Looking for a shovel

Ever been in a hole where you can't find the way out? You can see the daylight at the top, you may be able to see the rim, even the walls, but when you try to reach them, they never get closer. It’s not like they get further away either, you just can’t seem to touch them. Same with the rim, it just seems so out of reach.

But the thing is, you can see everything in the outside world, you can even take part in it all. People, places, activities and experiences are all very real, but you’re not really there, you’re still in the hole. The lovely, warm, familiar hole. In this place, you dread those people, places, activities and experiences, but for the sake of your maintaining of some kind of life, you try to stick your head out now and again.

There are some things that make you happy outside, but they don’t last long enough. They have no long term value and you just can’t see the point of investing the time or energy to make them so. You see other people with a plan, a lust to be better and challenge the norm, and this may actually for a second actually inspire you to push harder! But the hole is so very comfortable.

Where you’re in the hole, you don’t need to take part in other peoples version of fun. You don’t have to be the life and soul of the party. You don’t have to prove yourself to other people or cater to whatever version of an ego that may or may not agree with your version of reality or what you should define as success or failure. It’s so much more comfortable to be in the hole.

Only what if when you let yourself loose for these short times that you never actually leave the hole behind, you drag it with you. It changes shape to adapt to your short forays above the rim. It makes you resent yourself for being safe and comfortable, for never fully being present in the world, for carrying dread, doubt, guilt and rage with you. For being selfish to the family you love dearly, for not letting yourself go and seeking help from the people that care or professionals that can help.

They, the ones that can help can never know about the hole, never.

If they did then they would be forced to take note of the hole. To ask you how it feels, what it looks like and how they can start to try and fill it in. They could help you widen the walls and make peeking over the top easier. You could climb out more often and leave the hole behind now and again. Maybe even leave it behind in favour of finding comfort above the rim.

For may years I have carried the hole around with me. Through past experiences, medications and a lifetime of living under it's rim. Yesterday I admitted to the most important person in my life that I needed help. We left the house together and started the journey to find some.

I’d be lying if I said I felt better about it. I feel scared, nervous and embarrassed. But I do feel something. I feel like I can now take a very big step to having the people closest to me benefit from a much better version of me. They have not asked it of me, but I know I can give it to them.

I was advised to write something like this. Whether it’s right to share it I don’t know? But I’ve known about this for what seems like my whole life and done nothing. I hope that someone else might read it, turn to a loved one like I finally did, then start on whatever journey they may find helps them.

What is your responsibility when riding with a group?

Some housekeeping first. 

I originally posted this blog on July 11th 2017. A few days after an eventful day out in July with around a dozen folk I had never met whom advertised it on a public  facebook group.

It was originally intended to be written in the form of a third party looking from the outside, into a ride that had more drama than your average MTB ride. When I introduced this blog post to the group in question, there was a bit of backlash, as it came across as potentially very critical for a few individuals.

People that didn't even actually read it decided to weigh in with their "informed opinions" on my supposed intentions, causing a huge and mostly productive debate on a popular public forum. I withdrew it and spoke with some of the people concerned and we all agreed that as a broad stroke, all points were valid.

Since then, I have befriended some excellent people that were involved, listened to their views on what unfolded on the day and concluded that despite the initial problems that I don't roll-back on any opinion written in the blog.

Anyway, here is the infamous entry from that fated day. Please let me know if you can relate to anything within.

Cheers

Allan


Read the blog, or for the first time listen to my alluring tones via the audio link.



What is your responsibility when riding with a group?

Or when you're out on the trail in general? These are subjective questions I know, and with a plethora of answers available depending on circumstance. For me its been the basis for a few good discussions with other riders. But to some, the answers are more absolute.

I've had fairly heated discussions with mates that are of the opinion that they wouldn't give even an inner tube to another rider outside their group and are of the "Mount Everest expedition" type mindset that you take responsibility for your own actions and "Hell mend ye" if you come a cropper.

I partly think this attitude (not specifically in this case) is a product of a bit of Alpha Male behavior in that every man should [be able] to fend for himself, you let this happen, you're not prepared, or even a chance to say or think along the lines of "you shouldn't be here if you can't look after yourself" which of course could be true on occasion, but the less experienced or simply the most enthusiastic of us either don't know any better or genuinely don't think it will happen to us. Both forgivable mindsets if the consequences are not serious.

There is also the (highly subscribed) rider that sits in the "someone else will have it" camp. I don't want to dwell on him, we all know who that guy is...

So the reason I'm writing this is that I turned up to a ride that was advertised on a facebook page for MTBers in my area. I only knew one of the 12 names that were listed as attending, so firstly I thought about going along to meet some new people. I know the route well, the weather looked good, so what could go wrong? Secondly, being a Mountain Bike Leader I was curious as to the way the ride was advertised: One rider taking responsibility for the ride (a 25 km route with over 700 m climbing) and limiting the numbers to 12 so that it was more manageable.

My curiosity was triggered by this sole statement if I'm honest. A fully trained and qualified MBL working inside remit is working with around half this many riders out into terrain of this type and I'm sure if you ask the first one you bump into if they do that often. The answer will almost certainly be no.

During this article, I'm not looking to call anyone out, cast aspersions or knock individuals for decisions they have made. I truly believe that these guys were simply advertising a fun day out for like minded people. No names, routes or details specific to anyone's roles will be eluded to and I'll be as general as I can be whilst nailing a few specifics to make the point.

"I twisted my ankle on YOUR ride, now I'm off work therefore..."

In these litigious days, if you arrange a publicly advertised gathering of people in the context of an activity where there is a high likely-hood of an incident. You better be the best on the spot assessor of your groups ability, a dynamite risk assessor and generally be willing to have yourself held to account for any type of responsibility that anyone wants to saddle you with after the fact. There is a million miles of daylight between asking someone to come on a ride with you and telling people that you will "lead" them on one, especially when it's aimed at (and open to) a large group of people that you don't know anything about.

The ride was advertised as being led over 31 miles and 3-4 hours. The actual ride was around 25 kilometres and by the time the days drama unfolded the ride time was almost 6 hours. So pretty much half the distance, double the time as it turns out. Details like distance, terrain and actual aggregate climbing are absolutely essential to both route organisation and the well-being of the group from a something as simple as nutritional standpoint. Everyone needs to know what they are getting into and of course to be confident that you do too. I'm not suggesting that recreational group riders should always make actual route-cards, but a solid understanding of the significant features and challenges within any route is the starting point for any ride and every consideration that follows.

As well as getting this across clearly in advertising a ride, you have to reiterate these details on the day as you make an assessment of the group and the prevailing conditions. Ideally while you're still in the car park and have the ear of anyone who may have questions or concerns.

 Address the group, tell them your thoughts on the day ahead, who's in charge (IC), who's your potential second in charge (2IC) Do you have your groups contact details, emergency details, allergies, medical conditions, local MRT number & nearby medical resources? Who's the first aider in the group, what emergency equipment does the group have? All very boring yes, but this stuff takes 2 minutes and if the shit hits the fan you'll be prepared.

Regretfully none of this happened on this ride. We just rolled off in a spread out group into a route that only 3-4 of the group had confessed having ever done. I was literally talking to someone, turned around and the group mostly gone and were underway.

"Isn't it left...? Did they just turn right?"

Follow this rule in context. If you're going to go the wrong way, go the wrong way uphill. If you ride a kilometer of downhill and have to go back up when you've discovered you've gone wrong. Well, you can guess where the group mood will end up.

The above happened during this ride. As a leader, you have to break the ride down and try to snuff out these potential glitches. If people want to go off and enjoy the enjoyable, then don't hold them back, but prescribe them limits. Give them guidance and make sure they don't compromise themselves or anyone else by heading off-piste or on in a direction that will cause problems. Simple things like "stop at the gate" or "stop at the tree line on your left" OK, so they may not listen, or even see the landmark you're talking about, but you're giving yourself the best chance of having a drama free experience.

At one point in the ride above, there was a huge split in the group. Intentionally splitting groups can be good and even necessary to make a ride work. Sometimes it may be only safe and pragmatic thing to do, but of course you need another strong and responsible person to make sure that you can rely on this person to take all the precautions that you would. This however was an unintentional split between the lead rider and the last riders. A small group that had one rider struggling with a healing long term injury regularly stopping to rest.  

This gap at times was around 1km occasionally in line of sight and occasionally out of sight, with one rider branching off to take on a DH section that seen him climb another 200m and go over 1km off the imagined route. This rider was completely capable and at ease with this, but if this was my ride I would have preferred him to stay with a group I was leading?

Anything could happen to him away on his solo excursion. Indeed when the ride regrouped, no-one really knew if he was down in front of us, had passed us or if he was still to arrive. There was no meeting point and he left from the rear of the group. With no phone numbers and with potential intermittent phone coverage, ways to call back the group to have them stop or come to assist could have been limited should there have been an incident.

It's worth mentioning that just before this point there was a potentially dangerous incident with a rider that had a total crash of energy and started exhibiting symptoms of a "sugar crash"  It turns out that the rider knew about this and had experienced it previously, as did others in the group, but it was not addressed in the context of anyone noting this for safety. Even the rider in question was unsure of their condition therefore not equipped to deal with it. Again to reiterate. These are things that we just don't ordinarily consider a hazard in normal life but can turn into a problem on a long ride.

Be assured though that the rider was dealt with properly and they went on to complete the ride in comfort & with confidence. This incident however happened to occur at the absolute furthest away from "civilization" that it was possible to be on the day.

So imagine the picture at this point: You have 12 riders, spread over around 2km of trails at the furthest point from help. No shared route plan, no shared contact details, no plans for a re-group with a rider already having had a potentially serious problem, It's now 25 degrees, you've climbed over 700m and at this point everyone is complaining about "being knackered" some in jest, but the general chat is about some levels of fatigue.

"So now is the time to take on a 450m technical descent at 50kph right?"

I guess we can never know what all of the contributing factors were on the 3 crashes and 2 serious injuries that this group of riders sustained on the short blast to the end of the ride. In brief, 2 riders crashed in a "shared incident" Each rider sustained some nasty forearm rash and the most unfortunate of the pair had his shoulder dislocate. Thankfully it went back in OK and he made it back down the hill. Afterwards he found out that he had in fact dislocated his shoulder and broken some ribs. Thankfully the entire planet managed to avoid his head, so luckily no risk of concussion.

Only at one point in the ride did I decide to advise caution. It was on the last part,  the simplest, but also the fastest part of the ride. A simple grassy trail over 10m wide that narrowed into a loose single-track corner. Everyone heard me advise them to "slow down before the bend" advising that it was loose and that dog walkers and the public in general were likely to be around. Despite this, one rider confessed to nearly hitting me when I started braking, narrowly avoiding an accident. You can do little more that address a simple hazard with simple precautions and advice on how to approach it, but if it goes unheeded then equally, there's nothing you can do.

Around one minute later at the bottom of the hill (and the end off the off-road ride) The bulk of the group, including myself were congratulating themselves on a ride that at least "the unscathed" had enjoyed as a whole. I had just uttered my now familiar and probably annoying "Any one you walk away from is a good one" mantra when two of our group appeared and announced that one of the last riders down had took a tumble and a serious injury was suspected. His tumble occurred on the stretch of trail I had advised caution on.

During the overtake of another rider, he had mis-judged the lay of the terrain and had a high speed crash that regretfully resulted in a suspected (later confirmed) broken collar bone. It's rarely that serious accidents (and by extension injuries) happen on the technical, steep stuff everyone is scared of, but more often the simpler but much faster terrain where increased focus, awareness and concentration are required. Again, he was made comfortable and with no head injury, we were fortunate that we could walk him the relatively short distance to ambulance access.

Tackling technical and fast terrain that requires high levels of concentration after extreme amounts of sufferance and exertion is rarely a good idea for all but the most switched on and experienced of riders. Again though, I'll reiterate that I can't know this contributed to these accidents but as a another rule of thumb, don't leave the most extreme riding till last unless you have absolute confidence in the ability and readiness of your group.

In both of these cases, they were dealt with in context of the the way the incidents presented themselves. Again after the ride I discovered that 2 of the group were first aid trained. However there was little intervention by the group throughout all of these incidents taking place and no-one presented as having ancillary equipment, first aid kits or relevant skills to help with the situations.

Again, this is not a criticism but an observation as I appreciate that different personalities react in different ways to different situations and of course by anyone's standards, this was a particularly feature packed ride.

These 2 guys had to go to hospital, secure cars that they brought when arriving alone, dump their gear at local shops and are now potentially off the bike for months, off work, perhaps not earning and now their loved ones will most likely have to look after them to some extent. (try wiping your backside with your other hand for a month. It's not as easy as you might imagine) now most likely regretting actions that may not even have been in their control.

I'm not for a second saying that all of these events would not of happened had there been a better plan and a bit of dynamic management in place. But it couldn't of hurt. But similarly there should be no blame directed at anyone as of of course "shit happens" But I thought it might make for a bit of constructive reading for anyone who may be interested in such things.

"Be responsible even if you're not taking responsibility"

So in closing, yes, I would have given that rider at the top of the story my spare inner tube if they really needed it, because I have a back up and a patch kit as well as a few other tricks up my sleeve to get me through. So what if he's not in my gang, it's the right thing to do. Just like I opened my first aid kit on this ride, had the right inventory and the correct knowledge to treat the injurys because It's a standard bit of riding kit for me. I had extra food and instant energy products that were specially chosen specifically with no nuts (the rider in question unbeknownst to me had a serious nut allergy) but it didn't matter as it was covered. And I also had the means to locate myself geographically, knew the MRT and local medical resource details, contacts and capabilities as well as having the confidence to rely on all of the above as an automatic tool to call on in any of the situations listed above.

Responsibility, organisation and a bit of foresight are not super-powers and they are different things to different people. But with a bit of all of these things, you can be the ultimate reassurance to your group. They will look to you with their questions, respect your answers and when push comes to shove most likely respond to your instructions.

The irony is that after even the short list of seemingly regimented, red-tape considerations above, when things are done well, they won't be obvious or perhaps won't even show to anyone else. While you are confident and comfortable in your prep, your group dynamic and your scenarios for the activity ahead, everyone else will only see that everything just goes off without a hitch.


...usually.

Ships and giggles!

Have you ever been to the Isle of Arran?

It's quite an extraordinary place and once described to me in my youth as "Scotland in miniature" It's not a bad metaphor actually as with it's highlands in the north, lowlands in the south and it's thriving central belt it does feel instantly familiar if you've done your locational research beforehand.

This is probably why the mountain bike component company Gamut USA wanted it's UK distributor to make a short edit of a point-to-point ride featuring their products as ridden by Andy Dodds one of their training guys. As i have just made some investment in getting back into making some AV content I offered my services as an "elbow in the water" and a low stake equipment test.

In my experience it's a bit of a truism that most americans have a view of Scotland that suggests wilderness, remoteness and a general "roughness" that simply has to be experienced if you want to have stories to tell. As a young Munro bagger, the "Yanks" we used to meet had mostly one phrase they used to roll out. It came in many forms but the basic gist was "It's SO GREEN up here"

Yeah, it's green because it rains...a LOT! The day we chose to get the ferry to Arran was no exception. 7mm of rain forecast with 50-70mph gusts on the hills, and yes it was very accurate on this occasion. We got it all.

Troopers both. Andy and Chris endured some serious weather to earn these smiles.

That in mind, here was the remit: A short 2-3 minute movie featuring a local rider that would be proven to be "Scottish island enough" through the following visuals.

A ferry ride.
A mountain.
A bothy.
A cup of tea AT a Bothy.
A hike-a-bike section.
A view of the sea.
Shit weather.

Truth is that we did catch all of these at some point in the day, but there was a problem. The final edit was almost 5 minutes long. The problem was we only had 5 hours to film due to the ferry times and the irony is that the more footage you get, the shorter you can make the video, but also, telling a "there and back again" story is difficult to do in such a short space of time. (it took Tolkien three books!)

So yeah, it's a bit over-cooked and I didn't really want shorten it as I didn't really know how to tell the story in a shorter fashion. They did ask me, but I made the case for something different from the 2 minute "style-up" movies that have preceded their "at home" series of rider made movies. They took it on board and ran with it, so as my first attempt in years with software that I learned enough to use in a day I think I'm OK with it.

"Icebike" is one of the cycle trade's biggest shows of the year. the company that hosts the event (Madison) is also the UK distributor for Gamut USA and the guys were over from the US to promote their equipment at the event and also rolling the film in the background for the trade to see. I'm unsure what the reaction was in the sterile trade only environment, but I've not heard any negative feedback yet so I'll take it that it was at least a neutral response, which is fine by me for a short, barely prepared foray back into film.

Anyway, i hope you enjoy the video of Andy "At home" let me know what you think in the comments or back on facebook if you came from there?

Cheers.

Laid up, foot up, fed up... Shut up?

It's hard not to feel sorry for yourself when you had work, activity, family and friends mapped out for a few months and then TWANG! The ordinarily elastic and highly complex series of muscles, tendons and ligaments in your ankle are asked to do some involuntary acrobatics as you temporarily forget how to put one foot in front of another.

Unfortunately I'm not the type to "make the best" of a situation like this as I'm constantly imagining an alternative universe in which I've been active for the last 11 days and not just thinking about how long it's going to take to start getting around again. It's also one of those injuries that seems to get more annoying as it heals.

At this point (11 days later) the only bit that is swollen is around the "ball" of my ankle, where the foot articulates. Whilst this doesn't look very serious, you kinda need this area to work if you have any chance of walking properly. It also bears weight when you extend onto your toes, so even after 11 days, walking up the stairs is pretty damn painful! Not to mention standing on bicycle pedals.

Nope...

The constant ingestion of both anti-inflammatory and pain killing drugs is also just unbearable on the digestive system of someone who doesn't ordinarily partake. There really is nothing good about the situation at all.

The reason I'm even writing this today is that my mate was sitting in a McDonalds 20 miles away for a pre-production meeting this morning (Wednesday) only problem is I'm still on Tuesday over here and a full day behind. So sorry Andy, I'll see you tomorrow. The combination of all the above and having no reference points for the last 11 days has just tossed everything up in the air for me.

So what to do? I did get on my feet for a few hours to go over to Sprockets and catch some footage to test the new camera gear and my chops with Premier Pro, the results of which you can see below. It's a bit rough around the edges but if you've ever tried using a steadicam, you'll appreciate that the results are actually pretty good for a first time user.



Another thing that really grates is just the sheer amount of reliance on other people. It's brutal to watch your loved ones running around after you, insisting that its all OK for them and knowing that you're the cause of them having to out in that extra effort and screwing up their schedules and arrangement. At the risk of sounding a bit self indulgent, I feel pretty bad for my wife and my in-laws, they really are the best people I've ever known.

On an even MORE depressing note, whatever happened to daytime TV? I'm sure it's like many things in that nostalgia and the loss of "youth" to the ravages of time kind of skews your opinion of what was good and what was not, but crikey! Rip off Britain, Cowboy builders, Wanted down under, Loose Women, Judge Rinder. I mean come on! It's easy to see why people who may choose to "apply themselves less" could sit and watch this sugar coated nonsense with no real motivation to leave the house, but it's not for me, it's terrible.

What else then? I don't really play video games these days, with the exception of GTAV if I'm just in the mood to cause some carnage on the streets of Los Santos. But in a weird course of action my wife & son bought me Battlefield 1 for Christmas.

I was a little confused at the time, but having played it a few times it really is quite a masterclass in every sense of the word and pays a very real homage to the horror, romance, cost and importance of the Great War. The story modes in particular are very poignant. Its actually hard not to relate to some of the characters as well as finding it double hard to watch increasingly realistic digital humanoids die over and over again in the most horrible ways ever invented. (sorry depressing I know)

The game play is amazing, the graphics and textures are stunning and of course getting killed is easy as there are folk all over the world that just spend all day playing games like this, with the express intention of kicking your ass.

Chaaaaaaaarrrrge!!!!

Even worse is the fact that I got to ride my new bike for the first time at the start of the year, only to watch it become a literal clothes horse over the last fortnight. In fact it was in the act of putting my bike in the van for a trip that I sprained my ankle in the first place.

Quite a bitter pill to swallow as I was ready to go to Innerleithen for a proper big ride to start the year and of course my journey towards the Cairngorm Loop this year. I guess this is the main reason I'm so down on this last 11 days.

I promise that the following photo is not set up. It's now like a chameleon, blending into its sad familiar background...

Literally the worlds most depressing picture.

Anyway, I think I'll quit this one just now as I initially did it to cheer myself up.

Buh.....

The creative drought and near write-off of 2016.

So where to even start?

There's a quote from "Of mice and men" that I could use about "great plans" but all I'll say is that I started this wee blog with the best of intentions right when life in general was about to throw me a finely tuned curve ball. A curve ball that would stop me in my tracks long enough to set aside my specific goals for 2017 and potentially move them over a year.

In March I was made redundant. Along with 7 members of staff that were also my friends, the Tiso group that was also in charge of Alpine Bikes decided that our branch in Glasgow's St Georges Cross Glasgow had to go. After years of questionable upper management decisions, poor foresight and an unwillingness to respond to staff and store management concerns, yet another branch of one of Scotland's first independent bike shop chain bit the dust. I could have stayed but I had no faith left in the company at large, so I found myself without a job.

Luckily I have some friends that thought highly enough of me to send me some work and eventually give me the confidence to start my own little business in my hometown. After a wee bit of summer trading, I think it may just work too. So we'll see how it goes? I'll probably keep a "real job" too until i get a full year under my belt just to be safe?

Just after that I was dealt a health blow which put me on my arse for 2 months during the summer. Anyone who knows me will remember my right hip giving up last summer (2015) which prevented me from doing pretty much anything. Well this year, the left one gave me the same trouble. This time it wasn't as debilitating as the last, but I couldn't ride my bike, was in great pain so had to rest, meaning a put half a stone on over a few months and just got rather lethargic along the way.

I did a fair bit of wild camping too. In October the Aonach Eagach Ridge Glen Coe.

This time though, the physio referral came through while I was actually laid up, making it easier to get to the bottom of it, so through good movement, common sense and rest, I was back up and at it as Autumn came round. I got weaving and lost the weight I put simply by watching my calories. Turns out that I had a spasm in a back muscle that was giving me chronic sciatic pain. Luckily no mechanical problems then, but pretty damn painful none the less.

But there were some positives. This year I passed my Bikeability training, did my level 3 Mountain Bike Leader training and got out on my bike more than ever in September and October.

I slept in more Bothys in that 2-3 months than I ever had all year. Rode more big day rides and overnight rides than I've ever done and at any opportunity just went biking. I also got to work at Ridelines Mountain bike tuition, leading kids and young adults round the trails at Glentress. This simple gesture of trust by the Tweed Valley coaching team was probably the highlight of my working year.

I also managed to sneak into their new promo video that was filmed over a few days at Glentress. It was honestly such a privilege to be included in their work this year. Also we had a pretty great Christmas dinner at Number One Peebles Road too.



So At this point I'm behind the goals I'd set when I wrote the description of this Blog, but I'm still on mission. Cairngorm Loop this year and the HT 550 next year. So just a year behind schedule :)

As I write this however, I'm sitting with a badly sprained ankle. I had a "program" all set out with my training in place for January, but when loading my van yesterday morning to head to Innerleithen, I lost my footing and went over on my ankle. It's pretty much the worst pain I ever felt in my life and I really thought I'd broken it for sure. In and out of Hairmyers A&E inside 2 hours told me that I'd sprained my ankle and most likely torn a few fibres of my ligament, so I'm actually counting myself lucky in the context of what could have happened.

Crutches again... I don't look impressed do I?

I also ditched my Santa Cruz Bronson in favour of a Santa Cruz 5010. It has less travel and a longer top tube which makes it a more efficient machine for long days in the saddle and riding more akin to fast trail and aggressive XC riding. I've only ridden it once but it feels good so far. I plan many a trip on it's back. I've already decided the the Cairngorm Loop is probably best done on this bike too.

Thanks to the guys at Sprockets Cycles for the help with the build. I didn't scrimp on the spec and their help in building it made it a very easy project. I'll get into the bike as I get more experience on it, so if this is your kind of thing then check back to the blog for an update on how it rides for me. Danny Macaskill seemed to think it was OK or his "Wee Day Out"anyway?

I've been at Sprockets a lot this year helping them to launch their new store in Kilmarnock. It's almost certainly the biggest bespoke independent in Scotland at the moment and has seen stupendous growth and support from Scotland's cyclists since it opened in September. I'll no doubt continue to be part of that endeavour at some level, so expect some references to them along the way.

Ready for a "Wee Day Out"

Ahead is a busy few months personally and some great opportunities professionally. I'm also looking forward to completing a media project with a friend that may lead to other similar work and some other stuff I can't really get into right now. So despite starting 2017 with a crook ankle I'm determined to make the best of it. I'm also determined to share my experience with more people. Be it on line by writing about it or actually getting out to ride with people that I usually wouldn't ride with, or just old pals I haven't seen in a while.

I'm also determined to make more of a balance of all this stuff Vs family time. Those of you who have kids will know that they just grow up at such a rapid rate that you could easily miss the best days of your family life. This may be the biggest challenge of all!

I'm not really much for lists apart from the couple of goals this Blog was based on, but here's what I learnt in 2016

• I actually do like Gin. But I need to drink more whisky.
• I'm always fitter than I think I am.
• Scotland is without question the most beautiful country on earth. (I knew this before 2016)
• Electorates in any country are almost universally uninformed.
• I can sleep almost anywhere outside.
• Vans are best, cars suck.
• I injure easier and it takes longer to heal.
• Rogue One was perhaps the best Star Wars Movie so far.
• I don't see how other people have bother fitting tubeless tyres.
• Gary's WHW attempt on a CX bike was nothing short of awesome.
• My friend Velda Weir thought I was "35 or something".
• My clothing is going down in size.
• I need to eat (or drink) more vegetables.
• Not sure I like Ae forest as much as I used too. I'll go more in 2017.
• It's hard to watch other people lose people.
• I miss being in a band.
• I posted less rides to Strava than ever before.
• My son is the funniest person on earth.

People to thank in 2016 in no small measure or particular order. Andy Weir, Craig Paton, The Ravens, The Goldie Oldies, Gary T, Chris, Lewis, Niall, Adam and the rest of the Alpine Bikes redundancy support group. Dave MacDonald, Andy Dodds, Richard Kidd and probably loads more (sorry)

Most of all however, my awesome wife Donna, who herself has reached and surpassed some personal goals of her own. All whilst attending to our family's needs while I go about at least trying to make us a better life. 

It's been a tough one! What will I learn this year I wonder?

A very quick word on bikepacking luggage (very quick)

This week shit got real!

My luggage arrived and I could not be happier with it. As the Stache is a bonafide trail mountain bike, choosing luggage was actually quite tricky due to the compact nature of the frame and the tiny dimensions of the internal front triangle.

Firstly these dimensions are not friendly to big frame bags. With 2 water bottles in place there was no way that any type of frame bag was going to fit, so one was going to have to be sacrificed and there was no way to avoid it. With only 40cm of top tube to deal with inside the top tube area of the front triangle, my original plan of staying uniformly with the Apidura brand immediately fell to pieces. The frame bag I wanted to use from their range was 6cm too big in overall length, far from a huge measurement but these are finite dimensions and if there's no space then theres just no space.

So the search was on and one name kept cropping up as good value and great construction and so began the search for objective reviews of the Alpkit Possum frame bag.

Now the historic problem with Alpkit direct is that stock is always terrible in popular sizes and colours. This product was no different as my first choice (silver) to match the Apidura stuff I had already ordered was out of stock then Black (out of stock) both of which only said they were out of stock when I had gone to checkout. Very frustrating indeed! In the end I settled for the red colour as my bike has some red detailing on it which actually looks very cool when attached. The possum is well constructed and exactly the dimensions that were advertised so it fits under my teensy top tube perfectly. With deep full capacity access on one side and a thinner side pocket on the other its as simple as it is easy to access via the very good quality zips that can be opened and closed with one finger.

There will be plenty of time for colour shots. Here's some moody black and white for now.

The apidura stuff was a lot simpler but for one problem, the distance between the seat rails and the tyre. The seat pack I ended up with was the "small" version. You can see in the picture above that there is just a few inches between the tyre and the bottom of the pack. This just has an old jacket inside as a test so I expect when its fully loaded that it may be a little tighter in this area. I suspect that Apidura themselves knew the score here as the bottom of this pack is made from a different textile that seems to be a lot tougher than the material, easily 3 times as thick to take some serious abuse. But it fits, so panic over!

Lastly we have the handlebar roll; Apidura again for this one and it did not disappoint. The quality is fantastic and capacity is excellent for what is supposed to be a "medium" sized unit. It mounts at three points; two on the bars and one behind the fork cathead or steerer tube, depending on your frame. It doesn't seem to bounce around or inhibit any brake or gear operations.

I still have the bar roll accessory pouch to buy and a feeding bag for the top tube. These will both be from apidura as the accessory bag directly mounts to the bar roll and they feed bag seems like it will be a perfect fit.

I'll get round to taking better pictures and reviewing these products individually, but I just wanted to go over the basics in a quick blog entry as I'm off into the Highlands on Saturday to give the bike its first backpacking adventure along with my shiny new luggage!

Olaf the Lesser wide

Truth be told I was already writing this entry when a impromptu text conversation took place with an old friend about hardtail mountain bikes and the subject of the Stache in particular. So far from writing it because of him, I think I'll dedicate this entry to my old riding pal Phil Thomson. He's underway on a challenge of his own right now raising money for Cancer Research UK following the loss of Jean, his lovely late Mother who was a cancer survivor and a supporter of the same brilliant charity.

He's riding 1000 miles over 4 events to try and raise the hefty target of £3000! So please click THIS LINK for more details and to his just giving page and drop a few quid on the boy for a worthy cause.

Now, bike stuff...

2016 Trek Stache 5. "Olaf the Lesser Fat"

Pretty isn't it! This is the bike I'm planning on riding on these adventures over the next year or so. Its a 2016 Trek Stache 5 and it may be the most versatile (and prettiest) bike I've ever owned. Now I'm not saying that something better won't come along over the next year or so, but as a segway between an all day "mountain bike" and a bike that could potentially take me round these large rides, its where I've found myself for now. 

Standard talk about "spec" is pretty boring so I'll just post some pictures, describe them and move on to some closing Rhetoric about the bike itself. If you want the corporate blurb about the Stache then click the link to Trek's product page here.

Now don't adjust your set by the way, the colour is "Miami Green" and is notoriously difficult to photograph in varying light conditions. Hence the official Trek picture above.

2016 Stache 5 my weapon of choice.

Non drive side.

So the "only" thing I've really done to this is changed the drivetrain. I'm a big fan of 1x11 so I had bought another bike alongside this one at the same time, stripped the SRAM GX off it and transplanted it to the Stache giving it a huge climbing range despite those huge wheels and tyres. It came with 1x10 Shimano and a 34t front ring which would never take me where I need to go, so this type of upgrade was always going to happen.

It's still not the best super steep climber but grinding out fire roads and longer rides are gobbled up by the new drivetrain, friendly geometry and super compliant wheel set up.

Super cool 1.1/8 tapered to 1.1/5 front end with Trek Bowie carbon fork.

Boost 110 front fork spacing with 15mm bolt through axle.

The clean lines of the Stache continue all the way to every part of the bike.

So keener readers will notice that there are no mudguard or luggage bosses on this bike. I've decided to forgo these often expected features in favour of a lighter package using suspended luggage from Apidura and Alpkit rather than the traditional rack and panniers. I have to ride this bike as my only or "first" bike for the majority of this year, so a lighter, robust mountain bike was preferable to a big Surly, Salsa or similar steed. So far I have not been disappointed and trail centre style MTB performance is actually very good. No-one is leaving me behind so far!

The raised drive side stay is not for show. Its moved further up so as to maintain a standard BB width and fit the tyre width into the frame. So no wide stance width, no fancy BB standards, specific cranks or crazy Q-factors going on. Every drivetrain bit that fits your old bike pretty much fits this bike which offers peace of mind for replacing components.

The raised chain-stay is to accommodate the 3" tyre and as short a wheelbase as possible.

Moveable wheelbase via the Stranglehold dropout and adjustable brake mount.

More beauty around the head-tube area.

Simple, serviceable Shimano Deore brakes with sintered pads fitted are ideal for all types of riding.

I'll be experimenting with a few different wheel set ups too. I've already decided on a set of Hope Pro-4 Boost hubs for the actual ride as the reliability is assured. Some triple butted spokes will also be fitted as a preference for weight versus strength with the only sticking point being the rims. With 29+ in its infancy, the options are very limited in this format, so I'll take my time making up my mind and see what becomes available in the meantime.

The Sun Mule rims seem adequate and the wheels with tyres are actually very light despite the aesthetic of "fat" tyres. The Bontrager Chupacabra tyres are also super light but also super fragile, so these will probably go when an ideal tyre is introduced to the market. One problem right now is that there is no integrated tubeless "system" on the bike like Bontrager's famous TLR making it a bit hit and miss for reliability. Again, solutions will no doubt present themselves.

Remember the name...

Ok, so a short run-down of the bike that I at least intend to use for my attempts at these rides. Nothing to deep as I'll get into the guts of the bits and bobs as I find my way around it with component changes and logistical "portage" problems with luggage etc.

No doubt you'll see a lot more pictures of this bike "leaning on things" in the coming months. Meanwhile here's a picture of it leaning on a shed...

My bike leaning against a shed.