Its a collection of  bridleways that have been waymarked by the local group. It is not a red route in difficulty as some have mistakenly thought.

You might see a red kite or two on the way round though…

Hip flask is mandatory for night rides
Oh and some sort of rear light
But ideally one that can be dimmed/ easily turned off when off road- nothing more annoying than riding behind a blinding red light on what would otherwise be cracking singletrack

Also, bring rockets at Halloween to fire out of seat tube from a hill top !

Cheers mate

Know nowt about that sort of thing

Couldn’t make practice today but still gonna go tomorrow .

What’s the worst that can happen?!

How long would it take to go round the 3 practice stages on the Saturday , on average?

Thanks everyone , except qwerty..

Deadly darcy, where does all that money go that is generated by gaa?
Is it back into the ‘grass roots’ ?

i have both

much prefer the pneumatic one. much more comfy to push and goes over square edges easier – no punctures and haven’t had to pump it since buying it 2.5 years ago.

could fill the tube with latex i suppose if i wanted but have never bothered.

who is the best peson for servicing thomson droppers in the uk? (yorkshire)

timraven, a hand surgeon who cycles told me about a month off proper biking. the palm can be sensitive afterwards for longer than this, but this can probably be put up with without the fear of doing any harm, as everything will be really well healed by then.

You definitely want to have the op before any nerve damage or muscle wastage has occurred as these may not recover completely.

I found that foam grips and fitting a pair of carbon bars almost completely eliminated symptoms while riding the FS MTB.
Still get symptoms occasionally after a long/rough road ride
Main problem i had was pain/numbness at night which was disturbing sleep . wearing an old wrist guard has sorted this out, .

its not going to go away, so gonna have surgery i think, before any long term damage done

pot dog, i ride around there from time to time with a few mates. it might have been us you saw 2 tuesdays ago at Lawnswood.

would be happy for you to join us..

email in profile…

my thomson needs a service after 3 years trouble free!

to be fair have also had a reverb for over a year without any problems from it.

i do prefer the lever and the action of the thomson, however.

I fall off quite a lot so was worried i might break the reverb lever/ get leaks etc, but it hasn’t happened thankfully.

really struggling to find anyone who services thomson posts.

anypne got any suggestion ?

i am based in yorkshire

Orange solvent works well

If u buy the 1 inch width gorilla tape then there is no cutting required .
Orange solvent really helps when removing any rim tape – work it well in and leave overnight.

managed the 100k – just! that wasn’t mud, that was bloody potters clay!

hats off to the two guys who did the 100k on the tandem. it looked scary coming down the muddy track through the woods just after the 75k checkpoint.

surprised by the no. of blokes on fat bikes – fair play. fatties – was it easier on the mud or did you get stuck down like everyone else seemed to?

really well organised day. well done organisers!

Managed to give them up for lent – nearly killed me . The worst time was a post ride pint without a bag . The bag of prawn cocktail seabrooks I had with a pint of cask Aired ale after Easter Monday’s ride was orgasmic

ba humbug Mr mo .
Have you drawn the short straw having to tail end ?

Might have to rethink the front and rear crossmark combo…!

fs 29er as its all i have… trying to decide whether or not to wear a back pack – mainly for the mountain of food i will need as much as anything else.
are the food stations to be trusted not to run out, and is the food expensive?

10 places between me and my mates for the enduro on Sunday , but same start time.do you have to start at least the first stage in race order?

The path in from the south east(elgol), via the bad step would have a lot of carrying and i wouldn’t fancy carrying a bike over the bad step, i have to say.

didn’t walk round the entire loch but what i did at the southeast end would be unrideable, from what i can remember.

don’t know what the path in from sligachan (northish would be like)
not sure if u could get a lift in on a boat from elgol, unless your name is danny!

On paper the medium Capra seems to be same size as a small rallon and the large capra the same as a medium
rallon.
Obviously they might ride completely differently, but has any one ridden both? Does say, a medium rallon feel the same as a large Capra?

have two springer/cocker crosses that love coming with me.
one likes to run up front and the other tucks in at my back wheel.
They have done 25 k in a day over a good few hours without apparently any ill effects.
at least once a week they would do a 10 – 20 km ride, but at least some of this will be on techy single track where i am much slower than them and they have a chance to take it easier ( but they don’t – they charge off after rabbits/squirrels etc if things slow down too much)
i wouldn’t take them on this length of a ride if it was an out and out xc ride at a continuously fast pace.

and like others, they have easily learned to drink from my camel back.
a word of warning re trail centres. One of my dogs and a mate’s have made a real mess of their pads (blisters and bleeding) on relatively short rides.
we thought it might be because these man made rails often have a lot of still sharp quarry stone on the paths which macerated their feet, as opposed to well worn natural paths.

i felt guilty as hell at the time when this happened.
If i was doing a lot of trail centres with them i would probably consider buying them some doggie booties. ( i always thought these were ridiculous things, or if needed were due to someone pushing their dog too hard/ dogs pads weren’t hardened enough, but changed my mind when i saw the state of my dogs feet. )

poey50,

have looked at this… how are you getting on with it?

did you try one first/ find any good reviews or did you just take a punt…?

as you say, very tempting….
is the 0% finance available if u r a uk buyer?

How busy does antur get at the weekends?
The uplift doesntvse to be booked too far ahead.
Would it be worth the risk of turning up on a Saturday and paying as you go as it were?
Will on ly be able to do half a day and it doesn’t look like you can but a half day ticket at the weekend ..

I have changed to deore brakes , 180/160
So much better than the avids…

I am running a 2.25 enduro smorgasbord tubeless on back . Only 20 quid
Great tyre . As large volume as will fit in the rear and big enough to allow me to run the rear quite soft to help the grip and take the sting out of the bumps. Slightly more draggy than the crossmark I had before, but traction is great for where I ride ( in the lakes so lots of mud and wet limestone on very steep climbs) . Actually, if u r riding on road a lot I would recommend the crossmark – very fast rolling surprisingly grippy in everything but really wet mud.
Have a minion up front. Haven’t tried the smorgasbord up front, but can’t see why it wouldn’t be ok- certainly a lot better than what came on the bike
Get a dropper seatpost as well, if u haven’t got one !

The one in Jamie’s American book is fantastic

His ribs recipe is, again hard work, but the ribs are bl£@dy brilliant

A bit of a faff to make, but make loads and bottle it..

The wife has vetoed zip ties .
Keeping the door to that room shut gor now , but I know that is risky .
Cheers for the tips
Will speak to the landlord

Ah but the handle is also the latch..

spent a couple of months there last summer….

Awesome place!
weather is fantastic from mid june through to mid september
Portland itself is bike-mad, with loads of bike shops, cycle lanes everywhere, and the most courteous drivers possible.
Portland has the most breweries of any city in the world. Lots of the pubs have a microbrewery out the back and brew their own (mostly excellent) beer.
there are loads of small coffee houses everywhere serving great coffee.
Cost of living is similar to the uk.
There are some tracks on the west side of the river, but i didnt have an mtb in portland itself

If you get a chance head up to Bend, a outdoor pursuits haven about 2.5 hours inland. There are loads of trails around bend , a couple of good hire shops, and also a guiding company- sorry cant remember the name. There are also a few bike parks starting to appear at the ski resorts. Check out Mt. Bachelor as well.

Very jealous – would love to be going back!!

Managed to get an aluminium post out by cutting it off flush at the top of the frame, cutting down as far as i could inside with a hacksaw blade and then chiselling it out piecemeal, breaking off chunks with a chisel and then a large (OLD) screwdriver. Took good couple of hours, but worked a treat with minimal damage to the frame. It cracked the paint so probably not recommended if you are considering selling the frame on.

probably a last resort!

Did it last February. It was a great 10 mile loop
Some of it was wet but all very rideable and enjoyable
Reminded me of the good bits of dalby forest

I was on holiday there for a weekend and hired a bike from Dave pearces shop who were great
It was a camber 29er which was perfect .

Definitely worth a visit if you live no more than an hour or so away…

I imagine its riding very well right now …

flying to the alps from liverpool one year, my mates bag was just over the limit, so he took his cycling shoes out and put them in his hand luggage. He was pulled over after his bag wnet thru the xray machine.

the security guards face was absolutely priceless when he pulled a stanley knife out of one of the shoes
( why my mate had thought it was necessary to bring a stanley knife i have no idea!)

The situation wasnt helped by the fact that the 2 of us then almost fell to the floor laughing.

thankfully the guard’s supervisor believed our story that it was a genuine mistake and we were allowed to fly.

on a another flight the same idiot tried to bring a large d-lock in his hand luggage and had this confiscated as well…

so, no d-locks and no stanley knives

cheers gents, think i will go with the maestro then, and check if my nank has an american affiliate

cheers chojin.

did a search but couldnt find owt.

might strap the phone to me dog. a good boot up the rearshould defo get a few KOMs 😉

having ridden with a seized alu post in a steel frame for a year without any big dramas i was similarly convinced droppers were only for big girls blouses.

However, thought i should try one so got a tmars off teebay.

**** brilliant on my clockwork.

not sure how long it will last though as when i took it apart to grease before using they look pretty flimsy..

the seat bolts have a habit of loosening and some sideways play has developed in just over a month.

If/when it explodes i will defo invest in a more robust one.

Anyone tried the thomson one yet?

Have two springer/cocker cross dogs ( brothers) who are now 3 years old

did not get them neutered initially as some people had asked to breed form them.

however had one done after about 15 months as he had a terrible habit of pi&&ing on everything- dogs, other dog walkers, a little girl, but his favourtie was on the backs of fishermen when walking along the canal where we live. he had also started to bark at any other dog he saw.

It sorted him out almost completely. he no longer barks and rarely cocks his leg.

the other one was very well mannered, but at about 2 years old started to become possessive of our dog walkers van and was trying to dominate when with the dog walker.

Castration stopped all this as well.

so in summary, i think castrated dogs are perhaps more socially acceptable when in contact with lots of other humans/ dogs.

my two have put on any weight or changed their behaviour in any other than a positive way. i was reluctant to do it, but it has definately helped

i would recommend it, as at worst you are no worse off, and it might help

Have got 2 springer/cocker cross brothers form same litter.

now almost 3 years old.

Both have been neutered to help fit in with our lives. ( one liked to cock his leg on anything- Fishermens backs on the leeds – Liverpool canal was his favourite port of call- and the other beacame prtective of our dog- walker’s van and wouldnt let other dogs in it.

never had any bother with them at all.

They are the best of friends while being different characters.

They have been socialised with other dogs from a young age and are both very sociable.

Also, fantastic trail dogs, with one running in the lead and the other drops in beside the back wheel.

2 other dogs often join us on rides and the 4 of them run together very well. There are suprisingly few crashes as well!

Maybe we have just been lucky, but we like to think the 2 of them are good company for each other.

They paly fight with each other, like any brothers would, but it has never been serious. They would support each other if a fight arises, but this is rare as they are not an aggressive breed. ( plus they have been neutered)

Training is definately more difficult, and best done seperately at least some of the time.

As long as they are with one of their owners, or a well known human, they seem to be happy enough to be separated.

I would recommend reading the book ” in defence of dogs” it has a very good take on dog behaviour, and the author tries to base the book on the best animal behavioural research available.

we were warned abotu having brothers and still get the odd comment, but it has only been a pleasure havin brothers.

both my wife and i grew up with dogs and have been around dogs all our lives, so this might have made a difference, i dont know..

Any dog needs a lot of attention and in spaniels cases a lot of exercise ( ours need 2 -3 hours a day or else they are mental.
Getting 2 dogs at once is nearly twice as difficult as getting one, i would say.

I think a lot of the problems people have could be due to their dogs being bored and poorly understood…..

hi,

Based in Calverley.

Heading out from there for a ride this weekend, probably first thing sunday….

Thanks Stevo

Sadly they are already all booked up….
Might just buy a map and go exploring.
Sure to end up in a cave somewhere around there with a glass of plonk!!