Did this really “ruin” the last night? Sounds like the kind of thing we’d have had a good laugh about. I wouldn’t even consider asking for comparison.

Slightly different from most tents you’ll see on campsites we’ve recently been using a Robens Klondike and it’s been fantastic. Looks great, loads of space inside, not a huge footprint, great ventilation options top and bottom,quick and easy to erect and pack away in one bag and has a chimney so you can use a wood burner inside if camping in winter is your thing.

https://www.robens.de/en-gb/shop/outdoor-tents/klondike

I got very wet on Friday but the weather’s been pretty good since then here in north Notts, particularly in the evenings. I was out for most of the day yesterday and it was lovely despite the wind.

A PBN is required for every freight crossing alongside the other customers formalities, you add your MRN and/or ATA Carnet numbers and then log in to check customs status on arrival to see if inspiration is required. Obviously always have to present for inspection with a carnet to get it stamped both sides.

ATA carnet for the tools officially.

The other thing to consider is that if it’s considered that you are transporting the goods for hire or reward (grey area) you may fall under the requirements for international operatiors license for vans over 2500kg and all that that entails (transport manager, six weekly inspections, drivers hours records etc)

Having said that I know that lots of vans travel daily without either and not many get caught.

For context I run a European transport business.

I suddenly lost access to OS maps last week, seems my original Viewranger account was under one email address and I had 2 Outdooractive accounts which were linked in some way? I must say as much as I hate Outdooractive compared to Viewranger one email to customer service got the issue sorted out very quickly without any fuss and I have OS again. Just need to convince them to reinstate open cycle maps now.

I love squirt, I’ve used it on all of my bikes all year round for the last 5 or 6 years. I just reapply as and when, I’ve ridden immediately after applying on occasions with no ill effects. I think it sort of builds up over time, I very rarely wash my bikes.

I did dabble with Smoov and found it to be useless, probably as a result of not cleaning the bike enough.

I try to eat a low carb diet most of the time with varying degrees of success and I definitely feel better, more energy and less fatigue the less carbohydrate I eat.

When I’m working away I often go all day with only a few coffees in the morning and then an evening meal and I feel great and never hungry. I go out on fasted rides with no I’ll effects, I did a 100 mile road ride recently with nothing other than two coffees in the morning and two bottles of orange squash on the bike.

I do tend to eat earlier in the day when I’m at home but not normally before lunchtime, and it’s more through greed/opportunity/weakness on my part rather than being hungry.

I’ve got a Tern folder single speed with a coaster brake, it’s a link Uno I think. I don’t know what those letters/number mean.

It’s the only folder I’ve owned so I have nothing to compare it to but it seems reasonable quality, strong enough and fun to ride.

I don’t use it much really, I bought it to keep in my van so I could get out when I have some down time at work but I normally take a full size bike nowadays, think the longest ride I’ve done is a pretty flat 30ish miles.

Mine has mudguards, a little rack on the back and a stand, perfect for nipping to the shops etc. I ought to get it out and use it more.

Neoprene rotor covers are a new thing to me, what’s the point?

I had a loose plan to do a 65ish mile gravel ride stating somewhere around Hathersage. I decided against it after looking at the weather forecast, had a few beers last night and a lie in this morning and when I did eventually get up the sun was shining and it doesn’t look too windy. Sitting here struggling to find the motivation to do anything now, just one more coffee and then I’ll definitely maybe get out, probably a local (north Notts)  spin on the gravel bike.

I bought a pair of photochromic prescription riding glasses from Optilabs which are great, they fit comfortably, react quickly to changes in light conditions, go totally clear etc, everything you could need from a pair of glasses. I wear them on the bike, out walking etc but for some reason I can’t quite put my finger on they aren’t great indoors. One of my reasons for buying them in the first place was to avoid the need to carry another pair of glasses on a 3 week bikepacking trip, but in the end I did take the second pair.

I was using Google maps week before last for the final few miles of a journey to an appointment in Liverpool, a school in Cornwall was mentioned on the news and the phone very unhelpfully re routed to there!

New phone that I didn’t have fully set up and I don’t normally use Google maps but it was definitely “listening” on that occasion.

yeah, it’s a thing, has been before the days of internet banking! Have you never had a call from your bank querying a payment from a foreign country (or more disastrously them just blocking your card!!), lucky if so!

Once recently trying to use Google pay to pay for a ferry across lake constance but that’s the only time. (Luckily I had a few Euros in my bag or it would have been a long dark ride back to my van)

I’ve just looked on both my Lloyds and Barclays apps and I can’t see anything obvious to notify them I’m traveling abroad.

I travel around Europe most weeks so international transactions probably don’t flag up as suspicious.

you can (and should!) pre-register with your bank via their app that you’re going abroad & pre-register with the Dartford crossing.

Really? Is that a thing? I’ve never told any of my banks that I’m going abroad and I’ve only got apps for 2 of the 4 that I use. Never had a problem and I travel regularly.

I also don’t think it’s reasonable to expect people to pre-register with the Dartford cross either, lots of people probably don’t even know there is a toll to pay.

It’s not a problem zilog6128, just an announce. I love technology that makes my life easier, like the Polish system I mentioned but sitting in a layby for 20 minutes with crap phone signal trying to pay a couple of quid for driving over the Mersey bridge really isn’t helping anyone is it?

If you’re taking a Trangia I’m guessing you’re not to concerned about carrying a bit of extra weight anyway so you may as well take the kettle. I’ve never actually taken a Trangia bikepacking but on my last trip I did take a Trangia kettle and one non stick Trangia pan and handle and used it with a little gas stove. Perfect for morning coffee and scrambled eggs.

Pay by app/ Ampr system would be great if, and it’s a big if, it was just one app/account required. I drive a lot and the best system I’ve seen by far is Poland’s Auto-pay, one app, one account covers  tolls, carparking, carwashes etc automatically, no need to interact with the app at all. Here in UK I’ve got about 20 different accounts for tolls, congestion charge, low emission zones etc. I can only remember trying to use pay by app carparks twice and it’s not worked either time.

I think the only ferry route is from Hirtshals in Denmark to Iceland via Faro islands, it’s a 2 day crossing, I was quoted €9500 ish return for a Sprinter last summer. The job didn’t happen in the end unfortunately.

I’ve got a Pixel 6 pro which is great apart from camara glitches which cause the phone to either freez or increasingly shut down all together, it’s getting worse and becoming unusable.

The other slight issue I have with it is it’s very slow to charge, which is only really an issue when bikepacking/ touring when a quick charge in a campsite toilet or cafe would be useful.

I’m considering a oppo find x5 pro.

Anyone have an opinion on them?

Thanks for the PSA, just picked up an Ultegra rear mech to replace the sloppy worn out one on my winter road bike.

I use both Lloyds and Barclays apps regularly in Europe with no issues at all. I’ve paid a couple of invoices today from Switzerland.

I’ve been to Shetland quite a few times for work sailing from Aberdeen to Lerwick. Also on one occasion I went from Scrabster to Stromness and then onto Shetland the following night which is probably the way I would do it if traveling for pleasure and then return to Aberdeen. Both beautiful places. Very expensive ferries for a commercial van, £1000+ return but will be much cheaper for a motorbike, I’d definitely recommend a cabin for the for the Shetland crossing unless you can sleep sitting in a chair. The crossing can be very rough, Lerwick to Aberdeen is the only ferry I’ve ever suffered sea sickness on.

I was filmed riding through a ford maybe 10 miles or so away from Rufford over the Christmas holidays. 3 or 4 cars parked up with about 10 people of varying ages watching and cheering, all good natured but very little to see,  the water was quite shallow, I didn’t get my feet wet.

And how do I quote a post on here? Obviously not how I just did it 🤣

Anyone driving back from Luxembourg?

Did you find a solution?

I’ll be in Lux at some point next week, probably Thursday PM

Sounds very similar to my systems 2-3 weeks before Christmas, ended up spending 4 days in bed which was frustrating because I was “working” in Italy with nothing to do for 5 days with my road bike in the back of my van.
Took me a couple of weeks to recover.

I know nothing of this other than what I’ve read today but apparently the land owners have an history of letting people set up commercial ventures on the land and then pricing them out of business with excessive rent increases and then taking them over for themselves.

I wish em well, hope they can pull it off if they think that’s what people want. I do think the uplift is ridiculous for a 50mtr hill but I’d be much happier if it was something more innovative and sustainable rather than an old mini bus chugging up and down with a trailer.

I’ve just seen this on a local Facebook group, the idea of an uplift for a 50mtr hill seems ridiculous to me and it’s been suggested that an uplift pass will be £30-35 and a pedal pass will be “cheaper”. How does that compare to other bike parks? It’s not the kind of riding I’m interested in but seems like an expensive day out to me.

First post from a long term forum lurker.

Festive 500 complete.

514 km over 6 rides. All outdoor, hit the deck on a patch of ice on Christmas Eve and then snapped a gear cable on day 3 or 4. I quite enjoyed it overall. First time I’ve attempted it, normally too busy but everything fell into place this year.