Would you take your mountain bike up a mountain?

[magicdin]

Hmmm!

There was a group of charity bagpipers up the top that day.

Sanny

They were with the Rangers Charity Foundation
It was the day after the Scottish Cup Final - Rangers beat Falkirk


Was a terrific day right enough - weather wise

[Sanny]

Aye. Cracking day indeed. It was scorchio! I've never seen the loch side so busy. Did you get caught up in the traffic jam that seemed to extend the length of the loch? There was a constant stream of cars in both directions with folk looking a bit frazzled.

As for the general question of why mountain bike in the mountains, aside from simply getting up into the big hills, the speed of travel is a big bonus. I rode the Tour of Mont Blanc following the walking route last year in 3 days at a fairly leisurely pace. The alternative of walking and taking 10 days to 2 weeks just didn't appeal. On the bike, I reckon that I'm as fast as the average walker going up and have the bonus of being able to ride the bike on the descents thus avoiding tedious long walk outs. For me, it's a win win of big days out in the hills and fun biking. It'll never be for everyone and I don't expect to change any opinions but it definitely makes me smile and adds an extra dimension of adventure to days out.

[Border Reiver]

As for the general question of why mountain bike in the mountains, aside from simply getting up into the big hills, the speed of travel is a big bonus. I rode the Tour of Mont Blanc following the walking route last year in 3 days at a fairly leisurely pace. The alternative of walking and taking 10 days to 2 weeks just didn't appeal. On the bike, I reckon that I'm as fast as the average walker going up and have the bonus of being able to ride the bike on the descents thus avoiding tedious long walk outs. For me, it's a win win of big days out in the hills and fun biking. It'll never be for everyone and I don't expect to change any opinions but it definitely makes me smile and adds an extra dimension of adventure to days out.

I'm sure you get a lot of pleasure from riding down mountains, but I cannot see how anyone can summon up the energy to carry a bike up the mountain. You must have a super-lightweight bike that doesn't dig into the shoulders. Sometimes it's a real hassle to lift my 30 year old Emmelle bike onto the carrier and if I have to lift it over a deer gate, I have to throw my rucksack over first....how do you carry a bike when you've got your rucksack on with all your food, water and clothing in in it?
Your hat....sorry, but I've always thought they looked funny. I hate wearing hats and if it became law to always wear one when cycling, I'd ditch my bike first. Besides, if I fell off, I could be fairly certain that my hands and face would hit the rocks before the top of my head.
Fair do's to you if you can carry your bike up any mountain, but I'm well past that sort of energy level at my age and I like to spend a fair bit of time actually taking in the scenery at leisure......I bet my Dad could have done it when he was young, he used to ride around 100 miles in a day around the Durham Dales on a single gear bike.

[Sanny]

Hi Border Reiver

Cheers for the reply. I couldn't help myself but to reply to your funny hat comment!

I'm not sure if my bike would qualify as light as it's around 30 pounds. The only time I really notice it is when covering steep, pathless terrain which is the point at which my calves begin to nip. Then again, I get that even without the bike! Carrying it, there's no option but to move at a steady pace and take in the scenery so it's no different from a day's hillwalking for me.

I'm a big fan of Alpkit gear and use a Gourdon 20 for all my kit. It's amazing how much stuff you can pack into the bag. I carry the same kit as I would for a big day in the hills e.g waterproof jacket, waterproof trousers, synthetic belay jacket, hat, spare gloves, first aid kit, survival bag, map and compass, GPS, phone, lots of food and drink (and I mean LOTS!), gilet, leg and arm warmers etc. It's all fairly lightweight without being obsessively so. Balancing the top tube on the bag makes for a pretty comfortable carry. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea but it definitely works for me and it's always good to meet folk out on the hills and have a craic about your mental stability in taking a bike up the mountains! It's a great way of getting a bit of banter going.

I'm gradually tackling the munros with my bike. Not all will be rideable but an awful lot are and part of the fun is finding out. Last weekend saw me and a couple of mates do the traverse of the Ben Lawers massif and cover the 7 munros in one go. It was a fantastic day out. I'm not sure if the link below will work but fingers crossed.

Cheers

Sanny


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/55229898@N08/6874147904/" title="Sanny masterclass 2 by CaptainMainwaring1, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/6874147904_d07a36cbaf_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Sanny masterclass 2"></a>

[Border Reiver]

Sanny, did you ride down An Stuc? - that would have been mental. If I tried carrying a bike up a hill I wouldn't be able to see the scenery for the pain and sweat in my eyes
I love my old bike & despite it's age, it's in good mechanical condition, but I wouldn't swap it for any new one....it's grown old along with me and we've shared lots of good mountain days and island exploration. The best thing about my bike, is that I can leave it anywhere when I go up mountains and I know that it'll still be there when I get back to it...I don't lock it because nobody wants it. I even came back to it once and found a group of mountain bikers laughing at it

[Gable Gable End]

i like mountain biking a lot but I've only had my bike up sub 2000s and the off Graham. Fecking knackering!

[Sanny]

Hi again

Laughing at the thought of your old bike!

Yes we rode down the western face of An Stuc. There was one bit that was too steep to ride but the rest we rode no problem. Other than a short carry down a short section on the munro to the east of An Stuc whose name escapes me and a 20 foot section around the side of Bein Ghlas that was a bit rocky jumbly, we rode the rest of the descents on the route for the first five munros. Meall Corranaich from the bealach was simply too steep and exposed to ride safely so was a carry up and mostly carry down though we could have taken the direct route that heads south back to the old visitor centre (now no more). However, the descent from the bealach back to the car was too good to miss out on so the carry down to it was worth the effort.

It was a fantastic day out.

If uploaded a couple of pics on the link below so you can get a sense of what we get up to. I'm the one in the bright orange top. http://www.gmbc.org.uk/ben-lawers-massif-7-munros-3-riders-1-brilliant-day/

Cheers

[Gable Gable End]

cant believe you tanned An Stuc, whatever way you look at it: Steep and Rocky and Loose! Mental. How on earth did you keep the bike on two wheels??

[Sanny]

An Stuc wasn't that bad. To summit it, we followed the bypass path to the north but as there was still a snow cornice ( which I was expecting) we trended down the Glen a little for a break in the snow line where we nipped onto to northern flank of the hill and headed for the summit. The descent was fine with only a short scramble down a steep section meaning that we had to get off the bikes.

You'd be surprised at what can be ridden with a bit of careful line picking. At the end of the day, it's a day out in the mountains and that has got to be a good thing. We're always careful to leave no trace (unlike the person who left a poo and toilet paper just beneath the summit of Lawers - cheers for that, you clart!) and look forward to the banter with the walkers. I guess we probably do come across as a bit left field but then not everyone likes the same things. To me, mental is being stuck in front of the TV