Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

yep! this wasn't my first rodeo, this one was particularly bad though.
not pictured is the ankle deep #sfab that we were pushing through for about 20 mins.
for one of our group this was his first 'gravel' ride as well... not sure he was expecting to end up quite so covered in blood / mud / stings.
oops! 🫣

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I’ve been that solider.
Just a note, if you are riding or walking through growth like that please be on the lookout for Giant Hogweed (see pic) if you do run into it and you get the sap on your skin, please please wash it off as soon as you can. Normally it just gives you a bit of a rash, but if you are unlucky or it’s sunny, it’s not nice. A friend got pretty badly burned by it year before last on a hiking trip, in the sun and only noticed the outcome the morning after. (Not them in the pic)
Just be careful out there.
If you are squeamish you may not want to open the Webp!

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It took me a while but I'm embraced long trousers when riding the MTB on 'exploratory' missions. So much nicer just smashing through stuff and not itching for the rest of the day. Plus if it's sloppy you can just peel them off.

These images look familiar. You near Oxford?

yeah, thanks for the reminder. nasty shit.

Mix of New Forest and mid Dorset

Got caught by this a couple of years ago riding the SDW on a sunny day. I'm now petrified of Cow Parsley, which is everywhere.
I generally ride with long sleeves now when OffRoad, even on the hottest days.

So wtf is up with the nettles and thorns in this country? My arms and legs are all stung by nettles and clothes tattered by thorns. Also I Lost my sandal some where near Sonning.

Hatfield Forest and Epping Forest were quite muddy and the bridleways we rode on Sunday were fucking awful.

Sounds about right.

Also are nettles and thorns better behaved in other countries?

Their are over a hundred tupes of nettles in the uk . The ones that hurt and blister the following day seem prevalent around north wales . What their purpose is apart from stinging humans i don't know.

Gorse

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Also are nettles and thorns better behaved in other countries?

Nope. Probs still got the scars on my hands/arms from the thorny fuckwit bushes in Spain.

I did manage to fix the leg ones... by smashing my pedals into my shins so often I forgot about any plant-based woe.

I feel like this has been covered but struggling to find definitive answers using the search function.

Any recommendations on low-cost 'casual' shorts with chamois/padding? Alternatively, padded underwear.

I just wear Endura Humvee over whatever old knicks I've got. There are definitely padded shorts/undies available but not used them myself and I don't really like the padded inners in most MTB shorts.

Ooh... what's all this then?

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I just wear Endura Humvee over whatever old knicks I've got. There are definitely padded shorts/undies available but not used them myself and I don't really like the padded inners in most MTB shorts.

By 'knicks', do you mean cycling shorts/bibs? I've tried this before, but shorts slide down a bit and bib legs come down below the shorts as longer.

Yeah "knicks" are cycling shorts. Mostly shorts, sometimes I wear bib knicks.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/group-tests/cycling-bib-shorts-buyers-guide-137253

My Humvee reach near my knees and all my cycling shorts are above knee. So you must be wearing much shorter shorts if you can see your knicks? Does it matter if they show? You can also get 3/4 length Humvee which are obviously longer.

ali-x special, or the real deal? any good?

(i was on about the seatpost :D)

looks like a crux with untaped bars?

Influencing? Because nobody on here actually rides bikes.

.. and disconnected di2?

I wouldn't piss on aliexpress if it was on fire.

It's a legit seatpost (and I like it) and a legit Crux and a legit grrl.

Wrong.

Electrical tape is still tape, right? RIGHT!?!

Pfft. I get shit I want to ride. I give zero fucks about what the rest of this planet does. Bunch of silly humans.

and disconnected hydro lines.