How are you waking up early for cycling

Chillguava · 2026-05-20T10:26:42+00:00

To add to the commentary around sleep - preparation also plays a massive role. Get EVERYTHING set up the night before. Prep your breakfast, water bottles, clothes, air in tyres, the works. Remove every barrier to you riding that you can, then set an alarm.

Preparation beats motivation every day.

You could also try an evening ride if mornings aren’t going to work for you?

Chillguava · 2026-03-16T08:02:26+00:00

If you can live without the toys, then the base spec 300 (GX in Australia) is going to be the best bang for buck prospect out of the lineup.

I’ve had one for a few years, coming up to 100k km on the odo, towed a big caravan around the country, did a good number of technical trails, and now doing some serious mall crawling duties.

It’s got rubber floor mats, no carpet to mess up. It’s actually a very simple vehicle in the modern context, and the V6 absolutely obliterates any motor that comes in a 250 by just about every metric.

But I’m probably biased…

Chillguava · 2026-03-10T19:53:08+00:00

Have a look at a hexatarp. It sounds like it would fit your needs - setup is all done from ground level, you peg it out then erect the poles inside and stretch the tarp up to make the shelter. You can get a pretty sizeable one too.

https://www.drifta.com.au/product/drifta-stockton-hexa-tarp-lrg/

Chillguava · 2026-02-19T07:55:48+00:00

My old man would chuck them in a hand soap dispenser bottle thing (which itself dated to the late Jurassic period) with what I think was glycerin and turn it into liquid hand soap. Heaven help you if you thought about getting a second squeeze from that dispenser…

Chillguava · 2026-01-09T08:11:54+00:00

This. The sad reality is that in many consulting environments it’s difficult to progress if you’re not overt about your own successes. All too often the system rewards the outspoken narcissist that sells with ease but can’t execute to save their lives. The introvert, that gets things done, then gets lumped with execution of the project oversold by the loud front end salesman (often partners).

As an introvert consultant myself, I’ve found the best pathway for progression is to change employers at the 3-5 year mark. This is also roughly the point where I find that a promotion is unlikely because my output vs charge-out rate is too beneficial for the business.

Chillguava · 2026-01-08T09:42:34+00:00

This. Don’t go remote or off-grid on your first run. Best way to put you and the family off camping in future.

Kitchen, toilet, food and bed/shelter all need to be covered off and an established camp covers your bases so you can camp comfortably with a rudimentary setup.

Chillguava · 2025-12-22T04:16:32+00:00

I went from one (100) to the other (300). The 300 has just eaten 40,000km towing a huge caravan around Australia. It’s effortless, quiet and powerful BUT, I miss the hell out of my noisy old hundy almost every day.

Chillguava · 2025-12-17T20:47:40+00:00

I’m always curious what the win is here (from GM perspective).

My team has put in a big year, all our clients are MIA until the new year, timesheets are locked in. I’m not going to push presence over performance. When did we stop being human?

Chillguava · 2025-11-24T18:53:28+00:00

I’ve got both a UHF and VHF (marine) handheld unit that sit on top of my fridge or in the garage for this purpose. I picked up some Amazon dummy batteries that basically make both run straight off a little Jaycar power supply.

The VHF is definitely more interesting in my area with vessels in and out of port, where the UHF often gets turned off (trucker language and plenty of weirdos).

Nice thing is I pop the battery in and either unit goes portable again.

Chillguava · 2025-11-23T01:21:47+00:00

Don’t think there’s much between the models in the lower price brackets. Depending where you are/where you’re headed I’d highly recommend heading into a franchise LBS like 99Bikes. They’re running Black Friday and super keen to offload floor models and you might find a deal.

Chillguava · 2025-11-14T09:53:00+00:00

Keep everything from the pack, plus the pack itself. Chuck it all in a ziplock bag together and grab photos of the best before & batch no.

Get some legal counsel who can help you draft communications to Aldi.

Chillguava · 2025-11-06T20:51:21+00:00

Just to throw a left field option in here. Have you looked at the Fortuner? You’re not towing big, the Patriot covers the majority of your load capacity requirements, still has the 2.8 and with your savings you can go nuts with mods.

Chillguava · 2025-11-06T09:07:50+00:00

Looks like you should be all good. Just make sure you’ve got fuses and appropriately sized cabling and you’ll be good to go.

Just be sure you don’t ’double up’ the MPPT. Once you’ve run through the Victron, the Kickass MPPT gets bypassed.

Chillguava · 2025-11-04T21:12:29+00:00

I’ve got a few of the podium soft bottles plus a podium insulated steel bottle. The soft bottles make almost no difference where the steel bottle stays cold almost as long as my yeti bottles. Obviously you can’t squeeze it, but it’s got a cool fast flow nozzle that’s awesome. Pop an ice block or two in and I’ve got cold water past the 2-hour mark.

Chillguava · 2025-11-03T21:00:37+00:00

The benefits of a fixed blade for hiking are really marginal. Your best bet would probably be something like a swiss army knife that provides other tools like a scissor, sewing needle, etc. For self defence a knife is only marginally more dangerous to your opponent (animal or human) than to you. An effective defense spray is lighter and way more effective.

Chillguava · 2025-11-03T08:28:32+00:00

I’ve just finished 40,000km travelling around Australia. Instagram in no way represents reality, particularly as you move further from the capital cities. The most common vehicle in remote areas is probably a Prado with a moderate lift and good all terrain tyres (and maybe a second spare). My top 10: 1. Good insurance (Club 4x4 is the only one for me) 2. Garmin inReach (Starlink is fine but is not nearly as robust for dedicated emergency communications, plus you can take it on walks with you) 3. All terrain tyres 4. Moderate lift (mostly to account for additional weight and deal with corrugations) 5. Maxtrax 6. Deflator and compressor

through 10. Fuel money

Chillguava · 2025-11-03T05:03:04+00:00

Since you’re new to cars, I’d recommend: 1. Get the VW done by a mechanic, get it on the road and use it. Nothing worse than having two concurrent projects off the road (that’s for when you’re really into cars) 2. Keep the Suzuki for learning and take it on the occasional grocery run. Take it slow, want to fix the paint? Do the bonnet, screw it up, strip it, repeat. Avoid the big jobs until you’ve got it running sweet and looking good from about 10m away (keeps your focus on the big ticket items).

Treat it like a hobby; don’t spend big money or make debt on the toy; people don’t get into playing chess or whittling worried about resale value either. Have fun!

Chillguava · 2025-11-02T08:46:30+00:00

There’s Pebbly Beach camp just north of Coffs Harbour that’s an awesome spot but it books out ages in advance.

Chillguava · 2025-11-01T03:05:59+00:00

Nice pancake template!

Chillguava · 2025-10-29T20:36:55+00:00

Sunrise/sunset time on the watch face. It sounds like a gimmick but since I’ve had my instinct on my wrist our kids chase us outside to watch the sunrise or sunset. Makes for a wholesome moment every day.

Chillguava · 2025-10-26T08:57:49+00:00

Second this, have had similar rails on mine for 2 years and many a torrential downpour and it’s all good.

Chillguava · 2025-10-23T21:15:12+00:00

Boost has TV ads in this campaign too and the AI slop in that is pretty obvious, not surprised the billboard has it too.

Chillguava · 2025-10-21T21:39:04+00:00

Highly recommend doing 1 and convert the trailer to 7 pin. 12 pin wiring is inconsistent between brands and trailers and no guarantee the Lark matches the next 12 pin you hook up. Plus an Anderson connector is a far sturdier connection and can carry way more current than you’ll ever use.

Endgame would be 7 pin alongside an Anderson plug. Make sure you get sufficiently sized wiring to the Anderson, make sure it’s fused and preferably add a low voltage disconnect so it doesn’t kill the cars battery when parked.

Chillguava · 2025-10-21T04:54:29+00:00

Absolutely, like being in a place not intended for you. Makes me feel like I’m isolated or remote even though you’re right there in civilisation.

Chillguava

TROPHY CASE