That would be great.

I must apologise for horrific use of ‘are’  rather than ‘our’ I know better and can only blame a small screen and fat fingers ;-)

Wow, this is all really useful! Keep it coming.

How did people tend to move around? Buses and other public transport? Did anyone buy a vehicle? On recent holidays in New Zealand and Norway I have loved the flexibility and ability to do more that a hire car gives you. In those places I have tended to use rent a banger type outfits but we haven’t managed to find those for South America yet (probably a reminder about learning Spanish). Hiring a Hertz/Europcar for the whole time is not going to work financially. I am also aware that by wrapping ourselves in a car we might miss out on a lot of the interaction that comes from using public transport.

Sorry to hear about the Peru riding, no help to you now but I have been a number of places with Sacred Rides and thought their Peru trip looked good.

Your Macchu Picchu thoughts back mine up at present; I want to go but with the benefit of time to trek elsewhere I think we might look to keep it short there and trek elsewhere.

Thanks for the other mentions. After a hefty shift at work I am first off looking for some getaway credentials but definitely up for heading to mental La Paz at a point :-) I want to ride the city cable car.

Agree on the touristy – there are few places that are unheard of! Not expecting to break any new ground as an explorer :-)

Instantly the thread is covered in Go Outdoors adverts :-)

Go Outdoors was a good shout. Applied a few filters and then a bit of a suitability test to shortlist these:

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/montane-mens-atomic-jacket-p406985 – £112
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/rab-mens-fuse-ii-jacket-p410115 – £117
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/rab-mens-firewall-jacket-p371188 – £198
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/mammut-mens-kento-hs-hooded-jacket-p409370 – £157
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/mammut-mens-convey-jacket-p399385 – £150
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/mammut-mens-dammastock-hs-hooded-jacket-p409088 – £135
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/rab-mens-latok-jacket-p429670 – £150

Some good prices there, seems like some warrant consideration because at the Alpkit is not really that cheap; that said I always try to look beyond the pricetag at GoOutdoors to think if it is really what I want. Eg. Latok looks great value but am I technical climbing or mainly just wandering around? That said I am likely to use this on some high mountains in the near future.

Thanks for trouser recommendations, will check those out.

Firewall looks good but as you say more spendy, if there was a cheaper option I might be keener. I’m sure the Kinetic would be great but I’m looking for something without a warmth element.

Whilst we are at it any waterproof trouser recommendations? I have generally bad experiences of them and tend not to wear them a lot so looking for something packable and not too spendy.

That does look a good coat but I was probably thinking about less rather than more and agree it looks a bit heftier which I reckon I can get away without.

Take your point on the tarp for cooking. That could well be an option but regardless I still need a new tent as the Banshee I own is just to small and the Vaude was on loan

The tarptent looks superlight but we might be in this for a week at a time so probably not best suited to that type of use.

Can’t really spot the difference between the Vango and the Alpkit but it’s another option of that style.

The two matt suggests are something pretty different. Will look at more. I guess the first one doesn’t look to mountain/windy suitable at first inspection but the second one looks really good, the only shortfall I can see is that for nightime toilet excursions one person has to step over the other.

oh – thanks for the code – I think that may clinch it!

I live a long way away but will probably go a few nights as I can stop between work trips, other neighbours will be in and out reguarly (plants etc) but no one can stay there longer term.

The previous point of entry has indeed been improved (entire new patio windows) and improvements to the side access gate to make it harder to climb over.

Thanks Gary those look good.

johndoh they won’t be doing that. They hate the way they look and are leaving for holiday in a week.

25% off on http://www.adidas.co.uk today…. guess who just bought a pair of the shoes recommended above!

nickjb – Hmm, those kind of places are thin on the ground round here; but if you want a smashed iphone screen fixing I can show you 15 options

Footflaps – perfect! And yes we do have one of those nearby. I just didn’t know what to call the washer. Cheers.

I’ve not got the experience of some here on this subject but have slept under both recently.

My simple answer would be that if the weather is dry tarp and if it is wet tent.

The tarp will likely be cheaper and will you really set off bikepacking into known poor weather conditions?

A tarp gives a lot more space than a one-man tent and flexibility of how you use it/pitch it.

mike – I had them serviced about a year ago then they were used a lot for two weeks (holiday in Oregon) but have seldom ridden them since (probably 10 times).

matt – thanks I will check that.

Hmm, OK. Sounds like it is lacking but I’ll test at the two extremes to see if I can notice or if there is just no difference. Good to know it should not got to that ultra slow point though.

Thanks Wookster. Useful stuff.

As I said I am neither their manager nor employer rather a local resident. What I am trying to do is show this is not going unnoticed and be proactive in suggesting solutions rather than moaning. This could be one, management is no doubt a starting point.

At the end of the day I don’t care what method is used so long as the outcomes are those we deserve but in meeting senior council officers I would rather appear to have solutions than be a typical campaigning whinger.

You are right I should be happy living amongst the tumbleweed of litter.

I have no issue with my employer knowing where I am during my working hours. If I was doing six times less work than a colleague I would expect to be picked up on it (accepting the irony of using the forum in working hours..)

I flew with China Eastern a couple of years ago. It was a lot cheaper than the alternatives. Bike travel costs were hazy but packed in an Evoc bag I didn’t pay for it in either direction.

I guess whether to tell them or not depends on family dynamic. In this dynamic I wouldn’t really contemplate not telling them.

Plus information on where keys are/were may be useful in any follow-on.

Roddy.

House is in Ware, PM me if you want full address ;-)

A neighbour had already got the police round and done and somehow that included getting the patio door boarded up which seems quite a good service!

The front door lock has been replaced. Getting to anything else requires scaling a locked six foot gate (obviously what they did the first time but limits what can easily be removed).

I’m keen to talk to them to find out if there were other keys lying around as that could mean the car/garage are at risk. From what neighbour has said we know the only major thing that has gone is stereo. The computer and TV remain. Not a great message to get halfway through your holiday but they are pretty resilient people and we have done what we can to secure now. They would be more annoyed if not letting them know meant car had gone.

No one has found out where they are via social media but person who mentioned automatic lights is probably right more could be done on that front.

Thanks for advice all.

Yes, text message sent it just may be some time before there is a response!

We are trying to make contact with them but it won’t be easy as my father turns his phone on for around 10 minutes a day.

As soon as we get hold of them we can find out (vaguely) what should be there in terms of keys and ask the neighbour to check/remove.

Thanks Cougar! I couldn’t remember the name but yes, Fat Airic, that is it!

OK it sounds like I should try the iron on the seams approach. I assume Alpkit would no longer replace.

Ha, if only it was as easy as Stans! But I’m pretty sure that would not go far in the foam.

As above I already tried the bath fairly carefully but this squirty bottle washing up liquid sounds like a plan.

It’s an old thick Alpkit one. Discontinued some while ago.

I don’t think you will find much that fits the DH/Enduro bill on the Gower but slightly further afield I would recommend some riding in the Brecon Beacons or Black mountains – longer rides probably but bigger downhills. Great time to be riding this way as it is drier though avoid hills with bracken as you won’t be able to see the trail!

If you have not done the Gap it’s a classic downhill. I also did some riding starting at Treorchy last year that was pretty interesting and challenging.

IHN, that sounds good to me. I guess it could easily be shortcut by flying to Munich.

Has anyone been to Moldova? I’m thinking that could be paired up with Ukraine.

Interesting and I defer to your real world experience. I don’t think getting stranded would phase me too much (I’ve walked away from broken hire cars in the past) but certainly personal security risks sound enough to put me off.

Thanks.

I’m generally feeling pretty flexible about amount and type of travel. Suspect mixing it up a bit will suit us best – public transport some of the time and car hire where it makes it easier to hit more remote/interesting spots.

As for budget I suspect that would also be a mix to the extent we might take a hiking tent, stay in air bnbs some nights and stay somewhere spendy but interesting where it is worth it. I suspect budget won’t be an issue really.

I suppose I am always keen to go somewhere new hence that list. That said Germany/France border sounds good. The Ukraine definitely feels like it ticks that box. Interested in why not Albania – it might have been top of the list but I suspect it will be close to the top of the incredibly hot list!

I’ve been to Iceland in the Spring and would love a return visit but not this time.

Hmm,

I have a mid 2007 iMac that was the oldest model you could upgrade to Mavericks but I held off doing so due to an aged hard disk that I am planning to replace. If the latest OSX version has another gateway to use will I still be able to get something more recent than the Lion based one it is currently running on? or have I missed the boat?

Thanks, so do you think I need a 21.8 x6 or x8 version? Guess that refers to the inner bore which I didn’t check :roll:

Needs a picture I guess!

Certainley the SLX one doesn’t look like it could accommodate a hole 5mm further down and retain enough strength.

Ah, I was thinking palm size really, the sort of thing you could take anywhere, in looking at people’s suggestions Amazon suggested this to me:

Anker speaker

Which looks to have the features I am looking for, gets good reviews and pretty cheap.

I am sure things like the JBL are better but I like small.

Right,

Many a phonecall later and availability has been narrowed to:

Cortina, Italy
Chatel, France
Sauze D’Ouix, Italy
Bardoneccia, Italy
Selva di Val Gardina
Sestriere, Italy
Serre Chevalier, France

Any final opinions valued!

Sounds like an interesting alternative. If the Crystal options consider to confuse it certainly looks simple!

In recommending Jasna have you been to a lot of other European resorts – ie. you think it is decent having been to them.

Still have not sorted this but back on the search now. Given I want to go in a couple of weeks I have reined in my expectations but since I would rather avoid French megaresorts I am thinking Italy or Austria might be good options.

I’m not familiar with the names of Italian and Austrian resorts. It would be appreciated if someone could name a few of them that I can base search on.

Interested to read comments of moving biting points on SLX brakes I thought it was just my imagination but quite off putting at times.

Has anyone got an suggestions as to what causes it and how to fix it.

Is this any good to you? A MBUK route on Viewranger.

http://my.viewranger.com/route/details/ODA4NTg=?ref=51.78103953992178|-2.617999410888615|12

Ah I see, thank you. Sounds like a good way to go and incidentally meet people.

Check out http://www.action-outdoors.co.uk/

I’ve seen these mentioned a few times; not quite sure what it is. Is this a sort of club/association. Prices look good especially those with lessons (not sure we need those) but is it bunkhouse or private room style accommodation?

Dolomites also sounds good – are those the sort of places where conditions hold up later on (20th March)?