Nottingham to Cardiff via Brum and either Bristol Parkway or Cheltenham.

That’s going to be mainly non electrified route so should be no issues on that score. South Wales has an amber warning for snow and temps of -5 forecast though so there could still be problems… personally I’d suck it and see and check the real time running info before heading to the station to see how things have shaped up overnight.

http://nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ldb/
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/today.html

Edit: Just seen from your OP that you’ve an option to head back on Thursday – I’d probably do that TBH.

Depends on what part of the country you’re travelling. A few things can go wrong:

Frozen points
Poor traction due to ice on rails
Electrification problems – particularly bad in third rail areas (Kent can be knocked out by a couple of inches of snow)
Another huge factor is train crews not able to get to where they’re supposed to be because of road disruption.

Mainline routes (eg WCML / ECML) tend to hold up better than commuter routes due to higher traffic levels and generally better infrastructure and maintenance so you may be OK.

Currently:

Surly 1×1
Surly Karate Monkey (Geared)
Old Gary Fisher HT set up with slicks etc for general road hacking, child seat duties

The first two are “keepers”. If I had the funds no 3 above would be swapped out for steel CX bike (Crosscheck or CdF) and that would genuinely cover all of my riding needs, although if I’m entirely honest I barely get enough time to ride as it is.

I’ve sold a car on ebay and would doubt that there are more timewasters there than on any other classifed media – the 14 year old VW I sold went for over £900 to a guy who travelled for 4 hours to collect it when the most I would have got locally would have been around £700 (was offered £400 on trade in). He turned up with a big wedge of cash and we were both happy.

Would do it again – only tip I’d offer is not to put your mobile number in the ad – was inundated with daft offers by text to end the auction earlier despite making it clear in the ad that I’d ignore them.

As above, good photos (including of any defects) and a totally honest description are the key.

Oh and make it abundantly clear in the listing that people are bidding to buy not to come around and kick the tyres. Threaten to report them to ebay if they don’t heed this.

Porth Joke campsite’s worth a look – just down the coast from Newquay but well away from the madness (Personally I’d avoid Newquay itself…. think a slighly less aesthetically challenged Blackpool filled with added wannabe surf dudes…but Watergate Bay is lovely).

It’s at the end of a long gated track close to Crantock.. Short stroll to a lovely and virtually private beach and walking distance to Crantock village.

Facilities are on the basic side and I think it does get a tad busy at peak times but it’s a fab location if you just want to chill out.

http://www.crantockholiday.co.uk/camping.html

EDIT: …as another option a bit further west, I’ve not stayed there myself but this place gets pretty good reports too. It’s a bit further west so good for exploring St Ives, St Agnes etc, and again is smack bang on a great beach close to Godrevy lighthouse:

http://www.churchtownfarm.org.uk/

These are the Dia Compe ones:

http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/dia-compe-v-brake-levers-black-or-brown-hoods-787-p.asp

I did it for 2 years after our son was born – was then business systems analyst for engineering dept of large rail company. Did 3 long days in London or on the road attending meetings etc Thursdays working at home, Fridays off to look after my son. Worked pretty well but as above had to be really disciplined on the days I was in the office to make them as productive as possible. Thursday at home was reserved for doing documentation and coding which benefitted from the lack of office distractions, but was often still working away at 9pm. I accepted that occasionally I would be contacted on my day off if urgent stuff came up.

If anything I was probably more productive under the arrangement but it did mean some really long days, particularly when I had a few offsite trips in the week. Certainly didn’t involve working less!

I swear by Mud X too. Have them on all year tbh. Don’t find them slow at all on the 26er but for some reason they do seem a bit more draggy on the 29er.

Can really recommend this place up above the Mawddach estuary. Fab views, short drive to CyB and handy for Cadair Idris too. Lower camping field is right on the Mawddach estuary and a great pub a short ride upriver.

Home

Owners are nice folk and riders too.

Drying up, being of course, relative.

Icy conditions forecast here in the SW. Spending the weekend doing water rescue training in the river Dart, which will be fun! 8O

They’re just plain good fun. For me it takes me back to being a kid and just blatting about on a bike for fun without really caring about the bike itself.

Allow you to focus on enjoying the ride without having to bother about shifting etc. Will improve your bike handling and fitness no end. Sure there will be stuff you can’t ride up, in which case just carry / push it. You’ll probably still be quicker than someone fiddling away in the granny gear.

Clearing a big climb or a difficult tech section on a singlespeed will put a huge grin on your face, especially if you beat your mates on gearies. Enjoy. :-)

Looks like the Fulcrum Red Power XLs from germany are the leaders at the moment then – need to find out if they’re cup and cone or cartridge. Anyone know?

My SLs are cartridge bearings – would imagine the XLs are the same.

Full tech manual on the Fulcrum website:

http://www.fulcrumwheels.com/en/collection/offroad/xc-all-mountain/products/red-power-xl

Take a fat bike

http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/the-mountain-bike-designed-for-the-dunes#page1

The ones in the link above (which I have) are the SLs – £169 for the XLs is a cracking deal though.

I was joking about the recording by the way.

Er…I’ll see if I can get a recording of it for you on the way home!

Not as loud as Hopes, but louder than Shimano hubs if that’s helpful.

They’re great for the money either way.

Fulcrum Red Power 29 from bike-discount.de

Bought a set for my Karate Monkey last year and have been really impressed with them. Have taken a proper hammering over Dartmoor granite and still true as when they came out of the box. Not too heavy either. Great service too…were faster on delivery than Chain Reaction from whom I also bought a couple of things on the same day.

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/a63922/red-power-29-sl-disc-6-bolt.html?lg=en&cr=GBP&cn=gb

I did it a few years ago on rail industry event which involved doing it all by rail on a specially arranged train (with on board poop facilities obviously). It was a big group but pretty well organised and they did seem to be focussed on trying to minimize impact where possible (in as much as you could do with dozens of people involved) – we did Snowdon first, in the dark, and they kept the cafe and facilities at Pen Y Pass open especially for us. We got the narrow gauge railway up from the main line at Ravensglass to Boot in Eskdale and walked in from there to Wasdale to do Scafell the following morning (again there were facilities there for us to use). Travelled up to Fort William overnight for an early morning ascent of Ben Nevis.

Like others, having become aware of the issues since, I wouldn’t do it again, but have to say I enjoyed the event at the time.

I’d say that anyone of average fitness with some hill walking experience would be fine.

Keep up, the only way for a hipster to carry their lock is like this:

In the back pocket of his sisters jeans that have been cut off mid thigh.

<face-palm>And there’s me wondering why I’ve never truly been accepted by the Hoxton set</face-palm>

Pic shows it on a fixie.

Don’t they realise the only way to carry a lock on one of those babies is slung around the waist of your sister’s jeans. It’s the law, I tell you…

Really? If the weather is good, there are plenty walking and coastal options, but other than that, what IS there to do with the kids?

True entertainment multiplexes and soft play areas are a bit thin on the ground but it’s a little known fact that kids don’t actually melt in the rain. Our little lad loves getting his waterproofs on and having a splash about… although we live on Dartmoor so he’s probably hardened to it.

Half the week we had was very wet but we still got out and did stuff every day. Some of our best days were the ones where the weather was bad

We did several boat trips to see wildlife – did a couple of days exploring Skye. Drove up to Applecross via the Bealach na ba, which he loved. Did some short walks and scrambles – it was all good. He’s asked to go back this year.

+1 for Plockton or Wester Ross as a whole. Stunning area, tons of great riding nearby, nice places to eat and lots to do with kids.

We spent a week there last Easter and could easily have stayed much longer.

Regarding getting changed – In the winter I always fill up one of those big 2L coke bottles with hot water and wrap my towel in it before heading to the beach. When you get out you then have the option of a warm shower and a nice warm towel.

As far as technique goes – you say you’re already standing up, but is that in whitewater or on unbroken waves?

Standing up in whitewater really is just the start – next thing you want to do is try paddling a bit further out and catching some green waves (ie the bit of the wave ahead of the peak which hasn’t broken yet). You’ll miss loads to start off with as it’s much more difficult until you get your paddling technique and board position nailed. Just prone it to start off with and as you get confident try standing up.

Once you’ve got that sorted the next thing you want to do is progress to angled takeoffs, so riding across the wave rather than straight into the beach.

After that start trying some bottom turns…so drop down the face of the wave and then turn. If you’ve done any skating or snowboarding this should come fairly naturally.

Don’t expect to master all this overnight. All the above takes time – and the more water time you can get the better – I’ve been surfing for about 15 years and would still only class myself as intermediate at best

Along the way you’ll have crap sessions and days when you get incredibly frustrated – either at your own ability or the conditions, but stick with it – there’s simply nothing to beat a really good surf session. Really memorable ones can stick with you for years.

EDIT – Also be aware that surfing, despite the laid back image can be incredibly hierarchical – some spots are worse than others – make sure you’re aware of the drop in rule in particular and basically treat everyone in the water how you’d want to be treated yourself.

Have a look at C-Skins wetsuits. Really good quality for the price and good range of sizes to ensure a decent fit. As above gett yourself to a surf shop though to try before you buy. Good fit is essential to them working properly.

I will add tho we are now doing much less cutting and more rapid removals in the fetal position

Presumably that’s down to the paramedics now being able to make the call on the scene?

Did my RTC training back in October and they still seemed to be focussed on making the cut if in any doubt. They covered rapid removals only in the context of someone going big sick.

…is genuinely amazed at people who have a surfeit of both spare time and small children.

Surly Troll is a good call for offroad touring and that definitely does come in 16″ flavour (even 14″).*

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m1b103s2p9181/SURLY_Troll_Complete_Bike/RS_GB/24854

Or what about the 26″ wheeled version of the Long Haul Trucker?

*Not a lady but have been looking for something similar for my wife.

Looks good. What model is the rear tyre? Is it on a standard rim?

I’ve been considering a chubbyish conversion for my Surly 1×1 for the winter. Got a pair of old Sun Rhyno Lyte rims which I’ve had rebuilt and wondering what tyre options to go for. Frame will apparently take up to 26 x 3.0, but all the options in that size appear to super gnarly / heavy DH tyres which would be overkill.

Firestarter – were they 26″ gazzaloddis on your KM?

Organic Merino Packin
Wood Smokin
Beard Worshippin
Single Speeder

wallop – Member
Oh, and Chagford, in Dartmoor.

My favourite place ever.
:
I work there and live nearby. Should point out that lovely as it is it really isn’t going to be troubling places like Barcelona and Prague as a chic city break destination – Dartmoor is however a fantastic place to spend a weekend anytime of the year if you like the outdoors, big landscapes and country pubs etc..

I ran Schwalbe Smart Sam on my Singlespeed cross bike when I lived in Kent and found them pretty good in claggy mud and roots etc. Also pretty quick on road compared to MTB tyres.

Was in Milletts in Exeter the other day and they had synthetic down jackets for 15 quid which looked ok for the money. For something more high end then Finisterre have a sale on at the moment. Have one of their gilets and it’s ace.

Edit: double post..

Walked up Grimspound yesterday. Still really wet. Chose to do the Princetown / Burrator loop today which was OK apart from the usual muddy bit up around South Hessary tor. I reckon places like Lustleigh must still be pretty sodden? Would be interested in reports.

I’d go for the 1×1 fork in that case. Or you could go for a mullet setup (cable disc on front).

i’m running an Orange F8 fork on an old Gary Fisher Wahoo frame for road and touring use. Works really well – recommended.

I didn’t need to cut the steerer, but it’s a pretty straightforward DIY job – measure twice, cut once though!

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/.Orange-F8-Rigid-Fork_125995.htm

Pics of the set up below:

Can also recommend the Surly 1×1 fork though – have a 1×1 as one of my other bikes and it’s great.

MT10s are what I’ve bought – seem to be a good compromise between a normal and “barefoot” shoe.

Lower back pain is more likely to be a problem with posterior chain / hip mobility. I’d start there. Do you sit down a lot.

Yes and no – my day job is office based a lot of which is desk work, but I’m also a retained firefighter and I’m pretty active outside of work.

I agree with the above.

If anything my knees are better from riding singlespeed – purely because I’m out of the saddle more. Wide bars are a good thing with no gears though – the extra leverage makes a massive difference.

If this constitutes “heated” you must live a sheltered life!

Not particularly… To be fair I’d only heard the term “barefoot running” a couple of weeks ago and am just genuinely surprised that this is the subject of such a big debate in the running community.

I think I’ve come to the conclusion that like Molgrips, I’ve got a natural midfoot strike and that the jarring I’ve been experienced previously could be to do with the heel being forced down in the shoes I’m using currently.

I’ve managed to pick up a pair of NB Minimus for £40 so will gen up on the technique, give them a go (taking it easy of course) and see how I get on.

Genuine thanks to everyone for the advice – it’s been enlightening!