Cheers for advice. we have two sets of slkiding doors in the kitchen so even if one gets deemed unusable by a cat flap we could still get into the garden.

just thinking for when we are away for the weekend and no one to let them in / out.

Sobriety…..perhaps like some some of scaletrix set up with cats and mice?

i was totally convinced on getting some posh japanese knives, or global, or similar. i was in Nesbitts with a chef friend and he advised me to get Victorinox knives. Not the most exciting things but as tools they are brilliant. relatively inexpensive and very easy to keep sharp. He said that pretty much all good chefs he knows have multiple sets of the high ends knives which are great when razor sharp, but are a pain to maintain well. The victorinox are very easy to keep sharp….they are also nice to hold and use…..which is pretty much what any tool should do!

Aldi do ski jackets through winter. both of our have had them and theyve been great. Waterproof, warm, durable and cheap. Think they both had more than 2 winters wear from them.

i bought my last bike through them. its a very easy set up. our company previously used a different C2W company but i bought a direct buy bike that would only accept GCI so had to use them. I did the set up myslef….the accounts just paid up when the invoice reached them….then the repayments come from my salary. super easy.

is any9one using these for mtb route following? How do they rate them for that?

HI Monkey. thanks. I will keep that in mind. could be a good option. will check with the others to make sure its only 5 of us.

Monkeybovic

there might only be 5 of us. There isnt going to be any luggage really. we are all travelling very light (either a framebag, small rucksack or single pannier each). what vehicle do you have? How much approx. would you charge?

Marko, yes looking at this too. Small VW van to get the bikes and two people in and the rest by train. one-way hire is bloody pricey tho.

thanks JAm bo. have messaged them.

Watendlath to Rossthwaite is a good un. some very tech bits, some flowy bits, some rocky bits. takes quite a while too!

thanks for advice

this is a shame. love my Rose roadie. Fin (the UK rep) was great to deal with. thinking my bike must be now about 5 years old and it still feels new (only changed the wheels, drive chain, tyes, etc etc…..Trigger’s new broom n all that!).

i bought a NUkeproof scout last year on C2W. I wanted something for riding my local trails which aren’t rocky or super technical. Its a brilliant bike. Big tires (2.6) make a huge difference and mean thats its pretty capable on the technical rocky stuff. I havent ridden my capra all yearin lockdown as its overkill for where i ride locally….but got trips to BPW, the Lakes and FOD coming up and I will defiantly take the capra.
the only thing that i would throw in would be that a full sus bike is always going to be more comfortable to spend all day on if you are getting bounced about.

Where is / whats the stuff at Flax Bourten?

best to try some on in a good shop to get an idea of fit.

I have a pair of Mendhl boots for my wide troll feet. had the last pair for about 12 years. they are great. very supportive, waterproof, reasonably tall so water doesn’t get into them over the top. not cheap (circa £180 up) but seem to be just as well made as ever. used my old pair in the Alps, Indian Himalayas, throughout SE Asia, Oz and New Zealand as well as countless days in UK hills. really good boots for most conditions.

STW rules….recommend what you’ve got!!

rode there last night. conditions were good and no muggers that I could see! the tow path (the path opposite the Portway is fine for wider road tyres. it does get fairly muddy after rain. An alternative could be to go up through ashton court and then join the A369 at the top for a short distance and then turn off towards Pill / HAm Green to pick up the M5 bridge over the Avon.

i usually get shimano wides. I have just bought a set of DHB road shoes and they are not bad so the MTB ones are probably worth a go.

some great recommendations on here. off to st davids for the last week in August. Wen there a ew times about 15 years agao and was blown away by how nice it was….kept meaning to go back and covid encouraged us! juts booked a boat tour with ramsey islands tours. Looks good!

The Sloop Inn is very nice from memory! Blue Lagoon was also fun. just take wetsuits and water shoes for jumping in!!

we got the boy a frog 40. Its very light, comfortable. comes with both road and off road tyres. he rides it at pump tracks and some flat ish trail centres (Ashton Court / Leigh woods). its a great first bike. nothing too complicated (single speed), light if he needs to push it or you need to carry it, and the contact points, reach etc seem to be really sorted. Plus frog bikes have really solid resale values…..after a couple of years use they still go for about 75% of their RRP

we have family get togethers there most years. everyone normally stays in in the Swans Nest. Its pretty nice and not too pricey. Good location too, you can walk into the centre in a few minutes and right on the river. As a guest you can use the neighbouring hotel’s pool (think they are the same hotel group).

the missis has an 8 and 12kg kettle. I have been using them through lockdown. very versatile and compact weights. the 12kg has become a bit light for me for some exercise but I haven’t been able to find a heavier one anywhere. Shes a PT so has given me lots of different exercises to do….also loads of things on Instagram / t’internet showing different exercises. We have a barbell at home too that is good for slightly different stuff…and of course just doing press-ups, planks, burpees requires no equipment!

Cheers. any recommendations for spots later today?

thanks for the useful replies!

Cheers for tips. Its not a pair of cycling glasses im after….a pair of LAtch. I had looked at Igero….thought they looked dodgy?? are they legit?

….and Fontianes DC. Gotta disagree with lots of you. Their album Dogrel is brilliant. probably lots of other stuff that has come after sounds like them because they are good and a fairly unique sound.

its Cillian Murphy that makes me turn over immediately. Cant stand his insipid monotone ramblings about ‘beautiful soundscapes’. Hughey Morgan….similar tool. Always remember him on never mind the buzzcocks having a paddy and walking off. classic awkward TV.
I quite like Lammac….but he does defiantly push the same few bands over and over. I guess they must have some sort of playlist of songs that they push as a station that get played every day for a couple of weeks at a time.

Wasn’t he and few of the other DJs (nemone?) all working as NME / Melody Maker journos in the 80s and 90s?

Also, Cerys…..she can (as someone else said) get in the sea.

yeah I think its just the pivot that is sticky. have doused it in GT85 and it moves…..its 5 years and thousands of miles old though so have bought a new one…..along with a new chain set after noticing the drive side crank was cracked all the way through!

my Flint shell arrived today. Really impressed. Got it in the latest round of discount for £35. really nicely cut. Size large – which i would be in normal (non-cycle) clothing. materials feel good quality, neat, taped seems. No vents so it might be a bit hot. Material looks to be pretty breathable stretch stuff. it will probably be used on the road bike in winter. only downside is that it doesn’t pack down very small…..although small enough roiled up to fit into rear packet of a roadie jersey.

another recommend for Persiana. Great book and some really simple recipes.

Asda do pomegranate molasses!

I know this junction well! Never even noticed that though. It should have a solid stop line running through the cycle lane in line with the forward stop line. Give North Somerset Council a call. I used to work for them looking after road markings and signs. cant remember this ever coming up as an issue but it does look a bit crap on closer look.
I always throught this junction performs pretty well. you would have to be pretty dim to ride through on a red light despite the lack of stop line…..but if you did the consequences could be pretty dire!

I’m having this dilemma at the moment. I have in the past sold bikes and cars with people coming to the doorstep and generally its been fine and the buyers have been genuine. but recently (before lockdown) I advertised a bike (on gumtree or FB marketplace) and got loads of those messages instantly stating ‘yeah ill take it’ for the asking price….then ‘what’s your address’. I have heard plenty of stories (including first hand experience from a friend locally) of people advertising bikes….a buyer coming to view them….saying they will think about it and that night their shed / garage is broken into.

I have bought a bike in a car park before and it was fine. Did loads of talking to the seller and made sure he was genuine and he obviously sussed me out. I do think some of the others above do have a point though that it might look a bit dodgy to sell bikes in a pub / supermarket car park though!!

The safest way may well be ebay. Then at least you can accept payment before its delivered. you can then post / deliver collect it. if someone is really interested in ebay they will generally get in touch and ask questions. Much less like to have people offering a swap for an air-rifle and a scooter!! I think this may be my go to next time despite the fees.

thanks for advice. I think I will just go for some more castellis rather than risk the endures not being as conformable. I like the endura MTB stuff a lot but never had any experience of the road kit.

I did a days guided uplift assisted ridign there in January. It was amazing. I got the impression that all of the best bits were a bit spread out…hence the landrover uplift zipped between downs. I think we got about 10-11 decents in throughout the day. Highly recommended. Went with WyeMTB. was about £95 per person for the day inc lunch. a really good antidote to a BPW or BMCC uplift day.

cheers for the advice. think ill see if I can get our accountant to agree to use GCI

we had a second hand isla bike rothan. they are very pricey new (I think about £200). we bought one for £75 second hand……used it for two kids and then sold it for £80! they are very light weight (great for not only carrying but also for the young un to move around), have a rear brake which is quite handy for them to learn to pull the brake.

I think what ever you buy just make sure its very light. Isla bikes and Frog bikes will always have a good resale value. buy them second hand and you will probably always get your money back. I think that a lot of places also do a buy back scheme whereby as your child grows you can take back the old back and upgrade to a bigger one. Not sure exactly how tis works but could be useful.

that Geoff Apps dude is a bit of a character!!

bought some of the Korean chilli flakes. Will give it a whirl.

does it stink out the fridge / house?

we have a pure evoke H3. its great….looks good and is fairly compact. was about £100. However, its pretty small in terms of sound, although it is very clear and crisp the bass isn’t really there. If you have a bigger room for it to go in it wont fill it. I also have a creative rechargeable blutooth speaker and the BBC sounds app on my phone which I use paired together a lot. depending on what you listen to (very handy combo if you just listen to BBC) this could be a good option as well since you will probably get a very good bluetooth speaker for about£ 50-60

Oldagepredator – one of the recent Star Wares films? cant remember which one….but I know they used Derwent Water as a battle scene