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Steve

@thefasthog

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Leeds, UK
Founder: @brutal_architecture

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So after the rendezvous with Roger and a pint, the plan was to get back on our route and find a pub for dinner and a few more beers, then Roger would head back to his In-Laws and leave us to camp somewhere for the night.
Roger kindly booked us into a pub over the phone. Then when we rode to it we got lost and couldn’t find it.
Roger then lead us to one of the most dubiously unwelcoming-looking pubs I’ve ever seen: Leather & Lace in Chilton Polden, resplendent with large Union Jack and 50p/seat white plastic garden furniture outside. Despite Roger’s protestations of “What’s wrong with it?” 🤷🏻‍♂️ we did not stop.
Fortunately a couple of miles away (and weirdly bang on our intended route) was The Duck in Burtle, a splendid hostelry with superb food, ales & beer garden. We ate well, sank a few, bade Roger farewell, then set up camp in a nearby farmer’s field, devoid of midges, Ali stringing his hammock up in a manger. Peace & quiet, we slept very well. #bikepacking

#theoutdoors #thegreatoutdoors #cycling #outsideisfree taken in Burtle, Somerset, United Kingdom by @thefasthog

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a day ago

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So Mad Rodge (@10tonkona’s mate who lives in Taunton) was heading towards us from his In-Laws in Well, agreed rendezvous point, Bridgwater. Slight problem; due to savagery of terrain, we were well behind schedule. So we decide to cut out about ten miles of Quantock offroad hilliness and head directly to meet Rodge on tarmac.
Through the Quantocks, this was a 16 mile trudge along the busy A39, but we made it, meeting Rodge at a pub for a well-earned pint.
Mad Rodge is a very interesting bloke. He doesn’t cycle, but through running & wild swimming keeps enviably fit, and has ridden bikepacking weekends with us before, usually on terrifying borrowed bikes. Today though he’s bought a 2nd hand Specialized Sirrus, long past its best. And yes, that’s a spare inner tube (looks used and in a plastic bag for some reason), a pump (likely inoperable) and a banana strapped to his handlebars with an elastic band. All hail Mad Rodge, for he is mad, and awesome 🙌🏻 #bikepacking

I didn’t actually take any pics of Rodge this year, so pic here of him is from a previous bikepacking trip 👌🏻

#specializedsirrus #cycling #strapabananatoyourbike taken in The Cottage Inn, Wembdon by @thefasthog

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3 days ago

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After a well-earned breakfast in Porlock we saddled up again and from the get go, hills. Up out of Porlock and heading for Selworthy Beacon, off pushing, climbing at 90° to those contour lines, too steep to pedal our laden bikes, at least half an hour to climb over 220m to the top, going so slowly my Garmin auto-paused all the way. Character building stuff. Views of the Bristol Channel and across to Porthcawl were impressive then on we headed along coastal cliff top trails with sea views down to Minehead and an Aldi stop for water. Again, too much suffering/fun/being in the moment to take any photos. Then a quick pint in Dunster (pic☝🏻) and on to awesome woodland trails of Nutcombe Bottom luckily skirting another huge hill and into a reasonably lengthy tarmac section, the first of the day, by which time the Legend Big Rodge had been in touch. He was riding from his In Laws and heading our way to rendezvous… #bikepacking

#bikesandbeers #MTB #mountainbiking #outsideisfree taken in The Stags Head Inn by @thefasthog

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5 days ago

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The next 30 miles of our bikepacking trip across Exmoor were some of the best and toughest trails and bridleways I’ve ridden in a long time, particularly on a fully laden bike. In fact they were so good/tough I was too busy enjoying them/suffering to take any photos, so you’ll have to take my word for it.
Navigation was tricky across open fields near Culbone, then we zig-zagged our way up & down (and usually at 90° to) the contours above Porlock, riding spectacular singletrack, steep up & down, clearly plotted by someone with great local knowledge, repeatedly breaking our hearts as we finished a descent and just wanted a rest only to winch back uphill then reward us with yet another techy downhill.
We eventually arrived in Porlock and headed to Eduardo’s cafe for a most excellent breakfast that did not even touch the sides.
We were now at sea level, and everyone knows, the only way out of a seaside town is up… #bikepacking

#exmoor #porlock #cycling #outsideisfree taken in Eduardos cafe and pizzeria by @thefasthog

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16 days ago

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In a cloud of midges I pitched my tent (badly) in record time, so badly it flapped all night and kept waking me up. Even a few nips of spiced rum from Ali’s hip-flask hadn’t helped.

Gladly in the morning there was a slight breeze therefore no midges. Also no hot cuppa as my dinky stove wouldn’t have been able to cope with the draught.

Ali was still asleep in his hammock, wrapped up like an Eskimo against midges and the chill. We packed up and set off in search of Exmoor ponies and the sea #exmoor

#bikepacking #theoutdoors #thegreatoutdoors #mtb_life taken in Culbone, Somerset, United Kingdom by @thefasthog

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19 days ago

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For our pitch for the night, we wanted a few things:

1. A beautiful valley
2. A couple of trees so Ali could hang his hammock up
3. A flat patch of grass for my tent
Added bonus
4. Sea view

We were by now quite high up on Exmoor and trees were pretty thin on the ground, so when we came across a gnarled double-trunked hawthorn tree by a flat patch of grass we decided 3 out of 4 wasn’t bad so we gave up on the sea view and prepared to set up camp, it was twilight so here was good enough.

And just after I’d upended the contents of my tent pack onto the ground to start assembling, they appeared. Midges. In their fucking hundreds. It was like those videos I’ve seen from Western Scotland where some madman lifts his mosquito net to see how long he can endure them. I’ve never experienced midges like it. The race was on: get the tent up and get in it before being eaten alive!!

#exmoor #bikepacking #outsideisfree #thegreatoutdoors #mtb by @thefasthog

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20 days ago

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Golden hour was upon us and as we bade farewell to our local guide we took a bridleway towards the coast looking for a beautiful valley with trees for Ali’s hammock, flat grass for my tent and ideally a view of the sea 🤞🏻

#bikepacking #mtb #mountainbiking #allbikesonthefloor taken in Barle Valley by @thefasthog

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21 days ago

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As we entered our very first off-road section of the trip we were joined by a local MTBer who had been riding with the (not-so-sociable) MTBers we’d met at the pub. He said they were not-so-sociable so he’d headed out again after they’d decided to go to the pub. And what a splendid chap he was, regaling us with trail/route anecdotes, pointing out local landmarks, geographical features (apparently we were near Ex Head where the source of the River Ex rises), keeping us right when I tried to ignore my Garmin and lead us astray and generally being an all round nice local MTBer type chap. He (name unknown) rode with us for a few miles until we did a left towards the sea and he headed right, back towards the pub in failing light #cyclingbuddies

#bikepacking #mtblife #mountainbike #thegreatoutdoors taken in Pinkery Centre for Outdoor Learning by @thefasthog

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22 days ago

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We resisted the tempting offer to pitch our tents in the field behind The Paltimore Arms and pushed on, uphill on tarmac into Exmoor. The views were opening up and the roads were stunning, and after a further ten miles lead us to The Exmoor Forest Inn at Simonsbath for another pint and a brief encounter with some other MTBers who didn’t chat much. We sat outside. There were midges. I could hear a stream nearby, so thought no more of it.

Back in the saddle and more uphill tarmac and Golden Hour looming as we sought the trails and a scenic pitch for the night #bikepacking

#exmoorcycling #theoutdoors #bikesandbeers #outsideisfree taken in Simonsbath, Somerset, United Kingdom by @thefasthog

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23 days ago

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So after an entertaining 8hr train journey to Exeter I rendezvous with Ali aka @10tonkona and we get a very civilised train (with very nice views) to Barnstaple and we’re riding. On tarmac, but we’re riding, up, up and away from the sea, heading towards Exmoor. Uphill. Very much uphill.

After about ten miles we arrive at our first destination, The Poltimore Arms, a pub in the middle of nowhere, and unbeknown to me, it’s famous.

We get the beers in. Beer garden is very busy with locals, marvelling at our Lycra & bikes & camping gear. We order a fantastic pizza from the Thin Gary’s Pizza Van (Thin Gary is a very nice man). We order another beer.

Then this crazy old dude sits with us, asks what we’re up to. Every second word he utters is ‘f**k’ and he has some great banter. He introduces himself as the landlord of the pub and proceeds to tell us the most hilarious stories I’ve heard in years. All very likely embellished & exaggerated & inflated to 10x their actual size but I don’t care, he’s brilliant and I’m laughing my nuts off.

Apart from tales of guesting on Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel’s radio show and seeing how long he can stay on air before uttering an expletive and being cut off, and standing for local government, his best story was the tale of the Yarde Down Polo Club.

Google it.

#yardedownpoloclub #bikepacking #bikesnbeers #poltimorearms #realale taken in Poltimore Arms by @thefasthog

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25 days ago

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Our annual MTB bikepacking trip this year was to start in Burnstaple, Devon and head over Exmoor, over The Quantock Hills, across the Somerset Levels before tackling The Mendips and dropping into Bristol for a well-earned pint. 133 miles with nearly 14,000ft of climbing meant this would be a chunky test.

Bikepacking has to be on a hardtail, for me at least. I’ve tried it on my full suss and lots goes wrong. So weapon of choice is my Mondraker Podium R, usually weighing in at 22.4lbs, hit the scales at 34.3lbs when adorned with my tent, saddle pack & bidons.

Coupled with a Camelbak weighing 15.5lbs (more water, food, toothbrush, jacket, stove, etc etc) I’d forgotten how lardy everything was on these trips.

And so, a short ride to Leeds station… 🚆 #bikepacking

#mondrakerpodium #bikepacker #cycling #hardtail by @thefasthog

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a month ago

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The Terry Frost Building, designed by Howarth Litchfield architects @howarthlitchfield, completed 2023 #leedsarchitecture

#architecture #leedsviews #howarthlitchfieldarchitects #archdaily taken in The Terry Frost Building by @thefasthog

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a month ago