Kid:It could be worse, I could be ginger.

You do the teabag thing? I thought that was something quite different :wink:

Just been doing a bit of “fettling” They aren’t Suntours at all :roll: they are RST Gilas proudly emblazoned with Womens specific soft spring (my arse) took the left hand spring out which definitely softens the thing but there doesn’t seem to be any damping at all, then tried taking the right spring out (i.e swapping sides) and the same thing. Is there a chance that there are no damping arrangements on this fork? I’ve taken it for a spin and it seems better with 1 spring in, will it be ok, I know some Marzocchis have this but I guess thats by design.

I’ve got a Spokeshirts one and it is fab, handlebar mount is spot on and it lasts very well. Just waiting for it to snow now.

Now all I need is to learn to take pictures like Grumm but not SFB as I would probably end up with a restraining order. 8)

I know I’ll get flamed for having a jack of all trades master of none Panasonic FZ38 Bridge camera but I’ve found it fits perfectly in a Lowe Pro Apex 60 bag and isn’t too big or heavy for my chest strap. 12M Pixies 18x zoom and a veiwfinder for £250 isn’t bad in my book.

Thanks for the reply, just measured the current one and it is 185mm so no good I’m afraid. Take your point about old SIDs, a pair of those would be perfect.

Two words immediately came to mind Russell and Brand

Reading a map whilst riding is not that hard if you have a map board and a good memory so that you remember the next few turns on the smoother bits. The tricky bit is working out a route that maximises your score and not coming back late and losing all your points.

http://www.bmbo.org.uk There you go.

They’re not called Trailquests any more. It’s BMBO or British Mountain Bike Orienteering, trips off the tongue doesn’t it?
We struggled for years being a great sport with a crap name, my theory fwiw is that no-one would brag about doing a Trailquest on a Monday morning at work as it sounded one step removed from Morris Dancing.

Those were the days http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdi4hqiiGaw The Beat

Why do they wear helmets?
The clip where they fly close to a hairpin bend is on the Trollsteigen road in Norway, I rode up it on my motorbike a couple of years ago, that was hairy enough for me.

please?

A bit like That Welsh Ride Thing that was plugged to death on here a few months ago, ideally involving lock-ins at the pubs on route and the chance to “bivvy” in the Wendy House located in the pub car park. If it involved riding across Monks Trod at 7.30am on a crystal clear sunny morning, it would be just about perfect. No need for prizes if all that was on offer. :lol:

i have lost nearly 3 stone tho……

Sounds like you need to add “ed” to your login name now :P

Just look who was 5th, Jeannie Longo must be at least 80. Arguably the best woman cyclist of all time (Beryl Burton excepted)

There seems to be loads of STWers around here, Marsdenman, Barnsleymitch, Tracey, etc. We should get together and form a support group. “between Barnsley and Huddersfield” do you mean around Denby Dale or more Holmfirth direction? There’s plenty of bridleways around Cawthorne, Cannon Hall, Silkstone area, the TPT will get you quickly up to Dunford Bridge and around Holmfirth. If you want more of an epic, Cut Gate leads into Ladybower and the Peak. My advice is to get an OS Map and go exploring.

Personally I’d carry a laptop in a rucksack on my back to avoid it shaking to bits on the bike, the roll bag suppliers above are all into camping/ bivvying setups.

Epic Designs (Alaska) or Ortlieb (Germany) of Carousel Designs (California) all do similar stuff but the Yanks are more off road friendly but expensive whereas Ortlieb are kings of waterproofness.(and quite expensive but readily available)

Just ask Spartacus if an electric assist bike is a good idea, you might get an interesting answer. [/url]Allegedly

What aboput a pogo stick with a plate welded to the bottom, you would look like a proper trail building tool.

Does 10 years of organising Trailquests, 5 years on the TQ Committee, speccing out and waymarking Mach 1,2 and 3 and starting the development at Nant Yr Arian count? Having a rest now I've passed 50 :D

Must have been Siobhan Finneran night last night, she was the dark haired one and also the slob's wife on Benidorm which had a double bill earlier.Once saw her in TKMaxx in Oldham, probably stocking up on costumes for Benidorm.

My vote would be to go to Machynlleth, stay at the Wynnstay Arms, ride the CliMaxx first and then Mach 3 which will give you a variety of different types of trail from forest man made to waymarked natural. May be a bit exposed out on the hill in late October though so you could drive back to Nant Yr Arian on the second day which is right by the A44 and do the Syfydrin/Summit trail.Wynnstay Hotel Link[/url]

Assuming you mean the Ronda in Andalucia (there are several)try wikiloc.com searching for Serrania de Ronda, click on map and download to your GPS.Easy peasy

In the early 90's I was out riding on my own just S of Machynlleth in a place called Artist's Valley, came down a track to a farm gate, a bloke was sitting in the garden by the gate, he had a very "lived in face" but I couldn't place him. We passed the time of day, he was quite interested in where I had been etc, a few weeks lated saw him being interviewed on TV, it was Jimmy Page. :roll:

Our dog Jasper goes in kennels run by a mate/relative of Steve Peat, met the great one at an open day there when he was in plaster just before the Worlds 2 years ago, nice bloke. Met Colin McRae in slightly hurried circumstances during the World Champs rally in Keilder Forest in 1995, helped him change a puncture on the longest stage of the rally, he went on to win the rally by 40 seconds and thereby win the world championship. There was only myself Colin, Derek Ringer and 2 others to do the wheel change, did it in under 2 minutes.

I have also thought a similar type of event could be interesting and might even get round the illegallity of racing cycles on bridleways with penalties for being early as well as late at the checkpoints. The special tests could be held on private land or sections not running along/across bridleways. The riders could be set off in small groups thus avoiding the issue of large group tactics and drafting which would also mean less queueing at technical sections. I guess one issue would be finding the manpower to man checkpoints and the initial outlay on timing equipment, you would need to check with someone like Colin Palmer at IMBA to verify the legal stuff but as it is only an off road version of reliability trials as held by the CTC it could be ok.

Barmouth is nice, the Mawddach trail is very scenic and you could have a cheeky couple of hours at Coed Y Brenin. Campsites just N of town or over the estuary at Friog

Stay well away from the mouth of the Dovey if you are beginners, the currents are very strong and you will be half way to Ireland before you know it. I used to do a lot of waterskiing there and the speed that the water goes out is quite scary. Once tried to canoe from Aberdovey to Borth and capsized several times. For a combination of surfing and canoeing, the surf off Borth's main beach can be good if the wind is in the right direction and the canoe along the river Lerry at the back of Borth through to Ynys Las is quite nice. Other places to try in Wales (it's a big place) are Hells Mouth on the Lleyn Peninsula, Benllech Bay on Angelsey or around the Gower in South Wales.

I can see the point of the post, the bridleways, rupps, boats etc on OS maps can be of variable quality and in the worst cases not there which can seriously bugger up your day. I don't see the problem in recommending a few routes as a taster then one can explore if time permits. I see this as one of the best features of a forum like this where those who know an area can share their knowledge, or is this too simplistic? I can't see that publicising good routes is a bad thing providing the user doesn't expect waymarking, risk assesments and a trail centre on every corner.

Probably helps to use the right e mail address.

ssstu, ygm.

Sorry stu, been out working. Where are/were you based then? If you are around, I'm in Devils Bridge this weekend and could meet up for a spin. I'm now living near Sheffield but still get across to Wales quite a lot.
You might remember me from my enduro exploits
Passed Alan Bates on a hare & hounds in about 1980, crashed immediately breaking arm.
Passed Derrick Edmondson on the Welsh, crashed immediately breaking bike.
Had a head on with Colin Boniface in the Rhayader Brit Champ, broke lots of things (he was going the wrong way) Came 4th in Brit Champs in 1990 on a KTM 300, gave up for the sake of my health :cry:

Gosh I knew Adrian Nixon, I used to knock around with Wyn Hughes, Geraint,Chris Walton,Alan Bates, Benji and the Aberystwyth lads. Didn't Adrian get killed a few years ago?

FWIW My favourite area is mid Wales between Machynlleth and Llanwyrtyd Wells, miles and miles of natural going which is to be found on Landranger 135,136 and 147 Monks Trod isn't that bad, rode about 80% on the Welsh Ride Thing this year, the watersplashes from Strata Florida to Llyn Brianne is a classic as is the track across Hyddgen Moor from Mach to Ponterwyd.
SSSTU, I also did the Welsh 2 Day the last time it crossed the Trod in the late 80's, remember it being particularly wet. Came across a guy just standing in the middle of a huge bog in Tarenig forest, when I got closer, I realised that he was standing on a sidecar which was buried up to the tank in mud, I think it's still there.Do you remember the Welsh where they redirected cutting out the Trod as a plane had crashed?

Doug@basquemtb may be the one you are looking for? Regular on here.

This is all the more impressive when you read in his profile that he has a wooden chest.

Try Radio Lingua coffee break ones, I'm doing Spanish atm, very easy to take in.