Fanylion Mountain Bike Team
Official site of the Fanylion Mountain Bike Team. Includes mountain bike ride guides, gear reviews, bike maintenance, team reports and rider profiles of the Fanylion Racing Team.
Cairngorms
July 16, 2005, Scotland
More pics here.
It all began about 10 months ago. After completing a gruelling 50 mile ride, Teams White Sox and Shortbread retired to the pub to toast the ride and ease their aching limbs. Naturally the conversation rarely deviated from mountain bikes and it was here that I first boasted that I could ride a 100 mile off-road ride. In a day. "Bollocks!" responded White Sox, "that’s impossible." A few beers later White Sox was converted and we were convinced that we were up to the task. The next morning dawned and with a slightly fuzzy head I emailed Hodgson about our little discussion. He wasn’t convinced and so the idea was laid to rest.
However, in the November 2004 issue of MBR magazine an article describing a three day circular ride in the Cairngorms caught my eye. Having ridden perhaps 75% of the trails described I could fully understand the route’s remoteness and it's general state of hardcoreness. The magazine described the route as measuring about 90 miles in total and immediately I thought back to the drunken 100 miler discussion. All I needed to do was find a few more miles and I’d have a perfect 100 mile loop on which I could prove my drunken boast or die in the wilds in the style of Scott of the Antarctic - a heroic British failure. As the route was so long it could obviously only be attempted in summer when the trails were drier and, more importantly, when 18 hours of daylight existed. I contacted Hodgson informing him that I had found a route suitable and was he up for it? He was, and we decided that because of the scale and nature of the challenge it should be invitation only. In any case, most of the team have far too much common sense to attempt to ride such a long way in a day.
A few months passed and we had 4 confirmed riders – myself, Hodgson, Techno and White Sox. On a sneaky March raid at Glentress I laid out the maps in front of a shocked Hodgson. Having just ridden at Glentress and Innerleithen we were knackered and I wasn’t surprised that Hodgson emailed me the next day to state that the ride was impossible and he for one wouldn’t be coming. It took all of half an hour to persuade him otherwise and a date was set - 16 July. The months quickly passed and unfortunately White Sox had to pull out due to work commitments which meant we were down to three.
Hodgson and Techno made the long journey north on July 15 to Fortress Shortbread and after a hearty meal and a couple of pints retired to sleep and dream of either the glory that would be showered upon us if we completed the ride or the prospect of dieing in the Cairngorms. As a precaution I had left my car at the 70 mile point so even if we had to bale we would still be faced with a gargantuan ride. The weather forecast was decent and after getting up at 4.30am and devouring a hearty breakfast including Shortbread’s salty porridge we drove the 20 miles to Tomintoul to begin the ride. Three riders meant almost no faffing at all and after the obligatory pre-ride photo we were ready to go at 6.15 am no less! Our packs were full of trail food, water, clothes, tools, first aid kits and goatskin leggings should the worst come to the worst. I was even carrying a thin spare tyre and have never lugged a pack as heavy on a bike.
The start of the ride involved heading directly south from Tomintoul along a mixture of rough tarmac and fireroad trails for about 6 miles. On our right was the River Avon with its crystal clear waters and despite it being sunny we were quite chilly as we were hidden from the sun in the Glen. The pace was good, perhaps a little quicker than I had imagined so I left Hodgson and Techno to dictate the tempo. Once we reached Inchrory Lodge (allegedly owned by the Sultan of Brunei) the trail became rougher and a couple of short climbs and some river crossings saw us reach Loch Builg.
Up ahead loomed Culardoch, the biggest climb of the whole ride, but before it was reached we negotiated a delightful mile and a half of peaty, rocky singletrack along the side of the Loch. Another mile of rocky doubletrack brought us to the bottom of the climb and we clanked and crunched our gears into the granny ring and got our heads down.
The climb was steep and parts were very sandy and loose which made it difficult to maintain traction. About halfway up I nipped on a bit in order to take some pics and was rewarded with stunning views over the Deeside Hills and the eastern Caringorms. The morning air was exhilarating and visibility was perfect and when Hodgson and Techno crested the hill at 2500ft we stopped for our first food stop. Hodgson and Techno were surprised to see snow still nestling in some of the deeper corries of the mountains. The hard work on the climb was rewarded with a lengthy descent with a few counter climbs. Some sketchy loose corners were negotiated before the trail reached ancient Caledonian forest. As the trail steepened we were able to ride a strip of singletrack in the middle and descend the swoopy trail through grass glades and deciduous trees to the Braemar road. 2 miles of tarmac saw us reach Braemar and we took the opportunity to fill our hydration packs to the max as the next available refill point was 45 miles away. Yep, that’s right, 45 miles without even coming close to a shop, road, house or anything resembling civilisation. We rode steadily on tarmac towards the Linn of Dee and were passed by several cars full of mountain bikes. "They have no idea we’re on a 100 mile ride and we’ve been riding since 6am" sneered Hodgson taking an opportunity to grab the moral high ground. He was probably right – they had far more common sense than to be out riding at 6am.
As soon as we reached the Linn of Dee it was time to treat our tyres to doubletrack again. Just as we left the road we passed a sign declaring "Warning. You are entering wild and potentially dangerous mountain country." If we hadn't been aware that this wasn’t some pootle round a man-made trail we were now.
The early morning sun had been replaced by threatening looking clouds and it was dark and quite chilly as well. The following 10 miles or so were hard work as we rode on a flattish trail made harder by the strengthening wind which we were riding directly in to. We came to a pretty deep river crossing which Hodgson and myself tip-toed over but Techno blasted straight through. He needn’t have though as we had missed the turning for Glen Geldie by 500 yards and had to turn back.
Again Hodgson and Shortbread queered out, again Techno blasted through soaking the only pair of shoes he’d brought for the entire weekend. After stopping for some food Techno found his drink bladder to be leaking which had soaked the entire contents of his pack. He emptied everything out and found at the bottom of his pack to be particularly pungent due to a stray tea bag which was stewing nicely!
We quickly got organised and headed up Glen Geldie. Initially we were treated to more rough doubletrack which Hodgson and I tackled with ease. After a couple of miles it became apparent that Techno was lagging a bit so we eased off a little. Glen Geldie was the only section of trail I hadn’t ridden before and was a little concerned as to whether we'd find our way sufficiently or whether the trail would be rideable. I needn’t have worried as due to the recent dry spell and some judicious trail repairs the whole Glen was rideable save for a couple of extra wide drainage ditches. Our progress was slow as we tackled technical singletrack, with rocky descents and short sharp climbs that kept us on our toes. We climbed gradually but progress remained slow due to the technical terrain until we reached the watershed between Glen Geldie and Glen Feshie. After we had passing the wonderful Eidart waterfall and gorge we began to descend into Glen Feshie.
The trail alternated between prime highland singletrack and Land Rover tracks with some of the singletrack being pretty tricky as it was very narrow and at times cut into steep hillsides.
Once we reached the valley floor we were rewarded with riding amongst a superb ancient Caledonian forest and despite a wrong turning we soon reached tarmac after over twenty miles of continuous fireroad and singletrack. It was here that we realised Techno was struggling and he complained of knee pain. Hodgson and I were concerned as, firstly, we were only approaching the half way point of the ride, and, secondly, Techno never complains and the fact that he was indicated he was in a lot more pain than he was letting on. We told Techno to tuck in behind us and we’d drag him down the 4 miles of tarmac to Feshiebridge peloton style.
After 500 yards we looked round and Techno had disappeared but we pedalled on and re-grouped at Feshiebridge. We gave the Techno the option to bale and ride 10 miles to Aviemore but after taking on some painkillers and fluids he made the decision to carry on. rspKt! I informed him that in 15 miles or so we’d reach Glenmore where we could see how he was faring and abort to my car if necessary. The trail to Glenmore took us through Rothiemurchus and passed Loch An Eilein and Loch Morlich where we encountered some lovely singletrack and rocky trails. On passing a couple of walkers one joked "Come on lads, put some effort in!" probably not realising we’d done 60 miles already and had another 40 to go!
After about 65 miles Hodgson suddenly bonked and at the same time my rear shifter fell to bits. We made it to Glenmore and the decision was taken to sit down in the café and eat 'proper' food instead of cereal and energy bars. Techno had a full English, Hodgson had beans and toast while I treated myself to a bacon and egg roll.
The hot food seemed to do the trick and we got back in the zone ready for the final 30 miles. After looking at my rear shifter it was clear it was kaput and I’d have to ride the last 30 miles with only my front gears working. To make climbing easier I got my chain to run on one of the middle sprockets and we set off over the Ryvoan pass. Techno’s fry up seemed to have done the trick and although he was a little behind Hodgson and myself he was no longer the gibbering wreck he had been.
We descended into Abernethy forest and crossed a couple of burns before reaching Nethybridge and then making our way on tarmac to Dorback Lodge. The end was now tantalising close although privately I knew we’d fall about 9 miles short of out target by the time we reached Tomintoul and knew we’d have to do an extra loop to bring up the full 100. Just as we began the final stretch my rear brake pads fell out! I realised that I had forgotten to put on the pin that stops the bolt holding the pads in from loosening and was left to suffer the consequences of my stupidity. We couldn’t find the bolt so I had to ride the remainder of the ride with only a front brake!
After a couple of climbs we descended into Glen Brown and I was held up by some suicidal sheep intent on running directly in front of my front wheel. After climbing out of the Glen I took the guys round tracks circling Tomintoul to make up the missing 9 miles. I deliberately avoided them a glimpse of the village until very near the end in order to keep them focused on the job in hand but I must admit the final miles were very slow and mentally tough. However, as we reached the upper end of the nervous nineties adrenaline began to flow through our battered bodies and we managed to keep going.
We arrived back in Tomintoul to the unmistakable sound of bagpipes as the post-Tomintoul Games celebrations were in full swing. We posed for the post-ride photo (you have to see this photo, look at the state of Techno) before rapidly packing the car and heading back to Fortress Shortbread. It was a quarter to eight when we reached Tomintoul meaning we'd been out for 13 and a half hours! Our actual riding time was just over ten hours meaning we maintained a healthy speed of around ten miles an hour whilst riding. In the car the atmosphere was strangely anti-climatic as well as hideously smelly, perhaps we were too tired to care for what we had done or the achievement hadn’t sunk in? Anyway, back at home we were treated to a veritable feast (including champagne!) after which we went out for a couple of pints. By half 11pm we were shattered and couldn't keep our eyes open and went home to bed. I don’t think I've ever slept as well and was slightly afraid I’d never wake up. Plans to ride some of my local trails next day were quickly shelved in the morning as we were all knackered and my bike needed major repairs and Hodgson and Techno had a long journey south.
Having had a couple of days to reflect upon the ride I must say I’m extremely proud of what we achieved. It just goes to show what a bit of planning, training and organisation can achieve! And we have a new Team Faction – the Lunatic Assault Endurance Faction! Entry to the faction is strictly by invite only so if you hear rumours of a 200km off-road ride you know who to call...
Team Shortbread, out.
Riders present
Team Shortbread
Team Hodgson
Team Techno
Enjoyment level
13.5 hrs of pain and fun