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Tuesday 30 October 2012

Trail Cycle Leader Training @ Mugdock Park

While Craig and Mark were out kayaking on a chilly Loch Lomond, Bill was running a TCL training course over two days at Muggy Park - a great hidden gem of MTB trails which requires much scoping to find the secret lines there.

A beautiful Saturday led into mixed weather on Sunday for Liam and Sarah-Louise, who both enjoyed the scenery;

The training course covers all the requirements to lead people in fairly simple MTB terrain but is the stepping stone to further MBLA Course.   Topics covered include navigation, first aid, trail fixes for 'broken down' bikes, coaching and MTB skills, amongst other issues.

This is a busy two day course, crammed with great information and delivered in Simply Epic style in great locations.   
Liam and Sarah-Louise enjoying the biking 
TCL is the gateway to all further MBLA courses for MTB leadership - see MBLA info for more details.

Contact Simply Epic Adventures for availability & dates on further TCL courses, delivered anywhere in Scotland or north England.

Saturday 20 October 2012

Bothy Nights

Nipped out for a cheeky expedition night at a lovely bothy in Argyll with the Milngavie Youth Cafe; the weather was rather challenging with snow down to 500m and poor weather indeed.

Cobbler

Loch Long
We got to the bothy and sadly it was a bit of a mess; buried rubbish and used toilet paper in the main camping field - unacceptable face of uneducated campers :(


Anyway, we had a great time even tho the girls had an all-nighter in case they were attacked by a spider - scardy cats!! !   All in, a good experience for them although they were all like burst couches on the journey home :)
Thankfully, we were able to leave it much cleaner than we found it

The one time resident - those days were hard


The Mountain Bothy Association are to be commended and supported for all the work they do in maintaining bothies for walker/climber/bikers etc to use.  Check out their site.

 

This guy looks like a guy who used to be in the Muppets??   Sam the Eagle?

Monday 15 October 2012

Weekend? Must be Glen Coe!

Sore backs and sore necks meant the team went for different options in the Coe.  Craig and Bill headed up on the bikes to scope out some new trails around the Glen and the Devil's whilst Mark went for a sprint round the Zig Zags on Gearr Aonach, SCNL, Bidean nam Bian.



We all had a great time. Bill and Craig checked out the 'directissimo' on the Devil's Staircase before seeking new tasty trails nearby.


The technical riding on the Devil's varies from fairly straight forward to super hard, depending on the line you wish to take.   This is really what makes the ride so good, and there are many options to extend the run to include fantastic trails around Kinlochleven.

A great run down into Kinlochleven and the excellent Ice Factor saw us have a nice lunch and cake followed by a fast run back towards the car in Glen Coe.

The weather held nicely for us but it was cold and windy at 600m. The views up the Glen were fantastic, with Aonach Eagach ridge looking very inviting for next week indeed...who knows, it may come to pass.

The glen never fails to impress and views all round are worthy of any tourist magazine...


Bill, blending into the landscape...

The ridge in all its glory 

Aonach Dubh from Clachaig


 The boys bringing up the rear !
Bill! Just so he knows :)

Who knows, next week might see us somewhere near to this location again...

Monday 8 October 2012

Trail Cycle Leader Award

Bill was running a Trail Cycle Leader (TCL) award on Saturday on the trails around Aberfoyle.

Part of the assessment involves being able to carry out certain trailside repairs. This is normally done on the trail when someone punctures but today it was done back at the car. This involved changing wheels and tyres, chain splitting, stop screws and headset adjustment. A couple of wobbles so to speak but perseverance won through in the end.

Congratulations to Garry and Ronnie who both passed.
 

Simply Epic Adventures are running TCL training and assessments throughout 2012. More details here 
MBLA or call Bill on 07717005803




Monday 1 October 2012

The Black Swans...on Aonach Eagach ridge

Craig and Mark were out on a CPD day on the ridge doing movement and security on steep ground and some rope work whilst skating across the ridge

It was wet windy and pretty slippery the whole way across with the andesite being particularly death-like. In truth we were dancing like a pair if ballerinas at times, front pointing on the rubber rand!

Notwithstanding, we moved together fast and were slick when necessary with a sub two hour traverse of the ridge from top east to west. Many thanks to Moira who gave a couple of hitch hikers a ride back to the car...it shaved an hour off the time car to car.

All in a good day demanding focus and care; the ridge never fails to impress or deliver.

The beckoning mist...

Slippy as an eel off the first top

Mark in the half-way chimney

eh...mist?



Monster waterfall on the way down