Adventure Blog Scotland

Back in the water!

May 2, 2008 on 3:09 pm | In Canoeing | No Comments

The sun was out at the weekend and I was able to enjoy my first open canoeing session of the year. Opening my tent door in the morning, the loch was glassy calm with a still mist hanging quietly over the water. We wasted no time in getting onto the water and enjoyed a wonderful morning, gliding through the water.

It was only a day trip but it’s certainly got me looking forward to the summer. I think that I will try to escape the office and join one our our combined canoeing and hiking trips which explore the North West Highlands, or perhaps the trip which traverses the Great Glen via Loch Ness.

Choices, choices, choices. Roll on the summer!

Stevie Christie
http://www.wildernessscotland.com
Director of Wilderness Scotland & also of the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival. Into most mountain sports, esp mountain biking, walking, climbing and sea-kayaking.

There is something not right about this

April 1, 2008 on 8:34 am | In Uncategorized | No Comments

We decided to take a couple of the new mountain bikes (Bike Hebrides) for a trial round the Castle Grounds in Stornoway and all I keep hearing from behind me was ‘There is something not right about this’

Tommy comes from a road racing background and he found he was having to unlearn all of the techniques of road racing. The consiquences were a couple of spectacular falls . I looked back at one bend and the bike was int he middle of the track and there were a pair of legs sticking out of the bushes.

The ground was very wet after all the rain over the last week so it wasn’t just Tommy who was riding without the bike. I ended up running through the undergrowth after pressing the ejector seat on the bike which had decided it wanted to take a close look at a grabby mud hole.

The two things Tommy learnt were; you need to hang yourself off the back of the bike on decents, the saddle needs to be low enough to get your bum over the back wheel and you can’t stand up in the peddles on slippery ground or the back wheel just spins, so on steep slippery accents you need to keep your bum on the seat or at the very least your wieght over the back wheel.

Hopefully the tumbles won’t stop him coming out for another blast.

Tim Pickering
http://www.canoehebrides.com
My regular mantra - Everyone should visit the Outer Hebrides, it is the extreme outdoor capital of Scotland. CanoeHebrides.com - Sea kayaking Expeditions BikeHebrides.com -Quality Mountain Bike Hire

Deer Stalking

March 4, 2008 on 10:58 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

I have returned from running with the deer and ohh how I ache.

I flew away on Thursday and we had a business meeting in Edinburgh, this gave me a chance to nip into the Edinburgh Bike Coop for some bits for the new fleet of bikes we have for Bike Hebrides

Saturday found Jez and I wandering round Glasgow looking for braces and shirts, we also had to pop into Laura Ashley to pick up our waist coats and shorts. After meeting Jamie the team was complete and we laughed our way to the race start.

This is where the organisation of the race started to show a few limitations. We were standing in the queue and getting closer to the desk when they said they were closing until quarter past two. This was because of the 5k race but it would have been nice to tell us so we didn’t spend 30 minutes standing around. It was worth going out to watch the start of the 5k it was hilarious. The start line with the backdrop of Traquair House. Then on the start there was a mad dash up to the first hurdle a line of bales of straw. There was carnage when they all arrived.

Deer Stalker start

Bales on Deer Stalker

We checked in and then off to the pub for lunch. Jez and Jamie found the new food of the elite sports person The Sports Burger. Jamie did resist the chips in the name of training.

We doned our tailormade tweeds courtesy of Breanish Tweed suitably refreshed we made our way to the start.

At the start as we walked though to the start line we caused a bit of a stir, one of the comments ‘You have already won the award for satorial elegance’

Deer Stalker start

At the race start we were joined by Dave Wiseman and we decided the best start was to be over the bales as fast as possible and then accept we were going to get over hauled and settle into our own races. The start saw us perfectly positioned and then we were off. Over the bales and then into the corner at which point I discovered I was in serious oxygen debt and I needed to slow down. So, I settled back into my own pace and accepted I was going to get overhauled.

The first obstacle was a muddy ditch and then the start of the accent, the lung busting hill. We just seemed to keep going up. My lungs were bursting and my legs screaming it was time to stop. Finally though, we topped out and there was a fantastic downhill tear through the forest. Into the river and then another up hill, it wasn’t to bad until we rounded the corner and faced the ’stone shoot’. It seemed to go up into the clouds. As I climbed I started to pass people, I decided there was no way I could stop or I would never get started again. Reaching the top I realised it was so dark I had to get out the head torch another down hill and into the forest, slippery and a little less exciting and more scarey. There was an amusing interlude here with flashing lights and dark music a sureal experience in the middle of a 10k mountain run?

It was here the organisation of the race started to see a few more problems. At some of the junctions on the way up the route marking hadn’t been great but as the dark fell the lack of marking made finding our way more difficult. At the junctions there was a distinct lack of waymarking and at one stream we came out and there was no markers on the exit and we had to ask some local kids for directions. Then we went over the river Tweed and again there confusion over where the route went eventually we found it and ran for the finish.

There was a little disapointment when we also discovered there was no free beer as promised on the web site if you came in tweeds.

It was a good run but the niggles, which talking to competitors from last year were the same, let the event down. A little thought and it would have been not just good but fantastic.

Next there was a suggestion of doing the Jura Fell run I will need to see what my legs are saying about it at the end of the week - 16 miles and 2500 feet of accent …

Running like the wind or perhaps running from the hail?

February 24, 2008 on 9:31 pm | In Hillwalking, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Sometimes the Hebrides has the ability to take your breath away both physically and methaphorically.

As the final run in the training for the Mighty Deer Stalker next weekend, I went out with Mike. Mike had just bought a new camera and was keen to take some pictures. So with the blue skies punctuated with vicious showers we decided to go for a run. Mike suggested the West Coast of Lewis from the Gearrannan Black House Village up to Shawbost where we parked my car. Jayne dropped us off and was then going to take the kid’s for a walk.

The wind was a strong westerly so we were in for a push but the thing is westerlies bring showers.

The first hill was a killer and I was glad when Mike stopped to get the camera out.

View south over Carloway to Old Hill

Running on, we rose and fell to reach each headland, time and again we were treated to another stunning vista.

Looking North towards DalMor

The running was varied with very little level ground, I am convinced there was more up hill than down though.

Running over cliffs in Lewis

As we ran, we became aware of an impending sense of doom, each time we glanced over our shoulders there was gathering cloud, threatening to deliver its payload on us.

It was noticable the pace quickened and as we crested the hill above Dalbeag, we were suddenly being pushed along by the freshening wind. First there was a few flecks of rain in the air, then the rain got a little harder, then it got much ‘harder’ as it turned to hail. By this time we were hurtling head long over the bog, we could see the car, all be it about half a mile away. The dogs were haring in front of us, perhaps a sign?

The backs of my legs were stinging, to the point I thought it might cut the skin. Through the pain I heard Mike’s cheery comment ‘Just wait until they get to the size of golf balls’. I ran faster.

The shelter of the car was a welcome restbite and the heater even better.

Thanks to Mike for the pictures, I am looking fowards to more runs with the camera . ‘Oh look there is a great picture … shall we stop for a second?’

The Mighty Deer Stalker Looms Large

February 18, 2008 on 9:42 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

I am into the final week of running like a mad man, until the wind down, in preperation for the Mighty Deer Stalker. So yesterday had a great run through the bogs of northern Lewis just to get in the mood

We have managed to get sponsorship for our tweeds, are are going to be wearing plus fours, waist coats and the obligatory deer stalker. Breanish Tweed here in Lewis have kindly agreed to let us have some of their tweed and it is off at the tailors, being made, as I type. The Tweed is high end, hand woven here in the Isle of Lewis.

I had the sureal experience of being measured up by a tailor in my kitchen !

I have to declare a slight interest here as Anna owns Breanish Tweed and blagging sponsorship wasn’t to hard, but that aside I am glad it is a light weight tweed or I suspect there might be some interesting chaffing.

Sunny mid-winter Motor Cross in Lewis

January 12, 2008 on 7:36 pm | In Quad Biking | No Comments

There can’t be many better place to be than out on Lewis on a crisp, cold, sunny day. Koren wanted to have a run round the track on her quad, as her new body armour had arrived and she was desperate to try it and I didn’t take much persauding. Everytime I go up there I want to have a go but Anna has banned me from getting another bike, apparently seven is enough?, so I will have to content myself with watching and taking pictures. So here are a few…

John Neil Mitchell on the table top

View of Lewis MX track

Big air

Koren got to try her armour when she rolled her quad on the bottom bend ! Luckly nothing was bent.

Buelligans ride to Harris

January 3, 2008 on 10:17 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

The strong easterly wind means the roads were dry but it was bitterly cold. So after climbing into all the warm gear we owned, the bike is taken out from under the covers in the barn and woken from it’s winter hibernation, growling into life like a disturbed grizzly.

The Buell XB9R Firebolt (Link to technical bumf) is a great bike for the roads of the Outer Hebrides, it has loads of torque and is a little forgiving. The road from Stornoway in Lewis to Tarbert in Harris with the new surfaces and the two lane all the way, is a 35 mile blast. I have ridden may miles in a previous life as a dispatch rider and this is a very special piece of road. The set of bends through the Aline Forest are close to perfection.

I think I overtook three cars on the way and two on the way back, so it was busy. Puncuated with tea in the Harris Hotel, it was an afternoon of pure unadulterated pleasure stolen from Höðr.

I can’t wait for an excuse to ride to Inverness or even better to Fort William through Skye …

Motor X in Lewis

December 23, 2007 on 11:36 am | In Quad Biking | No Comments

I have always had a passion for motor bikes and suspect my children maybe getting the bug. Currently there are six bikes in various states of repair in the barn. My own toy at the moment is a Buell XB9R Firebolt and no doubt when the weather improves there will be some awesome rides to be done throught the Highlands. However the latest purchase to hit the stable is a 90cc quad for Koren, my eldest daughter.

We are in an amazing position here in Lewis as we have a brand new state of the art Motor X track just outside Stornoway (http://www.westernislesmx.co.uk/). The interest is helped by the fact John Neil Mitchell lives just down the road and he has just won the European and British Quad Bike Championships. (http://www.johnmitchellatv.com/news_18062007.htm). John is just setting up in business doing bikes and kit and he supplied me with the quad etc.

So yesterday afternoon I loaded Koren into the car and the quad onto the trailer and headed for the track. The full track was closed for grading but that was no problem, as what Koren needed was to get used to and practice on the bike. So with her new flowery pink helmet and pink MotorX jeans and top the bike was fired up.

She was very nervous of the bike at first, justifiably as it is not a toy and is a little sharp on the uptake whan you open the thumb throttle. But the start finish straight is fine gravel and provided a good place to gradually increase the speed and nerve. I still have the restricter on but I don’t think it will be long before it is off …

Quad at Creed MX track

It is a little nervy as a parent as you stand and watch one of your children suddenly discover the thrill of a powerful engine and speed. I am often concerned, in today’s world, all to often we wrap our children in cotton wool; ‘don’t do that it is dangerous’ where is the opportunity to make mistakes?

I remember riding my push-bike over jumps and having a few crashes but I never did anything I thought was likely to hurt me (still doing the same on a moutain bike) …

Tim after mountain bike accident

I think we forget children don’t like pain any more than we do and are likely to avoid accidents. That said I still had little heart flutter when she applied the power and slide the back end round in the beginings of a ‘doughnut’ (doughnut -spinning the bike round and keeping the front wheels in the same spot, do a google search for ‘quad doughnut’ to see some examples).

So I asked on the way home ‘did you enjoy it?’ to be faced with a big grin and the answer ‘yes, John Neil said the track is open on Boxing day, can we go?.

Winter walking in Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park

December 3, 2007 on 4:57 pm | In Hillwalking | 3 Comments

Saturday did not look very promising when we set off from Edinburgh. But Simo, Robin and I were determined to get some hillwalking (Munro bagging) done! We planned either Ben Lawers and Beinn Ghlas or Meall nan Tarmachan (hill of the Ptarmigan) in Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park. Upon arrival we decided to go for the slightly more scrambly and challenging Ptarmigan. No snow when we started off, but we could see some white peaks behind the clouds;

Simo and Robin by the car in drizzly rain

The walk starts at about 500m, which makes a big difference and especially in winter when you always need to be aware of the short days and potential white-outs. The ascent to reach the ridge was fine, not very steep or long. The ground was near enough frozen so nice to walk on, rain turned into slight snow showers and soon we were in knee-deep snow! After walking for about 1.5 hours Robin bagged his first Munro - we were so happy to share this experience with him! Just 283 more to go, Robin ;-).

Robin on ridge

The route is about 13k, 744m in ascent and after summiting Ptarmigan the ridge circles around and takes you back to the car which means no need for additional transport! Beacuse there was quite a lot of snow and ice a couple of the scrambly ascents were a bit tricky, and the vision was poor at times.

Jenny descending

The route took 4.5 hours and it was a cracking day out - although about 40mph winds at time! Route info found here; http://walking.visitscotland.com/walks/lomondtrossachs/213707 and http://www.walkingworld.com/results/walksummary.asp?id=3078&method=eRes&direction=position.

Jenny Glumoff
http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
Main activity sport climbing but love all types of climbing, surfing, mountain biking and hill walking!

A Day in the Life of a Land Rover Experience Instructor (cont)

November 20, 2007 on 1:08 pm | In Off-road Driving | No Comments

Written on behalf of Lead Instructor Will Cox (cont)
Over lunch apart from comparing the morning guests, the talk goes onto Dynamic Response in RR and Sport are we dedicated to Land Rover or not!? Or just sad. Afternoon clients arrive, slight change of scene being a Prospect Guest in the Range Rover Sport, sport clients are always very interesting but you quickly learn that you can’t judge. My client arrives, I go round meet and greet and go over a health and safety brief over a cup of coffee. A good time to establish the guests needs from the vehicle then we head out to the Sport and take him through a six point walkround which covers exterior and interior of the vehicle in good detail.Zac currently owns a BMW X5 so becomes very interested in the Sport and a barrage of questions come out which is great it makes for an even more interesting afternoon. We head off on a 30 minute road drive where the client is blown away with the torque that the V8 diesel Sport produces especially between 40 and 70 mph.With big smiles we return to the centre and take the Sport onto the off road course, I do a really good demo drive (bit of theatre) to show what the vehicle is capable off with out compromising safety. After that the client drives and by the end of the afternoon he is highly delighted with the Sport with both it’s onroad and off road capabilities. He has a quick cup of coffee while he fills in his questionnaire and the usual comments that the instructor was brilliant!After my good byes I go back to see if Rick has washed my car for me (as his client cancelled on him) by any chance errrrrr no! There’s a surprise! Anyway everybody mucks in and all the cars are washed and kit all tided away. We lock up and depart for the day. I jump back into my old disco and trundle my way home, listening to Chris Evans deciding no it’s not time to become a Togmiester, far too young!!

Annette Drummond
http://www.highlandoffroad.com
Loves all types of off-roading, mostly quad biking and Land Rovers