15 minutes and I think the bar opens at Bridge of Oich Hotel.

I looked at the first picture on that page and thought OK, its disposable barbeques in an established fire pit/activity area. Earth already scoured, no real issue. Not strictly my cup of tea but on the bold presumption they're going to carry out, I can't take issue. Then I read the rest of the page....

Re: Mike Sheldrake. He's well known in the audax community. I can't get on there at the moment but if someone can ask on YACF if anyone knows him/is in contact with him that could be useful.

Last update from James is that he's seeing what he can get in Ullapool else a bus too and from Inverness will be quicker than an online order.

James Hayden looks to be sneaking into first place overnight. Meanwhile Liam Glen seems to be sleeping in the public toilets.

Is the problem water?

Sorry about the small rant, and I feel sure 'we' would not cause the mess, but I wonder if all of us could put our hands on our hearts and say 'we have never left any rubbish behind'? Its a fair comment. I always try to take out what I take in but in all honesty, sometimes stuff has gotten away fro...

James Hayden did seem to be doing the walk of shame in the early hours so kudos for getting back in the game.

Now that the route doesn't go through Poolewe, what's the alternative at Fisherfield? Same as previous plus ride back in to the track above Letterewe or roads all the way to Kinlockewe?

Maybe a case of if you've done it that many times, you don't need to do it again when its this bad.

We have a lantern festival in Sheffield every year and it's absolutely brilliant. People make their own lanterns and then they have a parade through a small neighbourhood. At the end the lanterns are turned off and people take them home. It's really not difficult to do this sort of thing well. https...

It's no wonder that the Leave No Trace message is hard to get across to people. I don't think it is. I think the main problem is that, save a few grumpy sods, no one is really trying. I'm currently doing seasonal work in Parks and Countryside in my local authority and that mainly means cutting gras...

http://trepidexplorer.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... e.html?m=1 Must read email properly, then a second time :wink: As I wasn't the one to pay the entries for us, I never saw the actual email. However, Mrs CT can easily get distracted by the presence of grid references. I may have to ask her to forward it o...

Mrs Tiger and I are in. Hope the weather is as good as last year.

Following a bit of a packing error for Torino Nice, I got a down jacket from Decathlon. £40, slightly smaller packing than my Patagonia, has a hood and warm enough to keep the chill off. Also, handily, at price point that you're less likely to flinch at when you dip it in sheep poo or catch the slee...

I did see a lot of artful mug dangling going on and relatively little drinking from said mugs.

For anyone taking the early flight out of Gatwick on Monday and looking for a cheeky airport bivvy spot, head over to the north terminal and into the car rental building. All of the receptions close at a reasonable hour and its fairly quiet apart from the occaisional person walking through to drop k...

It really comes down to what the owners of the system decide to do with it. As mentioned, it's not without it's problems. Oddly it seems to be better equipped for coded sharing of locations like bivvy spots than the purpose it was originally intended for. Already there's the issue of it being an ang...

Mrs CT and I carried a tent between us and used it most of the time. We're doing the same this year. There's definitely plenty of accommodation along the way so you don't strictly need to carry. However, your definition of cheap may vary and on in a couple of places your options will be slightly lim...

Some of the polo crowd refit skate or hockey shoes with soles from old SPD shoes. Not sure whether that sort of thing appeals to you but it should work with the preferred bikepacking shoes of your choice. I think there's tutorials on youtube.

Patches have arrived and flights have been booked. Just need to sort out a place to store a couple of bike boxes now. If any Torinese have any recommendations that would be much appreciated.

Getting a bit excited all over again.

For those thinking of flying with boxes, I'm going to see if one of the Turin airport parking services will offer us a package. We used them last year and they were really friendly and seem to work as a short-term storage space for other stuff too. They're also handily located on the edge of the sma...

Looks like everyone took that area slowly. They would have had the disadvantage of doing it in the dark as well. Still looks like they kept moving though.

Just done a replay from when I looked last night. No sleep for NB & CH. Not for PA either but he was much slower after Contin. Everyone else seemed to get a few hours south of Marybank. Will be interesting to see if/when NB & CH have to pay for pushing on through.