I enjoyed the Road Bike session overall, but definitely would’ve like to see more of the films on the big screen and given Lachlan and Emily more time to talk about their experiences. I wished I’d booked tickets for Emily’s session as I thought she was very erudite and interesting.

Bike night was a laugh, enjoyed the wide range of stuff and thought Rob Warner and T-Mo made a good presenting duo. I was very taken with the clips from Return To Earth but my favourite two pieces were Just Be (Monet Adams & co ride nice places in Norway and Sweden) and The Postman (Sam Needham & Tom Hill explore a historic trail on the Isle of Harris).

Eastbound (Jenny Graham RTW film) premiere was fantastic. A thoroughly enjoyable video capturing what it took to get that done.

The Rough Stuff Fellowship session was well done, I thought Max gave a great account of what the archives were trying to achieve and just how mad the beginnings were. Plus I had a fantastically weird conversation with @charliedontsurf afterwards.

Rich & Tom were fab and thoroughly inspiring plus very generous with their time afterwards too.

Go Avs Go!

I’ll be watching via freesports where possible. I did pick up NHL.tv part way through the season (February?) for what seemed like very little money and I thought it was a pretty good product.

Rode the sportive on Sunday (first one I’ve done) and got soaked to the bone. Really enjoyed the route, the circuit should make for interesting racing.

Will hopefully get to see some of it live, but not too disappointed I’m stuck in work today…

Thanks @mikertroid! That’s encouraging. Might try and have a test ride to make sure I can cope with the local hills…

My 2013 Arkose 2 got nicked last week. :( 14,000 happy commuting, on road, and off road kilometers gone just like that.

So I could do with a new commuter that C2W friendly. I like the look of the Arkose A8 as hub gears and hydro discs should in theory be pretty maintenance free. Has anyone got one and can comment on the longevity / service interval of the hub as the review online is a bit off putting, but I’m conscious that’s only one data point.

Oh man that’s really tough to read. There’s plenty of good hearted folk on here who will listen to whatever you want or need to get off your chest.

Make sure you take the time to look after yourself too.

A possible help might be contacting the Cinnamon Trust who can provide a bit of help for owners who are too ill to look after their pets, but without giving up the pet because of the valuable emotional and mental benefits pets can bring.

The buddyrider seems like the only possible solution to this problem…

I belive Tom Hill of this parish rode it earlier this year with Sam Needham and will have something published about it soon.

The route is up on bikepacking.com if anyone fancies an ITT attempt.

Thank you both for your on brand answers to my on brand thread title!

Good point, they are 25mm internal and 29mm external. They look a bit uneven with tubes in at the moment, but wasn’t sure if tubeless would help sort that out. 🤔

I tried this recipe recently and was impressed with the ratio of faff to tastiness/actual useful energy on a ride. Plus they worked well after being frozen and defrosted so you don’t have to eat the whole batch in one go (as is easily done…).

MELT:⠀
🥥2 Tbsp coconut oil ⠀
🐻2 Tbsp brown sugar or coconut sugar⠀
🍯 1/3 cup honey ⠀
🥜 3/4 cup natural peanut butter ⠀
⠀
Melt on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Cool for a few minutes before mixing in with your dry goods: ⠀
⠀
MIX:⠀
🍚 2 cups oats ⠀
🥜 1/2 cup salted peanuts ⠀
🍫 1/2 cup dark chocolate ⠀
🥥 1/3 cup dessicated coconut ⠀
⠀
Mix together. Press into a baking tray and refrigerate for an hour. Cut, foil and throw in the freezer to be consumed when required!

Got it from Instagram hence the cup based measurements.

Marvellous, thanks for seeing me right! Will grab it from that link and save you the trouble of posting it. :)

Thanks @alanl that’s exactly the sort of comprehensive answer I expect on STW!

It’s an electric one, a Triton Ivory 4. No idea how old the actual unit is (we’ve been in this house five years and it was there when we moved in).

Yeah it runs fine without the shower head. When I dismantled it all last night I did notice there was an almost solid washer with three small holes between the hose and the head. I assume that’s what you’re talking about…

We’re up in Leeds so probably a bit far!

Sounds like I should remove the offending silly solid washer (which I’ve done) and try it again with a new PRV!

@whitestone they’ve got all the routes up on Komoot. Technically the full one missed out the ford bit at ~130km (a crying shame, not) but other than that I think they should be fairly accurate.

I snuck in 2 minutes under my target time which extremely pleasing given how horrible I felt during the eastward slog into that horrendous headwind between CP2 and CP3. Managed to simultaneously freeze and get dehydrated. Different arm covering needed for next year to actually keep the wind off.

That special stage was tough after 170k of bumping around. If only I’d had some of those fancy forks to increase the comfort on my wrists. ;)

Really enjoyed it overall; still superbly organised and a really good vibe. The falafel wrap was very well received! Feed stations were good again, although I was surprised they didn’t have hydration tabs at CP2/3. Having said that the Pannier.cc chaps were life savers with hot potatoes, Tunnocks, and real coffee.

Well done to everyone who rode / marshalled / organised!

I’m doing the 200, did the 130 last year and really enjoyed it. Shame it’s not going to be quite as warm this year…

Kit wise I’m thinking similar to @will and @spicypedro, happy that there’s a consensus! Just debating whether to risk the jazzy bib shorts and knee warmers or stick with black bib tights.Definitely wearing my winter boots to stave off cold toes though!

Slightly disappointed that the ford has been removed, although there would’ve been a footbridge next to it anyway if I was reading the briefing right.

Hope the feed stops are as good as last year. Think I ended with jersey pockets fuller than when I left! ;)

@stox good going! I was 55:44, eerily close! I’ve been training a lot more than last year which has helped and managed to run in all five of the XC races in the series our club does, but they are only 7.5km long so the last 4km yesterday were a real test!

Our pen was right in the middle, it was like being a sardine or a starling.

@nobeerinthefridge Definitely worth doing, a fab experience. Assuming the Scottish setup is similar just seeing all the tents is impressive enough. It felt like a brightly coloured medieval reenactment.

@stox how did you go? My time estimate was pretty good, but I wasn’t anywhere near the top half (maths is hard).

I’ve not run at Harewood before but found it a really tough course. I’ve never needed to use my elbows that much to make space at the start. Was very relieved the sun went in for the second lap! An incredible experience overall, thoroughly enjoyed the day.

@stox Yup! A few of us from my club will be running; be rude not to as it’s just up the road. I’d be thrilled to get into the top half (based on last year’s course time) but mosly going for the experience. Slightly apprehensive about the main event of getting out of the car park once everything’s finished…

@iainc you need to export the GPX from garmin connect and then manually upload it to Strava.

We take ours all over and they love it. Definitely second a belt for you and would suggest a good fitting harness for the dog. Makes it a lot easier for them and you if the need to be on lead. I’d also recommend a poop pot or similar if you’re in spots where stick and flick isn’t the done thing so you’re not just carrying bags around.

@sixpotbelly I’ve only just spotted your post, apologies for not responding sooner! Those shots are great, and have helpfully confirmed that buying and fitting a new Nano last week was a sensible call! :P

Thanks @jameso & @richardthird. It’ll primarily be for gravel rather than mud and technically I only need to replace the rear. However, I can’t quite bring myself to fit a single skinwall, so I might take the out of stock and possible tight fitting on the front as a sign and just try to find a new Nano instead! :p

Has anyone put WTB Resolutes into a 2015 Arkose?

My Nanos have given up the ghost so I’m thinking about replacing them with the Resolutes (assuming I can find some to buy!). They are 42mm so 2mm bigger than the stock Nanos, I’ve got plenty of clearance by eye so I think they’ll be OK but just wanted a sense check!

@theotherjonv 1430

A couple of ladies from the same club as myself did The Spine last year. Thoroughly impressive!

Anyone else running in the cross country nationals at Harewood House (Leeds) in Feb? I have enthusiastically entered and will be chuffed if I can finish in the top half.

I’m at about 22mins for a parkrun at the moment. Goal for this year is sub 21 and should really try to do sub 20 before my legs give up…

I’ve had mine for most of the year and everything still works! No bearing changes; the Reverb went funny but the guys in the Hathersage shop sorted out the warranty claim and it’s been no bother since (thanks @richpips!).

It’s my first full sus, plus coming from a 26″ hardtail, I’m not really experienced enough for an in depth review. But I have loved riding it so far! Its taken me on big days out in the the lakes and peaks that were well beyond me before.

I eyed up the t130 too, but just fancied the evol really. Also looked at the aeris, but reviews made me think it was a bit too racy for my style of riding.

Perhaps I need to retune, mine’s definitely 95!

Just in case anyone doesn’t know the Freesports channel (95 on freeview) tends to show several games a week. Obviously time difference makes it a challenge  but weekend afternoon games are usually on at sensible times. Ducks @ Capitals is on right now.

I will chime in and state my excitement that the Avs have exceeded my expectations so far this season!

I did the 130 in 7h30m this year. It was the furthest I’d ridden by a reasonable way and my main training was a few long road rides (~100km) plus commuting to work every day. Helped that the weather was good and the feed stations were plentiful. Loved the whole event, thought it was really well organised. Braving the 200 next year!

That looks fantastic! Saved for next year. :)

Thanks @scotroutes. That sounds grand; I’m all about the views! 😊

Thanks all. I’d rather be on the MTB, but don’t fancy a massive muddy slog fest since it’s been rather rainy recently I believe.

Did consider sticking my gravel wheels in my adventure road frame, but useful to know there won’t be miles of gravelly tracks and military roads to pootle along.

We’re over on the west side just a bit further than the Talisker distillery (rainy day activity, tick!).

We’ve got a working cocker who’s a complete bundle of energy (and pretty food motivated too). But we live in the city centre so she doesn’t get hours of walking each day (two lots of 30 mins on an average week day probably). My wife compensates for this by making sure she gets lots of mental stimulation; so playing with toys, using frozen kongs, training tricks, and agility training once a week, alongside longer walks at the weekend seems to keep our pup fully occupied. So I definitely don’t think you should rule it out just because you’re not on a country estate.

Plus beagles are adorable!

@molgrips It’s got a front v brake and a coaster rear. To be honest I used just the front 99% of the time and incurred no injuries!

I have a Tern Link Uno that I’m looking to sell. Its absolutely bombproof and was bang on for commuting in Leeds and Manchester. There’s very little to it so next to nothing that could go wrong.

For Sale Thread – ignore the price I can’t change the title.. I’d happily take £125 for it.

I did the 130 this year on my Arkose with the stock non-tubeless ready wheels converted to tubeless with the Stans CX kit. Ran 40C nanos and didn’t puncture at all. Aiming to do the whole shebang next year, it was a great event!

[Unstealthy stealth ad] I’m selling my Tern Link Uno if you’re not far away. It was great for on the train, bit heavier than a brompton but has 20″ wheels so soaks up bumps more easily.