Useful to know – thanks fatmax.

@fatmax – do you mind me asking how your bike was secured? I’m at 160 as well and am wondering if I need to beef up my bike security.

We use todoist… check the feature tables though as some require a subscription.

Apparently this was my idea of the ideal DH and Cannock Chase bike…

Muddy bikes by James Robinson[/url], on Flickr

Bullit on Ben Aigan by James Robinson[/url], on Flickr

Easy to laugh at it now, but I explored a whole load of the UK on that bike and I seem to remember having a lot of fun at the time. No way I’d go back to that sort of setup though!

My other half uses Tannus tyres on her commuter bike. For road use they’ve been excellent. A bit of a faff to fit, but brute force and ignorance prevailed. If you are considering them take a very close look at the rims (measure them!) and compare to the fitting chart. If in doubt, give Tannus (or their importer) a call – they were very helpful.

J

Early-to-mid-80s for me on Dragon BASIC and 6809 assembly. My first teacher was Dragon User Magazine… simpler times 🙂

I’m using an Ultimate Shield tempered glass protector – seems really good.

Stalled at 57… fun though

2003, Signal Processing – “Application of patch based super-resolution techniques to CCTV video enhancement”. Amazingly I managed to covert that into a career!

Thanks munrobiker – always a treat to read your annual mountain thread.

Yeah – I’ve done this build. The quoted ERD was pretty much spot on (615mm) and I subtracted the rim’s hole offset (5mm) from the flange distances on the hub.

FWIW I ended up using 298mm spokes for rear left and 296mm for the rest. Built up just fine.

J

These[/url] are rather fetching and happen to work well in all conditions including torrential rain…

I have a Benro three section tripod and head. It’s superb. Used it for years. Pretty light and very well made.

I’m selling my Macbook Pro & Cinema display if you’re interested. My rule of thumb with laptops is buy the highest spec you can afford as they aren’t always easy to upgrade. Hence mine is an i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, retina display beastie.

He’s a big chap right enough![/url]

Oh my…

… want one.

We did this as part of a Denver->San Fran road trip a few years back. I’ll echo what others have said – be aware of the timing.

We did it in June/July and CB was perfect (aside from a giant thunderstorm). Moab on the other hand was brutally hot. We had to do our rides as early as possible in the morning to make it vaguely bearable. Even then we finished one ride in 48C heat!

For bike hire we used the big shop at the bottom of the chairlift in CB and Poison Spider Bikes in Moab – both very helpful. Would have loved to check Fruita out as well, but we were on a schedule…

Tremendous write-up and very inspiring! Thanks.

It’s quite a personal choice, but I’m a fan of the Cherry G80-3000MX if I’m using a Windows machine. Nice and clicky.

Mine in freshly built condition:

Nukeproof Mega AM by jwrfooo[/url], on Flickr

Nukeproof Mega AM by jwrfooo[/url], on Flickr

Maybe try some soapy water or silicone spray on the bead?

Picture take on a first shakedown ride just after it was built. Now with a dropper post and a few scuffs and scrapes.

Solaris on the coast by jwrfooo[/url], on Flickr

Rubitrack and Strava here – it’s a good combination.

Very nice indeed!

Craig: I have a similar vintage medium-sized Hustler frame sitting unused. I’ll send you an email later with details.

Roadrat works for me. Had mine for about seven years and it has evolved from a 27 speed tourer, through a hub-geared 8 speed do-anything bike to its present incarnation as a single-speed commuter. It will even take spiked tyres for running in the winter. Rack mounts, full mud guards and comfortable ride are the key ingredients for me.

Stolen from reddit:

Done – interesting topic.

Two tubes, pump, multi-spanner, multi-tool, tube patches. Keys, wallet, phone, lunch.

On Mondays also all my clothes for the week.

oops – forgot about Garth Ennis’ “Preacher”

Dredd case files gather together virtually everything since prog 1, so if you’re a completist it’s a good way to go.

Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing (6 volumes) is a great read – quite a different take on the character.

If you’re less of a capes & cowls reader you might enjoy some of the quirkier books like Y: The Last Man, Locke & Key or Chew.

Solaris on the coast by jwrfooo[/url], on Flickr

Medium frame. RockShox SID RCT3 fork, 1×10 X9 gears, Hope Hoops wheels, Hope Tech3 brakes. Hope & Thomson finishing kit. Now with a Thomson dropper post.

Rides very nicely, quick and light and surprisingly nimble.

Salmon with pine nuts is one of my favourites. This serves 2 people:

Cook a couple of salmon fillets in the oven for about 15 minutes wrapped in foil and start the pasta at the appropriate time (trottole is good for this recipe).

Fry a small red onion with a bit of oil until soft. Just before it’s cooked throw in a handful of pine nuts to brown. Once they’re cooked add about 100ml of white wine and a tablespoon of wholegrain mustard. Stir and simmer for a few minutes to reduce.

Once the pasta and the salmon fillets are cooked stir in a couple of tablespoons of creme fraiche into the sauce. Crumble the salmon fillets into the sauce and serve onto the pasta. Top with smoked salmon trimmings.

Also – consider portability. A dark sky is one of the most important components in visual astronomy. Hauling a heavy, complicated setup around takes the fun out of things quite quickly.

If your Dad is really at the beginners stage I wouldn’t necessarily recommend a telescope straight away. As with bikes you should really know what you want to get out of it before spending too much money.

For a complete beginner I’d look at a pair of high powered binoculars (maybe like these), a tripod mount, a planosphere and a guide such as this. Maybe throw in a smartphone app like Starmap Pro or Redshift.

From here make sure you get out to some dark sites and maybe join an astronomy club to get a feel for what’s of interest.

I think our company planes are pretty cool. I am biased though…

Morning inspection by jwrfooo[/url], on Flickr

Take off by jwrfooo[/url], on Flickr

*looks outside at the thunderstorm*… yeah: good point…

What a fantastic event – had a great time even though I ache in places I didn’t know I had today.

The course was just about perfect. A nice big climb to start with to get warmed up (and a few steeper bits to make you curse!). The descent from the top was an excellent mix of fast and flowy, and steep and techy – great fun! Pinning it from the mid-point of the descent all the way through the trees and down the field was a great way of finishing. Thankfully Dave A was wrong and we didn’t need the Singletrack mud guards he was dishing out: dusty trails most of the way 😀

Huge thanks to the organisers and marshals who (apart from timing problems) made the day run so smoothly. Also a tip of the hat to the really fast riders who were all good natured and patient with bimblers like me!

We’re aspiring to be average. Seven laps between us would be great, eight would be fantastic. We’ll see how things pan out.