2012-12-09 - Lomonds Aftermath

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' We came to the land of the ice and snow
in the midday sun where the harsh winds blow '

Valhalla, I am freezing.

What a day's riding/walking. Highlights included...

Rob's 30 hole rear wheel - a broken spoke too far, even for the pimpmeister. Keith's Zaskar backup bike to the rescue though!

Epic (without exageration) climb up West Lomond hill into the gale force winds, including hard packed snow and ice on the steepest part of the climb. Numb faces, frozen eyeballs and teeth, leading to inability to form words with mouth. Special. Needs. Must. Continue.

The final part of the climb up to summit, we finally had the wind at our backs... have you ever been pushed up a hill by Mother Nature? Thank you madam.

Strafed by swooping gliders, and then...

The descent... We were all worried about the steepness, the wind, the ice. But it was absolutely brilliant. Laugh out loud riding, you know the kind...

Once at the bottom, a bit of a slippy slog around the foot of the hill, then south easterly starting on single track getting more and more boggy until we hit a couple of marshy fields.

Then back to mikee's for bacon, egg, lorne... the works. What a host.

Great day. Brilliant change of pace from the woods. The weather. The views. The company.

The plan was to ascend via the east face of the West Lomonds
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The going got easier after we cleared the ice-shelf and turned southwards
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Summit
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Rob caught red handed taking saucy snaps of his left knee
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Seriously Rob, look at the bloody view!
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Westwards to Bishops - another day, another ride
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Rob momentarily confused by bicycle with functioning wheels
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It was the only way to stop Keith's face from freezing off
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Spot the glider
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Nut, still cannae see it
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Like the one with the glider..............................and all the propellers on the ground :D
 
so today started off a bit bad for rob ,feck ive broken a spoke he shouted
ill need to go home ,no you dont said keithy ,ive got the zaskar in the back of the car ,bastards muttered rob ,
so re-biked off we set
i elected to go up the road way its a bit quicker than the other off-road routes
it was a peachy morning ,blue skies and sun with a gentle (warm) breeze
the road was a little icy tho
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so 40 mins or so late we reached craigmead car park where we posed for pics ,and ZZ had a piss
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so onwards and upwards ,up the icy trail to the west lomond ,we hugged the right side of the trail up to the gate where views were looked at and landmarks pointed out
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next stop the picnic hole , its usually filled with old folk supping tea from flasks and eating sandwiches

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shed took some pics of his beloved RTS

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so did i

then off to the top ,it was at this point that we really started to notice the wind ,it was a mite fierce to say the least , the trudge thru the snow field
was fun then we started the main asscent , the west lomond is steep
so steep in places you can lean on it ,add the gentle breeze and things got interesting ,real interesting
at one point bikes were sails the next we were being pushed up the hill
so much so that shed got on his bike and was blown to the peak (missus)
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so at the top we munched boost bars and haribo were straffed by gliders
spectacular to say the least

the return leg was a mix of water mud and hi-speed

at one point the only dry bit of me was the inside of my mouth

brilliant fun
a mini epic adventure 5 miles from the house
 
Unusual to see these two outside a Gents during day light hours.
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Then there's ZZ aka Raoul :cool:
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Hike a bike........ Tell you what Mikee look "camp" carryin that bike :?
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well done fellas, looks magic (and cold) :D

that's how a sunday should be spent and no in work :(
 
Brilliant Rob! My eyes had obviously frozen shut by the time you took those last few snaps...

Last pic - ' I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky '
 
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