One does not simply walk into Mortor

 

Apologies, way off topic but it made my day and it uses The Beast by Milt Buckner.

Two wheels

I’ve been getting back into mountain biking recently after a few years spending my hill time on my feet.

I bought my first MTB back in 1988 – a beautiful black Cannondale SM700 (but with an upgraded Deore XT groupset). That bike cost me a whole terms grant. I still have it and it’s now set up as my touring/commuting bike.

The pages from the original catalogue I drooled over as a student

Back then, I did a bit of racing. The sport was so young, I was lining up against the likes of Paul Hinton, David Baker and Tim Gould, the elite racers of the time (Tim is actually in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in Crested Butte, Colorado). No suspension, no disc brakes, no Camelbaks and normally no helmets.

My current bike (a 1999 Marin B17) is full bounce, 6” rear and 4” front, and I’ve had some good times belting around the woods or riding the purpose built trail centres around Wales. But I’m a bit more concerned about busting a collar bone or ending up impaled on a pine stump these days (family to feed and all that).

1999 Marin B17

So I am going back to my cross country (XC) roots – basically enjoying a good walk but on two wheels. The Beacons are criss-crossed with bridleways and the park positively encourages MTBers.

Back in the 80’s, it was a very different story – probably because MTB’s were brand new, just over from Cali’ and cyclists were taking to the hills for the first time, so riders didn’t know that a lovely twisting singletrack footpath wasn’t fair game and that it was bad sport to use a snoozing sheep as a ramp. Walkers were pissed off with lunatics flying past them at 30mph, ripping up paths and the sheep weren’t ecstatic either. It really was a battleground out there.

These day, the sport is mature, XC riders know and respect the hills as much as any walker and the kamikaze ‘downhiller’ fringe have pretty much confined themselves the FC trail centres.

I managed to find a great little book on riding in the Peak District for when I am staying with  my folks and another set of MTB routes in the Beacons. These books, combined with Memory Map and my Road Angel, are going to give me a whole new way to get out into the hills.

My B17 isn’t much good at this XC stuff, the geometry is all wrong, it doesn’t climb well, the bounce is too bouncy and it’s starting to creak a bit. So the hunt is on for a replacement.

I am lucky to have the acquaintance of Guy Kesteven, the gear guru from ‘What Mountain Bike’ and ‘MBUK’ magazine – we work with him on the MBWales website my company developed for Visit Wales. I have been firing off “What about this one Guy?” emails knowing that he has ridden and wrecked more bikes that most.

I have almost made up my mind.

That's what I'm talking about

I love wine. Lots of it too. It's good for you.

We have taken wine on backpacking trips in a Platy bottle before, but they have now produced one especially for vino. The PlatyPreserve.

Basically, once you open a bottle and it is exposed to oxygen the taste improves for a bit then rapidly degenerates. At home we use a Vacuvin for the very rare occasions that we don't actually finish a bottle. When you are out and about, a Platypus bottle is ideal because you can squeeze all of the air out and then seal it to prevent degradation.

Perfect for picnics, backpacking, hostelling, lunchtime stops, sneaky snifters at events...

Each Platy holds a full bottle and they sell four packs (for four day backpacking trips I suppose?)

Can't find them in the UK yet though.

Remember this day

By Patrick Moberg

Sweet

Bob has been busy. Go and check out his multi fuel offering, the Honey Stove. Wood, meths, esbit, sheep shit, fork 'andles, finest malt...

Weight
Side Panels 5 x 42g
Fire Door 25g
Base Grill 57g
Mid Grill 27g
Top Grill 32g
Total if all carried: 351g

All stainless. All for under 30 quid. Good work Bob :)

Brooooom

I just love this.

The Skippy Racer Scooter.

Via swissmiss

 

A bit more digging found this... bargain.

Turboflame update

The guys at Turboflame have been great and replaced my lighter, explaining where I might have gone wrong with the old one.

I am a little confused as I did try everything they suggested in their comprehensive FAQ section, but there is no way I could get it to work. Their engineer managed it though.

Anyway, the new one is perfect.

Big thanks to Paul at Turboflame for first class customer service.

Retired friends

These shoes have walked around 400 miles with me over the toughest terrain Wales has to offer and performed brilliantly.