Finish Line Grunge Brush does the job simply and effectively, and doesn't fall apart due to degreaser-induced brittleness, like some of the more complicated devices do (even the expensive ones, I had a Park Tools one that started to disintegrate after 6 months).

6th March Trailbreak ride at Cranleigh
7th March Gorrick Spring series XC at Crowthorne

Ben is going to lap us all, again!

I assume you can't manage the full 4 hours Nick? ;)

If you're training for a 24 hour race I'd recommend doing some longer rides at a slower pace – so a 4 hour race would be a good place to start. It doesn't really matter if you're well down the field, you'll be getting some good training miles in and will have the incentive of racing other people to stop you quitting.

I've ridden the course a couple of times, and there is plenty of singletrack and some fun descents, a few bridges, berms, some opportunities for air etc. As njee says there is also a lot of climbing!

And yes, it is quite sandy so if it rains your brake pads will take a beating, and unlike round 1 (which was basically flat) you won't manage without brakes :-o

Not been able to log on for a few days, thanks for your help guys!

Andy – cheers, what you says makes a lot of sense, I got the impression I wasn't using the point filter for its intended purpose. 15000 points might be a lot too many, and that was only a 4 hour ride! I'd seen the other mechanism in the Garmin GPS transfer option, but obviously I couldn't use that. However, I've checked out GPSBabel and got it to do exactly what I want, so Tracklogs is running smoothly again :-)

Kojaklollipop – thanks for the offer of the firmware modification, I probably don't need it now as GPSBabel has solved the problem. Curious to know how you managed to get your point recording down to once every 4 seconds though – as far as I can tell, simply switching Advanced Power Saving on should do it, but when I tried it I still got one point per second. Anything else I need to do?

Timmys – thanks for the info, I'd seen it before but never noticed the filtering.

I also found Parasol easy to use and hassle-free.

I love my Soloist, but it hasn't got anywhere to attach a gear hanger and mech, so not so easy to add gears.

60p worth of plastic A4-sized chopping board zip-tied to the bars through some punched holes. Then attach the map with bulldog clips.

Boo – I must try harder!

Approximately 2 hours from newly bedded in to backing plate, at last Sunday's Brass Monkeys race. To be fair though, it was an extremely wet race in very sandy terrain – a fatal combination for pad wear. It wasn't just Shimano sintered pads though, hardly anyone finished with functioning brakes.

The Sanderson EBB is excellent, its a different design to most others out there, but its been pretty much flawless in the 12 months I've been using it – no creaking or slipping. Can't comment on rigid forks, but I've happily run it with both 100 and 120mm forks.

Jagz[/url] in Ascot?

(a-b)/a = c
a-b = ac
a-ac = b
a(1-c) = b
a = b/(1-c)

My better half was supposed to be riding with Jo, but got poorly, so Jo's roped in her man instead.

Who's the other half of your pair Nick?

As njee says, please don't use a rear light – completely unnecessary and highly irritating!

Will be soloing – a couple of downpours today should have damped down the dust nicely :)

They returned my forks (under warranty) in just over a week, which I thought wasn't bad – until I realised that they had completely failed to fix the problem. Sent them straight back and its been over 3 weeks now…

I've run a Scott Stroke 2.35 and a Panaracer Cinder 2.25 on mine with no problems, if that helps?

I tend to do them up alternately a little at a time – if there's a recommended method then I'm not aware of it.

Been running one since November with no problems at all (unless I forget to do up the EBB lockrings).

You do need the lockring tool (provided) and a pin spanner such as the Park SPA-2 (not provided) to adjust the EBB. But it stays put once tightened and I've had no issues with maintenance.

No idea what the frame weighs though.

I downloaded the GPX route and it didn't work – although the file is not empty it didn't display any route.

Good luck Rick – would like to try the SDW at that pace even though I know you're a bit faster than me. But I can't do this weekend :o(

Mmmmm Anchor Steam :o)

I've used 16g cartridges from SKS and also tyreinflators.co.uk with my Proflate 16. No problems at all.

See you there Simon!

Seen a couple of really bright ones in northern Hampshire, in 10 mins of watching. Nice clear night here, the moon is probably too bright to see the fainter ones though.

Plenty of ladies rides run by Tunnel Hill Trolls in the Farnborough area. Might be the wrong end of the county for you though, from what's in your profile.

Maybe Use Less Equipment

Oh yes! Surely I can't be expected to read further than line 1?

Only if you run 1.25in tyres.

I find the Deuter ones much easier to empty and clean as they open across the full width of the bladder. The supplied valve is a bit marmite, but you can always fit the old Camelbak valve.

oh no :(

What went wrong?

vdubber – you finished today's stage already?

Questions, questions…

Was humidity a problem as well as heat?
I assume you had to supply your own GPS unit?
Were you given the locations of water sources for each stage?
How feasible is it to participate without knowing any Portuguese?

Thanks :)

Superb! Have heard of TransPortugal but never seen a race report before. As Pete says, is there a website?

Did something similar last year in survival mode, your final paragraph sounds all too familiar!

Climbs.

Next year.

Get Menchov some stabilisers!

He's already munched the tarmac today.