Got the 119 of the new breed and very impressed (the 7 speed auto box is so very, very good – and this is from a lifelong auto hater!). I don’t think I would take a 109, I had one as a courtesy van and it was a bit too gutless.

The 119 is entertainingly brisk 😉

Big fan of 29ers in the Lakes – I have the old (non-plus) Stache and it is superb! That said I am probably going for a plus size bouncer to replace the Whyte T129 as it’s stable mate!

I would be looking hard at the Honzo, you are going to want something a bit burly 😉

Ah well – perhaps I will ask a friendly shop to slot a 29er wheel & tyre into one and see what happens 😉 If not, back to plans A – C!

It just looked a good way to do things a bit cheaper whilst getting what I was looking for 😉

I am a big fan of micro 4/3 myself – my biking camera is an Olympus E-M5 mk II, and to be honest I am tending to use that a lot more than my main camera these days (even commercially I am selling as many or more images from that as the big Nikon D800). All comes down to what you put infront of the sensor!

My other half has “borrowed” my E-M5 mk I in preference to the D7000 that she had previously nabed, she isn’t a photographer but really loves the wee Olympus for ease of use.

Image quality is up there with the decent APS size sensors, or near enough that you can’t tell the difference. They are nice and compact too, and the lens selection is convincing (which reminds me – must get a couple more pancake lenses before I start riding again in the near future!)

I would go m4/3… and probably Olympus at that (I do like the Fuji system too, but would probably opt for the M4/3 for lens choice – especially used). Body wise I would probably err more towards the PEN series rather than the OMD, but it comes down to personal preference so see which she prefers.

Mmmm Tablet….

I keep looking through reviews, but really don’t even have a starting point! So far out of the tech loop these days!!!!

For a quid a bottle wychwood firecracker’s a good light ale, but stringers IPA for best

Sounds like you are in or near Ulverston thestabaliser….

Everyday, and plenty of it….

Not everyday and in slightly more moderate quantities….

(Been injured since September – first ride since then… 1200cc!)

17th June 2016 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

Got the Vito 119 Sport at the end of last year – it is stonking (and faster than a van has any right to be). Handles well enough for a big lump, and the 7 speed auto is really impressive (and that is speaking as someone with a pathological hatred of auto boxes, but a knackered left ankle which forced the issue).

The only time I struggled was getting home a while back, a slow speedleft hairpin up a short steep hill with ice. I gave up after three attempts and came in down the other hill instead! I have since bought snow socks just incase 😉

Not driven the VW, but a similar spec was a good bit more expensive. It’s miles better than my old L200 though… except offroad… 😉

4 x 2Tb disks. The drives themselves are okay, it is the bit that tells the system how they go together that corrupted. I am told they “should” be recoverable….

To be honest a lot of the stuff I am not too bothered about, there were a few landscapes and event shots that I would love to have – but they are mostly on Alamy/Getty so I am still able to make something from them – it’s more the pics of my boys when they were wee (although I have smaller copies on FB).

I will get them done one day, just not anytime soon!

I had this – unfortunately on a RAID 0 Array… which time constraints had stopped me taking BluRay backups from over a considerable period.

Lost loads and loads of photos – some award winning… I now back up in a number of Cloud Storage locations as a result. I have kept the drives if I ever have the funds to get them recovered! I suspect it will be in the thousands though….

Otherwise – the advise above is good. I have taken drives out of caddys and systems into a new external enclosure and managed to recover in the past. Some of the commercially available recovery software is pretty good too, otherwise it is big expense and specialist companies time!

I thought it got better as it went on to be honest. I will probably watch the series and see how it goes.

The Nomad bit was superb… I too want one.

Both of mine started with Zoom balance bikes, which are fab. The eldest has now progressed onto an Early Rider 16″ pedal job, which is awesome (and didn’t need stabilisers, just got on and went for it!)

21st May 2016 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

30th April 2016 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

Got an Eve off of t’interweb which is full memory foam thing. It’s absolutely brilliant! I also have a discount code somewhere if you are interested.

Interweb Linky

I would spend a bit more money now myself and get a system. For the micro 4/3 kit I use a Lee Seven5 set up which is a square filter system a bit like the old Cokin P – but much higher quality. Going that route would allow you not only to get some straight ND filters, but also grads – which is what you want for sunsets (and quite a lot of other stuff really).

So “it should be a simple bit of keyhole surgery” actually means “your foot is basically coming off and being stitched back on” then.

This would explain a lot….

Pffft… I was in theatre for 2 hrs 45 mins on Thursday, they said it would only be an hour. Bloody doctors eh, cannae slice you up fast enough one day, then take all the time in the world the next.

It started with one of these:

(Scala straw panama outback)

Before getting one of these:

(Akuba Snowy River)

And one of these… for travel…

(Barmah Roo Squashy)

Oh, and one of these:

(Akuba Traveller)

And most recently one of these (from Cotswolds Outdoor)for motorbike weekend duties, and work.

(Ayacucho Oiled Leather)

Almost forgot… there is also one of these for special occasions (and cos I used to be an archaeologist)

(Adventurebilt Fedora – as worn by Indy himself)

It’s something I keep looking into… just cost that stops it really. We may go and look at some van conversions soon though and talk about finance.

I want something bigger, but the other half is less convinced. She always wanted a classic VW though – probably something to do with spending too much time in Cornwall. Fitting the two of us and three small children in a van may be a bit tight though for anything more than a night or two!

I think Grizedale tomorrow with the wee boys (one on his first proper bike, which is the awesomes, and his little brother on his balance bike). Looks a nice, bright (if cold) day.

Sunday is grim, so probably be a chill out/art/craft kinda day.

Monday… could be another adventure somewhere.

Some from my Mum, some from my Grandma. Both were excellent cooks, but I wish I had learned some of the flash stuff from my Gran – I only found out after she died that she spent her youth cooking in the big stately homes and for Royalty!

May have been tricky to recreate the classics on a peat fired Rayburn in an Orcadian croft house mind….

Just started using one myself – this week I am just getting a handle on daily baseline activity… then I will try and start building on that next week.

Bored of being injured now, surgery is going to be some time away due to strikes and I want to get at least some fitness back after sitting about since September. I like things that give an indication of where you are at, and encourage you to do something about it. Even if it is not accurate, so long as it is consistent and I can see improvements that is motivation in and of itself.

It’s even better when that is right on your doorstep 😉

(About 5 miles to Torver from where I am sitting… and an easy couple from the bottom of Parkamoor).

Unfortunately I am still waiting for surgery on my borked ankle so won’t be riding anywhere for some time, and have been off the bike since September. Debating throwing caution to the wind, and putting the Aircast through some serious abuse at the moment!

I have exceptionally wide feet and no end of problems. I work in walking boots most of the time so I get through a LOT of them too!

Brands I have got along with in the last few years include – I am somewhere around a size 12, but some boots have odd sizing:

Alt-Berg (Size 13) (motorbike boots granted, and custom built – which is always an option with them)

Mammut (Size 13) – Current work boots and so far very impressed with them. Not sure on longevity at this stage though.

Solomon (Size 12.5) – Quests and the trainer style boots the name of which escapes me.

Scapa (Size 12) – Got a couple of pairs on the go at the moment!

Hagloffs (Size 12)

Keen (Size 12) – last ones I tried weren’t so good though.

Asolo (Size 13) – this one surprised me, but damn comfy and was the first time I had gone up a size for fit, but this was as advised by the man in George Fisher (Keswick).

There are many, many more that I haven’t got on with or which fell apart in 6 months or less. My boots tend to be ruined after a year but sometimes I get a bit more out of them!

I moved the other direction 8 years ago… it’s wrecked my riding!

Stirling – all day every day.

Deeply envious. I would move back in a shot.

See that dashed line on the map between Miterdale and Boot.

Don’t.

Unless you relish a bog slog on an undefined trail with many cows!

Which is a shame as the scenery is epic, there are stone circles and the descent into Boot is actually quite fun!

I had the old 1050 Tiger with full luggage – brilliant bike for touring on, comfy two up… and proper rapid when the urge took me 😉

That said, I am off to have a quiet word with myself as I keep finding myself looking at Victory bikes at the moment….

I have this to “look forward to”. Surgery should be next month, then potentially another 6 weeks off…

Fortunately I live a couple of miles from the end of the Parkamoor descent in the Lakes 😉 That said my plan to build back up is going to start with gentle road rides from here to Coniston and back (about 5 – 6 miles of undulating back roads) before venturing onto trails. I will have been off the bike for 8 – 9 months by then though.

Currently on 7 months… awaiting surgery then it depends how long I need to spend in recovery before I can start again. Even a gentle bimble up the back lanes would be lovely at the moment!

I went out to torture myself in Wheelbase last week 🙁 So many lovely new bikes….

Surgery is scheduled for April, barring disasters along the way, so hopefully I will be back on the saddle in some capacity for summer.

I did the same, but a few years back when the D800E first came out. Never looked back 😉

But in the film days I was Nikon right the way through to the last body when I switched to an EOS3 (the old Nikons were all manual focus battleships – not all fancy dancy auto!).

I have a very old, very battered 70-200 f2.8 too, but tend to use smaller lenses!

We had this exact problem at the previous house, then post move, a lot more pronounced. The Openreach engineer came out a few days back and removed all the extension sockets that were connected into the master.

Problem solved.

Apparently fibre does not play nicely with additional wiring and sockets. Since we use digital phones we don’t need the plethora of phone sockets in the house anyway! The old place had extensions too, although not to the same extent, so I think he may have hit the nail on the head!

I exchanged and moved the same day too. It was mental! Normally I wouldn’t have, but time was of the essence!

One of my old locals had the full range – all pretty good. Wasn’t so keen on the Red, but that is just my taste.

The Black was superb, and they did a Slate at one stage that I really enjoyed!

I had a Forester, loved it… but pricey when bits fell off (which they did quite often). The Suzuki Grand Vitara 1.9DDIS was really quite a nice place to be that came along some time later – my only issue with it was the rate at which it ate a full set of tyres! There was an Outlander (previous version) which was absolutely lovely – Company Car Tax saw it off in the end though.

Had a couple of pickups – but don’t go there!

For your mileage I would be tempted by the Grand Vitara I think. 4k a year should see a set of tyres do a few years (I was running through a full set a year)

Ooooh – Saabs 🙂

I had a 9-3 HOT for a while, it was hilarious. Torque steer was “entertaining” but by heck it was rapid!

No idea on the diesels.

That Auto Roller is epic!

trail_rat – the camper option isn’t *just* to keep the NCB alive. That was the cheap 4×4 idea for about a grand! This is more a way to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, but is still very much in the “thinking about it as an option” stage!

Think we will have to go to the show this year and have a look, perhaps hire something for a weekend and see where we go from there.

Tracey – I think it was seeing yours a few weeks/months back on here that started me thinking about coach built. Looks lovely!

Towzer – parking facilities, I have 2 driveways here. The lower one would park 3 cars if I modified the gate (which is planned), the top one would probably get a van like Traceys and 2 cars on it if we planned where everything was going! We had friends staying in a converted Mercedes horse box on the bottom drive for 10 days recently and that fitted fine! Wouldn’t have been able to get the motorbike out the garage though 😉

What we need though… I don’t really know! I suppose with the kids in tow we would want a little more in the way of comfort and luxuries than if it were just the two of us.

We had considered a caravan – my Vito would tow one no problem (work van so not able to convert that!) and considered a van conversion + caravan as another option – so the van could be used for weekends away and the caravan for longer trips where we are staying put.