Rolling again 🙂

On my screen Iona’s been at 295.1miles for a while, now at 295.8 so moving again.

Is the final run into CP5 hard going ?

Tom Rowntree and Steve Heading should also make it back later tonight, will have to watch it now.

Iona might have moved and stopped again.

Greg that still takes mental toughness to just push on to the end, i know the Ski center do food up to 8.30pm, a bit of cake or chips, or push on for a few more hours……

Still, looks like a few will roll in on a 4 day time bracket, which is just mad.

Just refreshed, Hutch is rolling on for the finish line then 🙂

Damn i think i would have stopped, but i assume he dosen’t know how much lead he has on the next rider, would be shocking to stop for a bacon roll and get passed 🙂 so close to the finish !

Hutch is on the Ski center main road crossing, will he press on or grab some food…. ?

Iona’s several miles from checkpoint 5, and been still for nearly an hour.
Lunch ? resting ? bike issue ?

He has lead time for a full fry up at the Ski center cafe, that will be nicer 🙂

Ionas now my favourite just to finish 🙂 if i read the spot marker right, she is back marker now ? but going at what i would relate to as a normal pace of about 70miles a day.

The breakdown of times and distance covered are interesting, i doubt i could get round in the eight days, but can relate to Ionas pace as doable.
The others…..just unreal.
The mix of riders and ability, not knowing who will blow up or have a mechcanical, those running for 4 days and those trying to complete in 8days.

A Hutch is at 540 miles and getting close to Glencoe Ski center, will he pull in for a feed ? no one that close to him, he might finish late today ?

Nice photos Steve.

Nice to see the bikes/set ups and riders.

Easy to work out which one is Iona Evans 🙂 i did google her but got some square headed bloke, pro rider for BMC come up.

I see a Surly 29+ and some fat fronts in the mix of more normal rigids and suspension forks, very varying amounts of kit being carried, and flat pedals and walking boots for some, which would indicate they expect a fair bit of pushing.

Cracking event, keep going out there, every minute ridden or walked is a minute closer to the finish 🙂

No worries Bigyinn 🙂 , i only skimmed through the article.

On a side note, and back to minehead area. The dog walkers are a pain up on the hill, cyclists and other walkers have reported dog owners for uncontrolled dogs off the leash chasing them, few minor bites, and then getting abuse from the dog owner for winding the uncontrolled unleashed dog up ? haven’t heard of any horse riders having problems yet.

anus…. the race is won but far from over, still a few more days of willing the back markers onto the finish, still a few more to drop out so close to the finish but oh so far for the state some of them will be in.

More spot watching as they slowly roll to the end 🙂

It isn’t over until the last spot makes it, even if it’s after 8 days and they are still rolling round 🙂

He’s really covered some ground since i looked in last night.

A bit over 4 days, out standing ! and mad 🙂

Nope but the journo comes from there.

I may have misread the article, he dosen’t state where his encounter happens ? and he “felt the pain of those in the New Forest”

It read to me that he was comparing incidents in 2 places.

Shame Chris dosen’t highlight where his close encounter took place or more info on where abouts the cycle lane is.

There is an attempt at some cycle lanes around Minehead, some are shared on pavement but clearly divided by a white line as to which side your supposed to be on.
No one has instructed pedestrians on this 🙂
The one running from the Ellicombe roundabout out into carhampton is duel use footpath that’s a narrow for 2 way traffic.

I wonder if he had his encounter up on North Hill or Dunkery way.

Might ask him if i bump into him around Minehead 🙂 will put a bell on my bike…..or one of those sonic weapon nawfangled people scarers.

Hard shell/soft shell, magic putty or foam, loads to choose from.

Best advise for any armour is fitting. Try before you buy. Poor fitting will be uncomfortable or will move on impact.

I went with Roach Rallys (first run under Raceface when they bought out Roach) old tech now, neoprene foam with hardshell outer. Shop got in large and medium legs for me to try, did try others, best fit for me was Roach/Raceface.

Coverage is brilliant, showing there age a bit but have been well battered, also got matching armguards to replace the Dianese ones that mostly rotated on impact.

So much choice, loads of reviews out there to help an informed choice, but really try and test fit first, local shop or anyone you know who wears knee/leg armour.

The trade off is sweaty and hot knees/legs when pedaling, but when you crash and don’t displace a knee cap 🙂 well worth it.
Like most, i have heavier duty armour so tend to do easy rides up without it on and pad up for going down, unless it’s really cold and wet and then they are ace leg warmers.

tonyd, Hi-gear equipment is budget end, you get what you pay for.

Some bits are ok.

Only used the fuel tablets, and bought an insulated stainless mug with lid and folding handles, which fits in an Alpkit myti pot 🙂

The mug on display had a failed spot weld on the plate that holds the folding handles on. I rummaged through the boxed mugs and got one that was allright.
Might buy another, some gems in Hi-gear but mostly budget don’t expect it to last kinda stuff

Missed the start 🙁

Was up last week wild camping around Glenelg and Raasay, only got about 12 midge bites, and 1 tick bite, however the tent was crawling with ticks and Mrs Acehtn got ticked loads.
Talking with outdoorsy shop staff in Fort William and they reckoned ticks will be real bad this year……

Weather was ace last Monday/Tuesday got heatstroke, it’s worsened all week, Saturday morning was brilliant, the forecast from there on didn’t look good so we headed back home.
From the piccys in this thread some are really in the no pain no gain camp 🙂 some really minimal equipped bikes.

Will be following this thread with interest, my wild guess, about 4 1/2 days for contenders to get round ?
Good luck to all still going !

Mrs Acehtn has a red one, she also has a fluffy black and white cat, i called her Mrs Pat and got a dirty look 🙂

Got a little toy cat for the parcel shelf…….

Pinch oxym0r0ns bike 🙂

Must go back and see if that climb has mellowed over the years….. 🙂 good go for doing it though, i don’t know anyone who has gone up, we always cartwheeled into a tree rode down it 🙂

Years ago it was a case of all shuffling about at the top to see who would go down first 🙂
Getting a clean run down without falling off on rigids with canti brakes was a good go.

Never tried to go up it, you could loop back round to the graveyard and back up that way.

Oh handy hint, if using the pay and display carparks, or time limit free parking, council outsourced parking attendants, they really love dishing out tickets and fines 🙂

If going up from the edge of Dunster, up the end of Grabbist, thats a tad steep for any gear.
There is a more gentle path off the back road to Minehead, head up to butter cross, then turn left before that, and pass the graveyard, turn right and follow path up to the top, much more gentle that way. Once on top flattish, with a long gentle climb on fireroad. Couple of options down to Wooten Courtney, one pops out next to the village hall and the Dunkery Beacon Hotel, loose and lumpy fun from memory, there is a small village shop with quirky opening hours, or try the hotels bar.
Couple of routes across and up to webbers post or go long and head to the iron pits and up to the beacon.
When you hit tarmac, you still have loads of climbing left 🙂
If a nice day, expect an ice cream van at Webbers post, tea shop down in horner, you might find an ice cream van further up, maybe not.

If tired when heading back, get to Wooten Courtney and stay on the road, as you leave the village turn left onto a back road, fairly flat gentle pootle back to Dunster, this goes behind Knowle riding school, and down to Avill farm and pops out at the edge of Dunster, very close to a pub, this is a single track back road and fairly quiet, expect to bump into horse riders from Knowle. If you follow the road round to the right you have a steep junction that puts you on the main A road, expect to play with traffic doing 60+ on the main road.

Depending on how fit you are, it’s doable on singlespeed, many do a bit of walking 🙂

Some at work dramas today 🙂

Boss and mates went snowboarding several weeks ago.
All chipped in for 2 rentals, and one bloke booked the cars on his card.
All was well.
This morning Boss gets an email…..some exchange through the morning and the culprit has been worked out.

One of them got caught speeding, fine went to hire company who passed it onto the chap that booked 🙂 sounds like they didn’t tell him, sounds like he has had a credit card bill with an extra payment to cover the fine picked up in Geneva 🙂

Cougar.
Yes, No, Maybe, perhaps.

Everyone is different, some people can eat phall curry with no ill effects, many can’t, those used to drinking “wild water” will be more tolerant than those that don’t, perhaps…

Drinking lowland water near industrial or farming or urban areas can be risky, that’s a No, filter or boil it.

Drinking water higher up in the hills, with little to no farming or crops or industry or urban areas is safer, that’s a maybe, you might be allright, you might not be.

Drinking water from source, natural spring or high up on a mountain is generally considered to be safe, i do it, loads of others do it.

I boil at low level and top off with a filter at higher level, if i think it’s good i chance it.
There is no real hard answer to the question as we are all different and in different locations.
If in doubt, boil it or treat it or filter it.

These mini filters are fairly new and getting cheaper, mine was £22 and has limits, next one up was the large Sawyer at £45 which in theory i could slash into an industrail outlet to the river thames, collect the water, filter it and be fine 🙂

Common sense and water, still stagnent and smelly water don’t touch it. Flowing but brown dirty muddy water is better but not by much, dirty water will clog up a filter and reduce it’s lifespan.
Clear flowing water as close to source as you get is most likely safe if you don’t have a weak stomach.

Saying all that, on top of a Knoydart hill, water hole, deer had fallen in, all water flowing from that hole was considered bad to drink, got water higher up. Got water from the small flowing stream next to Sourlies bothy, it had small things swimming in it, most likely crayfish larvae, i boiled that 🙂

2 weeks later i was in hospital with pnemonia, only different thing i had done leading up to this was drink water in Knoydart. Hospital couldn’t rule it out but reckoned unlikely as cause.
I am a bit twitchy about wild water, so for the peace of mind going to to inline filters. Have always drank wild water with many others with no issues.

Oh and don’t drink out of animal troughs, thats asking for jip 🙂

The vid’s nice for scale, looks to be shorter but a bit fatter than the Aquamira.

Edit.
Try a longer length hose between bag and filter, the higher the bag the better the flow.
Or 1meter of hose will have better flow than a 25cm length of hose.

🙂

Hope to look at one next week in jockland 🙂

Did you get the whole kit ? straw/bag/backwash syringe.

Became aware of it from the Cotswold outdoor catalogue i grabbed in Fortwilliam a month back.

If that was available a year ago in that format and price i would have just bought that.

Over a year ago i got the Aquamira Frontier pro at £22 with a limited lifespan of about 180gallons depending on how dirty the water is, and for really iffy water, treat with tablets first then draw through the filter.
With a normal length camel back hose and hanging the bag, and removing the bite valve (easy job) the gravity flow filtering is quite good.

The sawyer is a better filter with an insane lifespan (if looked after)i want to compare it next to my Aquamira…..will most likely have one when i see it 🙂

(awaits debate on water in Scotland is safe if you use common sense/drink from mountain tops etc etc 🙂 Mrs Ace can nick it if she goes wild in India again, might save several weeks of stomach upsets)

Did the castle last trip, nice one to visit 🙂

oops late reply rockthreeqozy 🙂

Ta for the info and offer, looking at taking car over and just going north till the road ends.
1 maybe 2 nights on Raasay.
See if i can skim stones over to Rona.

Singled out several places to wildcamp around Skye, depending on weather will dictate where i run to, tempted to wild camp near the Coral beach, but last time it was no overnight parking in the car park, might walk in from the Stein Inn instead (after lunch of course)

5-7 days 🙂 only one night booked in hotel…… that was hard work…. most are fully booked right through to september !

Reclaimed my old spotting scope for some wildlife watching inbetween pub lunches.

Might even see some ultra rare highland 550’ers on the return trip 🙂

The comic strip “Bad News” got bottled badly 🙂 and everyone knew they where a spoof.
Whoever booked D&C for Reading must have been mental 🙂

They could have used the hairdresser’s spectacles to light a fire in 5 mins on the first episode, but chose to spend a very long time rubbing sticks together.

Should have watched Lord of the Flies 🙂

What when your expected dinner decides to eat you first 🙂

Only had to tackle wild mussles with my bare hands, little sods had mini pearls and broke a tooth for me.

How to catch small crocs on that Bear Grylls island right now, could be handy for the lake district when the tea shops shut 🙂

At the gigs these days…..

Years ago, Monsters of Rock, getting smacked in the face within seconds of ripping off the first chords, by a 2ltr plastic strongbow bottle, half full of piss was normal.

Hope the poor dears management team have briefed them on western culture.

Or has health and safety clamped down on this sort of thing.
Sonisphere to the Electric Ballroom, will they make it alive 🙂

And that H&K MP5 need silver bullets as lead won’t work, or a silver letter opener 🙂

Just reading the posts since i started mine.

The sawyer mini filter is new out and £30 with a water bag, get that.
Going to look at one in cotswold outdoor next time i vist one.

I bought an Aqua mira frontier pro which isn’t as good as the Sawyer but over a year ago it was one of the cheaper more compact choices.

Both can attach to some water bottles and used inline on bladder hoses.

Although to start with, and a gentle over nighter, take a 2ltr bottle of mineral water, filters come into it when your off for a multiday trip and don’t want to use fuel for boiling and don’t want the squits in the middle of Knoydart 🙂

Both Grylls and Mears do have-a-go weekends 🙂

Think it’s the current Trail with a writeup on the Grylls one, mostly involved ex-army types shouting “what would Bear Do ! “

Might put you off a bit 🙂

Cheap tent
sleeping bag
foam mat (cheap)
small cooker, gas or meths or solid tablets all can be had cheap
Spoon
Tin mug or mess tin, or a camping kettle
Pot noodles or instant pasta just add water food

Don’t go to far from car or home, if tent burns down, gets blown away, or leaks in rain and you hate it, walk or drive home.

Or even better find a nice little campsite nearby, and use that to practice in with a few safe nights, then go wild.

Eh, cheapo canti or V diacompes from the 90’s

Got a new set of Diacompe MX2 V’s and levers couple of years ago, been brilliant, stock pads where a bit soft and mushy, after burning through them grabbed some cartridge pads and instant gain in performance. Well good for the money.

Shimano still do V’s as do Avid, maybe Cane Creek, Diacompe, some BMX race sets from Gusset and KCNC but they are trick/flash race sets.

The old XTR ones crop up second hand, allright as long as the bushes aren’t worn out on the linkage

Also some very cheap promax sets for about £20

Been google-fuing loligoth 🙂

Now up to date on yoof culture, didn’t see any loligoths last time i was in Whitby, didn’t see any Goths, maybe because the sun was out.

Babymetal=loligoth=goth+hello kitty.

It used to be easy keeping up, heavy metal, thrash metal, speed metal, black metal, death metal, industrial metal, heavy goth, goth and now loligoth and i suspect more sub divisions 🙂

It’s worse than mountain bike pigeon holing 🙂

More sedate 80’s metal
bit of vow wow helter skelter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d05ykoJAgyQ

It’s been a while since i hung out with any goth types.

CountZero…. whats a “LoliGoth” then ?

Is it a Goth with a fetish for hello kitty, or something like that.

🙂

Edit.
I wonder if “Vow Wow” are still going, 80’s metal, Japanese version of the big hair glam look of the 80’s…..i feel old now 🙂

I think ours is just really basic 🙂 all extras mentioned where in the Grand punto, don’t think the city steering ever got used, i tried it once, but power steering worked well enough. That was a 1.2eco and would average about 40 on motorway trips….at motorway speeds, and about 50mpg on 50-60mph A roads.

Good to hear the little engine can take 100k.
Our 1.1 eco panda needs a key to open doors and boot…..she is missing the zapper 🙂

Will look into that, i am banned from the car….. Mrs Ace hasn’t found a trip computer or city steering/parking yet.

I haven’t seen the manual so no comment 🙂

Her 2010 1.1 eco dosen’t appear to have that. It dosen’t have a rev counter or rear boot popper button or remote zapper for the doors/boot….all stuff that the cheaper grand punto had…

I haven’t been allowed to drive it 🙂

thats really f@@@ed up 🙂

I get a mental image, of you know, like was it the Bond film “the man with the golden gun” where 2 school girls beat up a Dojo, i can see stage invaders finding out that they are 3rd Dan in kicking the daylights out of naughty stage invaders before the roadies can get to them 🙂