sea breeze.com.au has a SUP forum,or you could try direct messaging people like Cal Major for their SUP choices as they’ve done touring? We tour on Red Inflatables which have the benefit of transporting easily.

I’ve been out walking this way over the last few days!and I have to say the ‘bridleway’ through mosedale was very boggy! Also, Gatesgarth seems to be gravelled both sides, with locked gates at the bottom, saying no motor vehicles and no horses ( nothing about bikes that I could see) but the accessible gate is a kissing gate, which means you’d have to lift a bike over. Am I missing something? It was very wet and I was very tired at this point!

Lots and lots of good options…but lots are near a pub rather than near towns (with the exception of Keswick and Ulverston I think). If you want to paddle something, then somewhere round Derwent Water would be a good choice. Accessible for Keswick, and boat hire from Platty+ is a good option. Borrowdale is also a gorgeous valley, and parts of the Borrowdale bash are very accessible. Also, the cafe in Grange is nice, and if you don’t mind camping outside town then Chapel House farm is beautifully sited.

If you wanted to add some climbs and mileage you could go Grosmont, Egton Bridge, Rosedale Abbey,Rosedale Chimney, Hutton-le Hole, Cropton and then Pickering. Or you could miss out the Chimney and go straight down the valley from Rosedale Abbey to Cropton.

Was out at Angle Tarn on Thursday- no midgies. Camp high and pray for a gentle breeze!

I am a women. I have a long reach so ride bikes designed for men. I do like a charge ladle saddle though, and use them on both road and MTB. I do think a bike fit might be the answer- it’s amazing what you can do with stem length. Oh and narrow handlebars! Particularly at the moment bars are crazy wide. I ended up cutting 8cm off my last ones.

Yes it’s now £2 for bikes :-(

Congrats! We bumped into him in Verbs and he seemed like a really nice chap

Check what lifts are open first so you don’t get stuck, but if you can get back than over Col des Mines and down towards Siviez (lots of options) is very dramatic

Awesome! Cadets gave me some of the weirdest, hilarious and rewarding experiences I have ever had with young people. I also got really good at sleeping anywhere…not to mentioned all the heavily subsidised training courses for outdoor stuff, including skiing. It’s hard work, but fabulous!

Much more work than CCF! You might find some more useful information here http://www.ctcfrimleypark.com/ but it’s probably easiest to give your local unit a ring.

ACF or CCF?

Ahhh Alpybus. Will never do that again. Used them skiing, no luggage space, no trailer, luggage rammed in every bit of floor space of the bus.

The Hackleburg (sp?) is much more enduro single track than dh and part of the big 5. We found lots of fun, but most of the more enduro stuff is on the Saalbach side. There is a nice link between the 2 resorts as well. And go for a burger at the Hexenhausel – it comes with a frankfurter garnish! We also found that most of the ‘features’ are quite progressive and well designed- I was enjoying wall rides by the end of the week. They have also replaced the shitty circus lift. We went 2 years ago and are going back this year!

+ 1 for Molton Brown, black peppercorn or Cyprus and sea fennel are delicious. White Company shower gel has similar viscosity but is a bit cheaper per bottle

We’re a bit under water at the moment, but the forecast looks to be drying up by the end of the week. Anything on rock should be ok. Borrowdale bash/ Ambleside big day out both doable between Whinlatter and Staveley.

There’s a loop from Betws via Sarn Helen to Pont y Pass then back over via Cefn-glas that doesn’t go much over 300m but is a nice day out. Can add on the Marin trail as an extension via Ty Hyll

I think the York master plan is still far enough off that it hasn’t affected house prices yet…ours was valued last year and has stayed about the same. They have widened the bridge over the river between town and the stat9n though which is about time

Lucky you guys! Great place to live. Tang Hall and that side of the city are still quite ‘studenty’. Some bits of Acomb are ok (but Holgate is nicer). Will you be renting or buying?

I did a drops and jumps course with her at Llandegla a couple of years ago. Really enjoyed it, and it improved my riding of said obstacles and general confidence. There was good progression of skills through the session, and video analysis at the time (the joys of iPad) and all the clips of us were sent to us on a usb stick the next week.

Feel excited! We’ve ridden bikes of all sorts together since we started going out 18 years ago. Some of our best holidays have been mountain biking trips to Norway, Madeira, the States, the Alps etc. We’re out in the hills pretty much every weekend. It also makes present buying easy!

Hafjell bike park is within your range and has some great riding, but the uplift only runs on weekends for most of the summer.

I’ve got a medium full size Canyon frame for sale? It’s a Strive AL from 2015. Bit battered but won’t be near the top of your budget.

We’ve got a 2016 VRS Octavia and been very impressed. It’s an automatic due to MrLL’s smashed ankle, but the gearbox is excellent, certainly better than newer automatics we’ve rented from other makes. Room for 4 bikes on top, two paddle boards in the boot and associated kit at the same time so it has plenty of load carrying capacity for us. And a flat boot, which you can drop the floor of by a couple of inches if you want more depth. No idea about dogs thoug.

Medium Canyon Strive AL frame of any interest? I’ve got one in the kit store I could move in for the right price!

Plan to have a nice fish and chip dinner in the magpie, followed by the ghost tour and a few nice ales in the lovely pubs by the abbey.
Get drunk in the chippie, miss the start of the ghost tour and pay money to enter a night club called ‘Raw’.
Not a night I’ll forget in a hurry!
The YHA is good value accommodation BTW. It’s a lot of steps when pissed!

Juliana? But agree, crazy colours and prices is why most of my kit is men’s small. I know men who ride ‘women’s bikes’ and women who ride ‘men’s bikes’- it’s all down to the feel rather than the labelling. Contact points (bars and saddle) are easy and cheap to change, other than that it’s the usual test ride as many as you can and see which is most fun for the razzle dazzle.

Second to getting on better with ‘male’bikes…but I am 5ft 9. I ended up taking 8cm off the stock handlebars as they were hilariously wide for my narrow shoulders, but it sounds like you have already tried it. Have you checked rotation of handlebars, brake set up and saddle front aft? I find that small adjustments can make a massive difference to overall feel, and therefore confidence. It also takes me quite a long time to get the adjust between hardtail and full suss if I ride them back to back- the full suss can feel horribly vague before it starts to plummet!

Better than DPD local,who held my parcel for over a week in the Carnforth depot before sending it back to supplier. Oh, actually, they did try to deliver it once, but couldn’t as they didn’t have my contact details…the same ones they used to tell me it was being delivered!

Glad to see a happy resolution…and a great time of year to get it in! Shows how persistence pays off so well done for not giving up

A cafe that doesn’t close at 4pm, just as you are getting off the hill and desperately in need of food? That sounds great

We’ve had mice for about three weeks….visits by pest control didn’t seem to work but we stuck one of those sonic things in the loft (where the mice were-has to be in the same room) and haven’t heard anything since. Very impressed as packaging said it could take 2-3 weeks to work.

Such well rounded story telling made it gripping. Including the perspectives of the film makers and those closest to Alex opened up really interesting angles on perception of risk, quality of life and prioritising your goals.

How much money are you willing to spend? The helium quilt duvet (clips into a cape/sleeping bag thing packs down to the size of a large fist and is warm enough with a bivy bag in the summer

It really works as well- nothing is colder and horrible that a wet chamois- and you don’t get the chafe as with completely ‘waterproof’ shorts

I like the mt500 with the soft shell legs and waterproof arse patch

How exciting! We both have Santa Cruzs  from Stif that came with UK brake standard fit. Are they delivering? It’s impossible to spend less than an hr in the shop as they are so friendly and generous with the free coffee!

I got replacement Oakley switch lenses from revant and was very pleased with the service and lenses

You are remotely supervising a group rather than leading them. So theoretically you can supervise the exped, but not take them training! It does depend who the LA is…some schools are their own LAs which makes things very interesting re training/ risk assessments

Backtracking to the idea that you can do a practise and qualifying in one 8-9 day block: you can’t. Or at least DofE regs say you can’t, but it sounds like some people are offering it anyway. Terrible idea! Think of the feet :-(