Getting back out

I’ve not been managing much biking recently between the inclement weather and the van being off the road.

The first decent trip of the year was up to Braemar for a week. The wind and snow made adventures high up on the hills pretty unattractive so I spent most of the week riding the trails around the town and practising a few things I need to work on. It’s a brilliant area to explore, so many interesting things to see.

Linn of Quoich

Fatty in it’s natural environment

I managed one good ride up Glen Callater in the snow on the fat bike. It was stunning and I saw the largest red dear herd I’ve ever seen with an incredible back drop of frozen hills. It was also the first bike ride I’ve taken gaiters and an ice axe. Both came in handy, especially the gaiters as there were a few river crossings and the chunks of floating ice put me off wet feet. The other issue with riding a fat bike through semi frozen bog in sub zero temperatures was the gradual build up of ice and bog plants on the back wheels. I think the bike had comfortable passed the 40lb mark by the time a finished.

I was planning to check out the trail centre at Glen Livet but the brakes died on my fatty. The Avid DB3s had been a pain from the off and seemed to work for a while after some attention before getting rubbish again. When they worked it also sounded like I was chasing an angry turkey downhill. To make me feel better I stripped them off the bike in a bit of a rage and ordered a set of Deores! I haven’t missed a days biking in years due to broken parts so best shot of them I think.

It felt good consigning these to the parts bin

Winter light

The weekend was spent exploring the hills around Comrie and Crief, in Perthshire (central Scotland). There were some really incredible landscapes left behind by the snow and harsh winds earlier in the week. In the bleak and icey landscape there was a brief moment early one morning where the light caught the moss in the oak trees and gave the illusion of spring growth.

Iceland

Last year I went to Iceland with my wife for a bikepacking holiday. We visited the year before for a short biking trip and were blown away by the quality of the biking and also the wild but captivating landscape. This is just a short write up of the trip and some practical tips for anyone thinking of going.

Skogar trail

Westfjords in August

Fishinh museum in Isafjordur

Belgium Cafe in Þingeyri

Westfjord’s Coastline

Looking North from the trail up Eyjafjallajökull.

The Edge of Eyjafjallajökull.

The Dynjandi Waterfall

Jon Sigurdsson ‘s house at the Hrafnseyri museum

Camping in the Westfjords

Bichrome World nr Strutur

Amazing trails

Small hill left behind by retreating ice

Typical river crossing

One of many shonky bridges

Challenging volcanic dunes

Landmannalaugar-Hrafntinnuske

Colourful rhyolite hills near Landmannalaugar

First section of the Laugavegurinn

Getting the bus to Landmannalauga

Windy Beach, looking towards Fidra

Reykjavik skyline from the Perlan water tower

Epic gravel road climb, near Bolungarvik

The plan was to spend 17 days doing as much riding and exploring as we could. We wanted to ride the Laugavegurinn trail and also visit the Westfjords area using buses to get us and the bikes between areas of interest. We wanted to put our energy into exploring rather than gurning away into a headwind for a week.

The N+1 Problem

The Old Full Sus

Cheap Dropper Seatposts

Dropper seatposts have become really common in the last few years. Not everyone is a fan but for most people being able to get the seat out of the way makes the technical bits more fun.

TMars 27.2mm Dropper Seatpost

Exploring the John Muir Way

Mountain biking can become a bit of chore by January. The trails have long since turned to slop and the mince pies weigh heavily with every pedal stroke. The John Muir Way, which follows the beautiful East Lothian coastline, is an antidote to the January blues. The sandy trails drain really well and on a clear sunny day the coastlines provides and exciting and colourful place to ride.