If only to mention to the ones that have to have a moan even when you’re riding considerately on a quiet FP

Surely you mean bridleway? 🙂

walkers, hmmm? not sure how much value they bring to the eco system

don’t get many points for flattening them, especially if there’s a herd of them (Death Race 2000 rules)

Well it’s a voluntary agreement and has been in place for twenty years +/- a year or two. There’ll always be some who either ride up/down Snowdon outside the agreed times but as others have said there’s no personal penalty for doing so. I’ve not ridden up Snowden but it’s not pleasant even walking it during peak weekends so can’t imagine that it would be any better trying to ride it.

If the OP wants to see what bans are like then look at climbing, there are quite a few crags where climbing is restricted either seasonally due to nesting birds or completely due to rare flora and fauna. These bans aren’t simply tokens, they are backed up by law and flouting them, even in ignorance, can and does lead to prosecutions.

Fair? Who said anything about life being fair?

Light, cheap, long lasting.

Choose any two from the above 🙂

Depending on the roads you ride on, your riding style and the particular tyres then you might be looking at replacing a tyre every 4000Km or less. Once you’ve settled on a make/model you should get a feel for when to think about replacing a tyre. It’s quite easy to rack up the miles/kilometres on the road, much more so than off-road.

There’s also the cost (to the train operating companies) of adding what would effectively be an empty piece of rolling stock to a train, they simply can’t afford to do it. The number of bike places assigned to a train is the number that on *average* are likely to be filled. Most trains will have no bikes and a few will have more than the reserved places. On routes like the West Highland Line there are six bike slots which you need to reserve in advance as it’s popular with cyclists heading out to the islands.

The number of bike racks/spaces will have been based on projections – if more people start to ride bikes to a station, take the train then ride on to their destination then it will be noticed and the number will increase. Unless there is demand the TOCs won’t change things.

I find it’s usually when the tyre is getting worn and the rubber is prone to getting cuts. Then a foreign object gets caught in the cut and pushes through to the inner tube. This only happens if extra pressure is put on the tyre at that point, say hitting a small crease in the road – the FO punctures the inner tube; you repair/replace and check the inside of the tyre but because there’s now nothing pushing on the FO you think it’s all OK. A few miles later the same thing happens.

I now check the outside of the tyre as well, the tyre usually feels quite old and tired so puncture fixed I’ll replace it ASAP.

Roads are open for bikes until about an hour to half an hour before the publicity caravan is due. I think a section of road will get closed at a time rather than it being a rolling closure hence the varying time.

As for the trains – well the commuter trains have space for just two, yes two, bikes per train – they can fit a few more on some of the carriages in use but it’s more down to the benevolence of the guard even at off-peak times. A bike takes up quite a bit of room and given the forecast numbers it’s going to be standing room only even with all the extra capacity they are providing. Many of the platforms at the smaller stations are only long enough for 4 carriages so it’s simply not possible to hook up another carriage to increase capacity. And can you imagine just what confusion there’d be if there was a guards van with a hundred bikes stacked inside and there’s only 90 seconds to get them all out?

Much as I’d like there to be extra provision for bikes on public transport, in this instance it simply isn’t practical.

I’ve been on a sportive when part of the route was also being used that day by a race/event. The briefing at the start informed us what was going on. Of course some people think they know it all or forget but the signs were distinctly different to those used by the sportive so should have raised some suspicion even for the most forgetful rider. It wasn’t a closed road event though so participants of both events were on the correct side of the white lines.

Basically if you are working hard then nothing will cope with the sweat and water vapour. Off-hand I don’t know of any lightweight waterproof tops with pit zips.

I walked that path up Skiddaw last year and thought that it’d be a great MTB descent especially if it continued down in to the valley you can see on the right of the shot. That hillside is about 40degrees in steepness but the track traverses so isn’t generally that steep but remember one section where the underlying rock poked through the scree that look tricky.

That’s not Nan Bield, it’s the cheeky descent off Skiddaw down to Ullock Pike

What about tyres?

Round ones. But you’ll need a squishy bit at the bottom to avoid infringing Dave Brailsford’s copyright 🙂

Try middle one. If it’s too easy fit big one, if it’s too hard fit small one. sorted!

lemonysam: the docile ones are probably the lively ones from ten years ago but have been “put out to grass” to live out their days.

Horses have individual traits – one round us gets spooked by aubretia, probably its smell – others aren’t bothered by petrol driven lawnmowers. Ideally the owner knows (most) of the traits of the animal they are riding but it may be that it isn’t their horse so don’t know how it reacts to novel stimulii.

Quick question – the route on the website has a couple of “loops” where the outgoing and returning lines meet or cross. Does the route go up the east side and down the west, i.e. anti-clockwise or the opposite way round?

+1 for WD40

Basically you are using a light hydrocarbon to remove a heavier one. Works for road tar as well. Spray on, leave a moment or two and wipe off with a j-cloth or similar. Repeat if necessary.

Simplicity?

Like the new “Tri” shoes 🙂

Ride over Bwlch y Groes to Waunfawr then along the road to Snowden ranger, up the track from here then over in to Telegraph Valley and back to Llanberis. Finding your way out of Llanberis might be tricky if you don’t know it well.

Eh, just the usual suspects that I can see. You have to click the “All Sport” link then “Cycling” in the subsequent list.

Interesting that yesterday morning the two lead stories on the sports bulletin were cycling.

As Scotroutes has mentioned, the limit is £1000 because that’s the limit a company can offer “credit” without requiring a FSA license (or whatever the legal documentation is actually called). Obviously fine however many years ago when the Cyclescheme was set up but inflation has eroded in to that grand’s purchasing power.

Maybe write to your MP suggesting that the chancellor increase this limit in the next budget.

Garmin 510. You can set up different bike profiles on it. Can use HR and cadence meter info if you have those. You can get a bundle with the main unit, HR monitor & strap and cadence pod.

You do hear a lot of reliability problems (actually it’s usually about the pawls slipping which seems to be a result of cable slippage or dirt in that part of the system) but I’ve not had much problems with mine. Since everything is in one unit rather than distributed as in a derailleur system it’s easy just to say “it’s the hub” rather than one of the subsystems within the hub.

Having the 1:1 ratio where it is is probably due to how they (Shimano) developed it, to get the 11 gears there’s a funny double shift between 6 & 7 – you can feel a different “clunk” when you change gear – I think it’s due to there being a second planetary gear for the extra (upper) gears.

I found the gap between gears to be too big with the recommended 1:9 ratio but swapped out for a larger sprocket and it’s fine, even though I’d spin out on downhills but then I’d prefer to coast at those speeds. I don’t use mine off-road, it’s on the commuter where high speed isn’t what I’m after. A couple of years in and about 4K Km and I’m happy with it. Not sure if I’d get another one but it’s likely to last me a good few years yet.

Build up a front wheel with a dynamo hub, also have spare lights, just in case the dynamo breaks down. The cheaper Shimano hubs are £50 or so, the Schmidt SONs are things of beauty but at £200+ they aren’t cheap.

Obviously it depends on what your job is and what facilities are available at work but I leave trainers,trousers, underpants and socks at work. I pack underpants and socks in a dry bag. If I forget either then I’ve still got something at work to use. I also have a micro-fibre towel and deodorant at work so I don’t have to carry them.

Just needs a bit of planning really.

Evans King of the Pennines

TBH, once you get past sticking plasters and zinc oxide tape there isn’t much in most first aid kits that you need. I’d add safety pins, blunt nosed scissors and a pair of tweezers and a surgical bandage. If you yourself require any specific medicines then include those but you have to be wary of giving anything to someone you don’t know if you haven’t training.

perhaps the worst things you are likely to have to deal with are: cuts – clean and cover with plaster; deep cuts – immobilise & stem blood flow; broken bones – splint. Your problem then is then caring for the casualty (hypothermia, shock, etc) and getting them to full medical attention.

GaVgAs: That’s the route the Kentmere fell race takes, though it goes to a checkpoint on the summit of High Street

Slightly off track but when competitors started skating rather than the traditional “loipe” during cross-country ski races the officials got round any problems by taking a vote before the race – if a majority wanted to skate then everyone had to skate. In part this was because XC ski racing requires a groomed track and it’s either one style or the other, you can’t mix them.

There’s lots of rules in cycle racing – would a few extra about brakes be much bother?

FWIW the gap caused by the missing 17t on a T Rex is pretty irritating. It’s both noticable on the legs and also needs a slightly firmer shift.

I thought you were meant to replace the 15T with a 16T to compensate? Or is your experience with the 16T as replacement?

Riding on a road bike is just another variation on a theme. Ride with your hands “on the hoods” and the body position isn’t too different from an MTB position. There’s a lot of bikes in the £1K bracket because of the Ride to Work scheme. Maybe a CX bike, like the Kinesis 5T?

First rule of selling: get as much as you can.

Look what Shimano have done with electronic shifting: start with eye-wateringly expensive Dura-ace then once the tech starts to be paid for introduce it to the next level down (Ultegra). In a year or two it will appear in the 105 range.

They’ll do the same with this.

Ta, possibly quite a lot don’t know what is and isn’t a bridleway 🙂 I suspect you’d have more problems off the fells trying shortcuts between bridleways.

What’s the score with going over Harter Fell? Sour looks from the red socks brigade?

Hilly route: Bentham – Slaidburn – Bolton-by-Bowland – Nappa (on road between Long Preston and Gisburn) – Gargrave – Lothersdale – Crosshills – Silsden – Addingham – Ilkley

Less hilly route: Bentham – Keasden – Eldroth – Settle – Rathmel – Wigglesworth – Hellifield – Otterburn – Bell Busk – Gargrave – Carleton – Skipton – Embsay – Bolton Abbey – back road to Ilkley

As others have said, it depends on what you want to get out of the trip. The guided trip you mention costs c. £700 for 6 days riding. That includes transfer to and from Glasgow, Accommodation, gear transfer. Doing it yourself this would be £50 by train. Roughly £35 per night for B&B so £210 for 6 nights; Gear transfer: hard to cost really, £25/day so £150. That’s £410 doing it by yourself. Obviously the guiding company will get deals on B&Bs and will have their own vehicles for transfers and backup.

I’ve been on guided trips abroad where you are relying on local knowledge – you just have to go with the flow – there’s a destination and if you get there at 2pm then you just grab a beer and chill. Obviously in this country things are a bit easier for us as we know the systems and I’m not sure I’d go guided, the main reason would be the convenience rather than the actual guiding and being shown the trails etc. If you want that convenience then go for it, if you want a testing few days carrying your own kit then do that.

Riding in a group takes discipline. I’d agree that big groups are just counter-productive in that they p*** other road users off. A group of around 8 – 12 is ideal, any smaller and you don’t really get the benefit of being a group – drafting, etc., any larger and it’s hard to keep things under control.

There’s so many variables about when and where you should go single line both for the safety of the group and for the convenience of others, which are often perceived to be at odds with one another.

There’s a wide variation in the ability of cyclists to ride in a group (I’d put myself somewhere in the middle – still a lot to learn), the worst group rider in our club is from a mountain biking background, he just can’t ride in a group: inconsistent speed/effort; riding against the flow of the group. We’ll get him in to shape, even if the air turns a little blue!

Hmm, first off, I’d hire a car. As others have said, public transport isn’t the best away from urban areas. It’d give you more flexibility as well should you decide that you’d like to try something else.

Personally I wouldn’t want to do a week solely at trail centres but can understand why someone coming over from the States might want to make the most of their limited time, they don’t have the luxury of being able to head to the far north because there’s a good forecast. I’ve not been to Ae or Newcastleton but have made several weekend visits to the others so I’m not anti trail centre but given the option (read good weather) I’d drive further north and head out in to the mountains. For the majority it’s not a case of one or the other, it’s simply a case of making the best of recreational time.

Trail centres are pretty much a UK thing and the magazines do major on them so it’s understandable why a visitor would wish to sample them.

Ah, I’d forgotten about Glen Kinglass – your blog makes it looks more interesting than the description in Wild Trails which makes it sound like it’s all estate track.