A warning for those who haven't been on this bit of road http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=373650&Y=458545&A=Y&Z=120 but it's not in the best of condition so if it's dusk/dark when you get there take care as there's some serious pot holes. A friend rode over it on Sunday and said it w...

Easy when you put your mind to it

Here's my setup:

The old buildings in the Dinorwig quarries are known as Anglesey Barracks as they housed quarrymen from Anglesey who'd walk there on the Monday morning from their homes then back again on Friday Evening. It's worth wandering around the quarries anyway. Rhiw-bach is next to Manod quarries which were ...

Looking at the forecast http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2637702?day=2 I've had a rethink :-bd Luggage. Revelate Feed bag - 100g Alpkit Stem Cell - 65g Bearbabe downtube bag - 170g Alpkit Fuel pod - 80g Total: 415g Bivy Nowt Spare clothes Buff - 25g Windshirt - 110g (this will do as a waterproof if ther...

Keeping the alpinism/climbing analogy going. I climbed a lot, a handful of the routes I did were hard scary ones but the vast majority were just everyday climbs that I and my mates fancied doing. Yet everyone wanted to know about and talk about the handful. In truth not all of the handful were parti...

Done, though I get the feeling that whoever gets these will just filter them straight into the trash unless you customise the email. There was a "consultation process" a few years ago by the YD national park about a proposed closure to motorised vehicles on certain green lanes (there was ...

Same as Stu, for the most part you don't notice it after a very short time. The only time I notice it when riding is on long steady climbs, particularly on tarmac, where the tyre noise is more constant rather than the rhythmic thrum, thrum that my square pedalling normally produces.

The YD200 goes nowhere near the North York Moors, well I hope it doesn't as it's quite a way across the Vale of York and back

It's likely to be the case that a GP in a rural area will be more aware. Different GPs get interested in different things just the same as the rest of us. A GP in the South Lakes that I used was aware of tropical intestinal diseases for example. I suppose it made a change from dealing with OAPs who ...

quite cool In every sense Greg as they produce no noticeable heat when on. The one I mentioned above is still on, has been all week. It's warm to touch but not hot. Still all 4 indicator lights on the battery too. It's not using much juice! You might be waiting a long time Ian :lol: A typical LED m...

The West Highland line regularly gets voted as one of the best railway journeys in the world, even if you aren't into trains, it's pretty good. I don't know about the sleeper to Ft William as I've not used it other than it would go through Tyndrum Upper but not sure if it stops there, should stop at...

Ticks vary in size and not just due to them engorging themselves on your blood. The young ones are slightly smaller than the bullet point below and are very hard to see by eye, you only really tell that they are there once attached and there's an ever so slight bump, almost like a scab that just &qu...

I grew up on a farm and regularly picked up ticks. It's not every tick that carries the disease, it seems to be particular areas that are more prone to it. Give yourself a check over when you get home and remove any found (I've seen comments to the effect that there's a 36hr window to do this) and t...

If you haven't driven to Glasgow then train would be my choice, you need to book your bike on the train though, you won't get it on board otherwise.

If anyone's unsure what Ian's talking about: http://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/light-fantastic-drok-mini-led.html Also, thinking about it. I'd find it good if you popped a new forum thread with a link in each time you write an new review or blog post. I alway enjoy reading them but...

Horse Head Moor (which what I think you mean by Birks Fell) is one of the few bits I haven't done. My wife did it years ago and said it was cut up by trails bikes and not particularly nice. I suspect the uphill bit will be a carry, will see on Saturday. The climb out of Nidderdale above Bouthwaite a...

A rather large box containing a Salsa Spearfish frame courtesy of Ianpv of this parish.

Bearbonesnorm wrote:

Any real world views?

... and why am I not in rhe real world prey tell

Well given your location in your ident it would appear that you are somewhere else

I use an oval 32T with an 11-40T cassette on my Solaris. Seems to fit my strength/fitness range quite well. There was an instance leaving Kinlochewe on the HT550 when I ran out of gears but given that it was at the end of the fourth day it's not something likely to happen regularly. I find it's the ...

There was a "tourer" riding past our place last night as we headed home. We both commented that he'd enough panniers and bags on the bike to require a Harley-Davidson to carry it! I think racing/ITTs/pacier riding has helped focus people's minds on just what they need to take on a ride. As...

I did start out using the elastics as per the images on Cumulus' website but now just let the quilt drape over me.

It should be a pretty quick route TBH Phil. There's much more road than last year's route which I did in 14hrs30 but it's a little bit longer.

OK, for comparison Luggage. Revelate Feed bag - 100g Alpkit Stem Cell - 65g Bearbabe downtube bag - 170g Alpkit Fuel pod - 80g Wildcat Tiger - 195g Wildcat tapered dry bag - 80g Total: 690g Bivy SOL Escape bivy - 240g Klymit x-frame torso - 175g (might take this, might not) Down jacket - 175g Therma...

A few baby wipes instead of bog roll... No chance I'd use grass :o And what do you do with the wipes? They are more of a problem than bog roll. You need to carry them onwards with you until you find a suitable bin. Trousers down, dump, wipe arse with stick, rock or on grass, pull up trousers. Carry...

I'd order all those items by weight and then start looking at the heavier items first. Do you intend to bivy or are you aiming to ride through and a bivy would just be something that you might have to do? In the latter case would emergency kit do or do you want to be comfy? Makes a big difference to...