Sick as a dog so, show me you Bivi / Bikepacking / Adventure racing gear…..

So is the real lesson here more about tarp set up and placement???

Yes. I think you could have used a tarp effectively in those conditions, we just didn’t have the right tarps.

Or check the weather forecast and use an appropriate level of kit?

We survived 😉
Besides, I quite enjoyed looking out into the gloom and watching the rain come down rather just listening to it beat against the side of a tent 🙂

That’s the spirit Ian 😀

Being in the open is what it’s about.

and then battling the elements 😉

I find that sometimes tents can make the weather outside seem so much worse than it really is. As Ian says, when you can see what’s happening it doesn’t seem quite so bad … somehow you feel part of it.

Nobody wants to come out and play at the weekend then?

My next trip out will be 11,12,13 march. It’ll be up your neck of the woods too if your interested in all or part of that ride.

Will check with the keeper of diaries.

Depends how many points I can build up with the fun police as entering Wentwood enduro the Sunday before 😀

Are you planning to go out for the 2 nights?

May have to plan one with Steve to try out our kit 😉

@Ambrose any wilderness trips on the cards soon??

3 days 2 nights

ok will find out 😀

FYI I got that cookset from Ellis Bingham yesterday, it’s awesome 😀

Going to have a practice pack tonight and maybe a skyline test bivvy on the weekend 😯

Glad you like your new cookset

I shall be giving the M stove its first test later … once I finish plastering my kitchen wall. I’ll put my findings on the WRT blog. Reckon we could do with the winding dropping a touch though, will it count if I do it inside?

@valleydaddy – which cookset?

http://www.gsioutdoors.com/products/pdp/halulite_minimalist/camp_cookware/

I’ve just been thinking and do I need a GPS for WRT, not to great with just a map and chances are Im going to go missing for about 4 weeks, This got me thinking how do you chaps navigate?
With a birthday next week it seemed like a garmin edge or a garmin oregon could be a good present?

Bigface I never use a GPS to navigate (always seems harder than using a map imo) but I do have a cheap one that I sometimes use for checking GR … you know what it’s like, sometimes the map and the ground don’t tally in the way your mind thought they would, so it’s just nice to double check … there’s a couple of examples on a post on the WRT blog.

EDIT just looked, the one I have is a Garmin etrex … I imagine they don’t make it anymore 😉

You can still get those bad boys, think I want one just in case. I kind of like the idea of uploading our route to it (once you tell us the points) and just enjoying the ride without having to keep checking..
I always spend so long looking at what Im riding over I miss the world passing by….

Old fashioned Map.

No better way of seeing what is around you in either overview or micro details.

I like this one

Although a list of maps for the WRT would be handy (3for2) at the moment and my OL23 is somewhere up Cadair 🙁

Sheet 213
Sheet OL23
Sheet OL18

????

Sorry you don’t get to find out map numbers until April 28th 😉 … ’tis the law. You can always get discount maps if you join the Backpackers club, I’ve saved a fortune over the years.

Bigface, I reckon the one thing I wouldn’t do is load up the GPS and let it take me between the grid references without me having worked out a route on paper first.

is there still a midwales Bivvy ride towards the end of March – @19/20th or have I totally cocked up my “permission slip” from the Mrs?

You’ll have to change your holiday form for 11,12,13 march.
I think that was my fault Steve.

This got me thinking how do you chaps navigate?

we had the route on a gps and printed out route cards (os map) in plastic wallet.

tucked in the bag we also had full suite of os maps (not all of them!!) with checkpoints marked out. 70% of the time we used the gps route & route cards only referring to the os maps when we decided to throw the route away and go over a mountain!! haha.

as for a gps recommendation the garmin geko (out of production) is ace on the bike and cheap second hand on ebay. my WRT mate liked mine so much he bought one and sold the etrex.

Tiger is that your map in the picture? … ’tis very nice. If it is yours, what date is it – 1780ish?

No, much older than that. Looks like about 1573 to me 😉

IanB – Member

No, much older than that. Looks like about 1573 to me

Smartarse

Bigface – I find GPS of greater use for post-ride analysis and for logging where you’ve been. Much like Stu, I take one mainly for those where-the-heck-am-I moments when the trail isn’t on the map or I’ve wondered off line on some minor sheep path in thick fog (neither of which are especially scarce in Wales). For the WRT last year, I used route cards printed off a desktop mapping program (tracklogs, memory map etc) and then laminated and clipped onto a map board, like this:

[/url]
P1020638[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

The GPS was useful afterwards to tell me how long I’d spent riding, distance, speed, amount of climbing etc.

If buying a GPS, beware the training models, such as the Garmin Edge, which don’t make it easy for you to navigate or extract your current location easily.

Flatfish – I shall have a go at renegotiating a weeked away – what time are you intending to leave on the Fiday night? – it may be a bit tight getting up in tme

Have to ask Stu that, he’s the route master.

Bigface – as per Stu I use an eTrex and used to use one of the basic ones for sea-kayaking where you could track speed over the water etc and it would allow you to go to set way points (which was pretty useful in tides and fogs)…. but it will give you a grid reference if you’re stuck and little navigationally challenged – I still have this in a cupboard somewhere if you want it for a few quid… it’s in good nick and lasts ages on two AA batteries… it will take a standard Gamin eTrex handlebar bike mount too but no base map – you have to take the grid ref and plot it on paper.
I’ve moved up to the eTrex Vista HCx – mainly ‘cos I like the bigger memory and I like to use an Opensource map background…. it will do routing to on roads and has a slot for a memory card too.

Cheers for the info chaps, I like the idea of a GPS I’ll check out the eTrex but also checking out the Oregon 450, 2 reasons 1, It takes AA batteries so dont have to think about charging it on route and 2, Ive got all the 1:25k MM Maps for the UK )))
I’ll print out a load of Card maps on waterproof paper closer to the time once we know the route..

Tiger what are your plans at weekend? It’s looking like I might be free … but not in a Mr Humphries type way.

oh no talk of new toys 🙁

http://www.mapyx.com/index.asp?tn=shop&c=152

30% off map tiles at the moment, good software

Free mapping available here:

http://mobac.dnsalias.org/

still s8tannorm – Member

Tiger what are your plans at weekend? It’s looking like I might be free … but not in a Mr Humphries type way.

Was half thinking this

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://tastypixels.co.uk/routes/MachToNantAndBack.gpx

Haven’t decided if I’m going to go early and get back for dinner or brave the bears. 🙂

If you’re thinking of getting an Oregon GPS, go in a shop and compare it with the Dakota. The Dakota is smaller and cheaper – I’ve found it great for on the bike use.

+1 for the Dakota, tough as old boots too (mine’s had a few tumbles).

I prefered the Oregon over the Dakota for the bigger screen, but as Aidan says, go try them in a shop first.

Or, if you want more cheapness and simplicity, I find the Foretrex 101/201 hard to beat as a back up device to paper maps.

If you end up with something with built in batteries, provided it will charge of a USB, you can always go down this route: http://ianbarrington.com/2010/03/21/portable-power/

Mate brought a Oregon 450 in today for me to have a look at, Looks great, it got a good size screen and all the stats you could ever want. No fussed about cadence and all that jazz….