Strathpuffer comin' at ya...

So I've just gone and signed up for the Strathpuffer Lite. This is a 12 hour Endurance event held in Contin Woods near the spa town of Strathpeffer. The event is on June 26th/27th 2010 and it starts at 8.00pm and runs through until 8.00am the good thing being that at this time of year, this far north we'll probably only get 2-3 hours of full darkness so the lights won't have to be on for too long!

The only really scary thing is that I've entered it SOLO! This will be the first time I've entered an event like this on my own and I'm already starting to get butterflies about the whole thing. I think I'm going to need to seriously get off my backside and train for this one. 12 hours of riding seems fairly feasible and I suppose I can take as many breaks as I need. I haven't ridden at Contin before and I plan on getting over there in the next week or so for a good ride round and a look at the course.

 

North Sea to the Atlantic - Coast to Coast trip

The other nice little adventure I've had recently, has been the Coast to Coast trip from Ardgay on the East Coast of Scotland to Ullapool on the West Coast. With 30 students and 6 other members of staff from the school where I work, we took a fantastic route almost totally off road and right up through the hills. 


The first day saw us ride up to Croik Church where the church window bears the names of some of the 92 highlanders (18 families) who sheltered here after being driven out of Glen Calvie in the clearances of 1845. The church was built in 1827 to a design by Thomas Telford. After Croik the trail becomes much more mountainous and proved a challenge to some of the youngsters but we were all impressed with the way that every one of them dug in and found the spirit to keep going. 


We then spent the night at a very well appointed Bothy, much to the surprise of the walker who'd just set himself up for a quiet night in front of the fire!


A journey like this really reminds you of the remoteness of the wilderness up her in the North of Scotland and in these days of trail centres riding manicured singletrack and perfectly placed rock gardens it was excellent to really remind myself what mountain biking is all about, namely, riding through great big mountains on a bike that's tough enough to take whatever you can throw at it.

Unfortunately not all of our students bikes were quite tough enough and we did have quite a number of inevitable technical problems from a snapped off rear derailleur (quick conversion to singlespeed) to a front wheel that totally lost one of its locking nuts (fixed on with a piece of kevlar twine!). Unbelievably there were no punctures on any of the bikes throughout the whole journey.  

On the second day it was my turn to have technical difficulties as my bike suddenly decided not to change gear. First up I only had the middle ring and three cogs and then suddenly it dropped down into the granny ring of its own accord and wouldn't budge. The slightest downhill slope suddenly became something of a chore! In the end I decided to sit at the back of the group with the slower students just spinning away in the much too easy gears that I had available.


Really this was one of the most enjoyable times I've had in all the years I've been riding mountain bikes. It's not that often that you get the chance to just go out and ride your bike all day, and not just round some loop, graded red or black. This was real mountain biking with a real aim and a purpose. Somehow that seemed to make it much more exciting and special.

Trail Cycle Leader... that's me!

                                 View from the window...

A couple of weeks ago I had a fantastic time on the Trail Cycle Leader Course (TCL) at Glenmore Lodge down in Aviemore. The two day course led by George McEwan (who was a great teacher) leads to an assessment day that will see me qualified to guide groups of mountain bikers on terrain that is rideable over 90-95% of the total length' in daylight conditions.

                 Our Tutor George with fellow course member Darren


Following this qualification there is a second more complex course that results in the qualification of Mountain Bike Leader (MBL). The course was well structured and well presented, with a good mix of classroom activities and practical riding. Glenmore Lodge is a fantastic facility based at the foot of Cairngorm with some great little trails in its grounds (including some fun north shore) and, of course, hundreds of miles of great mountain trails right on the doorstep. 

                                  Got to practice those track stands....

                                           Nice room!


If you ever get the opportunity to take any of the courses at Glenmore Lodge, I would highly recommend the place. The rooms are excellent (probably the best shower I've ever had in my life), the food is very good indeed and the bar serves fantastic Cairngorm Brewery Ale on tap... What more could you want after a full day in the saddle?

I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Glenmore Lodge and also thanks to the Highland Council Outdoor Activities department who fully funded the course for me. I even loved being woken up by ducks at 6.00am ready to go out riding... I can't wait to go back! 

                                                           Noisy Duck!