Tree Rats! hard to catch? my old fella is 80 and hardly with great eyesight pots one a month with his air-rifle when they come to snaffle the food he leaves out for the wild birds… they are greedy and stupid and cage catching is easy

Rude Fred at a recent Rally announces he is the FARC of mountain bike forums

Ernie I am well aware Fred always maintains a few cheerleaders on here, there are few megalomaniacs that stand alone, the fact is I have been Max Headset since well from about the time the forum started .. Fred has had a multitude of names mostly due to his presence straining the patience of even the most tolerant of posters… I have a high threshold of pain when it comes to idiots and fools posting on forums, fred however maintains a continuous malicious streak in him that means at some point Rude Boy will cease to exist and no longer be the bike of choice for him and it will take on the form of some new marvellous brand of forum poster that some will find washes brighter than daz or bold, but inside to the rest of us remains the same old tired past sell by date spam. I however should know better by adding two threads i am simply serving his purpose by being here so that’s the last one for me no matter what Fred might choose to add. In the end I live in a mountain biking heaven and live the dream when I want.. fred lies a dream to himself most nights, i cant wait for him to move to Barcelona .. I would doubt the Catalans are getting excited about the prospect.

He’s not better looking he is just a naughty boy….. Pray to what ever god cares to come knocking on my front door, come on mods, freedom of speech is one thing but Fred’s mocking trolling using is nome de plume of the moment is just a waste of pixels and bandwidth i need some kind of filter to block from my desktop. He admits it above he only comes here to rub salt in wounds and poke otherposters in the eye for a reaction…. he probably pulls the wings off flies and melts ant with a magnifying glass for kicks when not near a computer..

I would like anyone still to post to do so but to answer a few questions that are arising…Antur Bro Penmachno is a local business group made up from residents who try to secure funding to implement funding to facilities that can help generate income into the local economy. They are not specifically mountain bikers and neither are an altruistic or philanthropists. They identified an opportunity to utilise their local facility , Penmachno Forest which had once been economically important not just through forestry work but also holding stages of several major rallies including the RAC.

The Forestry Commision gave the group the right to develop the trails on the understanding the FC would have no direct involvement in underwriting the cost of ongoing maintenance which is the groups concern. Although it can raise money to build trail grants to maintain are not forthcoming and the group will have to rely on donations and voluntary help to maintain the trails until it starts to generate sufficient revenue through local businesses that there is a willingness by businesses to help fund the ongoing repair.

On problem of the group is the Snowdonia National Park placed several severe conditions on the venture which relate to the development of a visitor centre and car parking for which they do not yet have sufficient funding, but until all the facilities are in place the planning permission does not allow them to promote the facility which would be essential to make it become an economic driver in the community.

I noticed today a general laxity of riders in slipping their hand in the yellow box when passing it and even saw two car based groups who missed it first time round and i then saw them finish and drive off with no donation so am interested in working out if these were one off accidents or part of a misconception by riders that this is a public facility with free car parking. I am not seeking to find fault with anyone who says they don’t pay but I will draw this to the attention of the consultant (who I have been working with over another project in the region) who prepared this project, to see what can be done to protect and improve this revenue stream so as to fund the needed ongoing repairs ensuring the future of the trail. If the trail is not repaired it is more than certain the Forestry Commision, who have no funds to maintain, would ultimately withdraw their consent to the trail operators, and close the trails to avoid any legal liability for accidents on their land. The individual who, I believe, was leading the maintenance todate was recently poached by Forest Commission Wales to be the Warden at Coed y Brenin.

Might be a bit dull but do the filth in Bristol do any crime mapping stuff , can you use FoI to get a map of reported cycle theft, and see if there is a hot spot then try and get a load of riders to turn up at the local community safety partnership bullshit meetings and demand some action if any kind of locality appears to get more than its fair share…

I have to deal with CSP’s a lot we have one of the reputedly most successful ones in the uk… the local authority officer is an ex Knacker of the Yard who thinks alley gating is the cure for everything irrespective if it stops the normal law abiding public going about their daily life.

Well they did it 29 trail centres in 7 days although it required some night rides to stay on target and disruption was caused by two mechanicals. They started early at the Marin Trail and we had a wet cold sprint around the Penmachno admiring much of the maintenance being done at the moment, finished with sunny warm ride around Llandegla Champagne and burger reception and meeting loads of folks who turned up to welcome them home making nearly £1500 in donations excluding the money made during todays memory walk and ride… As I can never fail to remind you head over to the http://www.oneplanetadventure.com to make a final donation.

One last fact.. with owning and running a trail centre and building trails at other centres taking 7 days to ride 29 of them gives you a good eye for their features and differences. The two favourite centres of the trip were without doubt Golspie and Kirroughtree whihc they both felt to be by far the most enjoyable… and what of Llandegla well just hang fire on our answer till the new trail being built right now is open and see what fine tuning they have been able to learn from the trip.

Thanks John all donations are very much welcome and I hope more come intoday for the last day of the epic trek around most of the UK’s top MTB trail Centres.

They are on the Marin now and I am heading off to meet them at 10 on a windy rain soaked morning at Penmachno then we will all head down to Llandegla to check out the trail, have some scoff and hopefully break into the shop to fins the guys some fresh dry clothes to change into…

all welcome to come its a bit of a charity fun weekend aimed at raising more money for the Alzheimers Society with a memory walk and ride barbeque blah blah blah oh and a big marquee over the decking area so you can sit out and stay dry :) although forecast is promising outbreaks of sun this afternoon

1125 = that’s enough

Well this epic road trip is coming to a close. They have only just come off Coed y Brenin in the last 5 or so minutes and will be shortly heading up to Betws y Coed, By now they have run out of dry clothing and are mix and matching a collection of varying soggyness to try to stay warm . After an early start to the Marin they will be at Penmachno at 10 am and it is hoped as many as want to will join them for the last trail before they return to Llandegla to finish the 29th trail of the week after over 2500 km of driving .. I hope they are still talking or it will be a quiet ride tomorrow.. 4 blokes in a van….

if you have not .. please think of giving it might help you one day when you have started to forget why you come here each night…..

With well over 2000km of driving out of the way the team are at this moment driving just above Neath having left Afan about 26 minutes ago and are heading to Brechfa , Nant yr Arian then Coed y Brenin tomorrow with the final ride on saturday of Marin Penmachno Llandegla for anybody who fancies coming along for a ride.. please do

:) marginal correction actually they are in Cannock right as i write 9:17 and then go on to FoD (agreeing with psling and they should have dumped it to do inners and then drumlanrig to make it 30 trail centres)

Ring up the big Cycle Manufacturers and convince them you are a freelance cycling journalist and ask to be put on all their press release lists… cuts out the middle man and removes the need to wait a month to see them reprinted :)

They’ve just finished Grizedale and have popped off for a meal before driving all the way to Forest of Dean non stop…

here’s the latest plan ……

well its finally got to 40 posts.. having seen the video of the trail go on the gnarly hummer paratrooper bike I would comment that other than the popping of bursting lungs I rather like quiet rides, no squeeling brakes but the click of a noisy freewheel is acceptable.. but if anyone came on a ride with anything making that kind of noise we would certainly hunt around to find a gun to lend to them.

I would be surprised that, unless it’s the vanity of being seen riding around with the fast boys, you can’t find a group of keen but slow lardy riders willing to let you join their struggle and exude some sweat with them I find amazing… you come from the South East I am guessing. I have ridden in groups including pro elite XC riders and if the run rule is slowest rider I have never found them bellyaching about haring off, if they want to they go and find a fast ride… if you think this lot of mates would do that to you I’d be more bothered about getting new ride mates than blowing a grand on a motor for a bike

i would not dream of using them in deep clay mud but here in north wales the peaty porridge stuff we have they clean better than anything and stick like limpets to wet slate. the 2.4 is a bit MoFo large though.. much of the gap visible with 2.5 diesels under the brace of Fox 36 Vanillas is vanished as has the room under the rear seat stay brace on a g spot… its like riding 29er. they are very sticky rubber though but no report on long term durability given they cost more than many car tyres do

Just incase it has not been answered here, the plain fact is the sign is about restriction of open access for the stated resons this could be anything such as a mountain bike race rally or tree operations.

The Welsh Assembly on its creation became the owner of all state forests in Wales. in 2000 when open access was introduce as a dumb act of bravado to one up England and to entice other woodland owners to do the same they dedicated the state forests as being open access land like it is on open land mountains and commons ( ie for walkers only they can go where the **** they like), for cyclists and horseriders the principle is still of permissive access on forest roads only or dedicated trails which can be stopped as and when the forestry feel like it.. this is why you find the stupid bobbled hatted **** walking along the marin trail .. it’s because they can… and open access is largely useless in forestry for old dodderers as they need paths and for this purpose dedicated mtb trail is fine and there is nothing the forestry can do to legally stop them as they made the forests open access.

on occaissions there will be a need to stop Bill and Betty Bobble-Hat from roaming and the forestry by notice can suspend open access temporarily but not permenantly. They must do so by submitting a notice to the CCW, the Local Authority and placing a notice on site at all points of entry. The notice only suspends open access for walkers, unless they apply for a legal closure on any public right of way all rights of way will be open during the periods of notice. As far as cyclists and horseriders are concerned the forestry only need erect any kind of sign to stop use for it to have legal effect, as all they need do is withdraw permission.

Generally these notices are aimed to cover an area greater than the actual work taking into account clearly defined boundaries that make sense. It does not follow that roads do need closing unless they go into felling areas or are being used by timber extraction vehicles. You should take note of any advice the forestry give, if you ignore it the forestry will recal land use it in arguments when the lieks of the CTC etc try to get extensions to our own opportunities.

I saw them crossing the Clyde at 1am on their way down to Ae followed by Mabie, Dalbeattie then Kirroughtree. The bike based iPhone appears to have been off since Mabie but the one in Big Bertha would put her standing near Newton Stuart.

I would hope they will not attempt a night ride at Winllater although I cant se Badger not turning that opportunity down if they get to Cumbria tonight. After that and Grizedale its a long bash down the m6 to arrive to do the Forest of Dean before all those wonderful Welsh trails starting at 23 – Afan, 24 – Brechfa, 25 – Nant y Arian, 26 – Coedy, 27 – Gwydyr, 28 -Penmachno finishing 29 at Coed Llandegla hopefully raising a massive pot of gold for their chosen charity as they precede to travel the 29 of the UK’s best red grade trail centres in the uk ( OK they missed Inners I will be discussing that one with them).

Anybody fancy guessing the correct odometer reading on big bertha and how much the fuel they used???

Was there not someone selling cheap iPhones in classifieds recently :)

Apple has already released v3 to registered apple developers. Since I signed an NDA with Apple I can’t tell you if I have it or how good it is, but as with all beta software.. there are moments of brilliance and mud

I’d suspect GW needs sort himself out , if you have only found mincers with gate size Coves whilst our riding, it’s said birds of a feather…. you might want to ride elsewhere a bit more often

I’ve had steel and alu hard tails and ridden more Ti and C fibre than a busy stick might be shaked at. I have found that when asked buy riders to recommend bikes Rolf Harris has produced as ever a fairly accurate sketch of what you see through the bike shop window.

i bung em in the net sack they came in and wash em with all my non machine cold wash troy lee shorts gloves tops etc as 30 degree acrylics never had a problem… bought a pair of maloja shorts the other day.. cold wash only… they got covered in mud and does it clean the stains of peat soils out at cold…

Could this be classified as one of the first green shoots of economic recovery old Gordy Broon will be desperately scanning the horizon for evidence for the recovery of the service industries our economy relies on?..

Are you a hedge fund manager?

They finished the Fire Tower Trail at 10pm which is trail 14 and at the end of day 3 of the 6 day tour of 29 trails, By the time they get to Mabie they will be half way through the 510km ride of UK Red Graded trails. Many of us wil lbe going to meet and ride with them at Penmachno next weekend and any stw threaders would be welcome to come along to help make the procession and obstruction…. drop a line here if you are interested and i can work out some details.

Er grind a ninja death star grade edge on them walk through Bristol and throw them violently at any shell suited chav on a yeti or 2009 model kona or other such bike reported stolen on here over the last year

two stiffees here, aint the mrs a lucky girl ;) amaze me and every one who borrows one to sit on how cove do it… just put the summer fat tyres on and always amazed how better it handles with the widest rubber u can slide between its legs.. oohh err .. mods dont ban me

Wel las I right this I can see the gps trail for Big Bertha crossing Loch Etive at North Connel. With the posse heading south on there way to the Fire Tower Trail. Tomorrows list should include Ae, Mabie, Dalbeattie then Kirroughtree before moving back south across the border to Winlatter and Grizedale.

Here are some happy shots from their facebook of the amazing weather these lucky devils are getting on their 6 day break from running the centre at Llandegla. Jim and Badger are paying for the whole trip out of their own pockets all sponsorship money is going to their charity so if you can , please do .. give that is :)

Looks that way this am, I had a text late last night because they had not been able to cross using a ferry at Cromarty they had a long detour to get to Golspie and arrived late so would ride it this am.. They must have done it in the early hours as they arrived at Rhelonie 50 minutes ago and are out on Trail 10 of 29 at Carisdale looking at the gps from the iPhone as I write at 9:28

today they should be working their way down through Laggan to Fort William and possibly the fire Tower Trail before heading to do the westerley 7 Staines tomorrow

The Guys are a touch behind schedule with a 2 hour delay this am waiting for the Glentress shop to open to have some bike surgery undertaken. They are currently out on Moray Monster Trails and with it being late will be doing red rocks then Golspie as a night ride.

I’ve found with crossmax before going tubeless it was often better to inflate the tyre up to about 70psi when able when fitting tyres which ensured the bead lifted onto a ridge that otherwise would see the bead running on and off and the bead not being even, once fitted i let air out to get tyre back to desired pressure… if repairing a puncture on the trail when getting home would repeat the trick

It’s 9:58 they left Glentress about 4 minutes ago and may well be on the A703 Edinburgh Road on the way to Caron Valley.. .as soon as they get there from GT
Monster Trails 2.03pm
Red Rock 4.55 pm
Golspie 7.39pm

Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland have probably picked up eu funding that would not have been invested by the English Parliament.. not a good reason for those living in England though. Given the bullish nature of our poxy governments of late, all those self opinionated anti euro nuts would only likely fuel a worse government and access to the Europan Court of Human Rights has been the saving of many a downtrodden uk citizen against the oppressive might of parliament, and any one argue that such external interference is unwarranted the uk government seems well able to avoid it if necessary as with the DNA database.

We get good access to loads of lovely cheap labour from eastern europe, and once we get the euro you will see the real scam is the way uk economy is the amount of overcharging that our SME’s have been allowed to hoist on us.. go and look at the car price differential scandal that open eu trading exposed years ago.

I would think leaving the EU would leave us a small island reliant on the good will and economic benevolence of two large entities to our east and west just like Iceland is. We have no merchant fleet any more and our prices will fluctuate more being driven by world markets than the stability the eu has given.

The best things to change are to reduce the pen pushing not to walk out.

Yep that was yesterday almost live. They managed Newcastleton yesterday evening and arriving at Glentress at Midnight they started Glentress at 5am and finished an hour ago. I will get todays itinery and tomorrows up soon. We have had a lot of donations come in yesterday so if they came from here thanks a lot folks and new donors are always welcome.

Having done Glentress they should be on the Way to Carron Valley, Monster Trails, Red Rock Trails today then Hopefully Golspie, Carisdale, Laggan, Witches Trails tomorrow

If you come across the pair Ian is on his new Yeti Carbon ASR and Jim is on an Orange ST4

just unwrapped a new pair of 2.4 tubeless in the kitchen for the G Spot. .how weird . .so much rubber I cant stop touching them.. maybe all those strange features about german fetishists covered so often by Antoine DeCaunes on C4 might be right.. .going to have to call these my gimp wheels

Well 3 down 26 to go, the team are currently in Big Bertha trundling from Scotch Corner heading up to the Cumberland Gap….

I think we may have hit a technical hitch with the web maps.. (re post earlier about hi res images now available for Scotland on Google Earth)… shock horror for english and welsh google users seems you might be right and google maps is yet to catch up with earth…

There are some good tracks and bridleways around the Dyfnant Forest to the south of Vyrnwy ( as the english prefer to spell it) i think there was some kind of horse riding project that produced material with route info… Other than that I’d try the Berwyns, there is lots of good riding around Welshpool but it’s all OS map based, you are not that far from Bishops Castle and can access both the Long Mynd and Ceri Forest as well. Back of Oswestry is the Ceriog Trail and a maze of amazing bridleways including one that goes right past the downhill at Moelfre.. in fact the downhill crosses it.

They have just finished Dalby… Would have loved to do south of Bristol I think that was one trip too far for the week though

when they get there, :) I will contact mission control in the motor home to see if we can get an update from them

part of the whole fun is going out and trying them.. why ask / listen to anyone here for any idea.. just go and ride around clocaenog and try to discover the old cyffylliog challenge or if you want to drive just go to Aberystwyth or even the Brechfa.. or even head north to the lake district.. they have trail centres custom built for those who feel to inadequate to read a map

Out of curiosity I followed some links your post led to. Mid Wales is full of all sorts of ‘get away from reality’ kind of freaks so I should not have been surprised to find in your first link somebody had bolted a motor to one of those appalling hummer paratrooper bikes and no doubt enthusing about the possibilities. I am sure there is a bona fide market with the disabled, chronic unhealthy and aged for these bikes as well as commuters but as recreational bikes …. well

Given the nature of off road riding you will be using the power everywhere and the range will be nothing like you would get riding the canal side tow paths in Holland. Before you invest I would talk to your riding buddies, may be they dont want to ride with a rasping arrangement of slack tubes that probably needs a recharge every 20 miles. If so you should look carefully at this link I followed off their site.. http://www.tourdepresteigne.co.uk/%5B/url%5D to have an advanced viewing of the kind of people you might end up being obliged to hang around with.

I just wish having seen it all, I could now erase the whole thing from my minds eye

Specialized did not use Yellow for the colour of their demo bikes for no good reason… still for those who live in Bristol you might have stumbled on to good tactic to reduce thefts….. any reason why you had to wake us sleepers in the chat forum by posting a picture of any bike here ;)