trail_rat, not sure if you read all the stuff in the various links but 3 / Three / 3Mobile seem to make a habit of stuffing people’s credit ratings at the drop of a hat, even though it’s clearly not the case, and in getting debt agencies to recover non-existent debts. Lovely policy they have… 😯

3, Three, 3 Mobile – whatever they brand as, they’re truly awful. On at least 3 separate occasions I’ve given them formal confirmation that my wife, who uses the 3 phone although it is paid for in my name, is OK to deal directly with them on the frequent occasions that they give us grief. Each time, they accept this, and each subsequent call they ask for me to give permission.

On the last occasion, they passed her on through 3 people only for the 3rd one to say that the password she’d given was wrong (but the other 2 hadn’t…).

We called them about 3 months ago to cancel our contract and they conveniently reinterpreted that as us ‘considering’ ending our contract. They’re still charging us. Really, really poor excuse for a service provider.

A mate of mine analyses various telecoms customer information and I gather that 3 / Three / 3 Mobile have double the number of complaints as the next nearest company. Cheap and distinctly uncheerful.

Can’t beat a good bodge! 🙂

Good one, Stu.

Interesting to see that Obree agrees with the view that cycling can be a form of escape, a bit like that connection that you’d made in your blog with endurance events being a less extreme form of self-harm.

Definitely agree with his view of popping round to see mates / giving them a call / having a chat being of great benefit. Of course the hard part is summoning up the motivation to do it, much like the effort just to get out of the front door to get the bike out of the garage, but once you’re doing it, it feels great.

He hit the nail on the head, for me at least and in how I ended up in a bad place, on not letting things fester. Let it go, or deal with it there and then, talk things over and ask for help if it’s needed.

Hope you have a great ride, enjoy the experience!

Yeah, that’s the 29er XR3. A lot of google searches for some reason seem to point people at the 29-3, which is the different F/R pic.

I reckon 545g for a 29″ tyre is pretty light. Yes, my Schwalbe Ralphs come in a bit lighter, but significantly pricier!

Wider up front, if I’m not running the same. Grippier and also adds a bit more ‘suspension’ if on a rigid – legs acting as the rear ‘suspension’!

Thanks for the replies. Kind of thinking the same way as Teifiterror, the jockeys on SRAM do seem to need a fair bit of TLC so if the X4s fit then why pay the extra?

Will probably get both to see if the X4s fit: if they do, will see how they go and if reasonable stick with them in future!

Assuming it’s these ones you mean

not these 29-3 ones (which I think Ramsey Neil is thinking about?)

I’ve got them and really like them. Ran one as a rear on the SDW (Geax Gato up front) when it was too gloopy for anything other than a Mud-X, it struggled but just about coped, and cleared very well. Now running them as a pair and on anything other than gloop they work very well – fast and light, lots of traction (running them tubeless at about 30psi rear/26 front).

They go up very easily as tubeless, which seems to apply to all the Bonty TLR tyres I’ve used. Cheap compared to the likes of Schwalbe too.

The Imperial ones work well, seem to be a lot like DiaCompe. Pretty colours too! 😳

Mmmm – liking zoota’s idea of using croc-alikes as padding for hike-a-bike, good one.

Likewise croc-a-likes, wedged wherever they can fit or just strapped outside! £4 off Amazon 😀

Interesting article, thanks for the link.

A lot of it was covered in a very good (worrying) book, “Fat Land” (Greg Critser, 2003) which looked at the rise of obesity in the States and the correlations/causations with things like high fructose corn syrup and palm oil now being so prevalent in fast / prefab foods.

The research he was referencing then had appeared in the ’90s so it’s been known for quite while now – which is why it’s plausible that lawsuits might be successful…

Good to see some newer pieces of research also featuring. I thought the point about the tobacco industry was chilling in its cynicism.

@phiiiiil – re utility companies: water companies have to provide customers with a 2 hour window in which they keep appointments / a fixed time within which they have to respond to customer contacts, if they don’t they have to pay compensation under the Guaranteed Standards Scheme.

Sympathy with the OP, nothing more frustrating than poor communication, even if the update is just to say things aren’t progressing as quickly as originally thought.

I have Bontrager XR 1.8″s in my Traveller’s (Cross) Check at the moment, there is a fair bit of clearance still as they’re a low profile tread.

I also have some Panaracer Smoke 700 x 45c tyres that I sometimes run if it’s gloopier, and there’s not a lot of clearance with those since they’re much knobblier.

Neither of those is with a “fender” / mudguard, btw.

I reckon something smooth like a Schwalbe Big Apple might fit even as a 2.0″.

There’s Beer Crocombe and Curry Rivel down yer in Zummerzet which I reckon make a great combination 🙂

Cougar – Member
I have never had a problem with 3
Granted that one employee is not necessarily representative of an entire company, but the guy my OH spoke to when she rang to cancel a 3 contract almost had her in tears. I’ve never heard such shocking conduct from a call centre employee, ever (and I’ve worked in one).

We had truly awful service from 3 and cancelled our service from them, and then they kept charging us, with them denying they’d had instruction. Cheap but not cheerful. Vodafone regularly drive our company admin person up the wall whenever she needs to get in touch with them. Orange on the other hand have been very good for us.

Did it Liv-Lds on a rigid (carbon forked) Moto Rapido with 2.1″ Racing Ralphs, just enough traction in several places as it was very wet (biblical downpour for the first 6 hours…) whereas some mates on semi slicks were all over the place.

If dry though you could get away with pretty much any tyre tread but suggest a bigger volume than a CX 35mm would be comfier over the course of 130 miles.

Heartfelt condolences to all those who loved and knew him well. I didn’t, and now never will, but reckon he must have been fun to be around.

This is so very sad to read with the backdrop of his last blog post. Even in my darkest moments, and there are some, I can’t imagine a situation where a future with no biking would be worse than than no future at all.

Keep talking to each other and help each other out, and be prepared to receive that help.

My wife’s concerned that I should take some Dragon Spray with me, like riders take bear spray on the Tour Divide – maybe a bit big for an Anything Cage though 😆

Yup, first time for me and a friend doing the WRT this year – didn’t realise it was so all-consuming in terms of planning / fiddling / reasons (excuses) to buy more kit 😀

The first rule of weather guessing is – there is no weather guessing 8)

The Four Teas Cafe in Cholsey, superb cakes and other food / coffee, very handy when dropping down from the Ridgeway.

Malham and York is where I’ve stopped on both occasions when doing it – good breakpoints on the distance.

Second the advice re the descent down to Pateley Bridge, especially if with extra weight of panniers and on rim brakes – it’s steep!

Enjoy the ride, it’s lovely.

@timmys, sorry, reading my post I can see that it’s open to that interpretation – but no, what I’d meant was that given that in this pre-sale of tickets we’re only allowed to get tickets for one event and (having been unsuccessful in the first round of applications a few months ago for the XC tickets) I had to decide what event to go for.

In the interests of domestic harmony and investing in Number One Daughter’s archery future I figured archery would be the smart move 8)

But I still reckon some folk will (due to unexpected circumstances) have the odd ticket for sale on the Classifieds – may have to set up the RSS feed!

Had to make a call between XC for me and archery for my daughter (and me) so went for the archery as she’s got a future Olympics talent selection session coming up, whereas I just bimble around on a bike 😳

And we got some great tickets for the Women’s 1/4s through to Gold finals 😀 Now getting in the Olympics mood.

I predict some XC tickets appearing on the Classifieds at some point… 😉

Yup, not necessarily the cheapest but great value in the wider sense – advice, backup, responsiveness. If we got his kind of service from all our LBSs we’d all be happy to pay.

I spent a week in late September in Crested Butte and loved it. It was between the summer and ski seasons and almost empty, but there appeared to be loads of activities for families (walks, crafts, music, wildflower festival) that had been held through the summer.

It’s known as quite an artisanal town and the shops are a mix of boutique-y and small town. Some excellent eateries and coffee shops, as well as microbewery ales – not necessarily an ideal combination with CB’s 9,000ft altitude! 😀

About 4 hrs drive from Colorado Springs airport. Trail 401 is the one everyone raves about as the route to do (it’s true – and at 12,000ft you’ll need some lungs 😉 ): I also really liked Ferris Creek. Actually, in 6 days of riding there wasn’t a route I didn’t like!

Yup, I’ll be there again – meeting a mate there to get some planning in for the Welsh Ride Thing.

Weather looks like it’ll be a bit different from last year! Still to decide what bike to take but it’ll have gears 😉

Another fiver heading your way! Ta muchly for the link.

Nickname since about 13. Adrian > Adrain > Drain. As predicted by my grandad when I was named!

The first time I tried the SDW I did it in 2 days in early October, with a stop over at Amberley (c.50-55 miles), met my family there and they had changes of clothes etc for me. Conditions were perfect (dry, sunny, slight tailwind) and it was a pleasure – I think I took about 6 hours of elapsed time each day and averaged about 11mph when riding.

The second time I went with a mate, again stopping at Amberley and with the family. The weather was bad on day one and truly awful on day two, the headwind absolutely killing us in terms of slow progress, so we had to bale at Steyning since my mate was on a tight schedule to get back up north. The trail itself wasn’t in too bad shape, though a bit wet in places – we came across one bloke (getting seen to by ambulancemen) who’d just bust his arm by not giving the wet chalk due respect…

I’ve just got back from riding it again this weekend, did 70 miles to Truleigh Hill YHA and it took me 9.5 hours (even with a bale out to the road from Amberley to Fulking as I was running way late to meet a friend for dinner), bikepacking my gear for 2 nights. Weather wasn’t too bad, just the trail conditions were shhhhh…ocking. Pushed and carried for a few miles of it. Basic problem, in addition to clag and gloop, was that the chalk is pretty wet so the speed you’d expect to make up on descents just wasn’t an option, the fastest stretches being on the flat. Not much fun, really.

As some sort of benchmark, I’m reasonably fit and a competent biker, without being particularly fast or technical. I’ll happily do most UK XC riding and am used to long multiday rides (e.g. did the Camino de Santiago and JOGLE last year).

Which I guess is just a long way of saying, the full 100 miles would be very good going but certainly not impossible if the conditions aren’t too against you, especially if you have support from the BHF and if you’re not carrying stuff for overnight stops. Best of luck, and have fun!

Me! With a mate. Really looking forward to it. Doing the SDW out and back over the long weekend to try out kit 😀

Ooops – apologies, redhorse… 😳 9 yrs old – that’s great going: won’t be long before he’s at the front! 😀

That little lass on the Isla Bikes ‘cross bike was putting most of the adults to shame!

The Stranglers @ Gold Diggers in Chippenham, 1981.

Lovely day out and great organisation from the club, as always. A tad brisk on Cleeve Common! Managed to have a chat with a few folk and say ‘hi’ to all and sundry as well as thank the marshalls + catering folk.

I thought the trails were running very well and the Fargo with 2.4″ Ralphs turned out to be just right for the route, even though it’s a bit on the heavy side it carried speed well on the climbs and was a hoot on the descents.

Only one ‘hmmm’ moment on the signage, just after the butterfly conservation area, as IHN said, but I think we ended up on route anyway!

Ride enough bikes and you can often pick up the inherent resonance and rigidity of a frame just by the way it feels with one hand on the bar.

Up there with “The sustain, listen to it.” / “I don’t hear anything.” / “Well you would though, if it were playing.” 😆

Erm… probably not but here goes…
long travel FS, short travel FS, SS HT, geared short travel HT, geared LT HT, geared steel rigid 26″, geared drop bar 29er, Surly Traveller’s Check, carbon road bike, oh and a retrobike rigid RockHopper project that never seems to get finished 😳

I got a pair of the bib shorts a couple of years ago. The lycra itself is very good, quite compressive, but the padding has recently disintegrated at the narrow part in the middle of the pad, so that rest ended up bunching. I’ve just had to ditch them a week or so ago: shame really, as while they lasted they were very comfy.

@samuri – ta muchly! Not a gel wrapper will remain… 😉 I’ll drop you a line if that’s ok.

I was very impressed with the UU team JOGLE (or was it LEJOG?) relay last year. Welsh has their annual Tour de Taff (in which their MD usually wups everyone, he’s a bit good!). Yorkshire has its second annual coast-coast lined up and it’s a successful (oversubscribed!) format. I know the EA have done similar things.

So it all looks to have a lot of potential. Probably worth a separate thread – apologies OP 😳

@TJ – this might help with some background as to why revenue is not the only (or even main) source of investment. finance_investment If profit levels aren’t sufficiently attractive, capital costs more (and there would be less put in by investors), so bills would go up.

Obviously this doesn’t apply where you are in Scotland though, where Scottish Water gets its money at the same cost of capital as the government (but pays the price of being at the whim of political expediency, and which is even more apparent in how Northern Ireland Water is a political football).

Excellent idea, matthewlhome 🙂 I reckon Cannock is the best bet travelwise if it was to involve as many companies as possible.

[slight hijack] I’ve been looking to put together a WaterAid industry event for a couple of years, say a 12 hour relay with mixed teams of companies/regulators/supply chain, to get some rapport going between the various ‘tribes’ (having worked in all three, I know this is would be useful!).

Venue is my biggest headache! Insurance, liability etc. I’m thinking some of Welsh Water’s Elan Valley catchment would be good. Or maybe Yorkshire Water’s Langsett area. Choices…

I’m also working with some other people to pull together an overall umbrella (no pun intended!) within which any cycling activities in support of WaterAid can fit and which would act as some sort of ‘hub’ for information / resources. Should be launching soon. [slight hijack over, apologies]