Stu would u recommended the bicycle 3.5 over my siltarp 1 thinking about buying a new one and wanted an opinion first

The bicycle is slightly heavier and packs a little bigger but the extra mid-panel tie points are a massive bonus when it comes to what you can do. I had a play with the bicycle 3.5, TN Adventure tarp 1 and the Siltarp 1 last week and I think in the sub £50, 1 person tarp stakes the bicycle is the winner when everything's taken into account.

Cheers stu. But would u say its worth selling the siltarp to replace with the bicycle just for those extra ties?

But would u say its worth selling the siltarp to replace with the bicycle just for those extra ties?

Possibly not. If you were looking for a new tarp then it would be the one to go for but there's nothing wrong with the siltarp and for absolute minimum weight it's hard to beat.

Finally got a night out solo. I had planned a good four hour ride navigating my way along various Chilterns bridleways and footpaths, but half an hour in the heavens opened. It was biblical so I waited it out under a tree, under a bus shelter and finally in a pub where a desultory pint of Guinness and some rugby league match on the tele meant my ride was going to somewhat shorter than intended. The rain eventually cleared and I got going again. We may not have the views in the Chilterns, but we do have dangerous donkeys ...



After a couple of hours I plunged into some woods not far from Ivinghoe Beacon and snuffled around till I found a clearing and pitched up. It was a nice enough spot but I broke a personal rule never to stick up the tarp until I check whether there is an even nice spot just around the corner. It even had a tree stump that would have made a perfect seat. Next time.



Dinner time. For some reason I put a little trivet under the mug to see whether my meths stove would burn better. Just made more flames and took longer to boil but it looked pretty.



It was a nice night and a clear morning but my two-season bag and lightweight (non-insulated) mat are going into the cupboard till next year. Good night out and it wont be 8 weeks till the next one.

Made it 8/8 last night with a trip west of Coed y Brennin. I was hoping my August one was going to be the warmest but hailstones at the start and quite a chilly night put pay to that
Anyway a great route, felt like I was really 'out there'. However I think I do need lessons in how to set a tarp up
A few pics with a video to follow later......

And here's the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hsLfBy ... SKht099rPQ

Enjoy

Last weekend saw me and AW riding part of the peaks itt route. Had a night near Castleton in an great little spot in some trees. The part of the route we did was hard, alot of climbing and a hell of alot of MIDGES up over cut gate. Fairplay to those who ride this route at speed, think ill pass on that one

Managed to get a quick sleep out under the stars again last night. It was a lovely evening till around 3am then it rained but I guess as we were wearing waterproof gear no need for a make shift tarp! Just ashame I was working

Last night saw hux n myself leaving dolgellau ( or as all the old drover rd signs spelt it dolgelly??? Anyone know how come it changed ) at around lunchtime and heading up the estuary to barmouth. After leaving a lot of chavy people and one high rate old bird in a car behind we then climbed upto the mountain rd to a spot outside harlech for what was looking like a nice evening! How wrong were we?? Tarps up, lines tensioned to Max and hunka down. By ten o'clock we had rain and wind set in. Heavy rain then followed till about 4am with the wind driving it under the tarps and into our beds a fun night was had. Getting up this morning was a joy! Wet down bags aren't nice to sleep in. Packed and ready to go by 10 ( we were tired ). We took the mtn rd to the coast to find the causeway still shut due to works so we headed around the top to trawsfynydd and up into coed y brenin via the Roman rd which is a great route. Coffee and back to the car for ice cream in dolg.

Did we enjoy it......hell yeah

End of month dash due to two aborted attempts earlier in the month saw Si and myself having a battle against the headwinds and headed to the seaside.
Weston-S-Mud in the background, we headed up onto Brean down where the Victorian fort provided loads of shelter from the winds.
8/8
IMG_2055 by flatfishrufus, on Flickr

I've actually managed three in a row, and should be camping this coming weekend, which will count. Wahooo!

June - local bivvy, woke up about 3 metres further down the tiny gradient than when I started. Bit close to houses for my liking, too crowded down here.
July - Tour de France Bivvy
August - slept in my mates barn for his 30th birthday..ok it had a projector and we watched a couple of films, but it was in a barn with my sleeping bag and rollmat so that counts.
September - shall be camping at Japanese Auto Extravaganza car show, and off walking from knoydart to inverie in scotland later in september.

This sort of thing will have to do for this year

8/8 and second for August.

We made another attempt at the Ian's WC2C route but unfortunately we just didn't make it. No bad weather this time, in fact it was very nice but Nigel ran out of gas and although my knee didn't get the point of making me stop it was sensible not to push through something that might have got me to that point.

Full report and gallery here: http://www.composite-projects.co.uk/201 ... chynlleth/

Nice write-up Neil. It was and still is a bit disappointing we didn't make it, but like you say, it was what it was. sh1t happens etc. We'll get around to it eventually. Hope the knee is improving.

Not counting a weeks camping in Cornwall earlier in August, I left the proper bivvy until the last minute. I took the opportunity to plug a large gap in my riding coverage of Wales by riding over the Black Mountain and coming back along the ridge/escarpment.

Proper tough riding, but great fun. Excellent fat bike territory, but I'm glad I had full bivvy/cooking gear as I cooked up some soup and noodles on the summit of Fan Brycheiniog.

A few pics posted to Instagram already, but the full panoramic collection are available here: https://flickr.com/photos/15512491@N08/ ... 6737384067

Neil, was that a lurcher convention u went on

Yetiman wrote:Neil, was that a lurcher convention u went on

Yep, Small, Medium & Large present!

The 4 wheeled Lurcher triplet.

Was this the updated version of Ian's WC2C (as discussed here - http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... f=7&t=3994) ?

If so, any chance of a gpx of the route?

Ta!

The Lurcher Centipede

First one for me this month. After a poor show from the weather throughout Aug it was great to be back in the mountains accompanied by sunshine ... no tarp required Must have dropped to somewhere near freezing overnight as there was a light frost this morning but once the sun got out of bed and above the mountains it was lovely.


Here it comes.


There it goes ... just time for another!

With the forecast looking half decent I thought I'd get a high level one in. After the gruelling climb from conwy to Foel Grach (3150feet) on the Carneddau, I stayed at the refuge hut.
Has to be one of the best this year, big shame the weather wasn't any clearer though as it would have been a belter

A few pics with a video to come later:

Good night out with Taylor last night near his place (and even got to see the tail end of the Tour of Britain earlier in the afternoon!)

the moon was daft bright last night - the bugger woke me up!

Early up, porridge, quick shower and suit back on for a meeting at 930am in Bristol!

Taylor - thank you to Zo for the food and hospitality and great to meet your brats!

See you next month for more bike riding (pre-BB200) or sitting in the pub drinking beer and discussing which golf clubs I should buy (post-BB200)

6/9 for me. Quick trip up to Darmoor last night with friends, one of whom was on this:



First time it's been offroad apparently

Fantastic clear night, and bivvied between Meavy and Cadover. All good until I was woken at 5.30am by mortars and machine gun fire, seems the local Commados were playing army just over the hill
Rolled back into work by 9am after taking in a bit of Cann Woods

s8tannorm wrote:
Here it comes.

Where is this Stu?

Looks like the "Valley of bog".

AKA Afon Hengwm