Oh, Lowey – you could have ridden with us! We parked just up the hill at Roan Edge Quarry, and probably cycled past you. Black car, bike in boot?

I was even carrying home-made carrot cake

Are you prepared to lose the friendship of Peter, Katie and all mutual friends? Unfortunately that’s likely to happen if you tell Peter himself, even with the best of intentions

Hah – I got booked in the very same car park last December! We bought a full-day ticket on arrival, but my bike buddy forgot to stick it on the windscreen. We appealed to the council, and got the fine overturned. I guess it helped that the ticket showed our car reg number, to prove we’d genuinely paid. It’s certainly worth a letter to the council, isn’t it?

We returned to Edale the following day, and I found approx. £5 in the ticket machine!

Many thanks, Big and Simon – that’s exactly what I was looking for!

Historic Toilet Tour
YorkWalk

Do you have to grow up, before you can have a mid-life crisis?

Don’t choose anything that’s difficult to spell – either for the child her/himself, or for other people. I hate it when someone writes my name wrong, especially as my email address has the correct spelling

Funny smell

Well, this silly woman certainly thinks 30-something men shouldn’t ride skateboards! Or middle-aged women ride tricycles!!

Contact lenses!

I used to have horrendous problems with itchy eyes, but contact lenses protect your eyes really well. Obviously you’ll need glasses/sunglasses over the top, but it’s definitely worth it

One option would be plain (non-corrective) lens, plus normal prescription glasses. You could even have pretty blue eyes like Paris Hilton. Or how about these? Wild eyes

I nominate Dunsop Fell in the Forest of Bowland. We pushed up 700 ft of zigzags and waded through a peat bog. By then I was so dizzy with exhaustion, I walked down a relatively easy descent

I’d suggest you live as close as possible to work (eg Westbrook, Whittle Hall). Why waste time commuting? Loads of property to rent in the ‘New Town’ areas. South of the Manchester Shit Canal used to be Cheshire, so folks are a bit snobby. Stick with the ‘Lancashire’ part, it’s much friendlier

Other Warrington stars are Kerry Katona and Chris Evans . . .

Warrington is the perfect place to live – good facilities and low unemployment. And within an hour’s drive of wonderful biking in North Wales, Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, etc.

What more could you want?

Don’t be fooled by very padded saddles – they’re not necessarily comfortable

Shops like Evans have an Arse-ometer for measuring the width of your ‘sit bones’, to identify the right width of saddle

The other factor is underwear. Seams in the wrong place will cause problems

Mr Tall, I’m about the same height and proportions as your GF, and ride a medium Spesh FSR XC (forerunner of Myka FSR).

I don’t think frame size is the most important factor in getting the ‘right bike’. Unfortunately, so-called ladies bikes are generally fitted with standard men’s components.

I’ve now got shorter cranks (155cm instead of 170cm), a smaller chain ring (20 instead of 22) and a larger cassette (14-39, replaced the unused 11 with the 39). It’s totally transformed my bike!

Mary Towneley Loop of the Pennine Bridleway?
Mary Towneley Loop

Lots of other good riding in the area (eg Hebden Bridge) if 47 miles is too short

It’s probably not very technical – but you wouldn’t want that with full camping kit, would you?

Mike Hunt

These are quite effective
Air horn

Thanks for all the suggestions. The paper mill section suggested by Bunnyhop (also Spanna on another site) was lovely

In fact, I dropped Other Half and Best Buddy near the top of Mellor Moor, so they could ride down without the effort of going up first. My menfolk are totally pampered!

I slept in one of those bedrooms! Kept being woken up by bloody peacocks, though

I tried Presta’s – once! After four punctures in one ride, I reverted to Shraders. All the punctures were identical – little cuts at the base of the valve

I think the larger hole in the rim allowed the tyre to ‘creep’, so that the valve poked out at an angle (not 90!), allowing the rim to cut into the rubber

Are there ANY advantages to Presta valves???

Road Angel Adventurer 7000
Road Angel
Comes with British OS maps, but you’ll have to buy the French and Spanish ones separately
Advantage: Displays real OS map, and shows your exact position on it. Brilliant in the dark, and wet/windy weather

You can do other stuff, like upload routes, but we don’t usually bother

That’s really tough!

Loads of useful stuff on the Shoulderdoc [/url] website

I’ve had indirect experience of sports psychology, whilst coaching in another sport. It works! And not just for the sport itself – it can benefit other areas of your life

In the meantime . . . some people find singing useful! Either aloud, or just in your head, depending on who you’re riding with

I’ll resist the urge to suggest a suitable song

I’m not “too posh to push”

But when I’ve pushed up a hill, it’s a bit demoralising if I have to push down as well!

The one that got stolen first time out :cry:

Many thanks, everyone! These suggestions will keep us going for quite a while, definitely until full recovery

Thanks for that, Simon – it looks good! Maybe something shorter this weekend, so we’ll save yours until next month. Cheers!

Wow – the routes on the Bogtrotters site are amazing! Even shows you what surface you’ll be riding on!

Loads of routes on here:
mtbsharp
although I haven’t checked for Skiddaw and High Street

We stayed near Peel last year, which was fairly central. Avoid the northern plain, obviously

Good routes on the Manx government website
Isle of Man routes
These will give you an idea of where’s best for you

And check out the route of the End-2-End Challenge
End 2 End

We found a lot of trails very rutted from motorbikes!

Try the 192 website
192[/url]
Directory Enquiries are free, but you have to pay to look at the Electoral Roll

Otherwise the Electoral Roll is available in local libraries

The best way of making someone drive at 20mph is to have the car in front driving at 20mph. No speed bumps, no cameras, no chicanes – just drivers realising the benefits of a lower speed

More information on the “20’s Plenty” website – set up by cyclists
20s Plenty for us[/url]

Did she enjoy it?

Loads of bike trails on disused railway lines (Manifold, Tissington, etc), but you obviously want more than that. Beware of the bridleway running from Grindon to Warslow, it can get extremely muddy. Sorry, that’s not actually much help!

Does Freecycle operate in your area?
Freecycle[/url]

Green shoots of recovery?

Echo what Real Man said – a short ride with optional extra loops. Then she might achieve more than you originally plan, which will boost her confidence

Also, have lots of short stops to look at ‘interesting things’, or repeat sections. Then she can catch her breath, without feeling you’re waiting for her

This applies to any novice, not just females!

Silver grey – then she can accessorize in whatever colour she likes – water bottle, bottle cage, grips, bell(!) etc. And change them for next year’s fashion

I’d suggest the bridleway along Windermere, then lanes into Ambleside for coffee & cake. Catch the boat back along the lake, and the car ferry across to the start. This was my very first off-road ride, and had me coming back for more

We use a Road Angel, with Memory Map
Road Angel Adventurer 7000
Very useful to see your position on a standard OS map