Search found 2574 matches

by thenorthwind
Sun Mar 24, 2024 11:35 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Stress Art
Replies: 3
Views: 136

Re: Stress Art

Always good to keep these artifacts as a reminder! I think I've posted this on here before, but this https://i.ibb.co/vYkysMT/20221231-092957.jpg Is the sump plug out of my old Volvo 240. I stupidly tried to wind it out clockwise doing an oil change due to being in a hurry, and upside down, and inst...
by thenorthwind
Sun Mar 24, 2024 11:22 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Off Topic - siezed, rusted, possibly double threaded, sheared bolt extraction advice!
Replies: 106
Views: 1833

Re: Off Topic - siezed, rusted, possibly double threaded, sheared bolt extraction advice!

Glad there was a happy resolution to this, well done. Definitely character-building this stuff. I've been in that pit of despair where you've dug yourself a hole (not that I'm suggesting you did anything wrong to start with) that's going to sap time/money/energy getting out of, if you even can. In m...
by thenorthwind
Fri Mar 22, 2024 2:54 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Yay, it's cheery Friday.
Replies: 3943
Views: 482189

Re: Yay, it's cheery Friday.

the problem with having multiple bikes True. About 6 miles for me, including the 4 home from the station, though some of it I was able to coast. I was chatting to the guy cleaning the platform while waiting for my train home (my bike attracted quite a lot of attention, not for the mangled derailleu...
by thenorthwind
Fri Mar 22, 2024 11:30 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Yay, it's cheery Friday.
Replies: 3943
Views: 482189

Re: Yay, it's cheery Friday.

Well, I'd gone about 12 miles when my mech hanger spontaneously snapped, threw the mech into my spokes and exploded. Fortunately I carry all the tools I need to shorten a chain, cable ties to fix stuff out of the way, and even an emergency mech hanger, in my tool bag. Unfortunately, today was also t...
by thenorthwind
Fri Mar 22, 2024 8:38 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Yay, it's cheery Friday.
Replies: 3943
Views: 482189

Re: Yay, it's cheery Friday.

Forecast is for a sunny day but a strong westerly: a north east classic. So bagged a ticket on the 7.40 to Hexham, upwind for a couple of hours easy ride home, for the princely sum of £3.70 A couple of days late, but since the day in question was miserable, today feels like a good day to celebrate t...
by thenorthwind
Thu Mar 21, 2024 8:17 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Crashing....
Replies: 7
Views: 254

Re: Crashing....

Sucks, doesn't it. It's always the stupid, innocuous-seeming situations too. Damaging kit is annoying too, but at least it can be replaced. Shame it doesn't grow back like skin though!
by thenorthwind
Wed Mar 20, 2024 9:22 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Off Topic - siezed, rusted, possibly double threaded, sheared bolt extraction advice!
Replies: 106
Views: 1833

Re: Off Topic - siezed, rusted, possibly double threaded, sheared bolt extraction advice!

Shaff - get a dremel (cheapo ebay copy in any case) and try to grind out as much of the bolt as you can before have a go with a tap. In fact if you are careful and very patient, you might be able to get enough out to pick the threads of the bolt out without tapping - even if you can get the first b...
by thenorthwind
Tue Mar 19, 2024 7:33 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: Supertramp 2024: A Challenge
Replies: 15
Views: 403

Re: Supertramp 2024: A Challenge

Funnily enough Dave, I was thinking earlier that I tend to only sleep out for three maybe four nights at a time on a trip You're already doing better than me then! Good idea :-bd So to clarify, can we use paid for accommodation during the trip? Rules as per BAM, except any accommodation is acceptab...
by thenorthwind
Mon Mar 18, 2024 9:06 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: Supertramp 2024: A Challenge
Replies: 15
Views: 403

Supertramp 2024: A Challenge

BAM seems to be a great motivator for getting people out the door, and often people do it as part of a bigger trip, but I've been thinking recently how much more rewarding it is to get out for at least two nights in a row. Waking up outside (or, more often, coming round from the final nap of the nig...
by thenorthwind
Mon Mar 18, 2024 6:56 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Matthew Fairbrother
Replies: 6
Views: 292

Re: Matthew Fairbrother

PS for those that haven't come across him before, he has previous for this sort of deviant behaviour... A couple of years ago (?) he raced the Enduro World Series as a privateer, bikepacking between races out of necessity. It got quite a lot of coverage, and he seems to have got quite a few sponsors...
by thenorthwind
Mon Mar 18, 2024 6:42 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Matthew Fairbrother
Replies: 6
Views: 292

Re: Matthew Fairbrother

That seems a jolly sporting thing to do - fair play. Who carried his bike on the kayak crossing though? :lol: Nobody - he strapped it onto the deck of his sea kayak... That was his plan, but because of the bad weather someone took it for him. What a cheat! :wink: How must the other riders be feelin...
by thenorthwind
Mon Mar 18, 2024 6:20 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: Bivvy a Month 2024
Replies: 405
Views: 19353

Re: Bivvy a Month 2024

Congratulations Reg :-bd Sounds like the celebration distilled all the elements of your inimitable style down into one trip :grin: the middle of Stoke… I believe from The Influencers that that's what we're all aiming for, so congrats on that :wink: This influencer? "Tunstall TikTok influencer ...
by thenorthwind
Mon Mar 18, 2024 3:02 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Matthew Fairbrother
Replies: 6
Views: 292

Matthew Fairbrother

I thought this feat was deserving of attention on here: https://m.pinkbike.com/news/photo-story ... orted.html
by thenorthwind
Mon Mar 18, 2024 2:48 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: Bivvy a Month 2024
Replies: 405
Views: 19353

Re: Bivvy a Month 2024

Congratulations Reg :-bd
Sounds like the celebration distilled all the elements of your inimitable style down into one trip :grin:
RIP wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2024 12:41 pm the middle of Stoke…
I believe from The Influencers that that's what we're all aiming for, so congrats on that :wink:
by thenorthwind
Fri Mar 15, 2024 11:55 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: The post man's been ...
Replies: 11421
Views: 1905476

Re: The post man's been ...

Bearlegged wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2024 11:46 am Image

Top marks for trying though.
I genuinely considered taking it out to the garage and doing just that, since it seems destined for the bin anyway.
by thenorthwind
Fri Mar 15, 2024 11:54 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Winter Jennride video !
Replies: 5
Views: 231

Re: Winter Jennride video !

Christ, that's hung around for long enough :shock: Not sure about May, got quite a few other things in the calendar, inc. Tor Divide the weekend before. Also, possibly NYM300 (haven't ruled out an extended ride either - will probably look at starting from Thirsk if that's the case though. The logist...
by thenorthwind
Fri Mar 15, 2024 11:21 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: The post man's been ...
Replies: 11421
Views: 1905476

Re: The post man's been ...

A new (to me) phone. Kind of relevant here becasue my old phone died in the torrential rain on the winter Jennride. I would have put it in a waterproof case, but I assumed the pocket in my new Evoc bum bag specifically for a phone would be waterproof. Apparently not. (I also had to get replacements ...
by thenorthwind
Fri Mar 15, 2024 9:03 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: What are you reading now?
Replies: 398
Views: 42201

Re: What are you reading now?

Re-reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance at the mo just because I'm struggling with what I think a bike should be vs the mainstream industry take on bikes so maybe it'll produce some inspiration in how to handle the way bikes are going a similar way to cars in closing off the basic mech...
by thenorthwind
Fri Mar 15, 2024 8:53 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Winter Jennride video !
Replies: 5
Views: 231

Re: Winter Jennride video !

boxelder wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:16 am not even spoiled by me and Dave appearing a couple of times
:lol: we were even riding our bikes at one point
Yeah, nice work. Helped me explain to my mum what I was doing :lol:
by thenorthwind
Thu Mar 07, 2024 7:33 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: They have finally arrived
Replies: 8
Views: 358

Re: They have finally arrived

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/jim-carey-the-grinch-1665564473.jpg Despite the choice of "rave" or "sexual deviant", I'm genuinely pleased to see they're making Outdry stuff again because I thought they'd binned it. I really want some of the trousers, but £180 is a ...
by thenorthwind
Mon Mar 04, 2024 6:44 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Proposed Wind Farm near Glaslyn
Replies: 101
Views: 2732

Re: Proposed Wind Farm near Glaslyn

I'm afraid the plants and animals will have to go How do you see that working out for your children and grandchildren? This has been taken out of context. If you read the whole paragraph it should be clear that I'm referring to the plants and animals that will be displaced by the wind farms not eve...
by thenorthwind
Sun Mar 03, 2024 11:05 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: What are you reading now?
Replies: 398
Views: 42201

Re: What are you reading now?

Stewart quotes from 'A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush' by Eric Newby in that book, which I highly recommend - not just an insight in Afghanistan but also the world in the 1950's. Another classic of travel writing. I have it somewhere - another one I've read, know I enjoyed, but couldn't tell you a si...
by thenorthwind
Sun Mar 03, 2024 11:02 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: What are you reading now?
Replies: 398
Views: 42201

Re: What are you reading now?

Just started two books I picked up from the library: Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the dark . Thanks for the recommendation faustus. I'm only one chapter in, but already hooked. The Curtain and The Wall: A modern journey along Europe's cold war border by Timothy Phillips, which I found by coincidence on ...
by thenorthwind
Sun Mar 03, 2024 9:37 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Proposed Wind Farm near Glaslyn
Replies: 101
Views: 2732

Re: Proposed Wind Farm near Glaslyn

Itchynuts wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 7:21 pm I'm afraid the plants and animals will have to go
How do you see that working out for your children and grandchildren?
by thenorthwind
Sat Mar 02, 2024 1:59 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Recommend me a decent stills camera
Replies: 18
Views: 704

Re: Recommend me a decent stills camera

I need to think how i'm going to process pictures, so any insight into how others use their camera photos would also be useful. I only have a work laptop now, which I can't plug anything into and I don't own, and it has many admin restrictions in place. I don't enjoy 'processing' photos very much a...