Adventure Round Up #1
A quick round up of recent adventures and other bits and bobs
Hello! Welcome to the first post from ‘Are we there yet?’ As someone who rarely posts on Instagram or even Strava, Substack might seem like an odd choice but after a few sunny running and biking trip this year, I thought it might be fun to jot down some thoughts and notes to document our adventures. I hope you enjoy it!
Adventures:
Knoydart
After a record-breaking start to 2025 with the driest conditions in over 50 years, we decided it was the perfect time to explore the bogs of Knoydart by bike. With a longer mountain bike bikepack trip planned for early summer, it seemed like a good opportunity to test out the kit. And the legs.
We camped up near Loch Eil on the Friday night then tootled along to Locheilside station to hail (yes, hail) the train early on Saturday morning to Mallaig. The ferry to Inverie on Knoydart has a bit more character than the big car ferries - no cars and everyone was bundled on, jostling for the best seats. The bikes rode shotgun and we managed to find a little perch in the sun!
Inverie is the main village on the peninsula - it’s wee but has a great pub, The Forge Inn. When we returned to the village after our morning cycle the pub was hoaching with everyone sitting at the shore enjoying a drink in the sun. It seemed like quite a few people had popped across to the peninsula for a day trip.
We warmed up with a cycle on the road towards Airor to the west which had stunning views across to Skye, Rhum and Eigg. After lunch at the The Old Forge pub, we headed east to start the gnar/bog-bashing (off-road) part of the trip. We climbed up past the Brocket Monument and into Gleann Meadail in the glorious sunshine. The terrain didn’t seem too bad either but the higher we climbed the tech-ier and steeper it got, the more people asked whether we knew what we were getting ourselves in for. We made the usual quips of “it’s ok, we like taking our bikes for a walk!” and carried on. Granted, hike-a-bike is a little bit trickier with a fully-laden bike. Good character building though! The views as we hit the bealach were beautiful and the descent felt alpine with its steep switchbacks. Again, a bit more challenging with a big bag on the back of the bike but maybe good for mtb technique?
After a little bit of bog-bashing we made it to a packed Sourlies bothy - there were about 10 tents already pitched. Everyone seemed to have had the same idea (bar the bikes). We pitched up and enjoyed the only-slightly midge-y sunset before heading to bed - apparently tomorrow was the bigger day…
On Sunday morning we pedalled maybe 2km (tops) before the gnarly hike-a-bike started again. I was regretting neglecting my twig arm muscles for so long. I might need to start doing some press-ups. So there were quite a few stops on that hill - maybe we need snack, maybe a toilet stop, let’s take in the views, oo maybe we need another snack!
Eventually we were skirting along the edge of Lochan a’Mhaim which felt like we were in the Alps with the lush green grass, rocky trail and mirror-like water. It made the climb worth it (almost). Shortly after we found an argo track running alongside the main path which thought we make the climb a bit easier - it was steep but at least we got to ride our bikes, whoop! Stephen OTB’d into one of the only non-dried-up bogs - very funny (once I checked he was ok obviously).
After a long descent we turned into Gleann a’Chaorainn where Stephen managed my expectations - this climb would be “guaranteed uber gads” i.e. grim hike-a-bike so eat some snacks. The dry weather meant it wasn’t as bad as expected and we managed to pedal most of it until the final steep push up to the bealach.
The descent down to Glenfinnan was fast so before we knew it we were rolling under the Glenfinnan Viaduct past the Cape Wrath Ultra campsite. One last stretch on the road then we were back at the van. A tough weekend for the arms but what a magical place!
N.B If you’re asking, no, I don’t recommend doing this route on a bike! It would be a great run/walk and we saw lots of people doing the same route as us on foot with some people doing the full Cape Wrath Trail.
Lake District
We spent a couple of days in the Lakes for a wedding on another glorious May weekend. It definitely has a different vibe to Scotland but I like it! It was the weekend after I did a running race so it was also a nice chiller weekend. Here a just a couple of photos since I have already rambled a lot!
Watching, reading, listening to:
At a workshop last year, we were asked to identify the things we enjoyed. Easy. Then someone said no, the things you enjoy at work. Ah. We struggled with this one a bit more! I loved this Maybe Baby post about existential work crises and how to think about what you enjoy in life more broadly, allowing that shape your work life.
“It might serve you to reframe this job search as a search for yourself…Finance, yoga, YouTube, therapy—what have these things shown you about yourself and your desires? What feelings did they give you that you’d like to feel more often?”
UESCA Ultrarunning coaching course - I started this a couple of months ago. Lots of interesting content and hopefully a future side hustle (see above)!
Emily Hawgood on the 1% Better - Hidden Stories in Sport discussing low volume training - really interesting.
Using (kit, nutrition etc.):
La Sportiva Prodigio Pro (Running) - I used these in the UltraX 60 and loved them. Definitely helped by the fact that they have pink soles and look badass. The laces were a bit teeny for my pre-race nerves to handle but we got there!
Tailfin Bar Bag (bike) - tested out on the Knoydart trip. Really secure even on rough terrain. Game changing. But super expensive. If I was being super picky, I would like the mesh pockets to be stretchier so I can fit more snacks in (always more snacks!)
Aeroe Spider Rear Rack (bike) - also tested on Knoydart. Amazing - I could use my suspension and full dropper post. A lot cheaper than the Tailfin rear AeroPack (confusing that both names are '‘aero/aeroe’) which looked like it would have been more difficult to use the full bag capacity whilst still keeping the full dropper post (at least on a smaller bike). The Aeroe Spider bag could have a compression value on it to make packing a bit easier. And maybe mesh pockets for snacks…
Wishlist:
7mesh Farside Short 8 inch (bike) - for better tan lines
7mesh Women’s Foundation Bike Boxer Brief (bike)- for toasty days