I thought this was going to be a thread about Alex Salmond.

“I fear no tramp.”

Excellent.

There seem to be a lot of posts getting deleted.

MOD – the day someone dies is not the day/thread to stick the boot in. Regardless of your opinion of them.

Absolute silence after the first few minutes until the finish (including my 14 year old)

That’s interesting, I thought the relative lack of pace and background music would’ve had contemporary kids reaching for their phones in minutes.

Try him on this late 70s episode of a programme about the survivors of a global pandemic:

Absolutely sh£t me up as a 10 year old (you thought 80s parenting was hands off…) and I think it still stands up.

This was a good book(let) that I had at the time (might still have, actually):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166389724944?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=EcarENKCSZS&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=fskVY7jvSgK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I even had an NBC suit I blagged off my mum’s mate in the TA!

I had advance email notice on that X-Dome because it’s of great interest to anyone who’s a bit taller than average. Definitely one to consider.

Watched it at the time as a callow teenager and was a bit Kevin-and Perry about it, as I recall. Watched it again as a download about four years ago – Holy Christ!!!

Work colleague’s grandson in West Yorkshire took out his dad’s Sur-ron a couple of weeks ago (wearing a balaclava, obvs) and managed to put his head through a lady’s car side window. Insurance, what insurance? Rather than expressing concern I said I hoped he’d managed to get rid of his drugs stash before the police arrived, but it turned out that was superceded by events – while he was sitting on the pavement holding his face together, two Asian lads nicked the E-motorbike and razzed off on it….

Here y’go! Thanks, man, up and running for a trip on Monday.

I’ve got one exactly like that near me on Sustrans Route 66. Halfway down a dead end road, where four more block further progress to vehicles.This afternoon it was lying on its side in a plug of concrete and uprooted tarmac. I suspect a driver following outdated satnav had been having a bad day.

I think one can sometimes overthink this. I’ve just got back from 600km, largely off-road, up the West Coast then over to Aviemore. Scandal, 483mm AC rigid forks, lightweight 24 spoke wheels, 3400km on the drivetrain, taking more stuff than I usually do courtesy of a Quick Rack (due to a lack of frame mounts). It was all fine.

Struck out at the local library; Todmorden Library up the valley used to offer the service but doesn’t currently.

For want of a nail…

DrP, I’d be interested in one out of curiosity, to see how strong it is, if it’s not too much trouble.

Yes, PETG coming in at just over a fiver on Craftcloud. Steel and aluminium options would be of interest but aren’t cost effective. I’ve got a strip of aluminium on the way for a fiver that I’m going to file into shape manually. Longer term I don’t trust any plastic clip not to break again. I was lucky this one happened at home rather than on the side of a hill.

It’s such a persistent stain…

I think you’re right, I’m conflating two different books. That Storer book was a very handy planning resource in a pre-internet age.

Looks a bit plusher than my well thumbed early 90s copy!

One of my staples, but with extra chilli flakes, ground coriander and cumin. I also tend to grate the carrots, makes it easier to zzzh them up with the hand blender.

https://wemadethislife.com/slow-cooker-spiced-carrot-lentil-soup/print/34038/

Interested in a spicy parsnip soup, though.

Cider can shim has always worked for me.

Is Drake’s Bothy still there? It’s vanished off the current OS mapping. Mind you, the new tracks, dam and growing reservoir on the Pattack aren’t on it either. I was going to revisit the Military Road over to Kingussie yesterday on the final day of my current trip through to Aviemore, but the headwind/wind-chill was horrific so I stayed on the more sheltered cycle path in the valley. Pity they don’t seem to have put in access across the A9 to Etteridge, that’s a much nicer route than plodding next to the A9.

Nice evening in Glen Pattack last night.

I’ve got a set of 29er Mavic XAs that I bought a couple of years back for £125 in the big Evans clearout. I just regarded them as sacrificial wheels to facilitate a move onto modern standards but, 19 months and 3500km of use later I can’t fault them. Can’t comment on tubeless because I’m running them with tubes, but I’ve never touched them with a spoke key. The HG freehub wasn’t badly gouged when I took the cassette off a couple of weeks back. Spin forever. I suppose I should service them at some point but I’m currently 500km into a bike packing trip round the Highlands, which is well outwith the design brief of a set of 24 spoke wheels. Short version: very pleasantly surprised.

I’ve just restored an ’88 Hardrock. Was expecting to need the biggest hammer in the arsenal.. Practically asked the cups nicely to leave and out they came.

Possibly not so great, but at least you’ll know the first place to check when the creaks start.

Doesn’t take long to heat up in the morning though. Never thought I’d be riding through the Highlands in SPD sandals in late September…

Nights getting cooler…..

Not feeling at all smug about having booked these two weeks off a couple of months ago.

Supermoon setting over a mist-filled Loch Fyne as I break camp on the only vaguely solid ground for a couple of miles….

LDNP was thinking of squeezing the last few quid they could out of the tourists a couple of years ago by allowing people to book and pay for wild camping spots in the fells, but even they didn’t have the brass neck to actually go through with it.

Very easy here in Calderdale – brown caddy for food waste, crate for glass, small electrical items and big cardboard, bags for metal/plastic and paper/card.

Which makes me wonder why four of the six people on the row where I live, all younger than me, don’t bother but just chuck it in their landfill bins.

I must admit when I saw the promo guff I thought ‘Space. The Final Frontier. Our five day mission is to **** each others brains out in zero gee when they switch off the cameras.’

No airlock. They were in their suits and depressurised the cabin. Old skool.

I got in the mood for the debate by watching ‘Civil War’ last night.

Absolute speed of installation/removal isn’t my top priority. I could imagine replacing the seatpost strap/cam with a threaded seatpost collar clamp (if only to make theft of the rack a bit trickier).

Uh oh. Why’s that?

For closure, this rack does clear a Mudhugger over 2.35″ tyres (just):

My current small Carradry panniers seem rock solid, no hint of rattle or sway on rough tracks (actually very pleased with that aspect). Plenty of heel clearance for my size 50 feet.

I found the seatstay adapters a bit fiddly to install until I figured out what I was doing wrong. I also find the amount of plastic involved a bit disconcerting but assume Ortlieb have done their homework, and it certainly all seems solid:

Good. Taken a punt on a Kessel as a rear tyre for a sh!t winter.

Cycling over the top towards Wycoller this morning, there were some ‘wheel estate’ types in the fields, stooped over, clearly foraging for ‘special’ mushrooms…

Moorland track on the 450m contour; ruts worn into flagstones by wagons transporting quarried sandstone over a century ago.

Two years ago. My hanger snapped while riding up the Gap and, while I didn’t take out the rear wheel spokes or mangle the mech, the chain was so tangled I had to split it to straighten it out – but of course, I absolutely could not get the quick link to part.

After breaking the chain with the chain breaker, I sorted it out and rejoined it with another quick link, after also attaching the spare hanger I had. I now carry those tyre levers that double up as chain pliers…..and a chainbreaker tool.