Yay, it's cheery Friday.

[RIP]

He'd be well at home Here. Someone give him a bike and some bags.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/12/25/man-c ... 887399/

[fatbikephil]

I could point him at a few good ones in Glenrothes (Fife new town so well provided with roundabouts) if he fancies a trip north!

[voodoo_simon]

He'd be well at home Here. Someone give him a bike and some bags.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/12/25/man-c ... 887399/

Quick google comes up with 76 cities in the UK so it’s not an unrealistic goal for him. Good luck to him

[RIP]

Yep I reckon he's got a go-er there. I once thought about bivvying in every "block" of Milton Keynes. Admittedly the thought only lasted a few seconds. Each block has a big roundabout at each of the four corners.

[Bearbonesnorm]

What's he going to do about Tideswell?

[RIP]

130 then.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan ... s-51268918

"Do roundabouts make Milton Keynes healthier?". That's one of those ridiculous notions like spraying perfume on a turd. It'd be a lot healthier and quieter without the roundabouts and the traffic going round them. Factoid: MK was originally planned to have a tram system but of course we're talking 1960's base-everything-round-motors lunacy.

[RIP]

What's he going to do about Tideswell?

Cathedral Of The Peak? I guess that does make it a city . No roundabouts though so that's a problem.

[sean_iow]

I once thought about a bivi on one on the Island but turns out it's more dangerous than you'd imagine.

https://www.islandecho.co.uk/car-abando ... oundabout/

[RIP]

I once thought about a bivi on one on the Island but turns out it's more dangerous than you'd imagine.

https://www.islandecho.co.uk/car-abando ... oundabout/

Mm that'd be an interesting wake up call. You wouldn't want this landing in your hammock either: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HyufxcEQPGc

[Bearlegged]

What's he going to do about Tideswell?

Cathedral Of The Peak? I guess that does make it a city . No roundabouts though so that's a problem.

The residents are currently up in arms at the prospect of the Co-op moving out of the "town centre".

[RIP]

What's he going to do about Tideswell?

Cathedral Of The Peak? I guess that does make it a city . No roundabouts though so that's a problem.

The residents are currently up in arms at the prospect of the Co-op moving out of the "town centre".

Well they'll probably build a blasted great roundabout at the entrance like these developments usually do, so that would satisfy roundabout bivvy man.

[voodoo_simon]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-d ... e-63905934

Would quite like to see the display but sadly I’m not going to travel over to Belper to see it

[slarge]

Got my 12/12 bivvy in, and just had home made turkey curry for tea, so I'm

[thenorthwind]

It wasn't til quite late last night but I managed to weld a nut onto the chainstay brace of this frame (kindly donated by benp1 of this parish) having had to drill the remains of a bolt out, which was quite satisfying.




It took me about 3 hours...

An hour to get my workspace set up, grind electrodes, find some stainless rods, prep a practice piece with a bit of old frame and a nut (ground down to remove the zinc plating and radiuses to fit the tube) etc.

Another hour to work out why I was getting no gas at the torch... bottle fine, regulator fine, supply hose fine, fittings fine, gas shield fine... turns out because of the way the connection to the torch on the front of the welder is orientated, unless I raise the front of it up, it kinks the hose No idea why this hasn't happened before.

Half an hour to take the hose off, put a bit of fuel hose over it to stop it kinking, and refit it with a new clamp.

15 minutes to weld my test piece and 15 minutes to weld the actual frame.

It's amazing how the smallest job can spiral into an epic saga, but somehow I still enjoy it. Mostly.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Lovely Dave and a reminder to us all that any 10 minute job is only ever a snapped bolt away from a 3 day epic

[psling]

Isn't the nut on the wrong side?



Only joking but that is the sort of thing I'd do after the same amount of faff time

Happy New Year everyone, may you enjoy 52 Cheery Fridays.

[thenorthwind]

Lovely Dave and a reminder to us all that any 10 minute job is only ever a snapped bolt away from a 3 day epic

Cheers Stu, and never a truer word said. In fact I keep this in the garage as a reminder to be patient to try and avoid turning 10 minutes jobs into 3 day epics:


It's the remains of the sump plug from my old Volvo 240. A moment's insanity during an oil change (tried to untighten it clockwise while I was upside down ) cost me three (beautifully sunny, I remember) days underneath the car on the road outside my student house prising, sawing, drilling, tapping, and once I'd evacuated the threaded part of the plug... into the sump... dropping the sump, which is held captive unless one of the crossmembers and the oil pump inside the sump are removed, and "fishing" for it through the tiny gap with a magnet in a little plastic bag on the end of a bit of wire til I managed to hook the plug and guide it out past the baffle and out through the gap

Isn't the nut on the wrong side?

It is, yes, but I thought it was better to put it on that side rather than grind the boss off the other side. Probably 6 and half a dozen really. Would have made welding easier actually being able to get at it!

[Boab]

It's not Friday, but cheery none the less, mainly as it's Hogmanay! Anyhoo, for the first time in getting on for twenty years, I developed some black and white and white film. I shot a load with my 6x9 pinhole camera in Venice, way back in 2̶0̶1̶2̶ 2009, surprised to see images on the developed film.

[RIP]

Sigh. Grump alert. Sorry.

https://www.bikeradar.com/features/to ... eshow=1

Doesn't want panniers (presumably because "that's just touring") but... puts panniers on.

Wants minimalist but... 30kg of gear (30kg!).

No fripperies but... "helmet storage loop"... helmet storage loop.... in the tent!

Minimalist... chair? (only Tim's allowed a chair; and that's on sufferance, only cos we luv him to bits)

In fact the whole title's annoying: "bits that made bikepacking bearable". Is it meant to be "bearable"? Why isn't it "bearable" without all that stuff? Is it a chore that has to be put up with?

Maybe we should rename This Place "Bearable Bones Bikepacking"?

It just seems to be getting all far too... what.. complex? Stop complicating things. It's just riding bikes and sleeping in ditches. I dunno.

</elitist>

[Bearlegged]

Oh, hush your grumpiness!

Tom has clearly had a nice time on a bike (look at those happy, smiling, chair-bound photos). This is the important bit.

[RIP]

Oh, hush your grumpiness!

Heh heh... a timely slap that, thanks Bear .

Shakes himself and wanders off to make cup of tea...

[summittoppler]

I seem to have been doing it wrong all this time...an enamel mug!

[thenorthwind]

Minimalist... chair?

I tried really hard to find that photo from your March 2020 BaM Reg, but sadly it's disappeared!

He seemed to have a good time, fair play to him.

Would have been more acceptable if he'd said he went touring?
<runs away>

[RIP]

Minimalist... chair?

I tried really hard to find that photo from your March 2020 BaM Reg, but sadly it's disappeared!

I'm sure I've no idea what you mean

[thenorthwind]

That's the one!

Mr. Minimalist himself