Excluding about 2500 miles of commuting and all the rides that I didn’t bother to take the GPS:

Distance 4625 Km
Time 11 days 1 hour 35 mins
Elev Gain 68000 m

this,

For two of us touring/walking/climbing etc we use Terra Nova Voyages XL[/url]

It is a perfect blend of light weight and space.

For solo trips where weight is more important than comfort the tarp & waterproof sleeping bag come out.

reasonably quick in a boat but pretty slow on two wheels

I thought “hmm, sounds interesting – would quite like to ride out and wave them on.”

Now I’ve seen their route – Blow that.

Riding the A30 on a Friday, let alone in this weather is essentially suicide.

I can deal with cyclists/motorbikes, the only things that really put me on edge are riding on the road (a necessity sometimes), uncontrolled dogs (one good bite could result in the horse being put down) and finally, meeting the hunt!

IME Horse riders with dogs are some of the worst offenders for having poorly trained animals running amock. There is no excuse for endangering others by not having any animal under proper control which brings me to this:

I’d bet that if the hunt came past I would have no choice but to join in, said horse has attended one in the past so she knows what it is, it would be a huge battle to stop her joining in..

This, for me, is in the same category as “Sorry my dog bit you, he doesn’t like cyclists” or “My horse doesn’t like traffic” or any other non-excuse for lack of proper control and training.

If you want to kill foxes, use an effective and humane method. Rifles work well.

If you want to canter about on a horse as part of the butlins cavalry and show off your wealth then do that.

Please, lets not do the second whilst failing to do the first.

Hunting with horse and dogs has only tradition as a defence. Traditionally we executed murderers, ruled absolutely by a monarch and were duty bound to practice archery. All of these things have long since passed into our history, time for hunting to pass.

In Devon I’m aware of at least three hunts that have continued unchanged and unchallenged despite changes in the law. The one I ran into last week was as antisocial as every other – full of unfriendly, elitist, self-important twits. This week there were roads blocked by horses, landrovers and quad bikes along with dogs running uncontrolled over a main road (and nearly getting run over themselves).

Pyrex make a great alternative.

Two bottles of whisky. Might drink them to help the day pass.

I loved my steel one. Like a tank.

Only trouble I had was getting rear wheels to cash the cheques that the rest of the bike was happy to write. Now that some carbon manufacturers are doing lifetime, abuse it all you like, warranty I’d have one in a shot.

don’t drive 4 hours to ride anywhere.
Haldon is ace, but a chunk is out of action at the moment.
That said, every time you blink there’s more off-piste appearing… ;)

I think we (the mtb community) are our own worst enemy when it comes to access.
We seem to be quite tribal as a sport with a large proportion (if I’m being very grumpy – the new golf-set), who are happy batting round a commodified, sanitised and approved slice of countryside. The rest of us seem to be a relatively anarchic bunch that’d rather ride and talk crap than anything else. The few who make trails would rather just get on with it than discuss it in working committees and focus groups.

This means that we don’t engage with forestry commission and land-owners on their terms – that is, as a large, organised group – in the way that horse riders and ramblers do and so we miss out.

I am personally a believer in the role of an IMBA organisation with a large unionised membership. Having invested time in that once before to great failure, I’m happy to bob along with unregulated trail-pixiing until someone gets it working.

Dave Gilmour

Bit of a divot that man. Knows his way round the fretboard though

Trp?

campag brake cable.

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/#5

Cross

Mines the 2016 version. It’s not the geometry you might think is right but it’s a real blast- and quick enough.

Moved house by xtracycle. Twice.

Kona wo is ace. Just spent the last few days throwing mine at Dartmoor. In my opinion sus forks are pointless when you have the pressure right on a 5 inch tyre…

I’ve got a green one same issue year as that too!

my blue franken-windshirt. A buffalo windshirt that has done service all over the world since early 90s. it’s so UV damaged that it tears easily and has been sewn together endlessly. Love it.

Have we had trimble yet?

Get it wrong in the NHS, and it’s unlikely that the hospital would be closed and everyone lose their job. Get it wrong in the food industry, and factory closures with loss of jobs can and do happen.

Try being the safeguarding lead in a school or sixth-form college.

Lives and jobs in your hands, no support for the young people and you in the middle. Get it wrong and everything closes.

hi TiRed, I was thinking about the velopark one.

Remains silent.

That is service above and beyond by a long way. Got any other bikes for sale?

That’s interesting crosshair. Some great comments and suggestions here. It’ll be interesting to give it a go!

Out of curiosity did you write to M&S, speak to the area or local store manager, or do anything to effect social change?
Flippant replies to shopworkers and moaning on a forum are comparably effective to micturating on a forest fire.

or buy an osprey pack and clip the pack straps round the downtube

bibs. buffalo cycle shirt/teclite/mountain shirt, shorts, gloves, overshoes

Carbon tallbike!

The vagabond is a fantastic bit of kit.

G ones for what you describe. Clement mxp for all but the very dryest of races.

I was a dinghy sailor for many years at National, European and World championship levels. Most “sponsorship” was stuff at a discount.

That said, for a short time I got paid and flown/driven around to race other people’s yachts.

At one point I tested
/developed cycling stuff too. You use the stuff for free but it breaks and goes wrong a lot more than commercial release stuff.

looks a bit like luigi musso

Never liked the change to the st ligature logo. The ligature existed long before singletrack…

Rob at hardy’s cycles in exeter

You realise how expensive cheese is.

Love cx racing. All the joy and good spirits of the 90s xc racing with none of the expense, ego or soullessness of modern xc.