Congratulations to all @STWTowers!

I’d love to ride out in Colorado. No interest in doing a competitive event any more, just riding some nice trails and hanging out somewhere different with my mates would be enough.
For everyone mentioning the Stone King Rally have a listen to the Downtime podcast this week. He’s talking about his experience doing it and it’s a good listen. Just back from riding around Sospel and it’s pretty full on. To do it for a week straight would be very tough especially as it averages out at +1000m and -3000m riding per day! No doubt it’d be an amazing experience, just too tough for my old bones.

I’m happy to pay to stay overnight somewhere but I don’t need any facilities other than water & waste probably twice a week. France, Spain, Italy, Germany and other countries have this pretty sorted. Anything from €5 to €15 per night and maybe €3 if you want to use the water & waste service point, although I did pay €28 per night for a great location in Cadiz. However that was very much an exception.

When I’m away I’ll do a mix of campsites, paid aires, and free spots depending on the location & services. It’s a great way to holiday & really explore an area. It’s not going to go away so why not try to come to a solution that works for the locals as well as the tourists. From previous comments it seems there’s a shortage of public toilets so you could tie them together somehow.

I’ve been to some aires in France that catered for probably 75 motorhomes, charging €8 per night plus €3 if you wanted water & waste. Everyone paid and everyone was spending locally. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a big gravel & grass area on the edge of Le Crotoy. Very busy in July & August bringing in approx €800 a day. That’d pay for itself pretty quickly even if you scaled it down loads.

I don’t think anyone is advocating for free facilities or to have their holiday subsidised. I think the real issue is that some people are ignoring rule number 1, as they do in all walks of life. Those people won’t care if you ban it; they’ll just keep doing it.

“it either needs to be banished by enforcement…”

“The answer is dont buy a motorhome as there isnt the camping sites available for them”

“I have said councils shouldn’t build campsites”

Theres definitely a strong anti vibe from a couple of posters, yourself included @politecameraaction

Ah, the NIMBYism (and maybe some jealousy) is strong on this thread. Just remember that there will be arseholes (in vans, motorhomes, riding bikes, driving cars, drinking beer…) in all walks of life.

Great to see the traditional British solution being suggested though ; BAN THEM ALL!

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>Maybe better to look at solutions that work for everyone. Interesting to read about the lack of public toilets in the Highlands.</span>

Personally, I can’t wait for my September motorhome trip to Scotland where I’ll shop locally, eat in cafes & restaurants, drink in local pubs and see my family.

I’ve had the message a few times and tbf I believe @mark came on to one of the previous threads and explained it was something to do with how iOS deals with a Google based database.

Cheers for the heads up

I spent several weeks in Manali which is approx 2000m, then hiked up the Parvati Valley to about 3250m over the course of a week which was fine. Rode the motorbike up to the top of the Rohtang Pass which is 3980m and decided to hike the last 20m so I could get to +4000m. That was really tough. Don’t underestimate the effects of altitude.

Can’t wait to get back in January!

Cheers for the heads up!

I’m hoping you managed to explore round Sot de Chera @amandawishart . It’s a lovely area for biking & hiking!

#anticipation

Mail order bikes need to be checked as if they’ve not been PDI’d, then take it to your LBS for a check over after a couple of months or less if it’s been used a lot.

Hi @amandawishart

Just wanted to say how much I’ve been enjoying your travel blog. It’s made me excited about getting back to Spain again!

We’ve used Wikiloc in Spain, France, Portugal, Italy and the UK. Well worth the £10 annual subscription as you can filter by length, altitude gain, activity type, loops only etc.

@matt_outandabout – where’s that pic please?

Weight is mentioned 3 times but we don’t know the weight.

Come on STW, you can do better!

Don’t think I could live with the logos not being opposite each other!

How did I miss this when I replied previously…

“Do YOU know?”

Oh, the ironing! Hypocrite much @cougar?

Actually it’s ALL the extra security costs involved as their personal protection is funded from central govt.

Goodness me Cougar, you really do come across as a right a**e sometimes. Apologies for using caps to emphasise a point…
Your argument above about losing tourist revenue if we abolished them is simply not true. Versailles is the most popular tourist attraction in France by a long way because you can get in and see it all now. I’ d wager that more tourists would visit if they could traipse around inside & outside ALL the royal properties/estates.
I also reckon an awful lot of people visit Egypt to see the pyramids/Valley of the Kings etc but it won’t be the only reason, the same way that the vast majority of tourists do not visit the UK just to see the royals.
I’ll try to source the fact about the security costs when I’m back from hols; I think I got it from the Republic site.

Did you know that if any royal visits your town the local council picks up ALL the security costs associated with the visit.

Squirt for me.

Avoid Muc-Off like the plague! It’s such a shit lube no matter which version you use.

Muc-Off is nothing more than a marketing exercise.

Just don’t run your pads to the metal too often please

Just bought my dad a 50” Samsung fort £399 from Argos, then bundled the Samsung soundbar offer in for another £149. It looks and sounds great. All the apps you want and works great on Wi-Fi.

<p>You can get tandem recumbents! A family friend is very involved in the scene and regularly goes to Nevada for the speed champs!</p>

Thanks everyone. The reason he wants a quieter hub is that his wife’s friend objects to his noisy Roval and makes him ride 20 yards behind!!!

Belfast is in Ireland. Which part depends on which foot you kick with…

😉

Chain in the pic is also showing signs of rust in places too.

Code RSC for 4 years and they’ve been pretty flawless including a 4 week session in the Alps.

Just got the thicker HS2 rotors and they feel even better.

Amazing and insane, so visceral. Utmost respect for anyone who races there.

The course is pretty bumpy in places and the speeds they ride it at are just incomprehensible.

6 months paid gardening leave from June to November in 2019. It was ace!

Congratulations @stwhannah

Have a great day!

New bike day is always a good day! Enjoy!

Really excellent TV. Having spent my teenage years in Belfast in the mid 80s it was an ‘exciting’ time for sure. Vividly remember the funerals in episode 3 following Gibraltar & Michael Stone.

A dirty war that came about after many years of Catholic suppression. They really were treated like second class citizens.

Yeah, the CR-F300L is a better choice. Much more capable & refined everywhere than the Himalayan.
I had an RE500 in India many moons ago. It made sense there, not so much here.

New MY24 Rockshox being announced next week in Scotland as a prelude to the Worlds.

Super Duper Smashing Fandabeedozee Zeb is the new top of the range…

Good owner sells shop to builder who has no experience of the bike trade.
Builder gets son to run the shop.
Bills not paid.
Bailiffs join the chat.
Chat ends.

No winners here, but the correct decision has been reached. As mentioned above, the sentence needs to be more publicised.

Had it in the LBS for about 6 months. Initial reports are good.