@padonbike oh heck mate. we wondered who it was who lost his phone. we were at the ODG when someone came to Rich and mentioned it. myself, i would have phoned home, and told them to ring my phone, and asked the finder to post it later, i for one would have bought you a couple of pints man. good eff...

Jenn Ride Part A, Saturday: Routine semi-tough MTB bike riding - which I came psyched up for. However hard the terrain was, I was good for a 90km day to the ODG. I took the forecast of 30°C seriously and hydrated carefully on the Friday night with an optimum 4 pints of ale. The Glenridding Youth Hos...

Re: FKT - 2015 and 2016 was still about how far could you get on day 1 and make opening time at Contin store. Since Neil B and Chris Hope etc in 2017 the whippets haven't stopped until after the second OB Hotel passing. What was your stopped time in 2015 Tom? EDIT: just found the Trackleaders repla...

Re: FKT - 2015 and 2016 was still about how far could you get on day 1 and make opening time at Contin store. Since Neil B and Chris Hope etc in 2017 the whippets haven't stopped until after the second OB Hotel passing. What was your stopped time in 2015 Tom? EDIT: just found the Trackleaders repla...

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Thu May 22, 2025 9:39 pm https://dotwatcher.cc/feature/bikes-of- ... l-550-2025
Looking at what kit some are taking, I hope they check out the above forecast and re-consider...

You can spot the old time pros - using Etrex!

Entered!

Thanks for the link!

Any info on this? I seem to be able to find plenty about the Winter ride (passed), but not much about the summer ride, even on here? I've found the entry on Trybooking, but wouldn't mind a bit more info first. I assume proper wild camping (i.e. high up, small tent, no fire, out of sight) is still to...

Dispatches from an Easter trip around the Northern Loop: Stephen and Wendy are still running the excellent Drumbeg stores but have actually found a buyer and then will be retiring - still in the village. They will still be there at the end of May to support the race for one last time. Stephen also m...

Good write up. I also did the Boltby Bash in 1989 on a Saracen Trekker with Shimano Deore XT 3 x 6 (no, that's not a tipo!) and a rear U brake (weight approx 1kg). I remember seeing my first Cannondale MTB there, back when oversized aluminium was a thing of the most exotic and rarest wonder! SPD had...

Thanks, I'm coming through with 8 relative novices on gravel bikes so going by road may win in the end.

In the far North West (Sutherland) Loch Dionard: I know this stretch is not rideable, but is it passable by pushing bike along the side of the loch for 1.5km or too rocky/boggy? Starting Gualin House and going all the way through to Gobernuisgach Lodge all looks perfectly decent landrover track, jus...

question is then how long would normal 1 x gears do ? I've had issues with chains on ssp due to using a ssp chain on n/w chainring, despite correct chainline and must've gone through 1 chain in 1000 km. On 1 by but before Eagle (or sticking within the Eagle ecosystem) I went through chains at about...

160km is ambitious on this terrain, are you flying back on Saturday 29th? We did the whole original route in 61/2 days and it was quite tough. I had to bail on day 6 due to a cracked frame but have since ridden the Gudar section a couple of times, the rest of the group slept at the campsite at Alca...

Yes, I live about 3 hours from Teruel. Your best bet is to go from the airport to the Decathlon store at San Fernando de Henares which is about 10 minutes away. You will definitely not find anything in Zaorejas, in fact there will be bugger all until you get around to Valverde. I'd also stock up on...

1)yes 2)no 3)no 4)definitely no If you want me to sort 2,3 and 4 happy to do so. What day do you arrive? If Sunday, could be a problem but Decathlon do 2, bike shops do 3 and Chinese shops do 4 So are you over there in Spain? We arrive Saturday 22 Oct mid morning Madrid and are driving over to star...

Hi I've been dragged kicking and screaming from my Cairngorms comfort zone to do the Montanas Vacias bikepacking trail in Spain at the end of October. It's a long time since I've taken a bike on a plane and I've never taken a bike + bikepacking kit in a bike bag so I would like to know what I can pu...

Thanks, great write up, really useful, especially about the villages without cafes or shops
Grumpy guardian at a rifuge and bad/stale food is all you need after a long day. Same happened to me at rifugio called Mulaz when hiking the Alta Via due many years ago.
Still remember it now!

Thanks that brilliant
Any info and contact appreciated
We're flying from Edb so Madrid is only choice

I'm thinking about going to Spain and riding the Spanish Divide and Montanas Vacias in September and October. Anyone familiar with the routes and weather conditions that can be expected around then? Flight booked for last week of October to do MV route. Just stared doing initial research but temp c...

Alexinthepeaks wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 8:26 pm Im hoping to hit Contin at around 1am early Sunday morning....no going back from there......That could be a bit optermistic on my part mind!

I'd aim for midnight: it's only 190km with 4000m climbing.

It will be interesting to see how quickly the ones that locked the door promptly will re-open: Balmoral estate, Attadale estate, Melgarve, some Kielder bothies ....
( Not all these MBA).

Well thanks to everyone for the advice. 7 tough days with around 700kms including Torridon and Glen Affric and the brakes performed really well. Can't remember who, but the two key pieces of advice were: 1) manually ABS the brakes - momentarily releasing even on steep descents helped. 2) the origina...

I recently snapped the steel forks, (at the top of the front hub drop out, fortunately while going up hill. Managed to limp the 10km back home very slowly), on my trusty road single speed. Replacement 1 1/8 steel forks are relatively cheap on santafixie, but the basic info that they DON'T provide is...

The pads are LO3A and I will look into the finned type in future L03A are finned...!?! At least all the ones Ive had on my bike have been finned. https://cdn.mantel.com/images/product.php?image_id=122018&w=760&h=570 I've been trying to find somewhere with some in stock, at an acceptable pri...