Search found 20 matches

by neilwragg
8 Jan 2019, 1:30pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: help needed with new road layout proposal from council, is this ok?
Replies: 7
Views: 3325

help needed with new road layout proposal from council, is this ok?

Our council has proposed a change to the road layout on and around a busy two lane roundabout to ease access for motorists entering and leaving a local business park. I'd like any opinions on whether it looks ok for cyclists.
My initial concern is that the traffic lights that may be installed on the roundabout will leave cyclists sandwiched between two lanes of waiting traffic if you are trying to travel straight ahead. The left lane on the roundabout is for traffic turning left into the business park so if you are heading into town, which is most traffic including most cyclists you have to be in the right hand lane on the roundabout, this is scary enough as you are cycling in the outside lane of a very fast roundabout but if you then have to stop and wait at lights it could be a sprint to get away from the lights?

The website is here http://globebusinesspark.co.uk/news/westhorpe-interchange-consultation-7th-january-to-1st-february-2019

and the diagram about the new road layout is here http://globebusinesspark.co.uk/assets/uploads/Westhorpe-Consultation-Information.pdf

and comments can be added here (please feel free to let our council know if this is going to be unsafe!) https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScs6GRTKFUlZ6XVDXxdx0KTqpUumUerfGLM8CQ02GmDecNUSA/viewform
by neilwragg
4 Jan 2019, 9:10am
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: UK camping without a reservation
Replies: 24
Views: 2400

Re: UK camping without a reservation

I’ve never had a problem turning up at the end of the day with a bike & a tent at a UK campsite. I think the only time you may get close is the August Bank Holiday weekend.
by neilwragg
22 Apr 2018, 7:19pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Cleaning Titanium pans after cooking
Replies: 13
Views: 3105

Re: Cleaning Titanium pans after cooking

I use Ti pots such as the MSR over a wood gas stove and just use a scourer or wire wool to clean them. They are less prone to scratches than aluminium so just as easy or easier to look after.
by neilwragg
19 Feb 2018, 8:11pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Hammocks
Replies: 14
Views: 1069

Re: Hammocks

drossall wrote:I did winter camp with the Scouts last week, and one Troop was using them. They were perfectly warm and comfortable, I gather - with mats as above.

Was that the Feb Freezer camp? We were there but in tents! I’d have thought the Scouts would have froze on the first night unless they used under blankets, the mats don’t give enough warmth underneath as you need to trap a layer of warmed air beneath you, the second night though was about 10 degrees warmer.
A lot of us just use Down under and over quilts so have the hanging kit paired right down but this is the problem using the hammock when the temperatures are around freezing, I’ve found you need more kit than if using a tent so whilst I’d have a comfier nights sleep in my hammock I still have to weigh up whether to pack my MSR one man tent, bag & mat or my tarp, bivvi, bag & mat or hammock, tarp, under quilt & bag/top quilt.

I also have a 40 year old restored British folding caravan but might need a super e-bike to go cycle touring with that!
I say buy them all and have the choice 😃
by neilwragg
18 Feb 2018, 8:59pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Hammocks
Replies: 14
Views: 1069

Re: Hammocks

I’ve done multi day tours using both and unfortunately there no easy answer! I chose either depending on the trips, weather forecast, location and time of the year. If you are staying at campsites you’ll probably end up on the ground under or on you’re flat hammock as I not yet found one in the right place at the end of the day’s ride that has let me tie my bed to their trees whereas a tent will work in a corner of a field behind a wall as well as every campsite. The hammock has worked well when wild camping in woods on steep slopes but I can end up spending a fair bit of time finding a suitable place to hang.
On the flip side they are really very comfortable and, compared to a tent of similar weight and pack size, ten times cheaper. I’d suggest to look at DD Hammocks website and purchase something to test out.
by neilwragg
1 Jul 2017, 12:51pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Woodburning Stoves
Replies: 90
Views: 8680

Re: Woodburning Stoves

The current version of the Woodgas stove will support a bialetti style moka pot, I take two Ti pots when biking and camping, one to drink from and the other to boil water or cook in. Then use an Aeropress for my fresh coffee!
by neilwragg
25 May 2017, 4:06pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: 1 season sleeping bags?
Replies: 54
Views: 5962

Re: 1 season sleeping bags?

I got a Mountain Warehouse Traveller sleeping bag for £15. It's pretty thin, packs very small but was warm enough through Wales at the end of April. I add a £50 Snugpak quilt which covers all trips from April to September.


I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly bog brush using hovercraft full of eels
by neilwragg
10 May 2017, 4:04pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bike Packing v Panniers - the evidence
Replies: 71
Views: 26116

Re: Bike Packing v Panniers - the evidence

No, just because I prefer to have the water bottles on the bike.
by neilwragg
10 May 2017, 11:50am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bike Packing v Panniers - the evidence
Replies: 71
Views: 26116

Re: Bike Packing v Panniers - the evidence

If you had a full frame bag you'd get loads in! In mine that is cut around the bottles I can still get in my tools, stove, cafetiere, coffee, snacks, mug & kettle & cable lock. Alternatively it's a good place for waterproofs & clothes as they squish into all the corners.
Bottle access isn't restricted, the bag kind of swings out of the way. The cost is around £100 based on the one in the pics, just send a cardboard template (tape it to your frame and draw around the inside of the frame and around your bottles).
by neilwragg
10 May 2017, 8:32am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bike Packing v Panniers - the evidence
Replies: 71
Views: 26116

Bike Packing v Panniers - the evidence

ImageImageImageImage

I've gone from just two huge panniers which I made from inner tubes (ok bit heavy to start with!) to a mixture of panniers with bikepacking luggage.

I made two small panniers with toll top side closures from vinyl banners, a handlebar harness, a saddle bag made from inner tubes and a frame bag made from waterproof cordura with waterproof zips.
So now instead of all the weight wagging my rear end it's spread evenly with the benefit of easily accessing the cooking kit from the panniers when I need a brew.
The frame bag is excellent, when custom made to fit your bike it uses all the empty space without restricting access to the bottles.


Neil Wragg - Ragsto Bags
BBC TV’s Money For Nothing Upcycler!
Unique bespoke luggage. Designed & upcycled from incredible materials.
http://www.Ragsto.com
http://twitter.com/ragsto_marlow
http://facebook.com/RagstoMarlow
by neilwragg
9 May 2017, 9:30am
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Woodburning Stoves
Replies: 90
Views: 8680

Re: Woodburning Stoves

Instead of throwing it away after it becomes more patch than tube, just cut an inch of an old inner tube & place it on top of the wood on your stove (remember wood gas stoves burn downwards) & even wet wood will burn. To be honest even in the middle of a wet winter if you collect twigs that are caught up in foliage and not lying on the ground, there is fuel about.
by neilwragg
3 May 2017, 3:13pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Woodburning Stoves
Replies: 90
Views: 8680

Re: Woodburning Stoves

andrew_s wrote:
neilwragg wrote:I sometimes add a lightweight ally foldable mat underneath if the ground is grass or similar or if there isnt a handy brick available!.

Have you tried it the grass at home (i.e. somewhere where you can look at it a few days later)?
There is the intermediate stage of damage, where it gets hot enough to kill the grass, but not hot enough to char it.


Yes & this stove hasn't left a mark when I've used it, it hardly even gets the ground warm, placing a hot pan on the ground probably does more harm (or a decent summer or a tent in the same place for a few days). Maybe it's because I'm just bringing a pot of water to the boil so it's alight for a few minutes (& I can lift the stove by the metal mat straight after so nothing gets that hot) or maybe it's because of the way a woodgas stove works - it's not relying on hot embers but the secondary burn of the twigs. Image
The Kellly Kettle leave a perfectly circular burn print and the Honey Stove stove leaves a decorative 'dotty' burn print so when I've used these they have to be on a surface that can withstand that, or I would use an upturned saucepan to rest them on.

It doesn't keep your pot as clean as using a gas stove but then I'd rather pick up a few twigs by the side of the road than have companies producing canisters of gas which we then throw away.

I manage my local Scout campsite so regularly find out which part of the field the Scouts 'cooked' in but grass is very resilient, it's when they have open ground fires that I have to nurse back to health, everything else the grass seems to cope with.
by neilwragg
3 May 2017, 10:28am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: parking in Cardiff for Lon Las Cymru
Replies: 9
Views: 724

Re: parking in Cardiff for Lon Las Cymru

could have done with a smaller inner chainring, pedalled in triangles for many miles!
by neilwragg
3 May 2017, 10:18am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: parking in Cardiff for Lon Las Cymru
Replies: 9
Views: 724

Re: parking in Cardiff for Lon Las Cymru

Thanks all, found a side road next to the marina near IKEA, returned to the car after 250 miles in three days and got home for tea on Sunday!
Image
by neilwragg
3 May 2017, 10:13am
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Woodburning Stoves
Replies: 90
Views: 8680

Re: Woodburning Stoves

I did the Lon Las Cymru from the top of the Anglesey coast down to Cardiff this weekend. Three days of cycling and didn't need to take any fuel because I used a Wild Stoves Woodgas stove which uses a handful of twigs to boil my water, it is also raised off the ground, slightly higher than the Honey Stove, but because it burns in a very different way it doesn't leave a mark & all that is left is a small amount of ash. I sometimes add a lightweight ally foldable mat underneath if the ground is grass or similar or if there isnt a handy brick available!.
The comment about damaging National Parks, our ecological systems and leaving an impact is a very good point. Leaving no trace should be a priority for life in general but, for me when cycle camping it is my primary focus. I wild camped one night and used campsites for two and no-one would ever know I had spent the night there.
I wish that we would all focus on reducing our footprint, which includes waste production as well as our consumption.
Image

All my bikepacking luggage here is made by me fromrecyled materials such as inner tubes or vinyl banners.