Hi Nick : ) It has, and you're a braver man than me taking a SS to mid Wales!
Good to see them getting so well used over the years.

Ahh got it.. thanks Matt. Last time I woke up really, truly cold was trying out an Ultra Minim bag in Jan 13, on the snow .. : )

That bike is amazing .. : ) Tony Foale did similar things with motorbikes (edit, as zippy just mentioned - his essays are worth a flip through). Those experiments and Mike Burrows' book suggests that most of it is about ergonomics, just fitting in the parts and achieving a layout that we can fit to ...

BAM 11/2 being .. ? I would have woken up before I froze, Most accounts of climbers stuck out in a very cold conditions talk of not wanting to fall asleep for the fear of never waking up. Waking up really cold is one level of cold but I'd imagine that a real battle against hypothermia would mean bei...

ir_bandito, I agree, one and the same ideally but people love all that N+1 stuff and specialisation.

Good luck to AK here, pretty sure they've wanted to dabble in frames for a while so this doesn't seem anything out of the blue. And it's about time Nick and Kenny got off those shonky old iOs

Anywhere that has a small-town feel and mountainous open spaces would feel right. Oregon, Montana, France, there's a lot of places like that I'd jump at the chance to live in. I could live in Taiwan for a while too, I really like it over there but would miss the mountain biking. Family and friends b...

Chilterns. On a cold morning when I get out for an hour's ride before work, or have a good 6hrs plus or all weekend to ride I love it - fun singletracks that are perfect rigid SS terrain from my doorstep (50 yards away to be more accurate).and options for varying loops stretching across to the other...

: ( not good .. I see signs of mice (?rats..?) in my garage. All my climbing gear and now my bikepacking gear is hung up in an Ikea bag after thoughts of a fall onto a mouse-eaten sling. I know they climb pretty well (and gear should be inspected before climbing..) but the amount of other crp lying ...

That's a photo album.I look forward to seeing.

If its in a field or some woods

..Party like it's 1989

Edit.. Spotted thread resurrection after post about RQ availability..

Looking unlikely I'll be an official starter on the day, still hoping to ride the loop around then but will ask Steve to take my name off to keep places open.

Right on cue, there's an article on packing for travel over on bikerumour now by Dan Milner.

Jeff yhm, V-S will do!

: ) That'd never fly with those lardy wheels ... http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/bikes-public-transport/bikes-air - sound advice here. Despite my bike having cable discs as I'm paranoid about baggage handlers wrecking a box and a hose getting pulled or other brake-related issues, in the last ...

Only used a couple of times, clean and functional and includes an 800ml MSR fuel bottle.
£50, provisionally posted but with post to be investigated.

I don't have a tumble drier, just an airing line in a warm utility room so was hoping not to need a trip to the launderette, also don't use the machine for jackets or other items like this. Don't trust it .. or myself with it.. I guess if the down's not lumped together too much during washing it and...

Hand-wash with care, natural soap and lay flat to dry - any other tips? This is for a jacket but may try a sleeping bag if the jacket survives.

How about "weight on the wheels is worth 2x the weight on the frame".. or a similar "lighter wheels will make so much difference ... " then fitting paper-thin tyres on skinny rims and whacking 40PSI in them : )

The Big Open by RIck Ridgeway- tale of him and a couple of other climber/adventurer types hauling carts into a remote part of Tibet looking for the breeding ground of a rare antelope. Very out there in terms of any chance of rescue or such. Ordered this, arrived the other day. Top tip, thanks. Anot...

has anyone used a single zip and regretted not having 2 compartments, I'd probably go for 2 next time, to have a divider that prevented 'settling' and any bulging as well as less digging about to get things out. I have a large bag that has a vertical divider and one zip, works well in trial packing...

I always think any Puffer finisher deserves a big hand but to do that at 9 is pretty unique. That's 100 miles or so he did, right? (later edit, just read the blog - not quite but relative to others and the conditions, no less of an achievement) We did a local 24hr challenge MTB event in the 90s, I w...

Has anyone ever had any issues with animals (food theft, sleeping with them, etc) under a tarp?

I woke up to see a deer grazing 3-4ft away once, managed not to spook it for maybe 10 mins. Chew's point on tarps is spot on

haha. I said 'stoke'.. not in the dude sense though. Something about January, need something to fuel and prod the fire, maybe inspire a trip away. More hours lost to google earth and random blogs for snippets of info in Jan than any other time. http://www.bicycletraveler.bicyclingaroundtheworld.nl/b...

Zerodarkbivi, couldn't you ask that q of most big or tough rides? That blog is a good read but a bit dark side perhaps. I loved it. Tbh the pace means you lose something of the ride but gain other experiences. For me it was as hard as it was amazing and memorable. Its not difficult terrain technical...