Thanks Alan.

Are Sierra Cycling the guys that had an epic thread about them on here (not all good?!) or was that one of the others?! I can’t remember.

Any other ideas from folks?

I have a few quid saved, but the reason for ability to travel is that I have a free return flight with Virgin, after they bumped me off my flight last year!!

I didn’t contribute to the Virgin vs BA thread yesterday, as I was livid I’d been bumped, but rather chuffed I had a free flit!!

I’m with Mr P – Conty Sport Contacts.

Spandex Bob hit the nail on the head.

Reading the stories and comments from folks on here has really choked me up, a terrible loss to so many people.

Absolutely fantastic effort from a community of outdoors folk that I am proud to be part of.

Donation made / FB share done.

Best of luck at the weekend.

Awesome stuff folks, I really appreciate the posts. Plenty there to go at.

CY I take it you lived there?!

Thanks Jodafett,

I’ll see how I go.

Planning on riding at Glentress tomorrow.

Will I die?

(Are there any parts I can avoid to avoid death?).

Thanks.

DaveTrave, Backtothetop and willard speak much sense.

There has been a period of busyness for the TA (esp the trades, but even for the infanteers that are happy to deploy), but with the drawdown in Afghanistan, even with the increased reliance on Reserve Forces, the requirement to mobilise will drop right off.

I actually think it’s not a bad time to get involved; you’ll have to do ‘Phase 1’ training within your Btn / Bgde, before heading off for ‘Phase 2’ at Catterick (assuming you go Infantry). This will all take time: waiting for a training cycle to start, then bidding / getting a phase 2 slot. I’d be surprised if you were ready to / they’d want you to deploy within the next 12 – 18 months.

By that time the ‘opportunities’ available to deploy will be ever further reduced, but with the increased funding that the TA / Army Reserve is set to get, there should be some good exercises / AT / courses to get involved in.

Give it a go. Worse thing that can happen is that you don’t like it and hand your kit back. Be honest with yourself and the guys training you. If you’re NFI, tell them so, hand kit in, paperwork done and everyone is happy. If you just stop turning up and have a load of kit signed for, it gets a bit tedious, because you may well end up getting chased.

Another good resource is ARSSE. There’s loads of stuff on there and people asking similar questions to yours. Just be prepared for a slightly less friendly approach than here (the ‘banter’ is set to 11).

Edit: And what wheelz said.

Cracking tune.

Good on ya, as a fellow ‘Dog Lover’, I’d like to think I’d do the same.

Also actual LOLing occurred when I read Druidh’s post.

Many thanks for all the tips on here chaps.

Rob; it looks like I’ll try and get into you in Cov Gdn some time next week. I’ve been in the shop before, so I know where to come.

Many thanks.

LoCo, where are you based and could I get the fork done while I waited, if I came by?

Thanks for the further suggestions.

Thanks chaps. Any other suggestions?

Tony,

I’m taller than you, but not as stocky.

I really recommend you look at Big Agnes sleeping bags (loads of different weights and down / synthetic options. They are by far the longest and broadest I have found.

Failing that…. go bonkers and get PHD to make you a custom one!!!

If you want to see the Fall properly and become a true ‘Leaf Peeper’, I suggest flying into Boston and either spend a couple of nights there (or tag it on the end) and then head up the coast to Acadia Nat Park in Maine, from there head inland through NH and into VT, before returning to Bos.

In short, Boston is a really cool city (I prefer it to NY) and you can easily spend time there looking at shops, seeing the sights and eating some great food.

Take your bike. Some of the best riding EVER exists in VT. If you like good food, micro brewed beer, friendly locals, mountains, lakes, rivers, forests, maple syrup and singletrack, then you will love the place.

If you want more specifics, try looking up VMBA, or on FBook: MTBVT. Failing that, I can recommend sights to see / places to eat / drink.

Enjoy!!

Phil,

He’s a cracking looking lad. All the best for the fun times ahead.

As above. Excellent service on a couple of pairs of gloves that they repaired FOC, as well as really good advice on the phone for cleaning and treating down gear.

Top guys.

Moot Hall.

Very good, the most straight forward demo I’ve seen. I might try some.

And I think I’m in love.

Agreed, it’d have been nice to see Danny Mac putting Sir Chris through his paces….

Even just a wheelie!

😀

Mostly already been said, but a couple of things that I’d add:

– NeoAirs are great, but in those temperatures you start to notice the fact that (unlike all other Thermarests) they have no foam / insulation, other than the air you’re putting in. I’m not long back from the Himalaya where I used one with a good (closed cell) sleeping mat and was warm and comfy at a lowest temp of -17 deg C. I put the warmth down to the sleeping mat and the comfort down to the NeoAir.

– The advice about star jumps before bed is not to be underestimated, if you get into your bag cold, all it’ll do is keep you cold.

– give your bag a really good shake out before getting in (help ‘loft’ it). If you can, then get it out in the sun to air / dry off at some point (while you make B’fast or in the afternoon, when pitching tent).

– Keep a pair of clean, dry socks for sticking on in your bag, take the ones off that you’ve been wearing and have them in your bag to dry out. Give your feet a really good rub / warm up before putting them on (maybe even talc up – try Gold Bond blue talc if you’re in the states).

– Loads of hot food / drink (if you’re worried about having to piss in the night, then carry a spare Nalgene….. just don’t let it freeze, as trying to melt / hack frozen piss from one the next morning is fairly emotional).

Any chance you could stick some photos of your trip up once your back? I quite fancy heading out that way sometime.

Cheers.

I quite like the fact that I can’t look at it without LOLing.
😛

I’d recommend he gets his leg over a Giant. My HT is a 26 XL XTC (2009 ish) and is huge.

He will probably face the problem of getting shops to get XL bikes in for him to try….I found Rutland Cycling very helpful and the only shop happy to get a bike in with NO deposit.

If you’re oop north, then try Keswick mountainbikes. The manager there is a tall chap and normally has several XL frames in the demo fleet.

I should say, I’m 6ft 7ins tall, 35 inside leg.

I’ve got an Osprey – can’t remember the name, but it’s the bike specific one, in one of the smaller sizes.

If the bigger versions are anything like it, they’ll be ideal: you’re right about the bladder – really easy to fill and take in/out (also feels a bit more robust), the mouth piece has a magnet on it, which keeps it out of the way (it sticks to the chest strap, mines never swung free – I’ll probably now be told I’m no riding hard enough), there are 2 pockets designed to take a shock pump and a normal pump, handy helmet retaining system, very well thought out external / internal pockets. Available in different back lengths too.

Basically it’s a great piece of kit.

😀

EDIT: Just seen monks post!! Horses for courses innit.

Mens Volleyball Final:

“These guys are training for 4 or 5 hours a day, 5 days a week and playing 1 sometimes 2 matches per week. You won’t find harder training Olympic Athletes anywhere”.

Really? 😯

“Neither Spitz or Swallows can ride that rock garden”

😯

It does look quite tricky to be fair.

Two nasty crashes now….good job they were wearing helmets…………… 😆

6ft 7ins here and I get on fine with it, in fact I can’t say I’ve ever wished it went further.

Just right for getting it out of the way.

I thought you were going to say this bloke:

http://vimeo.com/11687754

(Been done before I think..)

Did I just see Bill Murray? (Again?)

“The bad feelings now are just the side effect of being a decent conscientious human being”.

Exactly what I was going to say.

COOOOOOOMMMEEEE OOONNNNN!!!!!!

Paxo in full flow is always good value, whoever the victim!!

😆

* Hijack *

Druidh, who are you looking at Patagonia with? I really fancy going, but had pretty much resigned myself to a trekking trip.

Thanks & soz for hijack

martymac, I couldn’t resist.

I now feel quite ill.

Good job he’s wearing a helmet. 😆

Classic. Good to see you back SFB, was always a fan of your work!

Marvelous stuff, thanks chaps.

Looking forward to it (even if it r**ns)!

I struggle with long sentences, has anyone mentioned bayning, rather than banning? 😕

Heckler73, have you seen / heard this before?!

De Niro, Pacino and DJ Shadow……

Played loud is great ‘get off your ar5e and ride’ music.