Microadventuring, mini tours etc

Did most of the Badger Divide route this weekend and it was delectable. It’s a mountain bike route really - dropbar hybrids and pannier packing weren’t quite the right choice but we did it over four days so were able to enjoy walking up a lot of the harder stuff without stress. Anyways, pictures tell many words:

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drop-bar hybrids

How very dare you. You mean gravel bike

Your trip looks absolutely beautiful, the route is high on my todo list

Wow that second picture.

Oh, I don't know--it doesn't even have bikes in.

Fair point, but I imagined it from the viewpoint of @jaeyukdapbap before they roll into the valley :)

Close but, it’s actually the road we came up. You can see it skirting the bottom of the mountain in shadow on the right and coming off the shot about a third of the way up. The descent that followed was a logging road through a pine forest and was one of the best of the ride!

Edit - here’s a pic of the view from the bottom of the shadowy mountain.

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Is this all near Corrour?
This is the most beautiful place I have ever ridden. We rode to the YHA in darkness and met quite a few gigantic stag on the way.

Yep! Truly awesome in the most sincere use of the word. Must have felt quite different around there in failing light.

amazing pics - high up on my list to do this route. maybe if we get a spell of unseasonably warm weather sometime soon.......

I’m changing my plans from doing a couple of the northern England section of the Great North Trail and gonna ride the badger divide instead after those pics.
@jaeyukdapbap
Was panniers a real problem? I’ll be in no rush but my luggage options mean I’ll be rear panniers for this ride.
Was it easy to follow the trail?

We were v lucky with the weather and most of those pics are from the same day where the sun was out. Panniers are always good - some bigger squiggier tyres would have helped reduce the rattling I reckon. Would be good to be able to distribute weight front and back for the rockier climbs. We mostly followed the route but for the parts where it ran close to NCN 7 we often chose those instead as it was a rainy day and they were more fun than pushing bikes up slippy rocky climbs. Have fun - it’s beautiful up there!

Nice, I’ve ridden a bit of Scotland on road and occasional track so will be nice to see more. Aside from the way out of Inverness and Killin-Callander it’ll all be new to me.
Weight will be spread front to back but my tent is a porky 3.2kg as it’s normally split between me and Liz so I’ll end up heavier than I’d like I’m sure. Tent up front means nearly everything else will be in the back.
Will be on 27.5x2.4 tyres so hopefully ideal.

More importantly, how’s the Midge at the moment?

Slept in a bivvy under a tarp and not a single bite!

I just got back from camping in Dalwhinnie and then over in Rum and there were 0 midges - think the season must be done

Packing list for badger divide next week, it might seem long but I’m in no rush and will hopefully ride onwards to Edinburgh and might be away for 8 or 9 days total.
-Bike, f&r rack, anything cages
-Tent, mat, 4season bag
-Wee meths stove setup, lots of noodles, coffee
-Waterproof jacket, trousers and hiking gaiters
-Thin synthetic down jacket
-Winter tights, padded undershorts, 2x long johns, 1 pair pants, few pairs of socks.
-2x thermal tops, 2x vest tops, windproof fleecy bike jacket, wooly hat, buff & gloves
-tools, tube, pump, first aid kit inc deet and tick hook, emergency bivvy bag, wash bag, trowel and bog roll
-garmin, anker, phone, headtorch, helmet, lock, lights

Anything to ditch or obvious omissions? It’s Oct so anything can happen with the weather.

who needs two long johns and winter tights
1 long john, 1 tights, 1 trousers

take 2 gloves, incase 1 get wet. waterproof gloves also

absolutely two pairs of gloves

Noted, I was taking winter gloves plus liners but will chuck an extra pair of outers in as well.

Excess long johns jettisoned.

For water I’ve got 2x bike bottles and a large nalgene

Got any water purification tablets? Lightweight but could be useful. Imagine there's lots of water sources round there.

Oh yeh, wife has steripen and filter for nalgene so will chuck those in as well.

Tools - have a good look at what's in your kit. When I rode the route with a friend, we got to the end of the ride, washed the bikes, and discovered all his NDS spokes were loose. Neither of us had been carrying a spoke key...

Good to know! Pretty sure my multi tool has a spoke key but will double check. Aside from that I’ll take tube, pump, patch kit, 9mm spanner(for my rack just in case) and a proper chain tool.
Wasn’t planning on taking any bb tools or spare cables. I’ve always got a baggy of spare m5 bolts, washers etc.

might be handy to take a quick link and check your brake pads have plenty of wear left.

and a tyre boot
take some chocolate or whatever your treat of choice is - after a day of rain it could be just the thing to raise the spirits.

zip ties, take pictures, have a good time :)