Break your feet into barefooting... < cringes > Sorry DNF, but if he's already got achilles pain, that's probably one of the worst things he can do in the short term. Yes, minimalist running helps stretch your calves and achilles, but if there's pain there's existing injury/tearing, so elongating t...

I'm going to be at the Alpkit Shakeout event at the weekend, anyone else?

Ooh, now there's an idea. Got an old cheao (pink campoflage) ali bottle tuhat might convert nicely. Cheers Stu!

Not quite the scenery shots everyone else is going for, but a 'from the tent' shot all the same.



"3am" - taken at Sleepless in the Saddle 2008

Are these camp enough?

Stu, I'm not entered, but would you be able to send me the route as well? Would be interested to see where you're headed. Email's carrickarmer (at) gmail (dot) com. Cheers!

Can't see it too well on phone screen, looks a bit like High Cup Nick in the Pennines to me.

i have heard rumours that mountain marathonists use double bivvies to save on weight. Nope. Not allowed on any of the MMs I've ever done. Kit list always states 'tent', bivvies and tarps have always been excluded. I even had a battle with the Polaris organisers a few years back to justify my Phoxho...

Cheers Valleydaddy! The running I've kind of fallen into by default. I adventure race and running's been my weakest discipline for a long time, since a badly fecked ankle in 2004, in fact. The Ultra had been 6 months of focus and training, and the blogs have been a great motivator for that - see the...

Nice blog, Matt. Added as a follower.

If I might dd another one to the blogroll, mine is HERE. No bikepack trips in there just yet, but an ultramarathon, some adventure races and a fair dose of drivel for good measure.

I can send you a gpx of a very interesting 100 km-er that we did as a 1 day race a few years back. It's silly but was quite fun...

Might be up for a day's riding, if not the full bivvy, but keep me posted. Lakes is home territory as well.

I seem to have acquired an echo again... Sorry orry orry...

Okay, since I've now gone rigid singlespeed as my main bike (someone tell me how that happened again?!) I'm splitting down my full suss and selling bits off. So: Trek Top Fuel 8 frame (2007/8, 17.5"} , £200 In good condition, scuffs and cable rub as you'd expect from a nearly 4 year old regular...

Yeah, i'd say so. I'm 5'10", average build and take a medium.

Yup! Bought one last year before heading off to the mountains of Spain, love it. It's not as warm as a full-on down jacket, but it's warm enough down to single figures (was fine down to 3deg over a dryflo base layer and a Sportwool mid), well windproof, hood works well, pack size is small and it's n...

Okay, might be listed as a 'groundsheet' at this link but spent a bit of time yesterday having a look at an army surplus Individual Protection Kit You can pick them up for about a fiver from a bunch of Army Surplus places, an the kit contains a 9' by 5' plastic tarp, 6 fairly light tubular alloy peg...

I've got one of the Nordenmark boards for AR and MTBO stuff, and it's brilliant but not cheap. It's of massive use during a race because if you need to track your progress at pace you can rotate the board to align the tracks etc. paige if racing, for general riding, you'd be fine with a chunk of Cor...

Nothing like a little peer pressure to make a sale, is there :)

I have my ideal setup - 4 year old, 320 lumen Ay-Ups, with a backup of a Fenix L2D on a lockblock in case of emergency. The Ay-Ups are lightweight, have brilliant battery life, are easily bright enough (without burning out the scenery/shadowing out riders in front) and are simple to mount, set up an...

Probably not, Pete! I just went for the bars, rather than the full-fat Jones they were attached to though, so I'm obviously capable of restraint at some level...

< slaps forehead > Have to stop doing this. Two purchases this week, people on here and STW are a bad influence... 1) Altura saddle bag from Valleydaddy 2) After a play with a rather nice bike at the Kielder 100 (retiring competitors are remarkably generous at letting marshals p*ss around with their...

I'll take the saddle pack if it's still going?
Cheers!

Could you not just get cask strength whisky? It's kind of concentrated, so you can carry less

Looks like a cracking tour across my old stomping ground. Bivvy spots look good as well. How'd you find the 'bike as tarp support' method?