Some people appear to have have more pairs of cycling shoes than I have pairs of shoes.

Love Charles Fort, but Wales smashes it when it comes to castles. I vote Pembroke

Louvre or Musee d’Orsay? Make sure you know what you prefer, as they’re pricey, have huge queues and are absolutely vast (if you’ve never been to the Louvre before, it’s far bigger than anything else comparable and you won’t manage to see everything in a full day even if you wanted to). I second the Orangerie museum. Also Pere Lachaise; if dead people are your thing then the Catacombs are fun.

Boat trips there is a river bus a bit like the one in London which is cheaper than the tourist ones albeit no commentary etc.

Spend half a day wandering round the Left Bank (5th/6th arrondissements) university quarter, Latin quarter, Rue Mouffetard, Jardin du Luxembourg and so on.

Definitely go up to Montmartre and Pigalle if you can although that’s not great for someone who struggles to walk far.

Food is very hit and miss. I’ve had some terrible meals there, but last time I was there we ate pretty well. I prefer to take an apartment, that means you can pop to the boulangerie in the morning for a “baguette tradition” and some croissants, and have the leftover baguette in the evening with whatever I’ve picked up from the fromagerie, maybe a heated up tin of cassoulet and a bottle of rouge. Then some macarons for dessert or whatever else took my fancy from the patisserie. There are places where you can take an apartment for less than a week.

Touristy but do have a posh cake/hot chocolate at Angelina’s (Rue de Rivoli near the Tuileries). Try not to look at the bill when it arrives, but it’s a great 5 star experience.

If you don’t want to do the metro then buses are pretty decent, obviously a bit slower.

It’s really expensive. But if you’re near a decent metro line (or RER) then you don’t have to stay centrally as you can get in very quickly.

OS maps give me genuine joy to use and I have 70+ Explorer and around half that number of Landrangers. Any planning for UK based holiday I take starts by spreading the map out and looking for likely points of interest (and planning days out) – picnic spots, walks, nature reserves, viewpoints, driving detours, potential beaches. I’d much rather do that than just putting “top 10 things to do in Pembrokeshire” into Google.

Walking I’m exclusively map and compass (with a basic grid reference app as a backup if/when I get lost). Provides so much more context to where you are/where you’ve been/where you’re going.

On a bike it’s trickier, the speed you’re going at means stopping every few minutes to pull out a map isn’t ideal (and I’ve never worked out a good way of setting up a map in the cockpit or having it otherwise readily accessible). Can you get OS Explorer maps on any GPS devices these days or does it have to be a phone? I’ve never bothered with a subscription, it never appealed that much, but with the right setup it might be best. Road cycling of course you have plenty of GPS options

The first 45 minutes of the 2012 opening ceremony were incredible (after that, it’s fast forward to Mr Bean and don’t bother with the rest).

Love the Olympics – always a great opportunity to obsessively watch fantastic sports like handball that you won’t see again for another 4 years. Gymnastics is always great (last time I discovered rhythmic gymnastics as well, which is actually ace – somewhere between traditional gymnastics and circus performance, but the standards are ridiculously high). Can’t beat the athletics either (triple jump, pole vault and hammer are my favourites). Boxing is also great.

Watching this with interest. My rear brake is making a norrible noise. I’ve cleaned the rotor repeatedly, sanded the pads, replaced them when it didn’t work, but to no avail. The new pads seemed to be bedded in OK but after about 15 minutes they were just as bad as the old ones.

I bought some the other day in my local hardware shop. It was more expensive than I expected (no cheaper than some fancy branded brake cleaner) although a quick Google suggests it should be cheaper

I would leave it on if you think it’s a positive, take it off if you think you may be perceived as too young or old for the job in question. Your employment history will give an indication of your age anyway if the person reading knows how to count.

Interested to know what the latest trends are for a decent cup of coffee when camping/bikepacking. Premium instant and coffee bags have got a lot better over the last few years.

At home have an Aeropress which is brilliant (it doesn’t make an espresso but the overall principle is the same) and also use filters and/or a cafetiere. I have an electric grinder. Can’t justify the price of a bean to cup machine as I’m the only coffee drinker in the house. I’m happy with my setup to be honest.

Going from zero to wild camping the West Highland way is pretty ambitious. I would strongly recommend starting with a few one-nighters particularly if you’re not used to camping.

Budget depends on aims and how often you anticipate doing this. A decent rucksack is worth spending a bit on. Tent you get what you pay for in terms of weight and also seasonal performance. Footwear depends on the terrain you’re going on (WHW would be fine in trail running shoes in summer, wilder/hillier/wetter terrain would not). Sleeping bag budget again depends on your needs, it’s the weight vs performance vs price triangle, you can have any two…getting a decent sleeping mat is arguably more important than a decent bag. I presume you have waterproofs and general clothing. Don’t go nuts on cooking stuff, not worth it at this stage. A few little extras (dry bags) are well worth the feeling extra quid.

I’ve just bought some plant based sellotape. I didn’t spend a couple of minutes wondering whether I’d spent all my life buying sticky tape made from meat, but it turns out it’s plastic-free. Haven’t opened it so no idea if it actually works.

Ace thread this.

My Grandpa – Idris Roberts – as the name suggests of Welsh background but he was Australian – was a gunner and one of the Rats of Tobruk. My mum doesn’t know much more – he didn’t really ever talk about it. Spent his life after the war as a dairy farmer in Gippsland (east of Melbourne).

Expect nothing from plod

…

Went to plod. Filled in 36 page (no, really) accident report. Car was not insured. Car was on SORN. He had failed to stop.

Plod called on him and he said he hadn’t been anywhere. Plod said they could do no more as there were no witnesses. Photos don’t count.

Idle basterds.

So, apart from filling in a 36 page form, checking the driver’s insurance, and going and speaking to him, they’ve been utterly bone idle.

What have the Romans ever done for us?

If 100% no chance rain then a sleeping bag is fine without a bivi or tarp

Wouldn’t be fun in heavy dew either.

Scotroutes – that’s a brilliant blog you’ve got going on there.

A -15 rated bag would be mighty warm outside of October-April!

They’re probably resting to cool down – cycling under a stab vest isn’t much fun!

Tbf I’ve never seen a fast dismount done in anger. (Probably the wrong choice of phrase…)

2-season bag and a 3/4 foam mat in winter? Not sure if that’s impressively hardcore or just suicidal

Police here.

We do basic services to the bikes ourselves (a mixture of a few tools that we’ve bought plus some hand-me-downs that we owned personally). Anything we can’t fix ourselves (bear in mind that the bikes get pretty trashed on training courses as people learn to descend steps, fast dismounts, etc), takes a few weeks to go through procurement (we used to just take the bikes to the shop to get fixed, but soon got a slap).

Does the search function only go back a few weeks? I hardly get any results and always end up using Google to search the forum, which seems a bit pointless.

I have a couple of PHD jackets and they are indeed fantastic. ~They’re not cheap but down jackets aren’t – in fact compared to “major” brands they’re a similar price but better quality. You can easily sink £250+ on a TNF, Rab or Mountain Equipment down jacket. With PHD you’ll be looking at about £200 for their “standard” Minimus but keep an eye out for sporadic sales.

Everyone who has an Alpkit jacket swears by it – and at £80ish they are SERIOUS value.

I’ve always fancied a Montane Fireball synthetic option – very very light.

Don’t know about east London specifically but London is a bit of a black hole for outdoor shops apart from the big chains which are all fine:

Snow & Rock
Cotswold
Ellis Brigham
Field & Trek

You could also try Blacks or Millets – they tend to cater a bit more for the festival camping scene but should also have boots which are perfectly adequate for what you need them for.

Don’t cut corners on boots. £100 gives you plenty of options, something classic like a pair of Brashers is probably the best. A good pair of leather boots, well looked after will be pretty waterproof, Gore-Tex will just make your feet sweatier (that said, my boots have Gore-Tex and I don’t have a problem with them). Don’t buy online without having tried a pair first and I’d stay clear of budget brands (this includes Karrimor)

If you want to improve waterproofing, get a pair of gaiters, although they might look a bit silly walking the dog

mactheknife – this sounds like there’s a fault with the proofing. I suppose you could proof it yourself but it sounds like a manufacturing fault to me. The lack of beading is nothing to do with the Gore-Tex membrane, it’s the DWR on the surface that does this, sounds like there’s no DWR or it’s not working properly. I’d take it back.

When I was at university we did things like cosmic microwave background radiation and the critical percolation probability for a 2D infinite lattice. What’s the world coming to?

If you’re not 100% confident in traffic, buy “Cyclecraft” (if you’re REALLY not confident then a book is unlikely to be the best bet though)

The Fireball? I really want one of those. Which TK Maxx?

I love Montane gear for both walking and cycling and have quite a few bits.

I have a special edition Featherlite/Slipstream hybrid windproof smock which always lives in my pack. It’s brilliant – weighs next to nothing and is very breathable. The Featherlite Velo is similar I believe. Won’t keep the rain off for long but as a windproof it does exactly what you need. Extremely breathable too; it’s my default outer layer when things get on the chilly/breezy side and that’s walking, running and cycling.

I also have a fluorescent Velocity which is my commuting jacket. £60 is a great price but it’s not perfect. It keeps the rain at bay but in my experience breathability is poor – it also feels quite rubbery against bare skin which is unpleasant when there’s a layer of sweat as well. It’s also cut quite loose – I would have preferred something a bit trimmer. On the plus side, it’s well thought through (big rear pocket, chest pocket, the drop tail isn’t half hearted. There’s no hood. With hindsight I wish I’d paid a bit more for the Photon; it’s also made from Pertex Shield but according to the specs is both more breathable, more waterproof and lighter – so you get what you pay for. The Velocity isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination though.

@smiff – you probably had a problem with your eVent jacket. It’s a membrane like Gore-Tex so should keep going for years. Did it rip or was there a problem at the seams? I’d be very surprised if it was the eVent that made it fail.

Wearing a helmet IS a sign of a more capable rider. Or at least, a rider who isn’t a moron.

Snidey, mardy bum.

Still patronising, still funny.

Forgot spare socks.

Fundamental, schoolboy, etc.

As a slight aside. 11 miles is a short ride…it’s about 40 minutes

11 miles in 40 minutes is reasonable on a traffic/traffic light-free route. I thought the OP was about commuting!

I wouldn’t want to be the colleague of someone who started the day with 11 miles in 40 minutes and didn’t have a shower at work…

I’ve had a few things from them over the last few months. They send a new email each day with about three new brands on offer. Things last a week so there are normally at least a dozen brands on offer at any one time.

Brands are a mixture of obscure/rubbish-looking gear and “sports nutrition” products alongside some very decent stuff.

I’ve had some Pearl Izumi stuff from them before as well as a very good sleeping mat (Hyalite Peak Elite). They have some high-end brands like Haglofs from time to time.

Do be aware as others have said that delivery is slow – could be about a month – it will arrive though. No experience of customer service.

Well worth signing up if you don’t mind a daily email (which I presume you can unsubscribe from without losing access).