Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Hard to tell from the pics but there were a number of snow blizzards today as I rode around The Quantock Hills following a group of Bridgwater and Taunton College Public Services students as they navigated a bike route in the open and through the woods

Out on The Quantock Hills with Public Services students from Bridgwater and Taunton College today. They were being assessed at planning and leading their own ride. It was cold but dry as all the puddles were frozen and although little bit of snow in the air, sadly it didn't settle. Given the baltic conditions, all did well and we hurried back  to eat lunch in the (relative) warmth of the minibus.

My plan for the weekend was some Laederal Resus Manikin maintenance but ....... A few weeks ago I picked up this KTM 250 and am in the process of turning it into a reliable trail bike for some summer fun. Yesterday was spent stripping the bike, draining the oil, removing the spark plug and trying to find the source of a leaky petrol overflow pipe from the carb (or at least, taking the carb out and leaving it in a bowl whilst wondering what to do). A quick trip into town got me most of what I needed ie spark plug, engine oil, 2 stroke oil and some new bolts but sadly no air filter that will fit  available locally so that is on mail order. After a morning ride (on my Explorer) with Somerset Advanced Motorcyclists , the rest of today was spent rebuilding. New spark plug, new oil added and a fully stripped and cleaned carb meaning the float is now moving freely to stop the fuel overfilling the bowl.  Being a 2 stroke, I only ran it with ...

Another day of Tech Advice today for Cannington Activity Centre with some staff training on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal. We looked at the use of the canal from the Docks to The Boat and Anchor including a number of access and egress options. We even managed a bit of improvised sailing (proof you should always carry a group shelter) on the way back

Today was another Quantock Day delivering the first day of a NNAS Bronze award for Bridgwater and Taunton College students on behalf of Wet and High Adventures Ltd . After a bit of contour work on college grounds, we were  out and about looking at basic navigation techniques. A fair bit colder than the last few days but still dry and therefore a good day out

A great day in the sun this afternoon at Cannington Activity Centre assessing a couple of staff as Low Ropes instructors. Certainly one of the nicer days to be sitting on a grass bank watching people work Both staff passed so now even more students can use the excellent facilities that are available.

Out on The Quantock Hills with my Level 3 Outdoor Education students from Bridgwater and Taunton College . What a nice day, a little chilly in the wind but warm in the lee. This was an assessed session with one student running the day and leading the route.

Great day out with Olly playing on the upper section of The River Dart. I was all for Mountain Biking as water seemed a little low, but I was soon persuaded and to be fair, at 0.44 on the scale it was perfectly doable. First time on the Upper Dart in my Dagger Axiom and first time on it this season. Fortunately Olly could remember the order of the rapids which helped with running it mostly from the boat and apart from running Lucky Tor rapid backwards (which as was another first for me) I stayed upright all day. Sadly I think my drysuit is now leaking more than is acceptable so off to Rubberman with that next week.

Out with my first year Level 3 Outdoor Education students from Bridgwater and Taunton College today up on The Quantock Hills looking at Mountain Bike skills as we have moved from Water Based to Land Based activities. Less muddy than my last trip up there but still a few deep puddles lying about to play in.

Completely dismantled and rebuilt the back half of a bike at my Bridgwater and Taunton College evening class. There was even not a single bolt or washer left over afterwards,

Out doing some Navigation and leadership assessments with Level3 Outdoor Educations students on The Quantock Hills. Cold, a little snowy and wet underfoot at times, we still managed 16km and didn't get lost.

A warm and sunny afternoon in Somerset so what better to do than pay a trip to my friends at Total Triumph to have a quick spin on the new Triumph Tiger 1200. Jumping off my current Tiger Explorer XCa (Khaki Green that I have customised with Tiger Stripes) and straight onto a New Tiger 1200 XRt (White) I was able to compare my "old" 2017 with the new "2018" Here are my thoughts The Name: Explorer has now gone and it is just called the Tiger 1200. I liked the name Explorer as it sums up what I do with the bike however, a name is just a name. I understand the desire to strengthen the Tiger name however, it would be nice if Triumph would do a special version with a bigger tank, off road tyres, full crash bars and a few other "expedition" extras and call it an Explorer The 1200 Tank Decal: Can't see it when riding and clearly I thought the tank was bland on mine as I added tiger stripes, but can't help thinking it is just follo...