I think he had the top 3, but it was his quad team's 31st lap that was his fastest at 40 mins and some few seconds. Wow. On that course, in those conditions, that's skill, courage, strength… the whole thing.

I was delighted with 1h12!

Certainly not your usual race!

Cheers, al.

Any news on trail conditions? We're just leaving….

ta, al.

Right, off to bed. Scatter kids to the 4 corners and NORTH!

Good luck all.

al.

My 3rd too and I'm difficult to live with. Well, that's all the time but especially just now!
al.

I use mine in all weather. And as long as you get the dubbin stuff it doesn't take long to break in. Smells good too (got citronella in it).

Cheers, al.

I think cycling up that footpath might be OK, don't you?
al.

Drumochter* still dodgy. Damn.

My Dad has called off childcare with a serious cold/flu. Damn.

2 punctures on the way home tonight. Damn.

I'll just be happy to be there!

Is there a beer money bucket for the diggers? You deserve it lads!

Cheers, al.

* (but it's open. Try to get there in daylight.)
http://www.trafficscotland.org/lev/index.aspx

Chains: Any good on ice? I reckon no good at all, but it would be good to be wrong on that.

al.

(The view from Edinburgh): There's a lot of forest roads in the loop and my bet is the upper ones will be ice even if the lower ones are clear. I'm re-considering getting the drill out tonight…
al.

Doh, I mean "stop on the DIY spikers".
al.

This is like Formula 1! Tyre choice is everything!

<takes life in hands>

Right, I'm going to stop on the DIY tubeless (only done one) and fit the Medusas tubeless instead. That gives me 2.5 sets of wheels: Snow Studs, Medusas, half-finished DIY spiker. It's the front DIY spiker, so I can see rear Snow Stud + front DIY spiker being start-line option.

SS ratios: I've dropped from my normal 32×16 to 32×20 which has been great locally on snow.

BTW, Drumochter "Live Eye" road cam still looks scary.
http://www.trafficscotland.org/lev/index.aspx

Cheers, al.

Trail rat – you're not cycling there again are you?!
al.

Snow gates closed at Dalwhinnie on the A9.

http://www.trafficscotland.org/currentincidents/index.aspx

al.

Brooks B17 Narrow great.
Brooks Ti Swift greater.

I used to have my Swift on my Swift when I had my Swift. Lovely.

Cheers, al.

I think my inter-lap hobby will be taking pictures of ice tyres. Cue Flickr gallery!

So: how peed off will you diggers be if it all melts before Saturday 1000 !?

I spent ages hacking a safe walking path along our street yesterday evening for the kids… and this morning the street was completely clear! ?#%$ 🙄

Cheers, al.

Well, after a ride this morning where the farm roads are sheet ice, I found the limit of the Snow Studs – there's no centre studs and even with the pressure right down there wasn't much grip. So, I've put together some minimal DIY jobs anticipating the same at Puffer. Conti Gravity 2.3 tyres.

I marked the knobs with red marker pre-fitting, so they're easy to spot in the pictures below! I taped a screw to the drill and bore through from the outside-in onto a block of wood first, then from the inside-out through the holes. Clipped right down with Park wire cutters. Lined with Slime tyre liners.

I'll have a ride later but they seem good. I've no intention of going fast on these, so I'm not bothered about the lack of side-spikes. Only 22 per tyre, I'll probably double that if my test ride's encouraging.

Cheers, al.

thanks cullen, now you mention it i might even have one from before. Al.

Puffer's going to be deadly with all these James Bond knives-on-my-wheels set ups!

They make my Snow Studs look like children's toys…

Cheers, al.

BTW, can anyone point me at a decent Contin trail map? Google doesn't seem to know.

And for the chap lacking accommodation for his wife: that was me last year. We booked with Tony at Coul Holiday Cottages, which was *absuloutely*lovely*. We've got one of Tony's cottages again this year. Can't recommend highly enough. Tony's on 07966131842 – you may be lucky!
http://www.coulholidaycottages.com/

Cheers, al.

Twinklydave: like you I'm worried about getting dizzy, whizzzing round in tiny little circles 😉

In truth, my Dad making it up to pick up the kids worries me a bit more.

al.

Live cameras for nervous people:
http://www.trafficscotland.org/lev/index.aspx

Drumochter's going to be worst. Looks OK just now. (Click on the camera icon north of Perth).

Cheers, al.

Plenty more where that came from chaps!

We've had loads of Little Brown Jobs in the garden too, the usual sparrows and robins, but also chaffinch, blue tit, coal tit and (my favourite) goldfinch. The robin nesting box is going up this week, so hopefully they'll hang around.

The first morning of the thaw and they all disappeared though! The garden's littered with soggy bread and seeds. Cue large weeds.

al.

Glad I cheered you up 🙂

It was just sticking out of the road-side snow at East Linton.

al.

Right, I'm going to spike some Conti Twisters for the Pompino. I'll cut the bead off some slick things lying in the tyre pile for a liner. Should be a laugh, and it might get an outing at Puffer.

Cheers, al.

They are very very narrow. 23c max I think.

I got cheap raceblade copies instead, and Rosquo stuck them on his Road Rat.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rossandclare/sets/72157622859826860/

Cheers, al.

Acht, caught the last 2 seconds. I suppose they repeat these things?

a.

Amazing guys! Definitely a good idea about the beer money bucket.

Trail-rat: what gearing? I've dropped to 32×20 from usual 32×16 and it's great in snow.

Cheers, al.

Wow, that Niner was a bargain (if kosher – which it seems it is).
a.

ScienceOfficer: I was pretty smug running Schwalbe Snow Studs tubeless, but they don't have holes through them! Are you saying you're successfully ghetto tubeless with screws through your tyres !?!?!?

Wow, how did you get them up? Do you have a compressor? How much fluid did you put in? I'm impressed!

Cheers, al.

Fantastic, many thanks to everyone up there! I've been cycling on the frozen snowy beach here, not much similarity to those pics!

Metcheck (I know, I know) says a thaw next week & snowing through the event, then freeze again. So, that might be quite like last year after all.

Then again with the ice exposed by the ploughs maybe it's 2008 all over again!

Cheers, al.

I started my move from SPDs to Crank Bros after nasty clogged pedals experiences at Strathpuffer. I'm just back from a very snowy ride on my CBs and no problems. The cleats can become clogged if you have to walk, but a couple of thums and you're away.

Cheers, al.

Hmm, this has degenerated into "bikes I've found on t'internet".

Here's my much-loved and SSUK-proven Dad bike.

Dad bike[/url]

Cheers, al.

Gentlemen, this is the Puffer injury curse. This is my 3rd year. In 2008, I hit black ice on the way to work in early Jan and ripped my shoulder muscles trying to break my fall. The many falls on the 2008 Puffer skating rink were excruciating!

In 2009, I avoided commuting injury and instead broke my patella (knee-cap) at 2AM about half way round my 10th lap. Nasty! I hobbled/coasted back to the finish (and that earned me a quaich for being old & SS! Thanks!). 3 months off the bike.

This year: well, I've dodged it so far but watch out it's a bit nippy.

Cheers, al.

the wheels will be £500-£600 easy and no real way round it

Well, if you read the magazines totally normal wheel sets with wham-bam carbon bits and bobs at £1000 get "value" awards. These Pugslys are clearly low-volume (manufacture! not air!) and dead specialist – very wide hubs, very wide rims, very wide… etc. How many spokes? What pattern? Etc. Specialist items, "suits you sir".

After all, you're not buying the bike for the bike – it's the huge wheels you want. You're buying the bike to wear the huge wheels. So, most of the money going to the wheels is correct. For most bikes the frame is the focus and the major expense – not on this one!

Cheers, al.

when I saw they would be no more in their current form.

What's happening? I missed that news…

BTW, maybe it's just the pic but it looks huge! What size is that?

Cheers, al.

That's a nice green. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine =)
My 853 Inbred

Cheers, al.

I've seen air coming out of the valve hole when the leak is somewhere else entirely on the rim strip. The valve hole's the easiest place for it to come out. Perhaps you nicked the strip if you used a lever to get the tyre on? If you've knackered your expensivo Stan's strip, just buy a 20" inner tube. (His sealant is excellent though, I use it).

Everything I know on the subject (and especially the warm bath winter tip!): tubelesswheels.com

Cheers, al.

I was out again on the snow tyres this evening, south Scotchland so no comparison to the snowy-balls of the kilted crowd oop north. But still, those tiny metal bits are amazing, 30 laps of the football field and I was ploughing into the turns like it was summer 🙂

No blimmin use in drifts though…

Also fell on the steps out front this morning and whacked my back. No! Not the Puffer injury curse! No!

Back to bloody work tomorrow too.

Cheers, al.

I was going to mention the Haro too.

I recently sold my Singular which was a huge heart-ache as I loved it. I can't recommend them highly enough. Sam hand-finishes the frame with reaming and rust-proofing giving you a bike for life. It went through many incarnations: My (ex-)Swift

On a minimal budget, all you need is 29er wheels (e.g. On-One do cheap wheels sometimes), buy Singular frame and fork, build from what you have.

I'm happy to say my Swift is still in the flickr gallery on the page linked below. (It's the orange drop-bar bike up the Pentlands. There's a story there…).

Singular Swift

Cheers, al.