Sunday 26th July 2020 - Ben Wyvis Loop ride - Long Haul Trucker

Yesterday I was out on a ride on the Long Haul Trucker with Brian and also Mark, Anna and Paul from the Highland Classic Bike group for a ride/loop around Ben Wyvis. It was a fantastic day out though a long one. I left home just on 7am and returned just after 10.30pm after a couple of hours driving and a long hard days riding. We did around 43miles of which about 90% was off road on a mixture of forestry road, pathways and remote trails. We managed around 3200 feet elevation. We met the others in Dingwall in the pouring rain which had us all worried about how far we would get but as we went on the sun came out, some light rain throughout but always just enough to make you think about a jacket before stopping. A quick stop at Strathpeffer for cake and tea before heading over familiar ground over the hills on the Puffer course before following the forestry track through to Garve, then on to the silver bridge where we had some lunch in the sun before following the river for a few miles before crossing the road to Ullapool and following the track further north/west before turning off road proper again to head upwards to our highest point. This fire road started out easy enough but went on forever and near the top it just kept ramping up and up with the gravel seeming to grow in size as well. Once over our summit we hiked a bike across a few landslides before stopping for second lunch of which Brian and Anna generously shared with me. From here it was a long run down to Loch Glass and Wyvis lodge with some truly beautiful scenery down through the valley. A quick stop to rest on the banks of the loch before pushing on back to Evanton over the Black Gorge. Here we stopped at Marks as this is where the others started from so we had a tea and some biscuits before Brian and I rode the five or so miles back up to Dingwall on the quiet backroad. We almost made it but the rain had other ideas, we stopped and put a jacket on a it was quite heavy once again but even this couldn't dampen what was such a lovely ride. For the first post lockdown ride out of Caithness and back with the usual riding suspects it was a cracking day. Hope everyone else had a nice weekend as well. Jamie Raining steady while waiting on the others before starting Brian Anna Paul Mark Mid piont and my phone died so only a couple of borrowed photos ;)

Monday 20th July 2020 - Flying Scot tandem - makeshift ride

Managed a quick short makeshift ride using a couple of blocks on the peddles to raise Calebs reach while we await the delivery of the crank shorteners. Not very succesful but worth a try :) Jamie

17th July 2020 - Friday evening Jack Taylor ride

A couple of photos from yesterday evenings ride out after dinner on the Jack Taylor Super Clubman. It turned a really nice evening and was glad to have an hour or two to get out to just meander through the small backroads, amongst the farms. Much quieter than the main roads this last week. With lockdown easing here in Scotland and people being able to travel more than 5 miles combined with being into school summer holidays, it is like the place has exploded. All the courtesy of the last 4 months that has been shown on the roads is gone in one weekend. 
Still, once away from the main road and the traffic it was a blissful ride, not long out but an enjoyable couple of hours. 

Jamie

July 14th 2020 - Flying Scot Tandem pickup and setup

This is the other bike I had bought back at the end of February/start of March. 
It is a Flying Scot tandem Continental model. This is a later one built by M Steel in Newcastle, very much in the Dave Yates style. Early eighties I think judging by the sizing etc. 
This was bought to take up the mantle of touring with Caleb as he is now getting too big for the Big Dummy Cargo bike. Like he has been saying since he was three that we needed a tandem so he can help me on the hills, this I finally agreed with after that last Orkney trip :) 
I finally managed to get down to Fife to George and Margaret Berwick to pick it up along with a huge assortment of seats, seatposts, handlebars, brakes etc. I had a great few hours in their company sitting in their lovely garden talking bikes, drinking tea and Margaret showing me bits from their journals with all the various trips the tandem had done over the years.  George had said it is built by them the same as his two Dave Yates tandems, the jammy dodgers. He and Margaret said that this had done the least miles of the three and in their words ' had hardly done much at all' as her journals had the mileage for these three around twenty eight thousand from memory😳 This could also be down to the fact that being slightly higher on the front, George was stoker with Margaret on the front. despite this I looked through many many pages and photos of this tandem touring Portugal, Spain, multiple French trips, the pyrenees as well as Ireland. One of the photos he sent me originally showed Margaret astride it atop of Mont Ventoux. I just hope we can give it as adventurous a home as it has had previously.
Had a bit of time this afternoon to try and make a start on sorting what sort of modifications to make for Caleb to ride on the back of the tandem. Will experiment with bars and stoker stems etc but for now just transferred his bars from the Cargo bike so he felt comfortable. I was thinking I may need to fit kiddie cranks but am sure if I can find some crank shorteners for his pedals he will be fine. My cockpit is usable and fits as is so that will come in time. Still need to give it a good clean and tidy up, but getting there on our first afternoon.
Really looking forward to the next step in Calebs and mine two wheel adventures. 

Jamie

Tuesday 14th July 2020 - 1958 Flying Scot Continental model

Having purchased this lovely old Scot bike back in February, based on just a couple of photos but at a price that was silly not too, I finally picked it up from down in Fife on Tuesday.
This was not the only Fling Scot I had purchased just before lockdown and with both coming from Fife, meant that my patience over the intervening months was finally about to be rewarded.
This Flying Scot was at a crazy low price and I  assumed it was because of the patina, or well worn state it was in. From what I could see in the photos I assumed that all the components would be rusted or seized and the frame would need a repaint. My thinking was that even in this condition the frame and fork alone were a bargain so anything left that was salvageable was a bonus.
While I have a couple of projects on the go and everything takes me a while I don't mind when it comes to a frame like this as it is my size so like nearly everything I buy it is with the intention to ride it, I no longer have the motivation to buy something just to flip and make a few quick dollars. While this is rough around the edges I just see the lovely riding bike and how great it could be both riding wise and looking wise with a little bit of love, to show the classy ride it is.  This was proved by my wife seeing it in the van and saying the other was lovely but this one looked like an old rusty bike, but once home and stripping it down she too could start to see the potential underneath.
While the main problem at the moment is a rounded out seat post clamp Allen bolt that will get sorted tomorrow, the rest came apart relatively easy. The stem and headset were free and the cotter pins came out with just a small tap to persuade them, not what I was expecting at all. Judging by the fact that everything worked and was full of now hardened grease meant it was well looked after until it was put away to sit for a very long time.
While the paint is now weather worn  and faded with rust coming through all over the original gold and red can still be seen in places. The gold behind the fork crown is bright in patches and there was a piece of decal off that exposed the bright gold underneath on the downtube that looked really stunning. I had toyed with the idea of repainting it a purple or heather colour but seeing the gold and red it may well just get a repaint in original colours.
Anyway it is a 1958 Flying Scot Continental model running 27'' wheels and a single chainring front and a 5 speed freewheel on the back, Weinmann brakes etc, Reynolds 531 tubing throughout.
Looking forward to this one.

Jamie

Sunday 12 July 2020 - Sunday evening Jack Taylor coast ride.

Yesterday, Saturday,  had a very enjoyable day as the family and I ventured slightly south to visit with Brian and Sheena, socially distancing of course, as I had a BSA frame and some bikepacking gear I had to drop off but really just to visit and have an outside lunch at the Highland café. Along the way I had picked up a 50's Viking frame and fork and seeing as how it wasn't my size but was spot on for Brian he ended up getting two frames. It wasn't all one sided as I left with a frame in my size, a very lovely 1930's BSA Golden Vase! and a lovely set of polished 27'' Weinmann rims for the JT Sport. It seemed the perfect solution, win win. Both Sheena and Heather were wondering whether this was some sort of elaborate plan ;)
Anyway on to today and after getting a bit of work done around the garden for Heather and sorting the on the ground plans for the new shed we hope to get building before the end of summer I did manage to get out for a ride, just local but a good hour and a half to help clear the head. Out on the JT Super Clubman as it has really become my favourite ride of late. Glad I did as it started chucking it down not too long after I got in.
Nothing too far or fancy just a small quiet selection of back lanes looping back round to the coast and then back along the windy by now, coast.   
I went on a quick stop at the old Olrig cemetery and the old ruined medieval church to have another look for the Selkie woman's grave. Didn't find it but I wasn't looking too hard. It was nice to sit outside as it is such a peaceful place, not many people go there as there is a modern cemetery not far away and across the lane is a Commonwealth war cemetery, again seldom visited, they are well hidden away from any main thorough fares, which in some ways is a shame. From there I wound my way round to come out back on the coast for a cruise back home. Well the whole ride was short on distance and taken at a leisurely pace just spinning along enjoying being out.
Hope everyone else has had an enjoyable weekend.

Jamie