It looks like a possible endurance option. That 60 mm on the back would sure help with fatigue on a stupid long trip/24hr racing.

Would love to know if there’s room for internal dropper cabling though.

Also whether it would work well around bikepacking luggage

Think the starting price is pretty cheap in today’s market.

I had a beautiful little elm for a long time, but killed it through neglect in a bout of can’t-be-arskedism

I have started an English Oak this year though. Still very much a baby, from this spring’s acorn growth, but he’s survived a rabbit attack (no joke, completely stripped) and mildew so far, so I have hope….

There is indeed a lot of good natural riding in England, buckets of it, but for me, personally, my top five purpose built MTB trail centres with some sort of facilities at/nearby would be:

FoD – Can’t fault it, bit of everything from man-made trail centre, DH, off-piste, family stuff, skills stuff, great facilities and an uplift. It is definitely one of the best trail centres in England

Tidworth – OMG amazeballs

Flyup417 – Nice cafe, friendly folk, uplift, indoor barns for bad weather, easy to get to for us. It’s a work in progress, but we always enjoy our time there. It’s not BPW, but I suspect that, with a little more work, and more visitors, it will become one of the top centres

Croft – OK, a tiny loop in Swindon. However, it is a wonderful little gem hidden away next to the M4 – brilliant for a mix of riders/levels/fitness and for skills practice. Not one for a big day out, but certainly one to visit if passing.

Breakheart Quarry – the main line is just a short loop, but there is loads of riding that heads out from the quarry and into Stinchcombe/Nibley, plus there is a nice little self-service block, toilets. It’s something a little different and close to family for us so we visit often.

I often carry all my stuff including food as it saves the risk of leaving the bike and saves money in buying food.

It the route is mostly road/lane/gravel based then it makes no odds how the bike is packed. I like panniers because they are easy to access and make me feel like an old school tourer :D

If I am doing any kind of proper off-road then I preferentially pack with the weight low and toward the front. I run a frame back with tools and cook kit, plus the camelbak bladder sits in there and I run the tube to the bars. If I am staying out I put sleep kit on the bars. The saddle bag gets filled last and with the light stuff like clothes.

Soooo pleased as punch to have finally got myself to the start, and finish, line of Mountain Mayhem as a soloist. I always said I would never race again but felt a bit obliged, what with it being the last one n all. MM has held a place in many MTBkers hearts for years, whether as a team rider, spectator or soloist….hats off to Pat and all the crew for keeping the magic alive for so long.

Was only supposed to be doing it for fun but got a bit carried away and ended up taking second place with 20 laps. Can’t quite believe I managed to podium after so little endurance work this year. Was strong for the first 18 hours and then rapidly started to struggle for legs, then head, then the will to live ha. I don’t think I have ever had to walk so many climbs in all my life, and I had a super easy granny gear. Goodness knows how the singlespeeders do it. Just amazing. I’ve never been so grateful for a frayed gear cable at 10:30 am Sunday. That put the final nail in the coffin for any thoughts of ‘just one more lap’, but, hand on heart, I doubt I would have made it round another in one piece anyway. Definitely gave it everything I had by that point.

Was a top notch. well organised, and exceptionally friendly event. It’s a shame to see it go.

Thanks folks, that’s useful info.

I’ve read somewhere that the Fast Traks run slower than the Racing Ralphs, but the RRs are pretty hard to get hold of atm, and the price of the Fast Traks is pretty appealing.

I might take a punt at them. I have some mud tyres if it all gets sloppy :)

Interesting

I was thinking it was the opposite. I rarely ever wear a full face now as spend so much time pedalling up on a 160 mm rather than pushing up with a DH bike even though riding the same trails. Full faces only really come out for us when we are either a) on a bus b) sessioning short sections or c) doing very long ups and then very rocky/tough descents

There is always compromise in everything we do and I always make an assessment of whether I want to wear knee pads (most times), a full face (sometimes), gloves (not always), or body armour (never anymore, and I never wear a neck brace now either)

I guess maybe there is so much cross over between the types of trail riding now that you are seeing cross over of protection. Does anyone even really consider whether they ride xc/dh/enduro, I’m betting not, I’m betting most times, there is a bit of everything in a ride. So those who used to ride DH all the time maybe see less full faces, and those who never went with the ‘bike big and push’ thing are moving toward the lightweight full faces as they ride those DH trails.

Either way it’s cool – ultimately it’s surely up to the rider.

My job has got a lot less stressfu, and a lot more relaxing, as I have become more and more experienced at it. Lacking confidence in ability is probably one of the biggest stressors of all.

Now I mostly enjoy it (sshh don’t tell the boss)

The rules are:

1) Things could be so much worse – even when it’s super stressful I remind myself I could be working for a big catalogue/sports company in a warehouse, on zero hours minimum wage, with a big commute to get there.
2) Everyone makes mistakes, even the best of folk, so forgive yourself and move on if you do.
3) Don’t let people (employees/employers/clients) get to you. Ultimately you are just there to do a job to the best of your ability and be civil to others. You don’t have to ‘get on like a house on fire’. You can rarely chose your colleagues so enjoy the time with the ones you do like and smile through meetings with the ones you don’t gel with. Most people are good people though, so remember that too.
4) Value others like you would like to be. So if someone does something for you, try and see the good in it first, and thank them for it, even if it isn’t perfect. Soothing other’s stress often reduces yours too.
5) Work doesn’t just have to be about the job, you can still be a good person whilst you are there, you can chose to change your perception to it.

:)

I have a 2004/2005 Santa Cruz Chameleon which I love more than life itself.

I had it set up as a DH HT to razz to the garage when the van needed picking up/razz around seafronts when away with work.

Then I found a new use for it at the jump park, wound the forks right down and locked them out, and put on fast rolling tyres. Now though, I’m getting a snazzy jump bike and the SCC will be redundant again.

It will sit, fully built, in the living room with proper tyres back on, and the forks wound back out, until I need to collect the van from the garage again. Because it makes me smile and for no other reason. Of all my bikes it is worth the least money, but it is the one I care about the most.

If I remember right B12 is the only thing a vegan may struggle with, it’s not found in plants and your body can’t make it. Fungi are the only viable natural source for a vegan, so plenty of mushrooms (and lots of marmite)

Mushrooms really aren’t a viable natural source.

https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health/vitamins-minerals-and-nutrients/vitamin-b12-your-key-facts

Lots of options to get in essential nutrients

There are so many good protein rich meat alternatives out there now – Morrisons is the best supermarket for vegan meat substitutes and stocks Frys, Vegan Quorn, a lot of the linda Mc Vegan range as well as their own brand. It helps with the transition. New quorn vegan fishless fingers are nice.

Think about creating complete vegan meals and if the rest of you can’t go without meat, add the meat after. So make the cottage pie with tinned lentils/frozen veggie mince and then fry up the animal stuff seperately and add. Mashed potato really doesn’t taste any different if made with a little salt, vegan marg (vitalite or Pure etc) and a splash of soya milk.

Pasta dishes – make the sauce the same, but add vegan quorn chunks to hers and meat to yours.

Homemade soup – make with a vegetable base – add chickpeas to hers, chicken to yours after

Sausage casserole – fry the onions and veggies up and prepared everything ready. Last minute seperate into two dishes – put linda mccartney sausages in hers, meat ones in yours

Gravy – Tesco/Morrisons etc etc all do instant veggie gravy granules – so on roast day – cook veggies in oil etc, the only two things you need to think about is her cup of gravy and main course (chinese supermarkets do great vegan chicken ‘legs’. Nut roasts can be made up with just water out a packet and eaten for lunch cold the next day as well as adding to dinner)

Violife now do a pizza vegan cheese which melts well and is good in toasties.

Look at snacks – crisps are easy but not that nutrient dense. Nuts are always good as long as the child isn’t allergic.

I’ve been using a nutribullet lately cos I’m lazy and time pressed and don’t digest veggies that well. With a bit of practice I’ve found it great. Banana, some melon, pak choi/spinach for greens, blended with hemp/almond or soy milk a few walnuts and teaspoon of chia seeds. The inclusion of non-dairy milk makes the difference. Even if you leave out the greens you can get good calories in. Easy, protein and omega 3 rich. Some things work well, darker greens etc are more ‘adult’ tasting and may be too much for a child. You can throw in spatone iron water if you are concerned about iron levels when menstruation starts.

I’d get her having a Veg1 multi vitamin a day – they are pretty tasty and it’s an easy way to cover vitamin bases for a time pressed family. Takes the worry out of it https://www.vegansociety.com/shop/supplements

Remind her that if she doesn’t eat well, including eating her greens, and her diet leads to ill health, she wont be helping any animals at all. I went vegan as a 16 year old but I didn’t improve my eating until I realised that any signs of ill health were immediately blamed on ‘the phase I was going through’. It does make a difference to eat well and she really needs to pay attention to that. As an intelligent 12 year old she will be able to grasp concepts of personal responsibility.

Go and see Jedi Tony Doyle

http://littlegirlbunny.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/a-day-with-legendary-tony-doyle.html

Got this a few weeks back :)

Well, after phoning around, getting quotes and all the hassle of dealing with insurance companies I can definitely say, without a doubt, Pedal Cover are by far the best company I have dealt with if you have a number of bikes to insure, you take them abroad and you regularly travel with them in the UK. Absolutely spot on policy, absolute bargain price and really helpful on the phone. None of that ‘apply on line and get a discount’ rubbish.

100% recommend, that’s me sorted, paid up and happy for 2017

I just had my M&S renewal through which had gone up, but was still ok. Have had the Enduro as a declared item for a while and I phoned to have an extra two declared bikes put on the policy. This Put the policy up by an extra £180! I said, ah, don’t worry about it, I’ll not insure the other two bikes.

The said TOUGH, you’ve declared them now, they have to go on as a named item and we claim our extra £180 :o

I told them to stick it. They said, well you could always go back through the website as a new customer and get 20% off. I said, after 7 loyal years of never claiming a penny, can’t you do that over the phone?

No. No no no no no.

So I am now shopping around like a madwoman. 9 days to find decent cover. I did speak to a broker who found a great policy, but has failed to email through any of the data as of yet.

Will report back if I find anything good.

Let them eat cake

I live in Malvern and work in Hereford.

Haugh Woods is your local – head off and investigate, the trail pixies are regularly building and repairing felling damage. Good mix, some quite tech stuff especially when it’s wet. I have big XC loops which link Malvern to Haugh and also to Dymock. I’m not sure Dymock is ‘legal’ bridleway riding, but there sure as hell is a lot of secret singletrack in a small area.

Malvern, obviously. I lead the Thursday steady social which is a ride for all levels so is slower, steady and rarely full on tech. Wednesdays, in the summer especially, there are often tech groups out – fast up, fast down, steep stuff. Sunday group does some of the hidden stuff too. There will always be people to show you around if you ask on the MCS FB page :)

Also, Black Mountains Bike Park, just down the road. Look at Yat Pack and Wye Valley Warriors in Monmouth for some of the stuff down that way. Keep going along the Heads of the Valleys and you’ll be at BPW in an hour.

Heading North there is loads in Powys. You’re not a million miles from Rhayader which has some stunning ride.

Yes I’ve done it. 21 years ago next month.

It was much harder on a practical basis back then, but it was still an easy thing to do as I knew it was the right decision for me. As I was only 16, just about to turn 17, I had no respect from anyone, got constant grief and negativity from people and was told I would die if I didn’t eat cheese by my mother. There was no internet and I didn’t meet another vegan for 2 years.

Now it’s dead easy, in the last three years particularly, I have found 90% of cafes and coffee shops have soy milk for tea. The major supermarkets sell a massive range of dairy alternatives as well as the basics in ready to use format Microwavable lentils, tinned pulses (no more soaking for 10 hours!, vacuum packed tofu. Some major chains have good vegan options, look at Toby Carvery (yes really!) and others have good vegan options. Most local places will cater, and if you are a regular, will cater well. Where are you based? We have some fabulous eating out places in Malvern and Worcester.

Pret, Starbucks, M and S and Waitrose food halls are all useful when I am on the road and working in town centres.

I also am a big fan of fake meats etc and the textured and quality has improved so much – I know not everyone is, but who cares? Each to their own and I am happy to eat processed food because it’s tasty and I like it. The best vegan meat alternatives are found in the freezer at Wing Yip – I kid you not. Even my Omni boyfriend thinks the fake fish stuff is fabulous. Frys nuggets etc are now available in Morrisons and they are up there with some of the best fun foods. Waitrose and Asda stock vegan Quorn. Sainsbury stock the new Linda Mc Burgers.

I’d also say it doesn’t have to be ‘all or nothing’ find what works for you, if it takes a while to make the change, then so be it. If you slip up and have the odd non vegan thing, don’t beat yourself up – it’s better to cut down than to give up trying completely. It’s better to eat two dairy free meals a week than none. It’s better to be compassionate when you remember, than not bothering at all. It’s not about whether it’s ‘worth it’ its about doing what is right ‘for you’. You can only control your own actions. It is often said, the hardest thing about being vegan is dealing with the hassle and prejudice you get from other people, but I think even that is changing as it becomes mainstream. I don’t tend to tell people I am vegan unless they ask, or I need to for practical reasons. However, many people now are interested, know another vegan or are considering cutting down on dairy/meat themselves.

Any idea what happened to Jo Page (littlegirlbunny)? Only rode 9 hours but got more laps than many solos who did the full 24.

Yeah

I bailed, and no, not because I hit the wall. Mentally the brain wasn’t into it. I am not good at racing, at all. I never have been, this is why you never see me at downhill races now either, or enduro, or, well anything else.

http://littlegirlbunny.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/i-bailed-from-strathpuffer-and-im-happy.html

Someone has asked me since if I would have another go if the weather was colder, and my answer was:

“Good question but I think not. I’m just not cut out for competition in any format it seems. I just want to push my own limits and experience the world in fine detail whilst doing so. I doubt I’d ever get another chance anyway, I was lucky to have this one shot, but I’d rather test my winter mettle against a long solo off road journey, on a route I plot myself, heading into the unknown. The cost of another puffer including fuel would pay for a spot tracker and year’s subscription which would be much more worthwhile. 24 he racing is v hard, but it is safe. Safely riding round in circles with marshals and competitors to pick up the pieces. Safe to bail at any time. I need to get out of that comfort zone and brave-up. For that’s where I really find my soul, scary though it is doing so.”

My wonderful other half brought me a TG-4 for Christmas. I must say, I am stunned by how good it is for a waterproof tough ‘compact’ camera. It’s versatile, has numerous manual settings, the auto is good, it has the most amazing super-macro and isn’t that big considering the waterproof+shockproof stats. I have had previous ‘waterproof’ and ‘shockproof’ camera experience and found focus was poor, they weren’t that shock proof and the output quality iffy.

Thread of the year :lol:

I think it’s not a case of ‘only the mad ones’ but you do need a bit of luck and good timing. I’m very lucky, myself and the better half both found ourselves single within a few months of each other. He’s not perfect, but as luck would have it, he’s perfect for me. Plus we both agree that the relationship would probably have never worked if we had met in our twenties as we are both more tolerant, kinder and I guess aware of everything that has failed in previous relationships.

6 here and that was trying. Explains why I struggle to remember anyone and why people often think I’m rude.

Glad I’ve just brought some Butchers.

I’ll not be buying Maxxis again unless I’m desperate.

First time we met (*as I remembered it): He came along to our club weekender. I thought he was a right grumpy too-cool-to-talk type, although myself and my friend came to the conclusion he was, by far, the best looking guy there. Didn’t think much about it other than that.

Few months later I found myself unexpectedly single around the same time as him. Decided he would be a good Mr-right-now even if he was a moody bugger at least he was gorgeous. ‘I’m too uber-cool’ arrogant mountain bikers don’t really do it for me, but you know, who can resist a shaved head and six pack?

Nearly three years on it turns out he isn’t arrogant, grumpy or moody and is in fact the most amazing person I have ever met. :D

Judging personalities = not a strong point

*turns out it wasn’t even the first time we had met. We had briefly spoke and ridden on a night ride about a year before when I had turned up for a club ride (and no one else did). He was waiting at the same place for a mate and I rode up the hills with them till I split off and leave them to ride some uber-nuts off piste stuff. I had totally forgotten about it, but he remembers it really well. :oops:

Didn’t realise you could get these to do heart rate. The moving thing doesn’t interest me much as I know I spend pretty much all day every bluddy day running round like a maniac. But the HR thing, especially resting HR and the sleep monitoring would be v interesting.

Which is the best model for HR monitoring? How do they work without a chest strap? Are they that accurate?

Thank you guys, for a well balanced and, dare I say it, sensitive posting on this subject.

Great thread, some proper STW soap opera shizzle going on here

*pulls up chair

Our contracted computer administrators have forgotten to deactivate the ‘really-easy-to-guess-password’ that they used to initially set up the machines before removing all admin rights of staff to install programs or allow updates.

I now use this password all the time to install whatever I want on my laptop.

Depends on the situation

We have a great social group that goes out once a week with a massive range of abilities and the ride is geared to supporting the slower riders. So we like to see them within the pack and not dropped off the back or led into stuff blindly. We have sweepers to make sure everything is OK. Everyone takes their share of time at the back and the front and everyone always has a good time whatever their ‘natural’ speed.

If out on a ride to just have a blast on the descents, it can be a little aggravating when a rider climbs well, doesn’t ever stop at the top and descends terribly. It’s give and take on a social blast and it always seems a bit selfish to not even think about whether others would want to go faster down a descent, especially when you know the majority of the pack are far quicker downhill. There are hardly any of those folks about though, most people are more ‘nah you go, I’m not in a rush’

I pretty much always like to sit somewhere within the pack or at the back if I’m riding with the fast guys round here, and would definitely rather go a bit slower behind someone than be holding up good riders and getting in their way.

Hot showers
Hot tubs
Hot sex
Hot coffee

Running lower pressures in my roadie tyres to get better rolling over long steady distance

Meh

100 PSI is where it’s at

I hate and love the spectacle at the same time, seeing the riders at the bottom not describe how great their run was, but always how glad they are to be there safe – it makes me sad to think that they are so caught up in the sport/money/sponsors/success that they feel they have to risk their lives. But it keeps me watching in a voyeuristic ‘this is wrong but I can’t help it’ way. I still post about it on FB, and watch the links that people put up driving the publicity like the rest of us.

When they drop the big plumb lines it make me feel sick. But I still love to watch it. The big jumps at the bottom are huge, but I suspect a showpiece and a welcome relief from the ridgeline and the middle section. I have no idea how they ride up on that ridge and then launch themselves from the cliff faces. I watch DH racing and, although I couldn’t ride at the speed they ride, I at least understand the thought processes they are going through to a point, but Rampage is something else entirely.

There is nothing I like more than seeing people push their boundaries, and the recognised limits, it’s hypnotic.

I’d like to see/read some honest post event interviews with the guys and their families. I’d love to know how many of them, deep down, wish they didn’t have Rampage in their event calendars.

There is only so safe you can make an extreme sport like this. It isn’t Formula 1….they can’t make the bikes safer and they can’t make the track safer when the points are scored for the technicality and difficulty of the riding. If you let the riders ‘sanitise’ the hill with sandbags and berms, they just do bigger jumps and harder tricks.

People will always go bigger, better, faster, higher. Someone will probably die and we’ve seen Paul badly (hopefully not irreversibly)paralysed this year, but it will continue to progress. Just look at mountaineering….so many folks have died on the Eiger, Everest etc, yet people are still out there climbing them and pushing the ‘free-climbing’ limits more and more.

I suspect a new venue will be on the cards soon.

Don’t panic.

I work with the stuff every day and have done for 13 years. As a surveyor I know what the stuff looks like and can spot it a mile off – and this makes me realise just how many times non-surveying people get exposed in a lifetime and don’t realise it. Every single week I see asbestos situations that are causing people’s exposure. However, when you consider just how much we would have been exposed as children in the 20th Century, these things are often minor. That’s not to say we shouldn’t minimise our exposure as far as possible. However, that one exposure is probably low compared to the amount you breathed in at your school back in the day, the amount that was being realised on poorly controlled demolitions, in housing stock, in the hospitals you visited, on the first jobs you did as a youth or in the offices we worked. I don’t know how old you are?

I often explain it as being a little like smoking. In theory, one cigarette can kill you, as that one cigarette could be the one with the benzene ring than binds to your DNA and causes the genetic change. BUT, it is dose dependant and the higher the exposure, the higher the risk.

The sore throat is not related, other than possibly psychosomatic or an issue caused by general dust release including the blockwork. Asbestos related disease doesn’t work like that. It sounds like you could do with some asbestos awareness training and I would recommend looking into it, even if it’s just a basic online course. It may ease your mind a little.

The only thing I would question is what has happened to the dust/debris you released by the drilling? Was it considerable and is it worth paying for a suitably trained contractor to do a localised clean with a HEPA vac (a vacuum with a filter that contains the fibres, not just breaks them down and spits them back out like a normal vac) to remove any remaining free fibres caused by the drilling?

That is stunning! I’d love one of those :D

Fabulous!

Thanks for posting :D

Love this thread, so much stereotyping going on!

I do think the commercial input/money making is the difference with most Sportives I have encountered based around a high entry fee and greater support for riders.

Audax is a tiny ‘grassroots’ scene based around minimal costs and people volunteering for the love of that particular branch of cycling. And those at the centre of the sport in the UK really do put so much into making it what it is, for no real financial benefit. You get the ‘racing’ at the front of the field, and you get the ‘I am awesome because I come in 3 minutes before the cut off and make the most of the day and the rest of you don’t know what Audax is about’ at the back of the field. You get people on carbon bikes, and people on ancient contraptions with 3 gears. You have a whole load of people saying ‘speed/time/placings’ don’t matter (whilst all they talk about it how strong XYZ rider is and how their legs are feeling crap). There is a bit of everything there, some folks are superserious, some are the complete opposite. Some love riding with others and hate being on their own, others can’t stand their solitary space being invaded.

The best thing about audax is, if you are completely antisocial you can register a DIY and don’t even have to attend an event. (<- this is me)

I’d give up the vote if it meant I could be a housewife and not have to do a man’s job for a living

Reading this thread with interest – keen to do this next year if they put the event on again. I suspect the organisers will have learnt a huge amount from this year’s issues, and, with time, the event will streamline and morph into something that works well?

Or maybe not?

The ‘which bike’ decision would be the hardest of all

Really wish I had the annual leave to do this, it sounds like fun and something that could, with the right management and organisation, become a classic. Hope it works out well for the racers and organisers.