It snowed 15cm here on Monday and it's forecast to snow another 30 on Friday night, so could be an interesting Global Fat Bike Day ride on Saturday!

Thanks for the recommendation of Darn Tough. I have ordered some and will see how they go!

Sadly I'm out.

We should have a 5 month old child by then, and we also have a 2 year old who is currently being treated for leukaemia. Don't think it would be fair to leave the wife with those two for a week.

I would say that the route in the photo with green diamonds is not a right of way. It is on Access Land though, so there is a right to roam (but not with a bike) and hence the walkers on the Dales High Way can legitimately walk there.

I can confirm, having fished loch Dionard (from a boat) that there are no tracks around it.
The Gualin estate who own it also used to be funny about bikes using the track that goes up the strath to the loch. Don't know if that's still the case or if they now understand how land access laws work!

Me too!

As Pistonbroke, I use air, but don't have a compressor, so use a high volume track pump hooked up to a bar bung with an old presta valve through it.

Stripping the land of natural tree cover is one of the reasons we get these massive floods. Flooding has been getting worse in the last 20+ years, and that's not due to any change in natural tree cover or digging drainage ditches (that mostly happened hundreds of years ago in the UK and has started...

What alternative use are folks proposing for grouse moors? Most of them have sheep grazing on them already (albeit at low densities so they don't get rid of all the heather).
Surely the reason they ended up being grouse moors is because they're bugger all use for anything else?

I'd go for the Signal.

I did ride a rigid bike and like Rich my hands were numb for months.

There's a big difference between "keeping an open mind" and entertaining batshit crazy stuff like this for more than a couple of seconds.

I've got a baselayer that I've had since the mid 1990's and still use now and again. It has a hole in the shoulder, and my shoulder has a matching scar underneath from where I got hit by a sharp rock that fell onto me while I was ice climbing in Canada in 2007. Sort of feel like I have a bond with i...

Could the hose have been kinked at some point during installation or use? Just after it coming out of the bar tape could be a risk point for getting folded. You say "no evidence of any external damage" but how can you be sure of that with the hose looking like it does in your photos? Seems very weir...

Whatever you're used to will feel right. If you stick with a wider bar it may start to feel good. I got a new bike at the start of 2018 with 780mm wide bars. It felt a bit wide to begin with but then I went back to my fat bike when winter came round and the 680mm bars felt awful! I bought some new 8...

Alan has already sent out the gpx to those on the 2020 group start, so I'm sure he'll be happy to send it to anyone planning an ITT.

cycling from Turkey to Hungry

A Christmas lunch themed bike ride?

My mate did it the evening before Paris Brest Paris this summer. Cost him 17 quid for the fix as above. It did result in a bit of mild panic as we were thinking he didn't have a rear light for the ride. Then we realised we could put the red eye on my bike and plug it into my Strada and put my rear l...

Hope Rich is ok this morning. He's either having a long lie-in or he forgot to switch the tracker on this morning.

Looks like he's nearly at Ben Alder Cottage for the first night.

Fishing season is Feb to Sept there I think, so I don't think there would be any anglers. Hind stalking maybe?

Interesting. That probably means that resupply is not much worse than in May!

All the sporting hotels in the north used to close for the winter, but it seems that more and more stay open now. Kind of surprised that somewhere like the OBH gets enough trade to make it worthwhile.

Good luck Rich, you're an eejit! It won't necessarily be any colder or wetter than May, but it will certainly be a lot darker! I'm guessing the main resupply points that will not exist for a winter attempt will be Oykel Bridge Hotel and Kylesku. That will mean setting off with plenty of food from Co...

Have sent my email to Alan. Hope I get to ride!
Feels like a long time since I last rode the Highland Trail.

I always wear padded shorts for riding. Sometimes don't bother for commuting, and that is when I tend to get saddle sores.

If you're getting too sweaty then ditch the baggies over the top.

I see Exposure has started making StVZO lights now to be compliant with the German law on bike lights not dazzling other road users.
https://exposurelights.com/products/bike/stvzo-lights
They all seem to be out of stock at the moment though.