The Reiver area that spans the Eastern Borderlands between England and Scotland still feels like one of the wildest, remotest parts of the UK. Leaving the already quiet road past Kielder village, the escape begins: kilometers upon kilometers of remote managed moorland and forest, all connected via a changing network of tiny roads, and gravel forestry tracks. You can find out more information, like where the ‘Reiver’ name comes from, in last year’s Reiver Bothypacking Pannier Journal piece…
This year was slightly different. Manuel at Bombtrack Bikes emailed saying that all their riders would be in village for The Dirty Reiver > did we fancy heading out for some kind of Overnighter the day before? Of course we did. So, last Thursday evening, a group of us met on the shores of Kielder Water and rode 30km to an MBA Bothy in the mid-of-nowhere together, loaded with sleeping kit, the ingredients for a Sweet Potato Satay Curry … and Port.
| Sweet Potatoes |
| Onions |
| Red Chillies |
| Garlic |
| Coconut Oil |
| Coconut Milk |
| Red Thai Curry Paste |
| Peanut Butter |
| Spinach |
| Coriander |
| Lime |
| Hot Tortillas (or rice) |
The Dirty Reiver is a 130/200km gravel event in and around Kielder. For the last couple of years, Pannier has setup in the forest to feed and coffee-up hundreds of riders at the 155km (/200km) station. In 15KPH Club style, we light a fire, setup a picnic area and encourage riders to take ten minutes out to stretch their legs, drink our freshly-brewed coffee and eat a load of our signature hot potatoes with cheese, olive oil, salt and parsley. This year, the cheese-wheel made way for watermelons, too.
Classic…
TOURERS
Mat Waudby
Franzi & Jona
Marc Maurer
Stefan Vis
Stefan Amato
PHOTOGRAPHY
Stefan Amato
Mat Waudby
Franzi Wernsing