheeky wee red squirrel that scampered across the trail and up a tree to sit and watch me pass by.














2/2 and 51st

[TrepidExplorer]

This makes my heart ache. Looks lush.

[ScotRoutes]

2.2km (as the crow flies) from home. Nice to have as an easy option, though it's to be avoided in summer.

[redefined_cycles]

2 or 2 in progress. Hadn't realised the time but at least Butcher the bike is closer to being rideable. Temps tonight being 0 so hopefully not too much of a soft one... Though it does seem to be dry and hopefully stays like that.

In the Goretex army thingy bivy and decided to sleep under the tree (prickly bits fall off it) at the edge of the neighbours. It has a nest and the kids told me they'd recently seen the mum teaching the kids how to fly using our fence. Hopefully morning might be a bit fun. Stars are out and its clear and lovely.

Morning I'll hopefully ride up to Emley Moor Mast and take a pic. Only other thing to write home about is the opposite door nieghbours. Hardly ever see em during the day. As I was getting into the bag they must've heard some stirring and did a full scan it seems of my garden. Though I'm behind the shed so slightly out of vision...

Night...

[redefined_cycles]

My view for the night (but it looked better in the dark).


Interesting night... a quick debrief.

The fancy new sleeping bag... did it work and would it go to -5 as claimed (and without using NATO soldiers as the control as told me Tundra himself)?

Well, I was sleeping on concrete slabs, a thermarest neoair and the bag inside a goretex army issue 1kg bivvy bag. Temp in middle of night hit 0 and currently my phone claims -2 or -1. I only thought bout chucking in the bivvy overnight once due to cold. Currently am comfy enough to be writing this in said setup. So I'm gonna argue it's a yes (it probably would take me down to minus 5 as long as I controlled other things like warmer clothing a bit better)

Ride to work this aft will complete the 'ride' part (for completeness. So I think I could state, "Feb BAM, done"....

[Edit... yes, another one, sorry] Didn't manage to get out during the day nor complete my R2WFH but have managed to pack the bike and get to the station for the train-commute in. Hopefully in the morn I'll pick up some squares on the commute back home. I've even had time to pack up the kit and put it away

[RIP]

See, you did it .

[TheBrownDog]

Well done Shaf. 2 outa 2 for me 2 and yet again in my hammock in my garden. I had a big fire in the fire bowl and cooked a small steak on the BBQ. Turned in about 9pm and woke about midnight feeling very cold so went back inside for a CCF mat to put under me and a wool blanket on top of my quilt. That did the trick and I managed to get back to sleep till just before 5am despite the bright moon. Back inside for tea and toast. Who knows, next month I might go and sleep in the woods.

[frogatthefarriers]

I’m getting fed up of these garden bivvies, but hey-ho, needs must, when the Devil drives. For this month, I packed as for a normal bivvy and set out in the late afternoon for a twenty mile loop, ending at home.


By the time I’d set up camp and cooked a meal on my new Joe's Shop Ti wood stove, (Batchelors Mac ‘n cheese, with added Lidl mini frikadellen), it was well dark.


I sat for an hour or two afterwards feeding sticks into the stove and partaking of a little tipple.


Feeding the stove gave me something to do instead of going to bed too early. The stove turned out a fair bit of heat and the reflected heat from the oversized folding windshield was enough to warm my feet, even though a frost was setting in for the night. The bright flames made a cheery light to sit by on a frosty night. Eventually, there was nothing for it but to repair to my bed.


Despite the heavy frost I was toasty warm in my double quilt and had a much better than usual sleep on the ground. I did however wake to find that the top of my quilt was wet with condensation. Not a disaster, but I wonder how it would have been if I’d had to spend another night out after stuffing a wet quilt into a dry bag. Hmm! The frost had formed on both outside and inside of the tarp.


[
After breakfast of porridge, again cooked on wood, a quick (different) loop to complete the BaM. On the way I spotted a flat corner in a wood not 3 miles as the crow flies from home, that was carpeted with emerging bluebell leaves. Cue a spring bivvy?


It’s in the wood on the horizon.

Hopefully the home bivvies will end soon. I can’t help feeling a bit miffed that a bivvy in a field I own is acceptable, yet if the same field belonged to someone else, it wouldn’t be. The risk would be the same either way. Pah! Bring back normality..... Please...

That’s BaM 2021, 2/12, 74/74.



Bivvy photo...

[RIP]

Nice one Lu. Noted the "rare" beaked-tarp configuration there. I use that sometimes if it's very rainy but I'm sure we'd get labelled as "pretend tent" users in some circles - with more than a little justification (also the cause of the internal frost that you suffered?) .

Pleasant and relaxing to cook with the woodstove, to complete the picture all you need is some beer "from the wood". Sadly can't remember the last time I had a pint from a wooden barrel. There used to be a "Beer From The Wood" society.

[TheBrownDog]

Beer from wooden casks is quite a thing. When I was a wee lad our local was the Breakfast Creek Hotel in Brisbane. They used to serve beer from wooden casks and, I'm very pleased to say having just checked their website, that you can still get "one off the wood" if you so desire. I will just leave that there, I think.

https://www.breakfastcreekhotel.com/bar ... od-section

I used to sell the afternoon paper there after school. My mum was a barmaid there for years and it's actually where she met my step-father who was. regular with his regiment buddies. The Spanish Garden restaurant is still a place I want to take my kids. Gaaarg ... take me back, just for a day.

Reg, you will love the history of this place. Breakfast Creek is called Breakfast Creek because two white explorers had breakfast there with the local indigenous people in the early 1800s. And it's a creek. This cemented the great tradition of naming stuff after what it is .... the Great Barrier Reef, the Snowy Mountains, the Great Australian Bite. It goes on. Bless.

@frogatthefarriers, I had frost on top and under my tarp this morning and I was in a hammock. I'd put a blanket over the top of my quilt and it was a bit damp too. Ive used that beaked tarp set up you were in a few times, and it is a bit of a condensation animal as its pinned down all around so little ventilation. But I'm a bit confused how I seem to have created the same sort of microclimate in a very open to the elements tarp over a hammock. There wasn't a breath of wind last night, so that would have contributed, and I did have the dog in there with me (she's like having a hot water bottle in with you that doesn't go cold).

Ranting now, I am. I will stop. It's finally not too cold to go for a bit of a pootle. Fat bike activated.

[RIP]

Good stories there Tim . Aye, take us back.. sigh!

I'm still amused by having seen the Workington Working Men's Club of your family history fame .

[fatbikephil]

February done.
I bottled the -10 snowy week having spent quite a bit of it attached to a pair of planks and instead made good use of the near spring like weather we seem to be having. Deja-vu of March 2020...

Anyway I meandered my way round a variety of trails in an area that could be roughly referred to as Mid Fife then headed for Pitmedden Forest. Paranoia ensued as I realised that the van that came up behind me just as I made the turn into the woods was the Polis but they failed to deploy their most effective weapon at me (a shout of "Oi you, come here") confirming my suspicion that they are not remotely interested in an itinerant bikepacker. They did stop in the layby but more likely to get some peace and quiet prior to descending back to the Fife Bronx (Newburgh)

View north. Hills shedding snow daily so unlikely there will be enough to ski once I can get up there but I've managed 10 days locally this season so quite happy with that.

Found a great spot, had a good kip, saw the moon, heard owls, enjoyed the dawn chorus then got going. Lots of geese around so I bid them cheerio and a fair flight to Alaska. Home for breakfast and a day of relaxation.

[redefined_cycles]

See, you did it .

Thanks Reg... I even made myself a route via gravelly off road to Emley Moor Mast n back. I'll ride at some point in remembrance of it...

[TrepidExplorer]

I’m getting fed up of these garden bivvies, but hey-ho, needs must, when the Devil drives. For this month, I packed as for a normal bivvy and set out in the late afternoon for a twenty mile loop, ending at home.


I sat for an hour or two afterwards feeding sticks into the stove and partaking of a little tipple.

I gotta say though, the righteousness to have a fire out when sitting in your own land is pretty special compared to the leave no trace approach and not wanting a bivi to be rumbled by smoke in the hills. Nice perks.

_________________________________________________

I went out for a double loop from home last weekend to make some big miles for HT without straying too far.
Also on the subject of soggy sleeping bags...

Too far starts to bring on a different meaning when you're used to traversing countries by bicycle and suddenly places you used to "pop out to" in the car become within riding distance.


On my way home I felt lucky to have this so close. Such varied landscape and I was positively skipping at the arrival of spring (the leg warmers stayed on). Was going to link to a vid here but not sure it works so you can read the more words if you want some limestoney goodness. https://trepidexplorer.blogspot.com/202 ... years.html

The last climb to home was so sweet I did it twice in one ride. Dark and light, dark and light.

[RIP]

Aye, cliche it may be but one never gets tired of Monsal! Although I'm slightly traumatised by seeing that nasty nasty trail down from Putwell Hill at the top left

[RIP]

Monsal

Digression: a Society of which I'm on the committee had AGMs. One year I thought we should hold it outside. On Monsal Head viaduct. In December. For no fathomable reason. Also for no reason I convinced the other guys to take along some domestic items to help us feel at home.... table, chairs, minifridge with beers (behind table), standard lamp, ironing board (uh-oh), generator to run the light and fridge, etc. Had to lug them all from the road on the other side of the river. I'm not sure we made any decisions as our brains were too frozen. Various walkers passed by during our 2-hour meeting. Only one of them said anything, if I recall: "Bit fresh today folks". No comment or mention of the domestic scene at all. Opposite direction to Trep's pic.

[Alan63]

That's Fraser and I 2/2 in 2021. Spent last night in back garden again. Out on bikes this morning around East Renfrewshire. Hopefully we can start moving further afield soon.

[Bearlegged]

a ride with a friend (a real one who doesn't judge you for your footwear)

[Verena]

...mug of Penderyn...

A whole mug?!? I'll be swinging in my hammock all night even if I'm sleeping on the ground

[Mythste]

This Saturday just gone represents my first winter wild camp. A chilly start! Garmin hit -5 at one point, but having such a clear night with just moonlight and a few of a glowing Manchester more than made up for it. I adopted a hiding in plain site (!) approach. Pulling myself high enough up on the moor that I woke up to lovely views but made sure I wasn't in view of any farms or indeed, of anything!

It was so clear I didn't need any light to navigate the miles of sparce tussocky land, I walked for about half an hour bathed in moonlight. It did take a while to find somewhere that was close to flat to pitch up. All my kit behaved admirably, I took in the road climb up blackstone edge before heading off the beaten track so i bedded down a little damp from sweat but that's a lesson for next time.

I can't wait for warmer weather, a buddy or two, and an unnecessary bag carrying a few tallboys to see the sun away.

[Mythste]

I should add, that makes me 1/2 because I missed January because I'm a wuss. But it's baby steps.

[RIP]

Tussocktastic! Had to contort round the lumps or managed to slot yourself in somehow? Fun to have a view of the city bright lights too.

[Mythste]

Tussocktastic! Had to contort round the lumps or managed to slot yourself in somehow? Fun to have a view of the city bright lights too.

I wasn’t too bad! Soft tussocks with a thick mat (exped synmat 7.5) made for pretty nice kip!

[RIP]