Like smiff and scottfitz “Sunday at a top secret hampshire location :-) “… and I came last.

A great day, though, followed by a ride home through the floods…. on the 500m of road=river section I met 2 cars, so I was glad I had some waterproof gear on!

Even an XML-U3 running at 1.5 amps will only give you 624-663 lumens (and that’s theoretical max) – which is 2 hours of run time from a 3100 mah cell. So if you really mean >900 lumens for >2hrs then you will have to be running multiple torches, or a bike light powered by a battery pack.

But 900 real lumens is pretty bright. I run 2 XML-T6 torches (£10 ea)on medium – I’m guessing that gives me 2 x 200 lumens for >3 hours, supplemented by an SSC P7 (now an XML-U3) on full beam for sections when I need more light… so a boost of 500, now up to maybe 800+ lumens

The worst sections is usually along the A3, with its wet off-camber roots. You can always avoid this by taking a shortcut across to Snakes & Ladders (yellow dots across from the top of the first climb – up the road then take the fire-road on your right by the carpark).

If you find anything that needs ‘fixing’ post up, and someone will look at it… we will be up there working on 29th/30th.

But it’s not over – you now have to worry about Monday, March 26th, 2407 when the 14th b’ak’tun ends… though I think we may now be safe until Friday, October 13, 4772.

Ridgeback mx16 are great little bikes – but around £140 new. Worth looking out for one second hand – several on eBay.

@mtbikingmike “two new bikes being picked up today” – fair enough… and apologies for doubting you.

What about the free Garmin you got? Or was that with your new Lapierre Sensium? All the posts you made in the different sections of BikeRadar seem to have been deleted now – still two new bikes and lots of free stuff, eh?

Glad you enjoyed it.. As you say, it is a real challenge in the wet, especially along the A3 section with all the off-camber roots. I can’t wait for it to be dry again… it was fantastic the very end of March, but it feels like it’s been raining non-stop since then.

If you ever feel like lending a hand http://www.facebook.com/qecptrailbuilding

Yes, went to see Jedi with two mates… an ideal number, I think, as you get one-to-one coaching but without one-on-one pressure. The Jedi style is very much about what makes you tick, and how you learn best, so each one of us was coached slightly differently right down to the tone-of-voice. It definitely made the most of the day. Highly recommended.