1.5 to 2 hrs without killing yourself (assuming you’re hill fit)

If you’re considering cans of aerosol I wouldn’t bother. Waste of time and money and the finish wont be durable. Just take it to a specialist and get it PPC’d or stove enamelled

Get a grip FFS. Golf tourism is of huge importance to the Scottish economy as is tourism in general. This event showcases the sport and the country on a global level.

Shakedown.

W8nkerism of a word if ever there was one. And you’re riding on the road ffs – it’s not as if your Front Mech rubbing on the odd gear for a few dozen miles is a life or death situation.

Raining on the mountains – who’d have thought…

Trouble with all these boots is that they are only as good as the sealing across the hole in the top………..which is where they all fall down. None of the manufacturers have resolved this properly imo.

Once the water is inside a Goretex boot it cannae come back out…and they take days to dry… and the membrane will split fairly soon if you punish them. In the real world I think they are a waste of money myself.

Vaude have some very good looking kit – no experience though of their shoes.

They’ve £300k into another civil service bunker?

Suck it up big boy (see post 2)

Spa = something that women do.

Go away for a w/e with the lads and earn your sore throat properly…

😉

Live dangerously – try a map.

>Getting gradually pissed off at inaccuracy of several well known weather websites.<

‘Cos they are mostly computer models which change by the minute.

I use MWIS for Scotland – that and my own judgement. Being Scottish also helps – I just get out and do it 😉

Juts get standard boards re sized on a planer/ thicknesser

Macdui a week ago (yes that is a skier in the shot)

http://www.winterhighland.info/touring/displaypic.php?id=29605,3903#start

Still some massive snowfields up there – will take more than a few weeks to shift (short of a sustained heatwave)

W8nking. Plenty on here can advise you…

Has all but nothing to do with tourism, that’s a side benefit. It’s about REintroduction.

If you browse the link above its clear the authorities have been working in concert with each other for some years now to apprehend serial culprits in particular. However, they don’t seem to be very effective at a.)securing convictions and b.) the judiciary handing out meaningful punishment

Sadly, this is only the tip of the iceberg:

http://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/

On your doorstep:

http://www.callendarestate.co.uk/things-to-do-in-falkirk/cycling-routes

Not challenging but you can ride your socks off as there 3 loops plus hundreds of miles of trails to and from the place / all over Falkirk.

You can link in with the Kelpies which is well worth a meander down to at dusk:

http://www.thehelix.co.uk/discover-helix/the-kelpies/

Slightly further afield (but very accessible via the Union Canal) you have Muiravonside Country Park:

http://www.falkirkcommunitytrust.org/venues/muiravonside/

No waymarked stuff but it’s small – just follow your nose. Some nice technical riding here and there – I use it a lot mixed in with other stuff.

Also Beecraigs which is now mostly waymarked and has some decent natural stuff:

http://www.westlothian.gov.uk/tourism/countryparks/beecraigs/Beecraigsactivities

Plean and Torwood are pretty limited in my view and need local knowledge. Ignore the comment above – Carron Valley is worth the (short)trip. Beast yourself up and down Meikle Bin (big hill / old volcano which dominates the area)if the waymarked stuff isnt enough. Fantastic views from the top.

Dumyat’s okay and worth mixing in with Uni Woods stuff. The out and back up the hill is simply a case of driving up and looking for the eroded path up to the top. North Third also good but needs local knowledge.

Polmont is a good base for the stuff I mention early on. Not sure on hotels though. Linlithgow also a good location as Beecraigs and Muiravonside are easily combined.

We like to keep quiet about these things 😉

>when I searched for it I couldn’t really find any mention of it.<

It’s in Kenny Wilson’s book iirc.

>Bog-walking almost the whole way from the Youth Hostel to the loch at the bottom of the Bealach an Sgairne.<

Umm… you missed the track 😉

Cod or Haddock? Like comparing Flounder to Turbot…

No contest imo – Haddock.

Not a batter expert but beer or sparkling water helps. Don’t get the beef dripping thing either, I’d stay away from drowning it in saturated fat myself.

Yeah I’ve done it.

Not clever though. And forget the timetable, these wee maintenance trains and sundry other non scheduled trains are like bullets – you never know which one’s got your name on it.

Thanks, I thought not…

Oh, that wheel style is sh1t too (with the inner steppped surface) Complete dirt trap…

Still, I can up with its foibles, it’s a great car.

Just put 15000 miles on a 320D ED saloon in 4 months.

Pros:

The I drive satnav thing is superb. For business use I’d hate to go back to anything less.
Incredibly comfortable mile muncher(in the front)
Effortless performance (tho 5th and 6th are tall)
Superb fuel economy
Dealers treat you like royalty

Cons:

Rear leg room is sh1t
Boot is sh1t as is access for oversized items (like a bike) with the seats flipped
Ground clearance is poor

This is my 3rd 3 series (had both a 325D Touring and 330i Coupe in the past)and I’ve put big miles on all of them. Never broken down in fact I can’t recall anything going wrong with any of them.

Interested to hear you can flick a switch to revert to 180 bhp – is this true OP?

Got a mouth full of root canal treated teeth done > 10 years ago – not a single issue.

Never heard of it – your Missus is correct.

Anything will do – it’s just a gas cooker 😉

Yeah, I threw one in the bag recently just in case and ended up riding c. 20 miles on the road. Crazy level of output, esp for the money. Wouldn’t have fancied the Gamma in that situation – it’s completely outclassed these days for any kind of serious use.

Agree with p4s.

I already own 2 Gamma’s but they really are rather Sh1t in comparison to the 2 LED Lenser clones I’ve just bought at less than half the price. In practice I’ve never actually needed the coloured LED’s and I certainly wouldn’t trust my life running along the road with the power off that rear light.

You had a few sherbets, bought a kebab and went to work 6 hours later.

Streuth, that’s hard core.

Anything’s an improvement over Sake.

If cv has been blitzed by windfall n3 is likely to have suffered a similar fate. At least cv will get cleared. Beecraigs is in a right old mess – again.

I went vaude in the end – thought the hard plastic inner and locking mechanism was a step up from other offerings (including ortlieb) and they have some nice touches like the steel wire loops which allow you to padlock them to each other / the rack.

For all the ortlieb end of thread comments there are a fair few grumbles kicking around the web – clearly not the fail proof system many users would like to believe.

Only real drawback to the ortlieb and vaude systems is the propriety hook system – if that sheers on the other side of the world it would harder to bodge than the Crosso system for example which uses cold rolled steel hooks riveted in place.

>#theblackmount – you did well to get them to send out another one. Had the original order been returned then?<

No, expecting that would be their response I pre empted it. I think it was en – route back to them though.

I got the Solarstorm itself out of Aliexpress in 11 days flat. Also now got a Yinding coming out of Ali (blue and red in stock)and a quality Nitecore torch from them as well. Slightly worried about my increasing light addiction 😉

Yup

I was already getting rather fed up with their platitudes (albeit very polite.)Then I discovered the problem had been known about for some time before they received my order. At which point I sent them a strongly worded email / put a rocket up their arse. They’ve just sent another shipment out via Swiss post.

Still batteryless awaiting developments…

>Performance wise there isnt much in 0-60 times (yes I know that doesnt mean anything) <

Correct, the pick up speeds in 3rd 4th 5th are far more relevant. And the Beemer will leave the Skoda for dead in that regard. The fuel economy on that 320 engine is staggering given the performance. Costs aside you’re not comparing apples with apples in my view.

-35 in the Cariboos (air temp.) Bramear regulary sees temps of -20 and below.

>Hope R4, pick them up for £125 or so now.<

Honestly? You must be having a laugh…

Just received those DX lights I linked to @ £6.67 a pop.

Seriously bright (rated @ 200l but probably half that) and very dinky. Has both intensity and focus controls (even a tilting mechanism) so you can opt for the full on searchlight or the more authentic experience some of you are so fond of 😉

Ridiculous level of power and features for the money.

>Not sure I could eat my fellow passengers like the survivors of that plane crash in the Andes did though.<

There is a difference. They were dead already so that removes the killing part of the equation.

I own a German Shepherd and he’s like one of the family. Yup he’s “just” a dog but to contemplate killing him I really would have to be up sh1t creek. Great shame his loyal dog bought it because the so called outdoorsman was insufficeintly skilled to obtain food by any other means.

“Never understand why meat eaters get squeamish or sentimental about certain types of animals but are happy to have industrial production and slaughter of others”

It wasn’t just any old dog it was HIS dog. Eating it is easy but clubbing a beloved pet to death with a rock? GS are very intelligent / faithful so the guy must have been in some state to even bring himself to contemplate that.

The Alpkit thing is rather feeble to be honest (I have 2)

You want cheap? Try this:

http://dx.com/p/zooming-cree-q5-200lm-2-mode-1-led-white-light-headlamp-3-x-aaa-3-6-4-5v-117193

(Lenser clone afaik)