A great ride – I managed to put together a little montage of the three days. Hope you enjoy it – the weather – the scenery – the riding – and a stupid over the bars moment only 20 miles in!

Hmmm – I will drop them an email as well on the trousers issue but if anyone else hears please post. Just over a week to go………

I know it says on the ‘essential’ kit list that you need to bring waterproof trousers. I have never ridden with waterproof trousers, even on all day snow biking or rain fest two day event. Is this really an essential item – do rat race enforce this as they say that do and not allow you to ride if you don’t have the essential kit?

Square Mile Coffee – awesome….
Square Mile Link

Fat Albert – run front and back specific on a Cove Stiffee FR. Fun and good on loamy tracks/trails.

So has anyone else experienced an on the spot fine for misdemeanours on a bike? Seems to be an increasing trend in Portsmouth!

Portsmouth Local

have they beefed them up now?

They certainly seem to be sturdy enough. I’m 11st and have taken it over some gnarly stuff – all good. Welding and paint work seem better on this than my Stiffee from a few years earlier.

Interesting situation on the way home from work. Guy jumps a red light in London Queen Victoria Street. Two mounted police (on horses that is) ride out in front of him. Stop him and give him an instant fine. Would have been a sight if he decided to try and make a run (or cycle) for it – two police on horseback galloping after him……..

Here in the UK, pants are long trousers.

I just read all of the post and the thing that really got my goat was someone confusing American with our UK language. I wear my pants under my trousers. Trousers are long – i.e. they cover your legs. Long things worn on your legs when cycling that are tight are called ‘tights’. Things worn over your pants that are short are called ‘shorts’. Whatever next? My boot becomes ‘the trunk’, we lose the ability to spell words with the letter ‘u’ in them and we add ‘z’ where a ‘s’ used to be! Pass me some more of Mom’s home-made apple pie….

As for cyclist who are idiots – same for any other walk of life or sport – there are good ones and there are not so good ones and there are complete ‘d**kheads’.

One thing I have noticed though, more roadies are doffing their caps to us MTBers. And vice versa. Which is nice….

Many footpaths around my area (close to London) have not seen a foot in years so I believe I am doing the countryside some service by maintaining a path’s usage – albeit using a bike. I think some of the footpaths around here would not be passable by man nor beast if it were not for bikers…..I have had some interesting encounters with walkers on Bridleways though – including a lady golfer relieving herself in the middle of a bridleway that cuts through a golf course. Such fun……

Yes – but forgot to change my tyres. I got so excited seeing dry (yes – DRY) trails that I put on my Crossmark tyres. Lovely in the dry – pants in the wet. It was fun at least but there are times on an epic where you really want to have some grip around those bends….Next time – I will check the weather before heading out. Come on Summer!! Where are you????? :?:

Trails drying out – Crossmark going on. Use it on the back with a HighRoller (Maxxis) on the front. They are extremely good…..you won’t be disappointed.

Red, blue and gold on an orange frame? Could you not sneak some green/purple on there somewhere as well?

Well – I still have to think about the new wheels that will ultimately have to replace the hand-me-down ones – purple rims and green hubs???

Here it is – built with Hope/Crank Bros/Shimano gear.

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Ginger[/url] by Dadster21[/url], on Flickr

Here is the end result – 1×10 based on Hope 38t (yes big but doable on most bits) chainring / XT chain set / SLX 11-36t cassette / XT mid length derailleur and superstar chain guide… built into a Cove Handjob with other Hope kit to boot……
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Gold and Blue with Orange[/url] by Dadster21[/url], on Flickr

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Christened today and called ‘Ginger’[/url] by Dadster21[/url], on Flickr

How do you find the 1×10?

Took a bit of fettling – particularly with the superstar chain guide – but now working fine. I think the real fettling is going to be getting the gear ratio right. I went for a (quite big) 38t front chainring and a 11-36 cassette. It got me round all of the hills today but will be a real struggle on some that I know about so a 36t could be an option. I think on a smaller chainring I would certainly lose the 11t on the back but I could always coast!

All I can say is thank heavens for two cr*p winters and pretty rotten summers. The sanitised bridleways round our way were filled with hard pack chalk stuff which when very wet turned to sludge and when slightly damp was like riding on slippery slime. Now with weathering they are nearly back down to the underlying original hardpack surface and nice and tricky. That’s what I like about the money wasted on sanitising these bridleways – the weather always gets it back to something worth riding. Never thought I would look back on the last two years weather with ‘glass half full’ positive thoughts!

Depends on your budget but I have never gone wrong with Shimano disc brakes. Have tried SLX, XT and XTR – they will all depend on how much you want to spend / how much weight you want to save. All do the same thing though – they make you stop!

I am looking at the 11-36t cassette. I will need a little extra relief – just in case. And with 38t up front the ratio works for me – on paper at least. I will let you know how things go once the kit is on…….going for the XT shifter/derailleur option.

Hmm – so have ordered a Superstar chainguide and hope 38t chainring (down south you see – would probably need to change this on hillier terrain). Now for the cassette/derailleur/trigger combo – any good offers out there for 10speeds?

Has anyone had any luck in getting a 9-speed trigger to work with a 10sp cassette or is it just not worth the effort?

Thanks for all the comments. I finally plumped (if that’s the word for it) an orange Handjob with some blue finishing kit from Hope. Thinking of running it as a 1×10. Will post some piccies once I get my hands on it and have built it…….

Avoid sneezing at all cost ………….

And coughing…… well any sudden movements really….

Have ridden a Yeti ASR SL for the last 6 years and have never looked back. Fab geometry, short travel and handles ace. Very light too – which is what you also want in an XC full sus bike. If you can get one of these frames and build it up then do it…….

Is that on the Pilgrims Way up through the North Downs? I recognise that little ‘tree tunnel’

It’s just next to Shire Lane running from Green Street Green to Keston…..so near the North Downs (ish)

I always cycle through Pratts Bottom on my weekend cycle rides….

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60784746_prattsbottom_annebyrne[/url] by Dadster21[/url], on Flickr

And I always chuckle when I am in Cornwall – sitting next to Roughtor on Bodmin is ‘Brown Willy’!
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Brown Willy[/url] by Dadster21[/url], on Flickr

And a nice little bridle round the corner from Pratts Bottom is ‘Bogey Lane’
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bogey lane[/url] by Dadster21[/url], on Flickr

And they are starting to use disc-brakes!

Bought all my gear from Merlin – and they made me a bike (Cove Stiffee / Hope gizmo’s / etc). Great service and never had a problem….

Another for Softshell – used to ride waterproofs and generally ended as wet on the inside as I was on the outside. Gore Softshell has been the best so far. Ridden in the snow/sub zero/rain/wind and all good. Only need a baselayer underneath if you are pushing it.

Been sorely tempted to road bike again this year – not ‘cos I don’t like mud – just the amount of time taken to clean the bike every flippin time I have been out for the last n months. BUT – have developed a cunning plan of using a road bike on a turbo and then out with the lads on the MTBs. This hasn’t solved the cleaning issue but the interval training on the turbo has meant that I can monster the climbs and keep going for longer. So the stamina from the turbo is really paying off – but I won’t be switching back. I will take my chances with deers, roots, badgers and trees rather than Mr White Van Man etc etc…..

Yeti ASRc
XTR groupset (10×3 trail)
RockShox Reba Race fork
Hope ProIII + Stans
Crank Bros Candy
Selle Italia carbon saddle
FSA carbon bars/stem

Santa Cruz Heckler
XT groupset (3×9)
As standard set-up from SC
RockShox Revelation

Cove Stiffee
RockShox Revelation
Hope ProII hoops/hubs
XT Groupset (3×9)+ Hope M4 brakes
Crank Bros candy

Tyres = various Maxxis/Bontrager/Schwalbe

If it wasn’t for the grind up past the black run – the combination of Whites and Darkwood/Jetlag is brilliant…..

46, type 1 diabetic, 3 kids (2 teenagers), office job, but still manage to bomb it down and sprint up the hills on nightrides and weekends. Lost 2 stone since the beginning of the year (was 13 now 11). Getting faster up the hills than I ever have done in the past. Kids are now looking to come out with me – which is awesome. They are into their BMX/Scooters. Worst incident – 2 broken ribs on a mad downhill in the dark with a flat – when I was 40.

Afan is definitely still worth a visit – I did 60 miles over 1.5 days on different trails. Got to be better than most in terms of length and variety even if there are parts that are shut.

Why not climb YWal to get to Skyline – cross over W2 and then you are there……

I thought the same – coming from SE London. But it was ace. And the area where there was a landslip is open (if you avoid the gate at the top!). The work has been completed to stop the slippage. And I don’t work for the Afan tourist board either…… :-)

Badly signposted diversions too.

Just follow the yellow square signs with black square in it (there are loads of them) with an arrow that points the way. There are loads of them….

To be honest, I really think that Afan is worth the trip. The locals are up in arms at the views being held by folks on forums looking to avoid the area – we are their income and livelihood. Also, they are getting short change from the Forestry Commission – who are really hamstrung as the main reason for many of the closures is a Japanese Larch Fungus. Trees are being felled 20 years earlier than anticipated (650,000 so far) Darkside – is now Lightside. All the trees on this hillside are gone. And this doesn’t just impact Afan. This is across the UK. Could a better job be done of communicating the closures, reasons for them, alternatives, etc. Yes, clearly. But I still think that there is enough riding there to please any weekender – one dayer. So I will keep supporting Afan and the work it is doing to keep trails open in what is a very trying time for all those that live and work in the area.

Now off the soapbox.

On the new section on Skyline, is that singletrack?

Not singletrack but it is still challenging. Loose rock – gulleys – that sort of stuff.