We had a trip south to near Glasgow planned for last weekend, 4 weeks of looking forward to riding Ben Lomond. The weather had improved up here, most the frosts had cleared off and crocus’s and daffodils pushed their way up out of the ground, showing signs of early spring. The last few rides before the weekend had covered my bike in a thin layer of dust, this wasn’t the conditions that i’d expected during a Scottish March…Not to worry though, a forecast of snow and freezing driving rain made it’s attempt to twart our aim to ride the Ben, a back up plan was needed, the various options were thought of, considered, contemplated during the week prior to the road trip.
As promised the weather provided a lot of Scotland with dusting of snow, enough to rule out the main event so plans b, c and d, perhaps even a few more more were discussed and debated over.
Being a non local, i had little input other than, “I don’t care so long as i ride”. However after two options were finally chosen it was bizarrely down to me to make the decision, something i’m rubbish at doing.
We, which meant i, decided to go with the suggestion put forward by Nigel our host and Alexandria based rider therefore guide. Because the weather had turned truly wintery, a low level ride out from Arrochar would be our Saturday ride, with a Sunday guided ride around Kinnoull hill near Perth to break up the long drive home to the North.

We arrived at Nigels on the Friday in time for a very tasty meal followed by beverages not particularly ideal for lining our pre ride stomachs. Several bottles, can’s and drams later and it was time to turn in to our respective pits for a nights sleep, i chose to share a bed with two others and promptly fidgeted all night and shoved the two others right to the edges 😀 and slept really well.

Ride day.

We all got up and fuelled ourselves with porridge and teas, slipped into as much cycling kit as we dared and began staring outside at the horizontal blizzard. There was much muttering about the madness of it all, but as we’d driven over 300 miles(i think) we just had to ride..

Loaded up we made our way to the car park, where we all sat in the warmth looking out at the driving sleet, a weak attempt to talk ourselves out of riding ensued..I mean, do we really want to go out and get cold and wet, struggling to get into any flow, the sinuous rhythmic single track would be obscured and widened into a featureless blanket of white. Seriously now, riding in these conditions can certainly dampen riding spirits not to mention removing ones Mojo.
This is however Scotland and if you let the weather stop you riding, there’s every chance you’ll end up only ever spinning up the miles on a turbo trainer with the occasional road ride. Your off road skills and confidence will almost disappear down the same gutter as the rain and snow melt will drain into.

So, a quick kick up my own backside and i slip into my waterproof jacket and some Waterproof leggings which i’ve never tried riding in before. I just wanted to remain dry today, if i’m dry, i’m warm.
I’m not a sweater and given the liquid consumption last night, dehydration should stave off the boil in the bag affects of non breathable clothing.
So to the riding and right from the car park we were onto a zig zag climb. I was fancying another day in the big ring as an attempt to bring my legs back to the strength i was used to from two years single speeding.
OK, that’s me warmed up and i’m buzzing from being out there already, 10 minutes ago i was happy to stay in the dry, what a change in spirits. The wide forest track climb started with just being wet, within 20 minutes there was a thin skin of snow, a further 20 minutes and we were rolling our tyres through 20-40mm of white powder. This just got deeper and deeper the further along we went, the pace soon slowed as maintaining momentum and control became difficult.

For us riders not up front cutting a fresh line into the virgin snow concentration was maxed out in trying to stay within the tyre width groove of compressed snow, there was less physical effort needed to ride there, however he mental effort was increased.
With Nigel and Pete up front carving out two increasingly deepening trails, myself and the two ladies followed in convoy. I’d abandoned my big ring efforts a while ago back on the last climb, riding in snow felt to be adding extra degrees of pitch to the climb and a good cadence makes it easier to remain in a straight line, at least for me it does.

I had occasions of wandering off the trail, usually when too much torque forced the front wheel to snow plough off in the wrong direction and towards the trees, this made a humorous break from what appeared to be a never ending straight track through a forest avenue. I was enjoying the madness and i think the others were too, well all but one, the occasional moans of, “this is just stupid”. (other expletives i think were vocalised at the time also) The weather had made it’s mark and ran off with the Mojo of one of the riders(names not mentioned for my own safety) and at the to of a small climb they wished to turn back and head for the van. Nigel our guide remark that we were almost at the half way pot, then it was all down hill from there, that point was not far from here, so we all pressed on with renewed hope and varying levels of excitement for descending in deep snow.
30minutes more of riding and we reached the half way point, the mojoless rider was not amused..A quick break for Malt loaf and jelly babies and in the words of Nigel it was all downhill from here. Time for a quick photo session first, so Nigel being the big kid he is throws himself into a snow covered tree, i’m busy taking photos of a sweet in a tree whilst Roberta buries my bike in snow, nice!

So to the decent, that was another couple of miles away due to the fantastic momentum killing properties of the now BB deep snow and lack of any real gradient. We pressed on at points even climbing again..

Nigels name had by now changed and whilst he stopped for a we break the others continued on, i hung back with Nigel and was taking photos of the scenery when suddenly up ahead in the distance i heard a familiar voice shouting obscenities at an unknown target(me), later on i learned that i was holding up nomojo mission to get the hell back to the van and off their bike. “It’s (more naughty words) snow and a post, have you never seen ******* snow on a post before?” was the rant aimed at me…Opps!

Finally a decent that didn’t need pedalling down, Nigel said something about big rocks somewhere on the trail, so off at a speed set to smile i went and survived. We joined a snow covered road and with caution was the suggested way in which to ride it. With in several metres Pete touched a brake and got a little out of shape, Nigel responded by grabbing more brake and broadsiding it right in front of me. There’s no chance of me using my brakes on here, my options are to run over Nigel or head to the nearest grassy verge. The grass looked softer and i found out just how soft as my front wheel dropped into a hidden ditch pitching me off the bike at slow speed.

A moments entertainment provided we continued on down a better flowing but still snow covered track finally joining sheltered trail free of deep snow, it undulated sharply providing challenging climbs followed by a steep loose stony descents of which i felt a little more at home with, despite one off the front moment when a front wheel drift on slush took me off the trail, i kept things fast and smooth and for once was pleased with level of commitment on unknown trails. For about 40 minutes we had this little play area to finish off the ride with then to dive into a tea shop for post ride treats.

The pay off for wearing waterproofs meant i was the only one to remain dry enough to be comfortable therefore loving the moments for what they were, a bike ride in weather. Considering i was the least motivated to get out of the van earlier i was now the one who seemed to have the most fun on the ride with the least complaints. No cold wet feet, mostly warm hands, not tired and wanting to ride more(not that i said that at the time) The only negative was the ghost shifting/chain slipping that i was experiencing, i wasn’t alone i think with that issue, snow packed cassettes i think to blame.

We all went back, showered and promptly all collapsed exhausted, but satisfied with making the effort and getting out there..

Sunday.

I’ll get straight to the riding with this one and keep it shorter 😉

Carron Valley was mentioned but an offer of a guided ride around Kinnoull hill near Perth seemed a more fun prospect. We met our guide in the car park and after a brief introduction i was ready to ride, the weather wasn’t so horrid by now, just a wet on the ground.

For the next 2 hours or less we played about on muddy, messy slippery rooty trails and i was in my element. Not that i’d usually be keen to ride trails like this if a drier option was on offer, i’d certainly try to avoid puddles and attempt to remain as dry as possible. Something however was different though, i was hitting every puddle and seemed intent on getting as messy as possible, i opted for just longs and a rain coat, mostly to show off my legs and ass, but also to keep things free for maximum movement over the rooty slick trails.

Confidence to commit to the jumps were kept low, especially after a bad crash by Nigel, as he under jumped a double compressing his forks into the back edge of the transition and landing on his head badly. Hopefully he’ll not be feeling it to bad today. 😕

We razzed around the trails finishing on a trail used by DH’ers, a group of which we passed as they stood around chatting(as they do)at the top of a run. And back to the van to change into dry kit and begin the long drive North and back to reality, a day of cleaning kit and reflecting on the weekends fun.

How does is reflect? Well in normal circumstances i’d probably chose to not leave the house when it’s a blizzard or piddling it down, but on a road trip you need to just get out there and ride regardless of the weather and make the most of it. It’s these rides that remind me just how great riding is, who cares about getting wet and dirty, or how the trails are, what sort they are. It’s all about spinning the pedals with mates and if you’re really lucky you may even have to bunk up with a reet couple of stunners.. Hey ho! almost the perfect weekend away then…

So, if you’re finding it hard to get out when the weather is less than you want, then i think you forget really what you do want, just remember how much fun you can have on a bike in any conditions, forget the cold, the wet and the dirt and picture the smiles and feelings of being out there.

Thanks to all those concerned, in the words of jedi, ride life! (IIRC)

lovely ride in the warm sun yesterday and commute in 12 degrees today, ride life indeed

nice one sharki.i have had problems with getting the motivation to ride my bike,so have finally started to do a diary of trying to get my fitness back on here.went out for my first off road ride last wenesday (and it was fantastic to be out.was the slowest person on a bike though 🙂 i feel guilty that i haven’t ridden my bike since then (am letting myself down) but plan on starting riding on tues/wed (have bad/random sleep patterns) then riding every third day until i feel fitter/then keep on riding.i feel a hell of a lot better when riding my bike (even when i am knackered) than sat at home staring at the walls (so must remember what it means to ride my bike,whenever the lethergy/depression e.t.c tries to win) glad you had a good time (man that snow looked deep 🙂

Sounds like a proper adventure 🙂

Good post Sharki , I believe you are up In my home town area of Elgin these days . Hope your enjoying It up there.

Adventures – yay!

“but on a road trip you need to just get out there and ride regardless of the weather and make the most of it.”

Absolutely true.

I was snowboarding in Austria with two friends last week, and at the end of a very snowy day, I took us on a shortcut across the mountain forgetting that it’s riven by woods and a deep cut stream. I got a bit far ahead and unthinkingly dropped down a very steep slope into a snow-filled ravine – like a deep half-pipe – I could see the exit lower down. I looked up but my friends had not followed – sh1t! After a bit, the mobile rang – they were just above the ravine after having trouble following me and I seemed to have vanished. They soon appeared above me, horrified by the drop-in. M took his board off (error) and slid down uncontrollably, S edged down nicely. I got sworn at a lot!!!!!

Anyway, we made lines to the exit and were soon back at the car park and they were all smiles again. You see, they had a little off-piste adventure and it actually made the day. I always expound the following maxim when adventures happen:

“There are two kind of fun: fun now, and fun later; and the latter is more memorable”

Nice one Sharki.

I recognise my arse in some of those pics! It was a truly memorable weekend’s riding particularly Saturday in the snow. Even a snow ride vet like myself wanted to stay in the van but I am so glad we didn’t. I guess we’ll just have to go back down and do Ben Lomond when the snow has gone. Not least because there’s still some A’bunabh left in the bottle I took down! 🙂

Good stuff sharki. You often need a contingency plan with the vagaries of the Scottish climate but more often than not it’s a case of just throwing yourself into it anyway.

Fun now and fun later seems to be a translation of how I’ve enjoyed a day out but my other half didn’t but enjoys the telling of the awful tale.

Blue skies down here. Dusty trails too!

Nice write up Sharki – all sounds very familiar (Although i’d have been off pushing before you lot) still have ‘tennis elbow’ for my snow efforts.
Out shortly – it’s chucking it – hey ho 🙂

great write up,
a mate and i had this type of situation 2 years ago when we went to hamsterley.
should have been a 3 hr drive, took 5 hrs coz of the snow.
but we decided we had started, so we would keep going.
in the end we managed a 1hr snow ride, much less than the original plan for a full days riding, but it was still a lot of fun.
i think the hardest part of a ride in inclement weather is the bit from the house to the shed (or out of the nice warm car).

nice writing Sharki, but you can keep your snow. we’re on week three of good weather. aside from a damping at night on two nights that is – just enough to keep things damped down. 😀

Cheers guys and gurls.

Del, we had a few weeks of sunshine at the end of Feb which was a taster of things to come.

And then just as if was a dream all hell let loose and things changed dramatically.

We got back by the coast here late Sunday evening as the strong North wind sprayed the sea high as it crashed against the breakwater..

We just came back along the coast and that same bit is now so calm, almost mirror like, quite surreal really as there’s a nice sea mist too.

See you soon matey 😉

You’re very brave going out in that snow.

The weather certainly has been very poor over the last week or so.

When I lived up in Perth we walked up to the top of Kinnoull Hill once.

I remember telling a colleague at the time about it and she told me it is popular with people who commit suicide and you can see why from that shot of yours.