Ryvoan & An Slugan

Guanajuato

We're off up to Boat of Garten/Aviemore in a couple of weeks. I've heard lots of good stuff about the riding round there. I'm more of a roadie, so I'm not into the really tricky stuff.
I'm looking at taking my 10-year old on the Ryvoan Pass.
http://active.visitscotland.com/findrou ... of-Ryvoan/
How difficult is Ryvoan? Might it be rather too much of a challenge for an inexperienced 10-year old (and a not much more experienced old fart)? Navigation isn't an issue - I know my way round an OS map, and she's just been navigating up the Old Man of Coniston on a wild, wet day. We've been out around Grizedale a fair bit (but not on the engineered singletrack stuff) and done plenty of riding on the old Kendal Canal, which is rather overgrown and rooty in places.
Another possibility is from where we're staying, down to Collyumbridge and then along the cycle track to Loch Morlich. But Ryvoan looks far more interesting. We'll probably get out over to Carrbridge on an evening too. Looks like NCN7 has two options - one on the roads and one on tracks - is the track route sensible for smaller people?

Thanks for any advice - other route suggestions welcome too.

rhext

I've not done it all, nor have I done it recently. I came through it as part of a Scottish coast-to-coast ride.

It wasn't technical, but some of the tracks are quite rough - loose stones, ruts etc. There's also quite a lot of climbing, and the higher bits are very exposed if the weather takes a turn for the worse. You might have to walk a few bits, but you wont' be pushing your bikes for miles. But 21 miles off-road will feel more like 40 miles of tarmac for your 10-year-old! It perhaps depends a little bit on what she's used to, and you do need to be realistic about her capability: it's very remote and a long way back if she runs out of steam. If I remember rightly, there was at least one river that needed to be forded. So plan on wet feet and don't forget to pack spares - both bike and clothing. It's suprising how cold it can get up there and the last time I went (june last year) the temperature couldn't have been more than 1 or 2 degrees which, accompanied as it was by driving sleet for most of the day, led to a fairly challenging ride.

At this time of year, if the weather's nice, you've got a fair bit of room for manoeuvre and you can always turn back. I'd have to say it's little fun if the weather's poor and under those circumstances I'd take some of the forest tracks around Loch Morlich and Loch-an-Eilean: perhaps not so adventurous but very nice nonetheless.

If you've got a GPS,I'd recommend taking it anyway: the forest tracks can be a little confusing around there, even for experienced map-readers.

bompington

I've been over Ryvoan with a 6 year old. And a 4yo on a tagalong.

Guanajuato

Thanks for the responses - both are helpful. The idea is that we'll go from Nethy Bridge, meet up with mum & sister at Loch Morlich, then back up after a decent break. So ~10 miles at a go. Which she's done before. I noticed a ford on the map, but the route we're using avoids that.

Guanajuato

Turns our from where we were staying, the route to Nethy Bridge and on down to Glenmore was 16.5 miles, not ~10. Most of the trails were good, with steady climbing through forests. The couple of miles approaching the Ryvoan Bothy and then down to the Emerald Loch were a bit tricky for the youngster, but she coped admirably. We'd originally thought 2-2.5 hours, but ended up taking closer to 4 all in. No phone reception to let our welcoming party know, which caused a little worry. In the end, after a nice break at Loch Morlich, I rode back to the cottage alone through An Sluggan, with youngster's bike going in the car.
Ryvoan was fantastic. Absolutely gorgeous and generally great tracks.
An Sluggan was dull. Some quite steep bits, but bumpy once a mile or so off the logging road. A few nasty rutted bits. But no redeeming views or pleasant bits. And then a good few miles on the road. If I were to do it again, I'd probably carry on along the logging road to Aviemore then follow the off-road Sustrans route 7 alongside the railway to Boat of Garten.

We also did an evening ride over to Carrbridge (or Carr Bridge, or Carr-bridge depending on the map or sign you're looking at). That was a really pleasant ride. The track was like a carpet for most of it and the view from the farm at the summit of the hill over to the Cairngorms was stunning.

maringirl

Go to the bike shop in Aviemore and you can buy some little bike maps which gives loads of nice options for all levels.