RSF - The Off Road Cycling Club

The Adventure Starts Here

1981

"God created the bicycle for men to use as an instrument of effort and exaltation on the hard road of life." — Inscription in the Madonna del Ghisallo chapel, Magreglio, Italia

 

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At Maesnant farm the tarmac road became a rough track, with the left fork leading to the farm. The road became a severely rutted track rideable for a few yards and walkable for a hundred. The peace of the valley was soon destroyed by N.A.T.O. jets on exercise.
Dropping down to a secluded little lochan, which the map indicated as the source of the Maldiebum, the prospect looked good for camping. Then, as we breasted a rise, a hut of man-size proportions appeared as if by magic. Our fairy godmother had returned ! Finding the door open, the window-shutter followed suit and we moved in !
At the Fords of Avon bothy I stopped for a drum-up and spent some time looking around for a suitable point at which to make my own fording of the River Avon, then in spate and bounded on either bank by steep banks of snow.
From the old monastic village of Blanchland, motor vehicles travel east, west, and south, but facing north they are confronted by a “no through road” sign and what could be a better invitation than that for the cyclist ?
A huge sign disclaimed any liability for the safety of persons wishing to cross the “wall”. I wheeled my bike along the top of the dam. A fence on the top was built in such a position that I had to walk outside it, i.e. on the side leading to the high drop of the dam to the river Leven.
The deer kept us company on the walk up the steep, tarred road. Then we were alone on the freewheel descent to the west end of Loch Shin. A suitable camping spot became our desire.

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