What a beautiful garden you have created Dave, who would have thought only 3 years ago it was a bare grass garden. Its like visiting Wisley in miniture. I can imagine you and Mo sitting on the wee bench seat of an evening enjoying the fruits of your labour. Regards Big Dave 😁
Hi Big Dave, good to hear from you and thanks for the kind comments about the garden. Our six week long trip to China really played havoc with my gardening programme this year. I have just about caught up but there are a few gaps resulting from our absence. I'll probably simply fill those with annuals until I can do a proper job once the growing season comes to a close. I'm planning a complete revamp of the smallest border in the front garden and partial replant of the tree fern border. All good fun. Mo and I often have our morning coffee on the wee bench, where I can plan my days gardening. In the evening, as you correctly imagined, we like sit back and reflect on the day. ATB, Dave and Mo
Good to see you back Dave (and Mo), glad the trip to China went well. Your garden is something else, just spectacular. Do you have any interesting trips planned this year?
Hi Mark, its great to be back. Thanks for the lovely comments about the garden. It was a bit of a mess when we returned from China, but not as bad as it might have been, thanks to the kind help from good neighbours. It is slowly getting back into shape but I need to do some lawn renovation at some point. I don't have any actual plans in place for future adventures. Mo and I do hope to get out and about again, possibly on the bikes but not necessarily off-road. We are currently mulling over an idea and, over the next few days, will see if its possible to firm up a plan I'd also like to film at least one decent multi-day fairly 'full on' adventure, but would prefer to wait until the midges are less troublesome. I have a couple of ideas for a journey into the wilder parts of Scotland, possibly by bike and boat or perhaps just on foot, and will ponder these over the coming weeks. Meantime, I might do a local camp or two and the odd day trip. I haven't filmed a canoe or kayak trip in a while, so that is also a possibility. ATB, Dave
Hi Graham, good to hear from you. We have both been super busy recently and not managed out with the cameras in a long while. We plan to get out again soon though and will release a wee update on our plans for the autumn and winter. Thanks for checking in, very much appreciated. ATB, Dave and Mo
We have been busy too making the most of the summer so I have a bit of catching up to do with you channel Sounds like you have some trips planned can’t wait I can’t believe you have sold your motorhome but as you said it was holding you back your outdoor life then don’t blame you
Stumbled across this while researching a bike for the GDMBR. Your bike build is beautiful and almost exactly what I’m envisioning. I’m a similar height and build as as you so your views on the frame size was most useful. I might have to pick your brains over the next 12 months😊
Good morning, Mark. I’m happy to give any help and advice I can. I have two Surly bikes, an Ogre and my Krampus. My Ogre is set up for road and easy track touring and the Krampus is a dedicated mountain bike for gnarly conditions. I’m 6’2” and opted for a Large Krampus and an XL Ogre. The geometry of the two frames are so different. It was really difficult to decide on size as I seem to straddle the grey area between L and XL. Overall, I think I’ve got it right. The Krampus is ‘long’ but the Jones bars help shorten the bike a bit, and allow for an upright riding position. An XL Krampus would have been way too big for me. My Ogre was a stock product (Krampus was a self build), so the steering tube was pre cut, allowing only 40mm of spacers. It felt front end low, and too aggressive for my style of riding. I rectified this by swapping the bars for a set with a whopping 70mm rise. I’ve just come back from a trip and had a couple of days riding into the wind. This has made me consider lowering the bars a little (by removing spacers, I can drop 40mm and keep my upright bars). The key to this story is that, no matter what bike you buy, you will need to make adjustments. That is all part of the fun and you just instinctively know when you ‘got it right’. ATB, Dave
That's a nice bike build, should be a nice mix for trails and off road. I've always wondered about the use of a rucksack. I've tried it and it makes my back and neck ache. An experienced long distance bike tourer told me to get the weight off my shoulders and on the bike. I tried it and don't use a rucksack unless in an emergency. Looking at the Kampus frame I didn't notice a derailleur hanger. Is there one and I just didn't spot it? Thanks for the tour of the bike and garden.
Hi Colin, I agree about the issues of cycling with a rucksack. It is simply not comfortable over long distances and can lead to various aches and pains (including strain on the wrists). The problem I've experienced is with my camera gear getting rattled around and then developing faults, which have proven to be very expensive to repair. Carrying the cameras on my back, in a waterproof rucksack, (and protected within a padded camera bag) has solved this issue. However, in reality, this 'solution' has simply created a completely different problem. I'm working on a plan for a different approach to filming my bike adventures. I have a new GoPro, with much better image stabilisation, which I hope will allow me to capture more useable on-board footage. Mo has also bought me a drone, which I can use for 'long shots' and 'scene setting". So, I'm hoping I can leave the DSLR's at home when I'm out filming bike adventures. The GoPros seem to shrug off any amount of vibration and I'm sure they can be quite safely carried in any of my bike bags. The drone might be another matter though. I need to do some online investigation to see if it can cope with the inevitable vibration experienced when stored directly on the bike. Well spotted that there is no derailleur hanger. The bike is steel framed and the general consensus is 'steel frames don't require hangers'. Not sure I'm totally comfortable with this though. Prompted by your comment, I will have a chat with Dave from Bothy Bikes in Kingussie, (the Surly guru, who has been helping me with the build). I enjoyed answering your question; good gear chat. ATB, Dave
