Continuing on the bike-packing theme, I saw this tiny frying pan in IKEA and thought it would be perfect for a quick fry-up on the hills (as you do..).
It was only a few quid so worth a punt!
The issue was that the handle was both large (it's all relative) and possibly unnecessary. Thus, the opportunity to remove it was born...

Although you can now get frame-bags from plenty of places (Alpkit and Wildcatgear to name just a few UK places),I quite fancied having a go at making my own as there's an large element of satisfaction in doing/making something yourself (one of my favourite quotes was hearing the reply a father gave to his son when he was bragging on about his iPhone - "you didn't make it son, you just bought the damn thing!").
Also - I'm a cheapskate and if I can buy the raw materials for a tenth of the price of a finished item, all the merrier! (This of course ignores the fact that when you take into account the standard hourly rate for my 'day job', the process of making anything generally equates to significantly more than it would cost to buy over the counter.... hey hum, it's fun!).
The fabric I used came from a decent on-line company; Point North. For the bags I've made I used ripstop nylon and 4oz coated nylon. I ordered a few samples in and the 2oz nylon felt too lightweight.. The ripstop nylon is still really lightweight, but I stabbed it and pulled at it, and it held up just fine! You can see it's only about £5 for 100x150cm, which is plenty for at least 2 bags! Bargain!
If you can get a waterproof zip, your bag will most likely be more waterproof that if you can't. I couldn't. Ho hum. 
The first step was to have a peek about on YouTube as to how others have made their bags - there were several guides on there, and in a way what follows is sort of a translation of a few of the video guides on-line. Not much in this life remains original, and I'm not going to pretend this bag is any different!!

Not yet done, but is't something that's been on the cards for some time now.
Since doing the SDW last year, and not doing any big rides this year, I felt that there should be a special challenge for next year!

Having firstly convinced myself it was a good idea to go camping with a toddler (my own, no less...), I then managed to rope my ol' man along for some multigenerational tent fun!
This was the first time I'd taken the tiddler camping, so wanted somewhere nearby in case it all goes wrong, but (on advice of friends) avoiding the 'back-garden idea' so it's NOT so easy to pack it all in and watch cbeebies!

I'm pretty happy to lug the trailer around packed to the gills, but was grateful for the 8 speed Alfine when the whole shebang was fully loaded, plus panniers and tent on the rack!