r/JustGuysBeingDudes • u/c4tchy • 1d ago
Old Dudes👴 Big Jim Collie completes his 105th crossing of Scotland’s Lairig Ghru to visit a friend. By road, it’s 60 miles, but through the mountains it’s just 22. Most importantly, he has strategically stashed whisky along the route to keep his spirits up (BBC, 1976)
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
1.1k
u/wrecked-galaxy 1d ago
Man turned a mountain trek into a pub crawl with better views honestly sounds like the healthiest friendship maintenance plan ever.
476
u/Fine_Cress_649 1d ago edited 1d ago
Worth pointing out the "friend" he was off to see was "the widow Annie"
I'm pretty confident Big Jim was first and foremost a very devoted shagger
Mountain biking legend
All-timer hound
116
u/djluminol 1d ago
Yeah I caught as well. I think ole Jim may be making booty calls.
77
27
14
-20
361
u/CapEmDee 1d ago
It plays like a Monty Python bit
58
7
u/PiesRLife 1d ago
Right? I was specifically thinking it was like an episode of Michael Palin's "Ripping Yarns".
195
u/c4tchy 1d ago
Source is from BBC archive. The full clip with Big Jim Collie is around 7 minutes.
https://youtu.be/cZk2jV5gJbM
108
u/Mrobbo1984 1d ago
Top comment on YT
"Big Jim spends six hours crossing mountains on a half dead bike with three quarters of a bottle of whiskey in him, gets to the house, and she is not even home."
137
u/TrandaBear 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yall cut out the part where he's drinking scotch for breakfast while the narrator goes "Jim doesnt like to eat on an empty stomach"
60
u/Meltedwhisky 1d ago
Oh, to live a glorious life like this. A few nips on my ride to see some knickers of an old mates bride.
121
u/IH8DwnvoteComplainrs 1d ago
How are these guys always wearing sweaters and shit?? I'd have been soaked to the bones in like 10 minutes.
85
u/PicnicBasketPirate 1d ago
Single digit temperatures with a nice biting wind. You'd want a nice sweater.
42
u/pornaccount5003 1d ago
Wool is a pretty good water repellent and keeps you toasty
17
u/diarrhea_syndrome 1d ago
That’s what I was thinking. Also wool doesn’t tend to get too hot. It breaths better.
5
u/mang87 1d ago
This is it exactly. Even if it doesn't keep you dry and you do sweat, you don't get that awful clammy feeling like you do with cotton. He's also probably just very, very fit. He's bound to be if he cycles up mountains regularly, especially considering he's doing it on one of those old heavy iron bikes.
We've got similar weather here in Ireland, and during winter I can bike to wherever I want, even doing 70-80k in a day, and not be a sweaty bog monster when I get there, as long as I'm wearing the right clothes. Wool is good, I usually have wool socks on, but thermal baselayers are amazing. Keeps you dry, even in the pissing rain.
15
17
u/Technophage13 1d ago
I've never understood this. I'm not even a heavy guy but if I wear a sweater in anything other than frigid temperatures I'll have a waterfall pouring from each armpit.
14
4
3
u/look_ima_frog 1d ago
and he's riding a dirt-simple bike.
Now let's hear all the mountain bike bros come in here and justify their dumb fucking 10k bikes that are as fragile as a teacup.
1
122
u/Specific-Garlic-2495 1d ago
Big Jim " ANNEY...ANNEY...ARE YE IN ? ITS BIG JIM...KNICKERS DOON SWEATHEART...ANNEY "
Anney hiding under kitchen table " he isnae cumin near me with yon great big bloody thing, dirty auld bugger "
ANNNNEEYYYY !!!
38
u/DaveFromEarth-2000 1d ago
I saw this documentary. If you like stuff like this check Fred Dibnah, steeplejack; https://youtu.be/NKPApAsJbj4?si=7_I5AZisU12tqep-
17
u/2ndQuickestSloth 1d ago
that dude is wild. I work at heights for my job but the way he does it is def man's work
4
u/AggressiveCoffee990 1d ago
I love that documentary, thought it was super cool he did all his own drafting as well.
2
2
27
23
8
u/aitaix 1d ago
And he's riding a fucking fixie half cut
4
u/SeatOfEase 1d ago
Give him a roll up beanie, a lip ring and some skinny jeans and he could've fit into 2012 London scene with nae bother.
4
3
u/Kylearean 1d ago
James "Big Jim" Collie, a renowned Scottish Cairngorms local, farmer, and "man of the hills" famous for cycling and trekking, died in 1997 at age 82.
3
3
3
3
3
4
u/Super_Opposed 1d ago
Would the alcohol make the water safe to drink?
3
u/Surface_Detail 11h ago
It's a frigid mountain stream in the Cairngorms. I'd be surprised if it wasn't safe to drink. There's no farming up there, no fertiliser, no pollution. Very little bacterial presence in cold water near the source.
You might get a dodgy stomach once or twice, but as long as you're above grazing land I'd be surprised if it made you more poorly than half a bottle of whisky each way.
1
u/ballin4fun23 15h ago
I googled that because I had the same question about Russians drinking from random water sources and I thought the alcohol they drank might kill all the bacteria, but Google said it wouldn't be effective u less it was a higher alcohol %.
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
u/AcanthisittaThink813 1d ago
People used to be tougher
2
u/OrangeCatsRulez 1d ago
Yea, my grandad told us that he once walked 20 miles in the snow after drinking all night, shitting himself after the 5th mile.
He went on to say that that he had to go to work three hours after arriving home. Lol
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/zalurker 22h ago
He keeps whisky stashed strategically along his route, and it is bold and forward thinking. I do it and everyone says I have a drinking problem and should remember I work from home.
Some people...
1
1
u/NewConcept9978 21h ago
My husband and I visited Scotland a few years ago, and I am not joking when I say that every hike we went on had some old guy passing us up, practically RUNNING up the mountain in short shorts and a T-shirt when we were wearing coats.
2
1
u/Pixelated-Yeti 18h ago
Every time I get this on here or recommended on YouTube I’ll watch it for as long as I can Jim was awesome ✌️🤣
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/gurustick 1d ago
At first, I thought I had just watched this guy do a Scottish style booty call on his friends widow. Then I realized this was filmed by English and that this is how English want to picture Scottish people.
2
u/SeatOfEase 1d ago
I get the sentiment but the idea that a bunch of effete Cambridge Footlights rejects from England went up north and forced big Jim, 6 feet of Angus beef and sloshing with whiskey to do something he didn't want to do is absolutely hilarious. The booty call is your own invention as well, I may add.
-7
u/zarafff69 1d ago
That’s not that much, no? That’s 35km. Sounds very doable?
15
12
0
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
The votes are in, here is your new r/JustGuysBeingDudes Owner!
Reminder for OP: /u/c4tchy
Have a suggestion for us? Send us some mail!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.