could do better
C-

I'm still riding it.

That's the voice of an optimist or someone who wants a walk with a heavy and cumbersome walking stick 😆 I might bring a folding bike and put it in my rucsac

Seriously, there's a lot of snow still to shift but my fingers are crossed

anyone fancy a road ride?

ooops, looks like valley beat me to that suggestion 🙂

You can buy the freehub assembly, although someone may be along shortly to say they can be taken apart and made better. No need for a new hub if it is just the freehub. My LBS sold me a previous season's Deore hub for £10/15 or so. It has been great for spares: bearings, cups, cones and of course a freehub. I'd recommend doing that.

I must be a weight-weenie at heart; those Velocicraptors look heavy too 🙂

and to add, the "closed" signs are up but it is passable. Sure there may be a bit of snow and ice but it's winter for crying out loud

I've not trawled through all this, but I will say that the radio often doesn't help. My wife and I live and Leek and she works in Buxton. Every day for the past week or so local radio has said that the main road over the moors to Buxton is closed. My wife got fed up and tried it and she could get through fine. Even today they say it is closed.

I think the radio is pandering to the lowest common denominator i.e. those who can't actually drive

…but for £14 I might get some for Sierra Nevada trips 😀

Not ridden them but they look big and heavy so personally I wouldn't use them if there was a possibility my bike might be pointing uphill at any stage

This weekend will be cold, wet and slippy. Next weekend it will be dry, sunny and rideable all the way.

(Pook, I have some blow torches that may help)

+ 1 for training (others)

I've been training/consulting with businesses on our home-grown software for years. Very satisfying passing on knowledge and experience to people who want and value it (a bit like a permanent STW forum!). Note this is very different to being on the customer services side where people just moan at you about the software!

I live in Leek – 10 miles south of Buxton – and there's still plenty of snow around that could make riding difficult when up on the hills. For instance I went for a run at the weekend around Three Shires Head and there's NO WAY you could ride a bike on the BTWs there. I would guess Kinder way will be worse, but I'm sure a local will be along to advise…

Great tip with the Bolle glases. Cheers

There's a lot of great stuff on the Beeb, all without adverts. Referring to the OP tho', I'm not a fan of the dramas either. I've lost count of how many "gripping" and "edge of the seat" dramas I have started watching and then given up on through boredom (Survivors series 1 and Day of the Triffids are the first that spring to mind)

So let the Americans make the good, well produced dramas – we'll buy them & continue to produce what we do best & export tha

+1

There have been a few posts like this. I went with Ride Sierra Nevada and can't knock 'em, but to be fair everyone seems to have good experiences so pick a location and pick a budget and you won't be far wrong.

Or ask the question "who should I avoid?" instead.

There will definitely be. One of the divisions of the company I work for has a product that is used alongside Microsoft MapPoint to optimise routes. However we've not yet "Anglicized" it so wouldn't be much good for you. There must be other non-corporate solutions out there.
download.cnet.com is a good place to search for stuff like this. I got 4 results under "route optimisation".

WTF are you on about – they work perfectly well as a phone

They may "work" as a phone but they are not "good phones". There's a big difference. Trust me as one who spent some time finding a phone that would sync with work and be good (quick and easy) for calling people. Rare as hen's teeth

They stopped being "phones" ages ago innit…

Amen

Anyone actually use iPhones for calls? I've played with a couple now and thing they are ace gadgets but crap phones

They were crying because they'd just heard someone over here hadn't had their wheelie bin emptied for a fortnight even though they paid their Council Tax! I don't think they have Council tax in Haiti, so it was something of a shock to them and put all their problems into perspective

😆
nice

Man Bites Dog for me too. Funny, but very very grim. I remember watching it in the piccies at about the same time Reservoir Dogs was out. It made Reservoir Dogs look quite tame.

That is a good film and hardly graphic compared to irreversible

I seem to remember the rape and mutilation scene being graphic enough thank you very much. Perhaps I should steer clear of Irreversible.

To me Coldwell Clough IS the tarmac/stony climb up towards Edale Cross. But a tarmac/stony climb covered in 4 foot show drifts (as it was last year) is a push. If we're pushing/carrying I'll bring my fully rigid 🙂

Most likely. Any volunteers??

I love it on Kinder and not been up or down Jacob's Ladder since my first mountain bike – a Specialized Hard Rock. Big squishy saddle, rigid everything, a Biopace chainring and even a Shark Fin 😀

One thing to note though, I did try this circuit last year after snow. Climbing up Coldwell Clough was a non-starter. We got as far as the third(?) gate (after a bridleway heads left off to the reservoir) with a combination of pushing, throwing, swearing and just a touch of riding. Even when we retreated back down it was an effort – fun, but an effort. Me and my mate were fairly fit then too, but it would have taken us a long time to do the whole circuit.

Might therefore be worth a local volunteering to check conditions. I'm guessing the drifting will be pretty deep up there. Otherwise we'll be building kickers and trying out tailwhips into the drifts. Oh, hang on, that could be fun 😆

Never understood why Yeti think 1960's-municipal-swimming-baths-blue is a good colour for a bicycle

Couldn't agree more, and is in fact the reason I LIKE this bike. The garish wheels distract you from the horrible Yeti-turquoise 😆

By whose standards are we measuring "shouldn't"?? 😀

Judging by the responses so far I'm not ashamed of any of the bands I perhaps "should" be 😆

+ 1 for the PArk Tools site recommendation

Hi

Are there maximum numbers for this? Room for any more? Obviously need to clear it with "The Boss" first but would love to put some faces to STW names.

I don't want to join in on the "should I, shouldn't I?" debate. However, it's worth letting you know that my whole family (wife, me, 3 yo and 1 yo) were vaccinated before Christmas. My oldest is immuno-compromised so we were following protocol and advice given by his consultant.

Anyway, other than a slightly achy arm not one of us had any side-effects. In fact the kiddies seemed totally un-phased

Easy peasy this one

God Only Knows – The Beach Boys

Next…

Having been skiing in the Alps most seasons for nigh on 30 years, I have very rarely needed a fully waterproof jacket. In the UK, where often the snow can be wet and miserable, get full waterproofs.

I ski in a thin long-sleeved base layer, a mid-weight fleece and a thin, very breathable and very windproof top. It is not waterproof but will keep out all but the wettest snow showers. I carry a small mid-weight fleece for if it gets colder but have rarely needed it. I find breathability a more important factor than out-and-out waterproofing. My mid-layer fleece cost less than £10 from Aldi.

A good hat, gloves and – for me anyway – a neck gaiter, are essential.

That said you will end up on your bum a lot, so do get some decent, hard-wearing and waterproof trousers. Salopettes are good because they give you slighter better coverage around the lower back and can't fall down. Ease of movement is key but the baggy question is one of style IMO.

To put this in context, it used to be my job to convince people to buy super-expensive ski and snowboard gear. For the base layers and fleeces the deep-discounting supermarkets are a great bet. The money you save can be spent on a nice looking pair of goggles 😀

Love it. My doorstep riding isn't exactly challenging in the "dry" summer months, so riding those easy trails when covered with snow makes them all the more fun. Granted the snow drifts stopping all forward momentum on the downhills can grate a little from time to time.

I had a choice of driving from Staffordshire to Suffolk today for a 2 hour meeting or working from home (which I do regularly) and having a conference call. No brainer, but being at home every hour of every day does send me a bit loopy.

When I was a little lad I remember sitting on the bonnet of my Dad's car as he "drove" over Long Hill (Buxton) through mucho white stuff. My brother and sister were pushing and digging. We could have walked home quicker but in those days people went out in the car prepared for snow – chains, shovels, big coats etc. Now few people bother and there's many more cars on the road. Cue recipe for disaster.

That said, as someone who can easily work from home, I don't make too much effort to get on the road if heavy snow is on its way.

SO it follows this decade has not elapsed until the end of this year.

I don't really care myself, but that's the truth of the matter.

I so wanted to say I don't care and instead post a nice snowy pic with my bike in it, but sadly the red rag was waved 😀

Our calendar is based on Christ's birth if I'm not very much mistaken. The beginning of 1AD is 1 year after the birth of Christ and not the first year of his life, so PeterPoddy your argument falls at the first hurdle. When we began 2000AD 2000 years most definitely had passed since Christ's birth and hence we entered the next millenia based on this calendar.

Anyway, here's the snowy pic…

I still need to find some editing software that can cope with HD though.

Mmm, not thought of that. Can you can "turn off" HD and just have standard definition? I know it kind of defeats the object of getting the HD cam but at least I'm future proof.

Cheers Tootin. Certainly a more appealing price but hard to believe the quality will be good enough to make a DVD. Let me know how you get on

Remarkably I did manage to ride through (most) of this…

absolutely priceless

I ride faster on my own if not harder. I love going at my pace and not having to worry about waiting for people. That said I like the challenge of playing keep-up with the better/faster riders.

What I don't like is rides that are stop-and-start, which is usually associated with group rides. The before-and-after banter are great on a group ride, but as a parent of young kiddies I don't really get chance for the post-ride pint and chat.

On the road bike I definitely prefer riding by myself. Peace, solitude and reflection and totally, totally relaxing.

So, er, a bit of both for me then 😀