Another fan here, winter and summer use. Never had any problems with shrinkage (machine washed 30'C) or worn toes. I do wear shoes a size larger with them which may have something to do with the comfort and them not wearing out excessively. I get them at local bike shop (at FoD Cycle Centre), think they're about £11

Whilst the Blorenge may not actually be in the Brecon Beacons it IS within the Brecon Beacons National Park, so nickegg isn't entirely incorrect and smiffy isn't entirely correct :-) I would however concur with everything else that smiffy says :wink:

Can you still ride in the quarries over on the Cinderford side?

Lightmore Colliery slag heaps, been fenced off for a few years now with signs up 'no cycling'. A lot of the slag has been removed too. There was some great footage and photoshoots on mtb and mx'er there 'back in the day'.

Head for Pedalabikeaway at Cannop between Cinderford and Coleford for a good base; parking (£3), cafe, bike wash, shower, toilets, bike shop, etc.. The FoDCA route is officially closed off at the moment for felling and some modifications to the trail. Plenty of other trails in the Sallowvallets enclosure behind Pedalabikeaway but they're not waymarked; woodsy singletrack plus some great downhill runs. There are miles of singletrack riding to be had in the area but, as has been said above, you will need a guide. Some of us who have been riding there for a year or two are still finding or showing each other new bits of singletrack. The beauty is, even after you've been shown around a few times, it can be hard to remember how to get to the best bits :wink: You could ride every day for a week and ride a different route each day :-)

Having said that, it's only fun if you enjoy swoopy, woodsy singletrack or fine downhill runs. It's mostly not rocky or particularly technical (although technical is there if you know where to look!).

We all know you'd win in the "who's tallest when they're lying down contest"

Anything you're not telling us Stu ??!? 8O

Saw him at MM this year but he was far too pi55ed to remember. His sons have been known to advertise his bikes for sale whilst he's on holiday before now…

That looks very stealth-like Simon, nice :wink:

Definitely mudguards. Arm warmers and gilets are useful this time of year for cold in, warm home days. I often wear Ron Hill cycling treksters (the ones with the water repellant finish) on wet days; may look a bit beardy but they're cheap and fit for purpose :-)

Colder weather will see the Endura Bib tights coming out.

Can't see why anyone would want to ride singlespeed in the FoD, totally unsuitable for it.

Riggsy eh? now there's someone I haven't seen in a while – wonder if he still lurks on here??

I should think that now is an excellent time to ride it given the recent spell of dry weather. Most of the time wet feet are a certainty and it can be downright dangerous / impassable at certain times. Not easy to build it into a circular route without a fair bit of road as far as I know but great for passing through on a multi-dayer (especially given the proximity of bothies) :wink:

Good to see you and Ag.

We dissappeared in the general direction of Clearwell before crossing to 'the other side of t'river' and up over The Narth before reappearing in Tintern for high tea. Returned via Monmouth (which saved me having to make the climb back up to PABA) 65km of dry trails and minor roads. Excellent 8)

Dobie, rode Dowies 2 last week, driest I can remember it for a long time. It was actually rideable !! They opened Rich's up part way for the Enduro and cut through the big trees across other parts of it to open it up again.

All this talk about the tensioner… hindsight being a wonderful thing, and being as you invested in a new rear wheel, I'd have had the wheel built around a Whites Eccentric Hub and not bothered with a tensioner :-)

…tried it and felt like a 7 year old again,

Kinda sums up reasons for riding!

Enjoy.

When visiting over the summer, Was told that after the event the course was going to be laid out marked for ever more?

Is this going to happen?

That is pretty much the plan as I understand it. There is some more felling in the area scheduled for early next year; when that is finished the plan is to inspect the route of this year's event, modify it as necessary to make it more hard-wearing and to waymark it. All being well this will happen next year. All being well…

Hopefully won't see some bloke chunder like I did today though!!

I believe there was some projectile vomitting going on at the marshalling point after mine. Not a nice picture.
Everyone passing me seemed to be enjoying themselves, maybe more on their first lap than subsequent laps though… :D There was certainly plenty of singletrack and the lead riders were averaging about 45 mins a lap which is pretty impressive even given the dry conditions. It was a pleasure to marshal on such a nice day.

LOL! Liking the front and rear specific tyres on your bike rack there. Don't show the 'tollah, he'll have some weirdy sized rims made to fit them on a bike…
:lol:

Mostly woodsy singletrack, some fireroad, one roughish downhill, nothing technical. Either hardtail or XC full sus would be fine; heavier bike could be hardwork, some of the uphill bits are surprisingly tough on the legs! Trails are dry at the moment and no rain forecast :-)

I'll be there somewhere around the course wearing a yellow tabbard with my flask and sandwiches next to me and shouting encouragement to all and sundry :-)

Oh dear, someone doesn't look at the Home page :roll:

Great stuff. I'll be in North Devon on Thursday to watch it (sorry buzz!). Hoping the weather holds.

2008 Winner: Winner of Golden Spurtle: Ian Bishop – The Slochd , Carrbridge. – Local mountain bike guru… Wonder if he frequents STW; if so, what's yer recipe mate? :D

Not being thick, my e-mail addy isn't in my profile! It's pslingATruardean-gl17DOTfsnetDOTcoDOTuk

Having said that, I hope you don't teach English!! Are you teaching in Monmouth?

Blimey! Right, no Sainsbury or Tesco (believe it or not) close by but we do have a Waitrose in town so will give their Four Grain stuff a look. They'll also do Dorset too I'm thinking so will have a look at that, though a lot of the Dorset range has nut content which is a problem for me (although I'm sure their porridge won't). Or good old Scotts; why fix it if it ain't broke, eh?

Thanks for the responses :-)

Most routes in the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains will involve some biggish hills so, as long as your group are prepared to put in a bit of hike'a'bike, they should have a good time. The trails aren't too technical at slower speeds.

Have a look here for routes: mtb-wales[/url

Hi Matt, I live just outside Monmouth and would be happy to meet up and give you some local info. There is a group that meet on the Wye Bridge at 6.30pm on Wednesdays. They are a friendly bunch and, if I remember rightly you posted a while back saying you were coming to Monmouth with a xc / tri background which would fit in nicely with some of that group.

I'd be happy to show you round the Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley but my pace is a bit more leisurely :-) Even so, I like to think I know the area like the back of my hand :wink:

Hey timber, have you found increased demand over the past 12 – 18 months as more people are returning to open fires or installing woodburners due to the costs of central heating? This is the case round our way (Glos. / Hereford borders) and, as a result, seasoned hardwood stocks have been deplenished meaning more green wood being supplied.

You and Kirstie sure do get a mention on his blog, pictures as well :D

There is an article in the current Cycling Plus about his ride, it would appear that he is indeed a committed cyclist.

You've probably got a neighbour missing a ferret because that one looks well kept Donk.
Scaredypants, there's a good chance your visitor was a badger.

Cracking evening wasn't it. I took a group (from work) out in FoD and ended up with one of them in Gloucester Royal after he attempted to fly without wings :roll:

He's home again now with cuts & grazes, bruised spine and a very painful sternum :oops:

I'm lucky because the water from my tap comes directly from the spring on the hillside above the house. Clear spring water, always cool, plus… no water rates :-)

Perhaps this is why Chipps has taken a sabbatical; it can't be easy coming up with something different every edition. There may have been a move to new premises, a couple of new faces and maybe a new coffee machine but the magazine pretty much revolves around the same group of people out of the same town as it always has. Plus, you can never please all of the people all of the time…

I'd say that under the circumstances they're keeping it going well and manage to refresh the format fairly regularly. They'll be featuring DH bikes soon for goodness sake, whatever next :roll:

I enjoyed the interviews (possibly because I've met a couple of the interviewies). I like the idea of a larger gallery of readers' photos (but by a handfull of readers, not just by one person!) and would like to see reader submitted articles printed even if they aren't up to journalist standard. I still look forward to reading it each issue.

I mean the finance will cost the shop something…

Not necessarily; quite often the shop will earn a commission on a finance deal so perhaps the time to ask for a discount is if you're buying on finance.

I would be more likely to ask for a deal on accessories or clothing to go with the new bike rather than a cash discount on the bike myself. This seems to be more favourable to the shop.

We've something big planned for later on in the year, details to follow hopefully withint the next week or two!

Taps side of nose, winks, and smiles in a smug but knowing kind of way.

Will sort a FoD ride for early next year, looking at the possibility of new accommodation for weekenders; we'll never recreate the old weekends but we can certainly come up with something just as good :-) Will definitely keep you in the loop Mike.

The Malt Shovel. Good memories. The table is still there.

We'll have to see what we can come up with, maybe early next year. I've got a couple of ideas… :wink:

ANyone ride past Clearwell Caves?? Hippy types everywhere, bloke paying an upside wok type thing all had big ears! There was a girl walking about talking to a glove puppet of a dragon!

Sounds like a normal Sunday afternoon to me, what's unusual about that then?

Trails were 'lush' according to Soph. Now, being of an older generation, lush could mean wet to me but apparantly this means they were in fact 'great' and not wet at all.

Think we may have seen you at PABA littlegirlbunny; pony tail, knee pads, etc.??

Don, liking the 'rider' picture, worthy of print I would say?

Normally yes but not right now because I've just eaten a jam doughnut :-)

I'm still running XT combi brake/gear levers with the windows on. Will I go faster if I cut the windows off?

Further to what TJ says, it can also depend on why the property is Listed because it may be on the Schedule because of internal features.

You will need to obtain Listed Building Consent for any works to either the house or any structure within its curtilage and this may include boundary walls. Trees within the curtilage will be protected.

Having said that, obtaining Listed Building Consent shouldn't cause too much problem as long as you consult and take onboard what the Conservation Officer has to say.

We've had a fair bit of rain here but not too much – yet!

Like ayatollahoftowelrails says, a lot of the Forest drains pretty well.

I shall be out tommorrow evening for an hour or two; trailrakers, waterproof jacket and a bucketful of MTFU… :wink:

Any use here?[/url]

Pulls up comfortable chair and sits down with a piece of string and a tape measure…

As thomsonru84 suggests, it would be a good idea to make your slab deeper around the edges or to run a strip foundation to the size required and ballast / screed to middle if the slab is to be the floor ( if you're planning a timber floor on bearers then you don't need to fill inside the strip foundation thus saving on concrete). If the slab is the floor, lay it on a Damp Membrane (dpm) laid over sand blinding (no sharp edges to puncture it).

With regards to planning, as long as the building isn't forward of the property (house) in relation to a public highway (including footpaths) and doesn't exceed 3m (flat roof) or 4m (pitched roof) in height and is used for leisure purposes ancillary to the occupancy of the dwelling then you can cover pretty much 50% of your garden without Planning Permission (also subject to as said above, distance from house and boundaries). However, check with your LA to ensure there are no restrictions or covenants on the property.

:wink: