Had this problem when I changed jobs and the new place had no showers. I just left home 15 minutes earlier so I wasn’t in that much of a hurry, so I could take it easy and not get sweaty on the way to work. I saved the hard charge for the ride home. Have a look at photos of people cycling to work in continental European cities – everyone’s on shopper bikes in suits and dresses.

Saw theses on fleabay earlier today. Best bike luggage ever. Worth watching.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-of-ORTLIEB-Classic-Waterproof-Back-Roller-Panniers-for-Bike-Bicycle-/191062844498?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item2c7c3ba452

Pretty much any rack will handle a commute. Halfords had some very cheap ones last time I was in there.

One of the bikes I wish I never sold was my Thorn Audax 853, exactly like this one. Supremely comfortable, light enough for anything, braze ons for everything and tough enough for some pretty heavy cycle camping.

Make sure the box you get opens on both sides – many don’t. roof box.co.uk has a good range and prices. Halfords is also worth a look. Virtually the whole area of the box is usable though they taper towards the front to be a bit aero. You will be surprised by how much they can hold – makes the drive a whole lot more pleasant and safer when the car isn’t loaded to the gunwales.

Bachorlerette. Mrs BrownDog insisted and half an hour in was apologising.

Self-supported cross country ski trek in Norway please. Not as a honeymoon, though.

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Sophie’s Choice.

Try some Glacier Perfect Curve or Glacier Premiums, which have a fleece liner. These are window cleaning gloves, so they’re definitely waterproof – 2mm neoprene – but your hands will sweat in them so maybe wear a liner glove as well.

I love this film and again Im watching it and thinking: De Niro vs Pacino. Bare knuckles. No rules. Who wins?

I upset Pope Jean Paul II when he visited Melbourne in the 1986. He visited a little school in the west of the Sydney and I was reporting on the trip as I worked for the Herald newspaper. I went there on my motorbike so I could get back to the office fast and file a report for the 1st edition instead of having to read it to the copytakers on the phone. Anyway, the Pope turned up, did the visit and got grabbed by a pretty girl who kissed him. We got the photo and I raced off to get on my bike. This was a worked over Kwaka Z900 with an exhaust pipe you could roll a golf ball down. I sparked her up and revved it hard and it let off a huge backfire that sent the few coppers who had turned up into fits of panic. My chief of staff got a letter from the Pope’s press office about a week later. Apparently he had been a quite cross about the noise.

If you look at the photo of those pads you will realise they are actually little alien robots come to invade us, steal our natural resources and take our jobs.

And on a more serious note …

What piemonster said up there. Good meths stove will take 5-6 mins to boil 750ml of water which will do for a dehy meal and a cup of soup. They weigh nothing, are dirt cheap, take up very little space and you can get fuel for them pretty much anywhere.

That’s it for me.

Edit: Im sorry, I really am.

My, this is fun.

Before you go getting all better can you come over to my place and prove to Mrs BD once and for all that it isn’t JUST ME?

Also, have a look at the two links below. Some great tents here, and also check out Uttings which often have huge discounts. You really want to research the arse out of this as its going to be a big spend.

http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/tents-shelters-c25/two-person-tents-c26
http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk

I have a Terra Nova Laser Comp 2 that is great for one, but when two if us use it I take a small tarp and a couple of lightweight poles which I rig up as a porch if the wind isn’t too strong, or set up separately if it is. Makes a huge difference and its only another 500g for the other half or one of the kids to cart. In warmer/drier weather I just use the tarp and a bivi bag, though only solo and NEVER with MrsTBD.

If you don’t want the faff, do look at the 3-man option as lightweight 2-man tents with a porch to cook in are always going to be pretty tight. You can get 3-man tents well under 2kg, though they are going to be more expensive.

People who say prostrate instead of prostate.

They’re the same people who say pacific when they mean specific

The way my daughter has started to finish every sentence with an upward inflection.

Thule 9503 here and its great, but I do wish Id gone for something with a quick release mechanism on it, as spannering it onto the tow bar is one more job I just don’t want to do. And when you get it there, having to use straps for the wheels and frames is another faff. I like the look of the stabiliser arms with adjustable holder thingies that jus clip to the frame, and I want some ratchet style straps for the wheels. Lastly, while it does tilt down with the bikes on so you can access the boot/hatch, you need two strong men to do so.

Having said that, its a whole world of convenience and ease compared with the roof rack. It is very stable, a lot quieter thanks to the reduced wind noise and I imagine I am using less diesel.

I bought one of the first batch of OneUp 42T cogs and stuck it on my OO Fatty with a 30T Race Face Narrow Wide ring. Went on easily with a few twists of the B tension screw and was working perfectly right up to the day my son decided he needed it on his bike for his first race series. OK, so we removed it and installed it on his bike and it works perfectly for him too and he really loves not having to mess with two mechs. All up it weighed about half a kilo less thanks to the lighter cassette/rear mech and losing the front mech, two chain rings and shifter. I’ll be fitting the same system to my bikes as I can afford it.

Crete? The less touristy western end past Chania is great – lots of nice culturally stuff going on, great beaches, no crowds. The riding is great too – miles of trails and gravel roads. Take chunky tyres and mind the dogs. Rabid bloody things are everywhere and they all want a piece of your leg.

Im not a fan of huge bunches on open public roads. Any more than 10 just gets too hard to control as the level of ability and experience varies more and you’re more likely to have some tool who just won’t behave with the bunch.

So two groups – fast and not so fast. Appoint a captain to lead each group (captain of the slower group needs to be your most experienced and confident rider) When ride in 2’s try a paceline to swap the lead. Single file you just go through and off (on the right please)

Kids love these and they are great for space saving. But (there’s always a but) if you have ever tried to make one of these beds, it is a regular daily pain, especially if you use a fitted bottom sheet. If your kids make their own beds, then its their pain to deal with, of course. Then its just a daily argument ….

That Coleman looks good – shedloads of space! Is it easy to assemble?

We’v got the big family sized version of that tent and I can get it up and ready in about 15 minutes. They’re dead easy and dirt cheap and as long as you’re not too hard on them – be careful when you insert the poles into the sleeves, tension it properly and make sure you store it dry – it’ll last for years.

Go large if you never plan to carry it on your back or bike. Coleman Coastline 3 Plus – 155cm of headroom and a big separate porch for the bike and/or changing out of muddy gear.

There are three great things that everyone can do in the course of their lives and one of them is to make music. Lessons can be expensive, but they will help your kids become better people in the long run. Our kids get their private lessons through the school. Money well spent.

adjustablewench :-) Saw your picks from T&B. Wish I’d made it.

At 17 I thought manilla folders were called vanilla folders and the idea of making a plane out of them never occurred to me as I was too busy doing what wiggles was doing but not to my curtains. I also thought that a cappuccino was people mispronouncing cup of chino and that the chino was the froth on top. I’m way smarter now but.

left for sure.

Isn’t it obvious?

Agreed. A gentleman of taste and sensibility should always dress to the left. You will also find it easier to get crap out of the pannier if you don’t have to lean over your bike.

+1 for the failure to communicate dialogue from Cool Hand Luke.

The so-called Greed is Good speech from Gordon Gekko in Wall Street resonates in ways it never could back in 1987.

“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A”

To misquote a line from a movie the name of which I clean forget: sausage sandwiches are like sex: even when they’re bad, they’re still pretty good.*

*I don’t agree with this.

Speaking of cooking dogs.

Many years ago two of my mates were travelling back from Korea in nice comfy business class seats where they were offered a choice of meals: “Duck or pork?” asked the heavily accented flight attendant. Andrew took the duck. Tony took the duck. The pork was great but the duck very strange, so Tony called the flight attendant back over.

“Sorry to bother you but how did you cook the duck?”

“Duck? Duck? No, no duck, quack quack. Is dock – bow wow.”

Those were the days.

Definitely the Zephyros. How much are you spending? Some stunning two man tents here.

http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/tents-shelters-c25/two-person-tents-c26

We left our marriage certificate and my wife’s frilly nix in our wedding night hotel. The staff were most amused.

Get a great big tarp – 4m x 4m at the minimum – and at least three nice big hefty poles to pitch it with at campsites that don’t have the decency to put their fire pits between two conveniently positioned trees. Honestly, it will save your sanity when it rains and you need some something outside to cook under or just to give some shelter to you and the fire.

It was on here too … vile, putrid rubbish but I let it go as was thinking Guy Martin riding a motorbike across water might be allowed on but instead we now have a film: Little Women Apparently it’s a classic. I could go into the other room with the laptop but for some reason I prefer to sit here moaning quietly.

Quadrophenia
Vanishing Point

Just don’t get them.

Half my mates seem to have these slung off their backs for 2-3 hour rides. All rate them as comfortable and stable and just the right size for a waterproof, spares, pump and snacks. I’d be getting one too but my 15-year-old Blowfish just refuses to die.

I ride on it, rinse off and put back in garage. Does that make me a bad man?

And your saddle?