i just replaced a stretch of fence made up of those panels with a pressure treated close boarded fence. the panels were junk and one of them which is against an allotment opposite just fell off when i pushed it! 8O new fence is much better. took about 1 1/2 days to put 18m worth up and costs from our local timber yard were similar to panels

yes. get over it

got mine from this guy but seems he’s out of stock

ebay linky

they’re just top hat bushes mind nothing fancy. should be easy to source from a bearing supplier

always carry a silver foil space blanket, bandage/something to mop up blood/make a tourniquet from & a whistle as a minimum. luckily haven’t had a life threatening incident

so far i’ve had to stick a hole in my head together with gaffer tape, bandage up a hole in a mates hand and helped another mate down innerleithen with a huge gash in his thigh (& go back up for the bikes)

this pub is worth checking out if you are in the very south of northumberland on the way up/down (one of our locals) the food & beer is excellent

http://thefeathers.net/%5B/url%5D

all of above

barter books is worth a look in

any beach will be clean & quiet unless near one of the towns

boat trip to farne islands is a good day out for birds & wildlife etc – better when puffins nesting (too early now i think)

walk up the cheviot – reasonably big but not technical/taxing. simonside hills around rothbury make for good walking too.

the tourist bus along hadrians wall is running now i think so you can do a long linear walk and hop on to get back. a short but good stretch is from houseteads to steel rigg & back to add onto a visit to the fort

i met some bloke doing the sustrans C2C a few months ago who was wearing goggles together with full colour co-ordinated troy lee attire & riding a hybrid thing with panniers – no 27.5inch wheels in sight! plus it was dry with no rain & no mud. shame he was a nice guy otherwise would be easy to call him a twunt

quite like this pricey little number http://www.windysmithy.co.uk/woodburners if it doesn’t work out/when we move i’ll fit it in our camper 8)

cheers stoner, particularly interested in how to get the flue out…

rich that beast will burn the chuffing place down! need to get you dad out with the welder ;)

love the bake bean can burner :)

tiggs121 – wood is free here too so as you say something bigger will be best to avoid just burning kindling. hadn’t read the dimensions properly but yeah its tiny – 4 inch square!

footflaps – as stated above its the only space i have been allowed to build by the mrs so long/narrow it is & no exceptions :wink: its pretty well planned out to make use of the space. FYI my previous shed was 8×6 and i managed to use it fine as a small workshop. next house will have a garage for sure but this one was location over man-cave space!!!

andyl – cheers for that i’ll check them out

having a look on ebay this looks like the sort of thing i was thinking of – link

shed is 6ft x 15ft so doesnt need bucket loads of heat

cheers for that. i like the chilli thing but its over my budget sadly, and unfortunately that first one will be too big. the shed is only 6 ft deep due to space constraints so with the legs that’ll eat too much up.

paving expert +1

drawing the slab grid on graph paper and then overlaying the overal shape on top on tracing paper will give you a good idea of wastage – i’d go with 10% on rectilinear design but may need a bit more than 20% for the arc (never done one to know mind!). don’t go putting little cut bits on the edge too they’ll just pull out too

also cutting arcs can be an arse especially internal ones, take your time or it could look sh1te

i’ve got the titan one from screwfix – linky

i paid £70 for mine around xmas time and v happy with it – £45 is a bargain! cut everything up to a massive stump about 50cm diameter with it, and its quiet enough not to annoy the neighbours. budget about £50 for decent safety gear

on mine i run a 9speed set up – middleburn mtb cranks with ATB/compact triple spider, 29/39/50t triple road rings, ultegra front mech, Tiagra shifters, XT rear mech and a 11-32t mtb cassette. all works perfectly and ideal ratios for pulling the laden trailer up hill round here & high enough top gear to keep up on the road. before the middleburns i had stronglights which were cheap and worked great. square taper bb for commuting/touring duties is ideal imo, current one has 3000miles + not a sign of any play

we have a double croozer and it fits through the green motorcross gates on cycle paths round here fine. have to adapt routes with narrow gates to get round but so far not a real problem as found good alternatives now. off road i’ve ridden all sorts from rocky land rover tracks in scotland to singletrack in local woods and its been stable with no real worries of it flipping over. as stated above after a while you’ll have a sixth sense what you can ride through with it on without hitting it, get some funny lools when i’m riding along singletrack with the nipper chilling out back! also you have to ride with a wide entry/out of corners to avoid cutting it too much with trailer but get used to it. quality wise both are good. we really like the double for the massive boot for shopping/baby stuff/picnics & opportunity for second kid in there too which we’ve done a few times with friends kids

done it a few times now, both times self supported first with bivi gear second with a tent. both times were 3 1/2 days and travelled by train to st bees and then back from whitby which is a bit of a drag after finishing in rhb. lakes was the hardest bit imo, couple hard days to get through there then relatively easy/quick for the rest of the way. if you havent got it get the book (email me if you want a pdf copy for reference as hard to find it) as although its dated the directions & descriptions are useful and helps to plan the day/night ahead. the route is very remote in places so be prepared for the worst… also i seem to remember not passing that many shops for food etc so have plenty to hand & any energy type products too as your unlikely to find any on the route (more like tea shops or garages!). only bike shop on the route is ambleside iirc.

i’m planning to do it this year with mates but this time be supported by family as not everyones up for the bikepacking lark. hopefully be a bit easier going on the legs without the weight!

if its comically massive, like a circus truck type of thing, then getting it onto the field might be a bit tricky (tightish corner thats all) otherwise it shouldn’t be a problem – there’s usually minibus campers and a big catering bus on there too

after moving to somewhere on the C2C route with good local biking, both cheeky and official, and access to miles and miles of off road cycle paths (loads in north east on old railways – my commute is all off road or sustrans cyclepaths and we can take our daughter out for 30+mile rides without touching a road) and with good walking, plus a river we can canoe on in the village, good local pubs and post office that sells hot pies no way would i ever even consider moving back to a city/suburbia. imo possibly the dullest places ever imaginable unless you have buckets of cash spare!

luckily we have friends move locally and have met people living here so on the social side its a hoot too

i once saw a cat get run over in the street as me and my mate were walking back from the chippy eating chips and curry sauce. the poor lass driving was distraught and crying and had to be consoled by a passer by. the cat was still alive and whimpering but was totally beyond retrieval – back end totally squished with guts everywhere :? so some old geezer from a house opposite managed to get the girl to drive off saying he’ll get the RSPCA out and when she’d gone he went off got his spade and gave a right good finishing off, scraped it up and lobbed it in his wheelie bin. didn’t eat the rest of my chips…

on my commuter i’m running a planet x jobbie on the seat post just below the sqr pack, luckily as its a large frame/i’m tall theres space for light to emit between the guard and the bag. running a exposure rear light off my revo mounted to right hand side chainstay, and another planet x jobbie on the left chainstay, so all angles covered from rear. suprisingly the ones on the seat stays don’t get in the way but can get covered in mud if its wet, but so far so good and i’m not roadkill yet…

alternatively the guard mounted light works well but need to adapt your own light to fit or buy a proper one. for my partners bike i drilled a hole in back of the battery compartment of a normal light and bolted it with a flat head screw through the mudguard, so battery replacement just means taking the red over/main body off. something like sugru helps to stop the light rotating/moving about

peterfile +1

bought our 57 plate altea xl for £4k last year. absolutely gutted to have paid so much tbh, had ratty looking escort/partner vans and a focus before which never let us down and cheap to run – prob combined value when i bought them of £4k over 10 years! don’t understand why people want to pay £300+ a month just to have something shiny parked outside, but each to their own

we have a camper too which we’ve had about 5 years, cost us about £6k inc subsequent subaru engine replacement 2 years ago and fitting it out myself with ikea/smev stuff. so working out about £1k a year plus mot/tax/insurance its best thing we’ve ever bought

sorry to hear that paul was looking forward to it again this year. especially miss the feeding station!

some tape on the middle of the dakota mount helps it maintain a better hold of the unit although not ideal. also tie the cord loop around your bars +1

i got a ram mount for mine which is massive but solid – no problems with it falling off whatsoever and quick and east to put on/take off. bit pricey but the garmin cost me £180 so worth it…

http://www.ram-mount.co.uk/garmin-dakota-approach-g3-series-holder-p-1026-c-360_169_659.html?sesid=dckcs3qmtfisgo3urgdi3jsje4

and one of these

http://www.ram-mount.co.uk/rail-ezon-swivel-mount-p-1500.html

holland15h – a few of my mates missed the entry if you have it still? i can put you in touch

yes i had the cheapo gopro copy chest mount but dont think i had it tight enough. its a really rocky trail mind. have it mounted upside down with the curved arm mount

at the moment, these http://www.planetx.co.uk/deals

it goes right past my house and currently under a few inches of snow! :)

some footage from my banggood wifi sj4000 – seems legit going by the online pictures of real vs fake ones and not bothered to check the firmware. note not sorted the angle out just yet so mostly footage of a garmin dakota bouncing about & got stuck in a massive rut buy hey ho ok for first attempt

we’re looking forward to it here :)

some bang up to date enduro type ones here if you fashion conscious lego shorts

i worry about this too as i’ve had to swerve a few times to avoid dogs in the dark that are barely visible due to glare from oncoming walkers torches. sometimes other cyclist’s headlights are so bright you have no idea whats in front of you and i’ve had to stop/shield my eyes! hope you get it sorted & the dog’s ok too!

i saw one of these in my local halfords for half price about £300 or so the other day and thought it was good vfm, thats a bargain price now! would have one if i needed another cx/commuter

the trail from the fireroad below end of roots (skip the slimy one straight over) which finishes by the wagonway is riding well too :) golf course is definitely bog fest!

not sure where that jump is but i think i know where

this is typical of route i do there plus other bits thrown in

i ride there quite a bit (as in most weekends and ofd night ride midweek) and have to disagree its all a bog (granted most of it is) plenty of the shorter dh trails near the bottom are reasonably dry through winter as its more sandy down there. work has been done repairing powerline by the trail builders before the race so it should be ok – yeah there will be mud but we’re talking mountain biking aren’t we? ;) also roots has had worst bits infilled with gravel so thats still good fun up at the top

may be able to pop over tomorrow for a quick spin & show you some stuff but cant be certain just yet as got to finish the bathroom (and start garden…)

i have the glacier gloves (haven’t tried the others) but used them for a few cold wet rides, so far they’re really good. hands got a little bit clammy but paid off by the fact no water got through and totally windproof. they’re much more tactile than thick winter gloves too so i found less need to take off to get food out of my bag etc which saved getting cold hands too. the cuff is nice and long so with a jacket over the top doubt you’d get much water in them in a proper downpour. not sure about long term use, i’m a bit worried they might shred in a crash on sharp rocks/gravel but we’ll see how we get on

cp – arse (literally!) :P sod it i’ll look right in with the pyjama crowd at hamsterley

If you think these are bad take a look at the rest of the Fly Racing gear on CRC.

marc – a quick look has left me with temporary blindness and wondering who on earth (except maybe mr motivator?) would wear this thing in the ‘wild’ colour scheme!

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/fly-racing-reverse-a-billy-hoodie-2013/rp-prod78217

ordered the black/white in 34 and praying its these

and not these

saying that they’ll just end up black/browny-green after a few rides in the mud on the DH bike! :)

look like they’re reasonably long and baggy cut for wearing with pads