Pic of the Day

[Binhill1]

On my way back from Kielder I passed an Atom Ariel ..who was turning around in a forest road clearing obviously out for a bit of fun ..the first time I had seen one in " the flesh " ..only previously on Top Gear & Fifth Gear on T.V...as there was a Tesla in front of me ..and my car is a 3.0l V6 Quattro ..I didn't think it would be too long before I saw him in my rear view mirror ..and sure enough within a minute there he was .
To be honest he was keeping a respectful distance and I got the feeling that he didn't particularly know the road ..( c200 between Kielder & Falstone ) which is excellent but with few places to overtake as there are long sweeping corners with the forest on either side and Kielder Water for 9miles along the length ..so very scenic and extremely slow in the height of summer with tourists taking in the views ..
On one of the few straight sections I flash indicated for him to overtake as I wanted a pic ..and we continued at a fairly sedate pace until the Tesla turned off at Falstone ..I was hoping he would take the opportunity to up the pace a bit with an open road in front of him as I was keen to see the kind of road holding shown on the track on the motoring programmes as the road from Falstone down the North Tyne Valley towards Bellingham is a typical narrow twisty country road ..I was left slightly disappointed as my hunch about him not knowing the road was most likely true and 40+ years of driving on them more than made up for his braking to excessively on just about every corner ..still a nice bit of fun ..
A cheery wave from the driver as I indicated for him to go past ..all within the national speed limit ( for now ) soon to change the settings from the comfort setting to dynamic which lowers the air suspension and tightens up the steering as well as increasing the revs..I do like a little sport View attachment 107752
Pretty cool private plate ..on the Atom .. View attachment 107753

Must be a farmer , moo

 

[B1rdie]

Its summer over here
This is the “heart rock” surgery has worked.

 

[etoni]

ride switzerland, wallis.

 

[Dave_B]

Dipped, stripped to Raw and rebuilt.

 

[Nicho]

Chilly one on the downs.

But I bet you got warmer on the ups.

 

[The EMF]

ride switzerland, wallis.

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Stunning mate

 

[Tubby G]

Another photo of the bike, but, look at the ground conditions … middle of February and we have dry loam. Trails were running great

 

[beanzz]

The best place I have ever ridden for loam was the quantocks hills in the forestry commission section, I built a couple of trails with my cousin and it has such deep and soft loam from all the pine needles that if your drop a spade from head height it just makes a dead thwomp sound

 

[Tubby G]

The best place I have ever ridden for loam was the quantocks hills in the forestry commission section, I built a couple of trails with my cousin and it has such deep and soft loam from all the pine needles that if your drop a spade from head height it just makes a dead thwomp sound

It’s usually my head making a dead thwomp sound as I hit the soft loam

 

[Doomanic]

middle of February and we have dry loam.

The optimist in me says enjoy it while it lasts.

middle of February and we have dry loam.

The pessimist in me knows we're going to pay for it later in the year...

 

[Tubby G]

The optimist in me says enjoy it while it lasts.

The pessimist in me knows we're going to pay for it later in the year...

Yeah got the day off on Friday this week and we’re planning on riding the new DH3 trail at Greno woods. No doubt it’ll be p!ss!ng down, snowing, blowing a hooley, or all three

 

[Doomanic]

Watch out for the tree stump...

 

[VWsurfbum]

Watch out for the tree stump...

That looks awesome!

 

[Binhill1]

Mountain days and bothy nights. Finally stayed the night here after visiting it on the bike so many times. Got a wee glimpse of Aurora as a bonus.

 

[The Hodge]

Mountain days and bothy nights. Finally stayed the night here after visiting it on the bike so many times. Got a wee glimpse of Aurora as a bonus.

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Which bothy ?

 

[Tubby G]

That looks awesome!

And you have Steel City Downhill running adjacent to it …




And Wharncliffe over the road

 

[RustyMTB]

It's not looking too promising here but IF the skies clear I am 100% heading out tonight to try and see the northern lights. Bit of a once in a generation thing for a southerner.

 

[beanzz]

Got a wee glimpse of Aurora

Believe it or not it seemed to be really bright last night cos I saw it as well and I'm near Southampton

 

[iLuveKetchup]

 

[Binhill1]

Which bothy ?

Knochkan. Glenlivet area.

 

[Binhill1]

Believe it or not it seemed to be really bright last night cos I saw it as well and I'm near Southampton

I should have stayed at home it was amazing there . Some fantastic local pictures of it.

 

[The Hodge]

Knochkan. Glenlivet area.

Although I've ridden the trail centre there it's not one I'm familiar with ..looks good though .
I have had in mind organising a bothy trip in the Kielder Forest area ..believe it or not we have 4 excellent bothy within 20 miles of each other ..I've just to sort out the logistics of re-charging batteries overnight for anyone who might be interested ..still keen to do this ..but its on the back burner ..

 

[beanzz]

Although I've ridden the trail centre there it's not one I'm familiar with ..looks good though .
I have had in mind organising a bothy trip in the Kielder Forest area ..believe it or not we have 4 excellent bothy within 20 miles of each other ..I've just to sort out the logistics of re-charging batteries overnight for anyone who might be interested ..still keen to do this ..but its on the back burner ..

You can buy some light weight solar panels but you would either have to have a spare battery so you can charge whilst riding or take a spare day so you can charge for a day

 

[Binhill1]

Although I've ridden the trail centre there it's not one I'm familiar with ..looks good though .
I have had in mind organising a bothy trip in the Kielder Forest area ..believe it or not we have 4 excellent bothy within 20 miles of each other ..I've just to sort out the logistics of re-charging batteries overnight for anyone who might be interested ..still keen to do this ..but its on the back burner ..

It's not easy but this one is only 4 miles from the road on the route I took yesterday . Very popular now people just go bothying and tick them off , and why shouldn't they. Ive paddled in to a few but you can throw a tent in to kayak no big deal . Sleeping bag stove etc it's not really mtb friendly. I should convert my hardtail to electric it takes panniers.

 

[The Hodge]

You can buy some light weight solar panels but you would either have to have a spare battery so you can charge whilst riding or take a spare day so you can charge for a day

None of the above
Im local to this area..So it would either involve the missus picking up everyone's ( ?) battery and charging them at the Hodgson abode overnight ...or my mate owns The Bike Place at Kielder and he might be up for helping out for a small fee....
We did this a few years back on normal mtb's and had a couple of fantastic nights ..

 

[The Hodge]

It's not easy but this one is only 4 miles from the road on the route I took yesterday . Very popular now people just go bothying and tick them off , and why shouldn't they. Ive paddled in to a few but you can throw a tent in to kayak no big deal . Sleeping bag stove etc it's not really mtb friendly. I should convert my hardtail to electric it takes panniers.

I was a kayaker going way back when in my teens ..did quite a few family holidays ( my old man was a B.C.U Senior Instructor) we spent quite a bit of time in the North West ..Scourie ..the very top one where we paddled out to Handa Island with its 300ft cliffs ..Ardnamurchan Peninsula ..Peanmenach ( spelling ) near Arisaig ..
It's been a good few years since I've paddled anything at all..but I've got some great memories from that time

 

[Tubby G]

None of the above
Im local to this area..So it would either involve the missus picking up everyone's ( ?) battery and charging them at the Hodgson abode overnight ...or my mate owns The Bike Place at Kielder and he might be up for helping out for a small fee....
We did this a few years back on normal mtb's and had a couple of fantastic nights ..

I’m sure staying in Bothy’s is great fun, but down south we have these buildings called hotels which come with heating, running water, bathrooms, breakfast, fresh clean sheets, mattresses, beds and even electricity. You have to pay a small fee, but trust me, it’s worth the upgrade

 

[beanzz]

Nahhhh planning a wild camping/bothy bukepacking week is bloody fun

 

[Binhill1]

Nahhhh planning a wild camping/bothy bukepacking week is bloody fun

Half the fun is in the planning . My wife cracks up when I'm packing for something like that . Kayak bike and walking gear.

 

[Binhill1]

I’m sure staying in Bothy’s is great fun, but down south we have these buildings called hotels which come with heating, running water, bathrooms, breakfast, fresh clean sheets, mattresses, beds and even electricity. You have to pay a small fee, but trust me, it’s worth the upgrade

That was a posh one last night it had a composite toilet. Must admit i dont enjoy digging a hole and squatting in the rain with midges biting at my rear end.