Trails, tyres & tiredness

We recently had the Scottish enduro championships pass through my local trails in Lossie forest again. The route these guys take varies each year & usually there are quite a few Km's of new track created & this year was no exception with some some lovely new singletrack snaking off between the trees. Usually these fresh tracks are really hard work on a mountain bike, but the wide tyres of the fatty make it really good fun. In a couple of months, these loose trails will pack down nicely.

New trails on my doorstep - excellent!

A wee video of the rather wet, but fun, round of the enduro championship

A few days later I was out on the West beach & discovered we had a Fat visitor! As you can see in the photo above, some fresh Endo tyres prints in the sand. I also seen them out on the trails, but never found out who they belonged to? I'm sure I will meet another fatbike rider coming the other way someday.....

Talking about tyres & sand...I tried out my set of black floyds again, in preperation for summer adventures. I was curious if they would perform in the sand & I can report that thet work just fine.

I think these will work great for light summer touring, they roll really well & seem to cope with most dry conditions just fine if you are not in a hurry. They do self steer a bit on the road, but that is something you soon get used to. They would be great for touring the west coast if you wanted some beach exploring along the way.

Photo stop at Covesea cliffs, looking back towards the West beach.

A few days later & we were heading East to the firing range that is about 7 mile along the coast. Short pit stop for some interesting angle shots...Just hangin' around!

Another tyre change - this time to Nates when the really heavy rain returned. Remember those new trails? After a good soaking, they were really difficult to ride on.

Transmission problems

Yes, that really is a Nate under there!

Oh, I forgot...I also got a couple of mini panniers,so a loaded beach test was needed to try them out. The bike handled great & I am really happy with the quality of these & they are 100% waterproof. 

I have been exploring some longer routes lately, leaving early & catching some great sunrises along the way. Here is a Sunday morning breaking over Spey Bay.

Taking the Salsa El Mariachi out on it's first real ride. I am really happy with this bike & it complements the 907 perfectly. 

Some days you can piece together a really nice mix of riding conditions into one route. Forest singletrack near lossiemouth

Scary doll on the shingle at Kingston

Riding farm road along the River Spey. Looks like the river won this battle

This is why I love Fatbikes. The trail was all washed out after a flood a few days earlier & blocked with debris, so I just rode up the riverbank.

Back onto singletrack again, heading to the top of the hill at Fochabers along the soggy walkers path. 

Looking down onto the gully monster - one of the local MTB trails. Worth a look if you are in the area.

At the beach again, this time it's Spey Bay on the way home. A favourite spot for Dolphin watches in the area. Totally knackered, but an excellent ride. Hopefully I can put the waterproofs away soon & start riding some dusty trails!