Mechanical advantage
13th February 2022
(Above) The Big Picture. Looking west to Puist Coire Ardair and Sron a Ghoire. Snow cover is holding up well on any aspect with North & East on it at the moment (ie NE, SE etc). Other aspects look quite mottled or bare. There was a bit of a meltdown yesterday but reasonable cover persists above about 600m, though it is a bit moist/wet/patchy down low.
(Above) Looking out through the misty gloom in Coire Chriochairein. Visibility was poor for most of the day with the cloud base hovering around 650m to 700m.
(Above) Great to meet two enthusiastic and committed ski tourers using two wheels for mechanical advantage in their quest for a couple of hours of snow sport in Coire Chriochairein. I think they had to ditch the bikes somewhere close to where the main Coire Ardair path meets the glade of old birch trees. Beyond this point minor snowdrifts made passage on a bike ‘quite challenging’, shall we say.
Bikes can be a huge time saver if the main path is more or less clear of snow. As we are in the midst of half term there are, unsurprisingly, a fair number of people using the path. So if you are pedalling in or out of Coire Ardair please make sure you alert pedestrians courteously of your presence, especially when approaching from behind. Always give way (uphill & downhill) as pedestrians have priority, and pass them at walking speed. Simple courtesies buy a lot of goodwill.
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Hugh Spencer
13th February 2022 6:47 pm
Message to cyclists…well done….but will make little difference to most cyclists who have no bell or other warning device and who swoop up behind hoping a walker doesn’t step sideways. Near misses in hundreds every day. ( A bell is not cool !! ) Needs law to change….like some countries .
Jon Eden
13th February 2022 8:05 pm
Hugh, yes, I have a non cool bell on my MTB and I do use it often.
David Robinson
16th February 2022 11:55 am
You are right to point out that mtn bikers need to be considerate and polite (as all users should) and slow down and give way around walkers and horse-riders. But Hugh, unless you have evidence to back it up, to say near misses are in the hundreds every day is just not the case – there aren’t that many bikers going up into the hills every day for a start!