Six intrepid souls started from Ullapool at 8:30am (ish) and rode across the grain of the land to Bonar Bridge before turning around and heading back the way they came, riding heroically into the setting sun and dipping their toes in Loch Broom where they'd started some hours earlier.

A grand day out through some fantastic scenery, steeped in history. Unfortunately we were too late for the Swedish girls at Knockdamph Bothy…

Slideshow here

(McMoonter's photos are much better than mine, him being visually trained and all. I'm sure he'll post them here too)

http://picasaweb.google.com/mcmoonter/20100411UllapoolToBonarBridgeC2C2C#

I have no pic posting skillz.

Are we forever doomed never to meet Helga and Ursula?

Ta for organising this stuartie .

Fantastic weekend – even if we had to take the softies option on the day. Still that did mean we had the legs for a lap of Laggan on the way back 🙂

McMoonter – posting skillz? this is one of yours ( if it works)

Are we forever doomed never to meet Helga and Ursula?

I could really do with their healing hands today…

Good effort TJ – I am physically unable to sit on a saddle today. 😯

What chainrings for an 11 hour C2C2C epic? Ones with all their teeth. Stuarie 'two rings' you are a legend. Perhaps that explains your posterior problem.

The only way we are ever likely to catch sight of the elusive Swedes is with the legs and wit of a Raddogair. Skillz I doubt I'll never have. 😥

wow – looks like you had stunning weather.

Helga and Ursula were staying at Gairloch SYHA last week, we gave them your email addresses.

We slogged through snow drifts the week before!

here's our slightly tamer pics. Thanks for route advice, i'll be writing it up i hope and also heading back to the area with a mountain bike and a little more fitness.

Clicky picy:

Great light in pic number four, but might have been worth turning them to face the sun, even if you would have had to be in the loch (in true Ti29er fashion). I always wonder why these threads don't do better – I love seeing pics / reports of rides – isn't that why we're all here?

The only way we are ever likely to catch sight of the elusive Swedes is with the legs and wit of a Raddogair. Skillz I doubt I'll never have.

very good, and i'm sure if the elusive swedes were there then a swift chat could of ended in a 'european relation course' maybe 😉

Was discussing having a mid summer STW meet again this year. I dont know who would make as far north as torridon again because of distance ( i would), but somewhere bit closer could result in a mass meet. It would be good again

isn't that why we're all here?

I thought we were all here to argue… 😉

I love looking at and taking photos but my ride pics always end up being a bit shite, probably because I just take snaps and move on without giving any thought to lighting or composition which I spend ages thinking about for other photos.

When you have to cover 80 miles before the sun goes down, photography tends to take a back seat (though I can't use that excuse for the "end of ride" pic!). There's a lot of my pics didn't make it to Flickr because they were either out of focus or very overexposed, so I'm not even checking the basics like aperture and focus point. Must try harder!

mrmichaelwright – they've had my email address for years but they never get in touch. 😥

radoggair – I'm thinking Aviemore area…

Early to Mid May would be good. I'm away most of June.

Aviemore? Up Carn Ban Mhor over to Braeriach then return via the Lairig Ghru? Or perhaps a mission over to Ben MacDhui from Glenmore…………lack of snow essential!!! Or perhaps something involving Bynack More? This snow in April is a pain in the arse. It has seriously curtailed my plans for riding in the mountains. On the plus side, I took a cheeky scoot up Ben Lomond yesterday afternoon with a couple of friends. Terrific descent in the early evening sunshine and good hikey bikey training on the way up!!!!!

If the weather is good this weekend coming, Fife Coastal Path in a day is on the cards. Great wee ride which I did with Shearer and McMoonter a couple of years ago.

Cheers

Sanny

I'd travel up for a couple of days on the mountain bike around Aviemore, not done enough mountainbiking around there

Sanny, If the coastal path in a day is a goer, I'll contact the LBS guys, they'd be well up for that.

There is still an awful lot of snow on the Cairngorms. And Carn Bhan Mhor is even more epic since the bridge at the Lodge was washed away. Sheera and I did the Burmah Road climb and singletrack doonhill and the other mast climb and descent to Alvie. Thats a good 'low' level alternative if there is still snow igher up.

i spoke to some skier types in aviemore yesterday and they had been getting all the way down to the car park (in t-shirts !)so i think the high stuff is going to be off at least for another month, but lets pencil it in for 8-9 th may or there abouts

oh yeah, stuartie-c………its over for hard tails, come join us in the 21st century 💡

8-9th May could work – weekend before 10 UTB.

Who's going to do the organising? I was going to suggest one of Sanny's routes but the man himself has beaten me to it! There are lots of options, ride wise, so all we'd need to do is find somewhere to stay.

(Hardtails are the dogs bollocks)

(i think you can get ointment for that)
ill be asking you again after a weekend up the gorms ?

italspark – Member

oh yeah, stuartie-c………its over for hard tails, come join us in the 21st century

full sus is for softies – real softies.

What chainrings for an 11 hour C2C2C epic? Ones with all their teeth

Nah. Plenty of life in this baby.