Two men went up a mountain - at least one came back a boy...
Sept 29, 2013 21:36:17 GMT
Radchenister, johnc60, and 5 more like this
Post by DelB on Sept 29, 2013 21:36:17 GMT
'Evening chaps.
zoltansocrates and myself decided fairly last minute to tackle a loop a couple of hours drive north of Edinburgh, so we met up at sparrows fart yesterday and the road trip began.
We arrived at Bridge of Balgie, ten miles north east of Killin, at just after 9.30 and after about twenty minutes or so of faffing and fettling we were on our way. We decided to do the loop clockwise, as I'd read about loose, sketchy switchback descents if you do it anti-clockwise and I'm too young and pretty to be encouraging any high speed body to ground interface situations.
So, right from the off we were straight into the Category 2 'Ben Lawers' ascent, which is 4.4 miles long and rises 1138 feet in that distance. Settled into a nice rhythm and tapped it out in 31 mins and 6 seconds, but grew a full beard waiting for Zoltan to appear!! He made up for it on the descent down through the fog, though, firstly doing a bit of gardening by taking a corner way too fast and heading off road (still don't know how he managed to stay on the bike) and then doing his best to get spread-eagled across, not one, but two 4 x 4's following each other up the single track road when he again took a corner too wide.
So, excitement over and heart rates back to as near normal as we could, we enjoyed a lovely undulating section of around 8 or 9 miles along past Killin and the river, before heading back up over the mountains again. This was a vicious climb - only 1.8 miles long this time, but rising 885 feet. Switchback after switchback, through gates, over crumbling surfaces, with average speed barely enough to stay upright, we eventually got to the summit and took a breather. The descent was awesome - still poor surfaces, so needed to keep our wits about us, but touched 40 mph one on stretch and it was all over too soon as we reached the bridge at the bottom of the valley. A largely uneventful (save for a visit from the p******e fairy for Zoltan ) ten miles or so back along the valley with scenery and weather to die for and we were back at the car. We then discovered that we had left the car with the drivers door wide open for the entire near-four hours we were away with Zoltans wallet in the door bin for all to see!!! Thank goodness that Bridge of Balgie is at the arse-end of beyond and the people there are clearly kind and honest.
So in summary, really tough going for relative newbies like us, but hugely satisfying to have completed both of the huge climbs without so much as a foot dab.
Here's a wee helmet-cam video I put together. It's my very first edit with my very first video camera, so please excuse the quality and the fact that there doesn't appear to be any way to switch off the date/time stamp.
Edit - video best viewed at 720p.
zoltansocrates and myself decided fairly last minute to tackle a loop a couple of hours drive north of Edinburgh, so we met up at sparrows fart yesterday and the road trip began.
We arrived at Bridge of Balgie, ten miles north east of Killin, at just after 9.30 and after about twenty minutes or so of faffing and fettling we were on our way. We decided to do the loop clockwise, as I'd read about loose, sketchy switchback descents if you do it anti-clockwise and I'm too young and pretty to be encouraging any high speed body to ground interface situations.
So, right from the off we were straight into the Category 2 'Ben Lawers' ascent, which is 4.4 miles long and rises 1138 feet in that distance. Settled into a nice rhythm and tapped it out in 31 mins and 6 seconds, but grew a full beard waiting for Zoltan to appear!! He made up for it on the descent down through the fog, though, firstly doing a bit of gardening by taking a corner way too fast and heading off road (still don't know how he managed to stay on the bike) and then doing his best to get spread-eagled across, not one, but two 4 x 4's following each other up the single track road when he again took a corner too wide.
So, excitement over and heart rates back to as near normal as we could, we enjoyed a lovely undulating section of around 8 or 9 miles along past Killin and the river, before heading back up over the mountains again. This was a vicious climb - only 1.8 miles long this time, but rising 885 feet. Switchback after switchback, through gates, over crumbling surfaces, with average speed barely enough to stay upright, we eventually got to the summit and took a breather. The descent was awesome - still poor surfaces, so needed to keep our wits about us, but touched 40 mph one on stretch and it was all over too soon as we reached the bridge at the bottom of the valley. A largely uneventful (save for a visit from the p******e fairy for Zoltan ) ten miles or so back along the valley with scenery and weather to die for and we were back at the car. We then discovered that we had left the car with the drivers door wide open for the entire near-four hours we were away with Zoltans wallet in the door bin for all to see!!! Thank goodness that Bridge of Balgie is at the arse-end of beyond and the people there are clearly kind and honest.
So in summary, really tough going for relative newbies like us, but hugely satisfying to have completed both of the huge climbs without so much as a foot dab.
Here's a wee helmet-cam video I put together. It's my very first edit with my very first video camera, so please excuse the quality and the fact that there doesn't appear to be any way to switch off the date/time stamp.
Edit - video best viewed at 720p.