Every so often, I get a glimpse into the life of an ordinary person who, without affecting history in any significant way, nonetheless captivates me more than any Napoleon or Alexander. Big Jim Collie, the protagonist of this week’s film, is one such man. The BBC’s 1976 special on his big boozy bike trip to Braemar runs 7 minutes and 4 seconds. I treasure every moment of it.
This gem of an archival feature introduces us to Big Jim Collie, a Scottish crofter who lives in a bothy in the middle of the Cairngorms.
“He starts the day as he means to continue,” BBC presenter Luke Casey tells us, “with a wee dram.” Queue the first of many drinks of whiskey.
By the standards of BBC reporters, Casey sounds infectiously excited. A quick search informs me that just beforehand, he was reporting on the Troubles. Presumably, Big Jim Collie was to him, as to me, a much-needed reprieve from current events.
After the first whiskey of the day, Big Jim treats Casey to a serenade on the melodeon, a pre-biking tradition of his. He then sets out on his 105th big boozy bike trip to Braemar, a town 100 kilometers away by car. Fortunately, Big Jim knows a shortcut that’s only 35 kilometers: biking in a straight line over the Lairig Ghru, the highest mountain pass in Great Britain.
Nowadays, the Lairig Ghru is renowned as one of Scotland’s most challenging hikes. It takes preparation and a good pair of shoes. Or, if you’re Big Jim Collie, it takes whiskey and a dilapidated bike his friend sold him thirty years before.
“Sometimes [the bike] collapses,” Big Jim tells Casey, untroubled. “Every year, I have a puncture. I just carry on. Pull the tube out and carry on flat.”
Big Jim Collie sets out on the ‘Lairig Flyer,’ his ancient and rickety bike. It regularly breaks during his 35km bike rides to Braemar. Photo: BBC
The ride to Braemar
Big Jim heads to Braemar for everything from Highland games to visiting friends. This trip, Big Jim’s goal is to drop in on his friend’s widow, Annie. But an afternoon with a friend is not the only thing motivating Big Jim to keep going. Every few kilometers, he pauses by a seemingly innocuous patch of grassy rubble and produces a whiskey bottle from underneath it. Mixing the whiskey with water from one of the streams that crisscross the Lairig Ghru ostensibly improves the taste.
He informs Casey that he has only ever lost half a bottle, and he suspects an avalanche was at play.
Big Jim pulls a whiskey bottle out from under a rock. Photo: BBC
After “not much more than three-quarters of a bottle,” Big Jim finally makes it to Braemar. The trip has taken him six hours, so he stops in a local lodge for lunch: three pints of beer. Then he heads over to Annie’s house. She’s not there.
Big Jim is untroubled and starts the 35-kilometer bike ride back without another word.
