Yeah I suggested a Montego as well or a dicked up Nova/ Fiesta.. Surprisingly hard to come by utter guff car wise.

Very sad news.

Work related deaths are always very tragic, it always makes me think how luck I am to get home safely after a week on the road driving my lorry.

That woman would have left for work after saying bye to her family, probably phoned or txt somebody at some point saying how much they were looking forward to getting finished or that they would be late as they had to nip to the shops etc..

Then this happens and that person is NEVER coming home.. I wouldn’t even know where or how to start dealing with that.

Happened to a boy my wife knew, worked with forestry machinery and something went wrong.. Killed instantly.

Another guy was putting a ladder on the roof of his transit, lost his footing and fell hitting his head, he was conscious and saying how daft he felt when the Ambulance arrived, they put him in an induced coma to prevent any brain damage.. He never woke up and they switched the life support machines off a week later. That was hard to deal with!

Be careful out there folks, look after and cherish you family and friends. Life is to short.

My thoughts go out to the families involved.

I tend to fart a fair bit,, I offended myself sometimes when driving my lorry, a can of deodorant is never far away for such times..

If it has been a particularly fart-tastic day there is a lingering odour upon my return after I have been for food etc, Friday is fumigation day, drive with both windows open for last half hour then a good spray of deodorant to freshen it up for the weekend.

When I used to sell cars I would often drop a silent but violent in or around the car and see how long I could keep the customer there inhaling the stench… Amazing game. As was blasting a ripper at the other end of the showroom if somebody else was trying to get a deal, we would all scarper as the laughter was blatant. Fun times.

Then there was the leisure centre I worked in… They tried to teach me a lesson balancing my food with laxatives…. No effect at all. I then returned the favour to the guilty parties and we were 2 members of staff down all afternoon as the spent it emptying their guts..

Farting is funny… Fact!

As above mate. Thank everybody for coming, say how lovely the bridesmaids looked and throw in a “on behalf of my wife and I”… Got me a few claps and whoops.

Also throw on some light hearted jokes, how u met, where u got engaged etc.

I started with,

“Ladies and gentleman, this is the one and only time I will speak for myself and wife”

And re best man/men, I said..

“Now there it is time to hand you over to my bestman, but before I do I should warn you that he has been known to randomly invent stories and situations that I may or may not have been involved in.. However it took alot of persuading to let them release him for the day, so please be patient and go along with his world of make believe”

Can’t remember the exact words but something like that..anyway, don’t worry about it, I didn’t and I am not good at public speaking at all, everybody said it was really good, I wasn’t sure it went well but some ladies were greeting so all good ; )

My bestman did a cheeky little lymiric about me.. Very amusing.

“Really baggy arsehole”… Comedy gold Hora… Well done.

Also..

Putrid chuff… Ha ha ha.

Tweeter and the Monkeyman were hard up for cash
They stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash
To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan
For reasons unexplained she loved the Monkeyman.

Nothing to do with spring.. Just love the tune.

Yes.. They are ace.

My favourites are:

He/she has teeth like a row of condemned houses

Puss like a burst mattress

Puss like an auld woman bursting for a pish

Not a pound of flesh hanging the right way

And my Dad’s favourite:

That …. couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery.

I have a list of ongoing aches and pains..

Right shoulder keeps dislocating.. Surgery required
Left shoulder aches from compensating for right shoulder
Both knees fecked.. Click, grind, lock and ache every day
Lower back pretty much seizes up in the cold due to 3 operations and mega scar tissue.. Makes winter riding near impossible
Right wrist is weak due to getting tomahawked while playing ice hockey.
Numbness in both hands and forearms when cycling.. Tried new grips, gloves and changing riding position..
Chronic sinusitis which restricts oxygen intake through the nose, feels like I’m suffocation on a ride if its a bad day.

Think that’s it for now. Only 31 aswell!

Never broken a bone yet tho.. Touch wood.

I am an HGV driver and a cyclist (well as close as I can be for being a member on here), I think part of the learning to drive process should include half a day driving an HGV on private ground, they could let drivers see what we see in the cab when people tailgate, sneak up on the inside in the blindspot, cut in front at motorway junctions to save that precious few seconds and to let them see that cycling/driving up the inside is a very bad idea and and not a safe place to be.

All vehicles have blind spots, the size of HGV’s just means they are bigger than the ones on cars etc, the law dictates that all HGV’s must be fitted with front and side blind spot mirrors… That doesn’t necessarily mean the driver will check them on a regular basis… Same as rear view mirrors on cars, the amount of people who don’t look in them is unbelievable, same as wing mirrors, I have seen people driving along with them folded in… Proof that they aren’t checking them…ever!

So before we get the pitchforks out there is blame on both sides, it is a tragedy they a family has lost a loved one in this manner but accidents happen.. How many accidents are caused everyday by cyclists, car drivers and van drivers. I see far worse driving from car drivers than any other road user.

I agree that putting HGV’s into busy streets is very dangerous and in some cases daft. I’m all up for delivering good when the roads are quiet, I start my work before 4am most days and it makes it much easier when the roads are quiet, but then I’m not going into city centres very often. But sure as night follows day the same people who would back this campaign would soon tire of the noise at nights and say “why do they have to deliver so early/late?, can’t they come during the day?”

Without lorries we get nothing! The transport system in this country was never designed to cope with the number of vehicles filling our road everyday.

Driver CPC training is mandatory for all UK HGV drivers.

My friends partner had a boy weighing the same 3 weeks ago. Doctors said he is doing well and making slow but steady progress.

He did stop breathing the other day but apparently that is normal as he was so premature. It’s amazing what babies will pull through.

Fingers crossed for you and your family.

I had a X Fusion velvet 120mm 15qr on my Soul. Best fork I have ever ridden with. Light, plush, looks great and very controlled. I would highly recommend one.

Try Singletrack bikes in Bonnyrigg for best prices. I dealt with them and was very impressed with service and he came in on a Saturday morning especially to fit mine.

List of specification and size would help mate.

Oi… Boggles!

U said u liked it last night! Ur such a sheep.. Following the crowd. Baaaaaaa baaaaaa.. Back to eating grass sheep boy!

Does the AMS come with eye bleach!

What happened to the nice bikes Cube used to build 2 or 3 years ago?

Nope.. I have ridden Ae, Mabie, Kirroughtree, Dalbeattie, Glentress, Inners and Laggan on mine. Just as quick overall as I was on my 5. Just pick a smoother line on the DH bits.

Guys I rode with had a Nomad and a FS Canyon. I was first up, across and down.. Obviously the lighter bike will climb better but on the DH I just picked a smoother line while they rode over the rougher stuff.. I had just as much fun as I tend to jump, hop or pick the faster line anyway.

The guy with the Nomad sold it and bought a Solaris, he loves it now and understands why I love hardtails.

Yep.. Sell everything and spec up a good Soul. U won’t be disappointed.

Thanks for the update Cy. Frame sounds fantastic but unfortunately way out of my price bracket

I’ll have to settle for something a bit cheaper and maybe catch one second hand when they come up.

I really like Cotic frames and have had 3 Souls but at £1300 for the frame I just couldn’t justify it. : (

It’s good for everything… Nothing I can’t do on it that I couldn’t do on my FS. I have had 3 (always thought I fancied a change or that there was something better… There isn’t). My last build had X Fusion Velvet 120mm travel forks, Mavic XC717 rims, SRAM X0 rear mech, X9 shifter, Raceface cranks, SLX brakes, carbon bars and seatpost, Easton Haven stem, Hope finishing kit, charge spoon saddle, Superster flame rotors and Kenda Nevegals. It weighted just under 25lbs…

I sold if tho as I needed some extra cash at the time to put towards a house. Great bikes.

In the same boat as you mate..

Swithering over a 2012 Giant Anthem X2 locally. But something’s stopping me making the call to haggle. Not sure what as it will probably suit my riding requirements perfectly.

I emailed Cotic today about the short travel FS frame they are working on, got an email back saying think of the Rocket as a FS BFE, then think of the new bike as a FS Soul, steeper angles than Rocket, lighter and 120mm travel.

No idea on price or weight but should be good as all Cotic products are.

Both bikes are disgusting and look like they will be dangerous for you to ride…. I will do u a favour and buy either seeing as I missed out on the Anthem last week.

Cracking looking bikes mate. Have fun!

She isn’t funny
She isn’t entertaining
Her voice goes right through me
She is a gonk

FACT!

Cough “you don’t need Ultegra… 105 is perfectly acceptable for you” cough.

Stop being such a tart!! The wheels are bling enough and you can’t polish a turd.. ; )

Very nice… Apart from the stem.. I’ll even allow the white rims.. But don’t tell everybody. Nice build mate. But seriously… stem? WTF? ; )

I shall indulge In some Baggie short wearing action until the weather improves…

I shall have my hands full with my own shame.

Jobbee..

Someone starts off by whispering Jobbee (or other childish word)
Then next person says it a bit louder… So and do forth until somebody has to shout it!

It is very amusing.

Or last chicken at Sainsburys (other supermarkets are available)..

I’ll not explain it.. I’m sure you can guess. If they fail, hide and seek, heads down thumbs up, tig, or me and my brothers favourite when we were younger was “Scots Guards”.. Basically you have to try to make the person being the Scotds guard laugh… jumping homeless people does not constitute a game (you know who you are), you deserved to have stuff thrown at you, your face when you were cleaning it up and sprating Spar deoderant on it was superb… Failing all that, buy Lego and build cool shit, or play doh and make big willy’s or boobs!

I suffer from this condition quite badly and know how debilitating it can be.

The headaches wear you down and tire you out, my eyes feel heavy and my head feels swollen above the eyes all day every day (near enough), if I put pressure on the area I can actually feel the mucus and it shifts it about a bit. Yuk!

It got so bad that I stopped cycling for a bit as it was so hard to get enough oxygen into my lungs when climbing.. I just felt like I was suffocating. However, I can play Ice Hockey no problem! Weird.

I got an operation to clear the nasal polops and it worked great for a few months, then they came back and I have suffered for over about 16 months again. I do nasal douching once or twice a day. Get 500ml of water and add a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of bi-carbonate of soda, get a 20ml syringe and fill it with the solution, tilt your head back slightly and squirt the solution up each nostril and let the remaining fluid drain naturally from your nose before gently blowing it. I usually do it in the shower as the heat also helps to shift it.

I have a nasal spray from the docs (flixonase aqueous nasal spray), this helps with my allergies which are dust mites and outside dust from quarries etc (really handy as I work in quarries most days), I also steam my head with Olbas oil (2 drops max or it will blow our head off), this helps for a while but it soon returns. I use Otravine metered nasal spray which really helps.. But only for short periods!

Have been back and forward to docs and feel they just try to fob me off with anti-biotics… Which don’t work as my sinusitis is chronic not acute! Or other way round.. I can never remember.. But it’s the one that is there all the time.

It really effects my everyday life (I know people are worse off than me, but you deal with what you have), if I’m having a bad day with it I have zero motivation and I’m quite short tempered.. Which I hate because I’m usually a very patient person. It tires me out and feels like I have a head cold and a stinking hangover pretty much every day! I have also started to get migraines and double vision.. Got my eyes tested and I have glasses for driving now but still have the severe headaches and double visin with it.

I really feel for you mate, it is a really pain in the ass to live with. But hopefully some of the above info will help.

Cheers ill check it out tomorrow.

Yeah that’s what I meant mate. Truckstop is poor! The green welly is a great little stop over aswell.

Sounds like a great idea.. Lets blow this country down near Spain.. Nice hot summers and mild winters. I’m really rather sick of this county and its shit weather! If it ain’t raining, it’s windy, if the wind stops the rain starts, then the mist comes in, dull overcast days, then the harr blows in off the North Sea and turns a summer day into a cold and overcast winters day.

The planet has been heating up and cooling down for millions of years.. Hence the Ice Age.. It’s just an excuse to scare Monger and tax us!

Ah the irony of the hosepipe ban..

Em hosepipes were banned… In the wettest year on record! Dime Bar!

I thought they called it climate change nowadays.. Can’t fool me with your global warming rubbish… It’s bloody freezing and wet ALL YEAR!!

Bring on global warming I say.. Lets get some frikkin heat in the country.

Can we not get loads of big ships.. Attach huge ground anchors to Dover Cliffs and drag this dreech, drizzly, windy, cold, wet, grey, gloomy place south of the equator?

Not had a summer for years.. It’s either wet and cold season or wet and mild season…

If it looks to be good to be true… It usually is!

Yes indeed… I’m at Tebay tonight and confirm the Chilli is good, the scones are good and as always the Mini Eggs are good.. Also got 3G so I can peruse the Internet for bike related gubbins..

Jesus loves you and is very proud. I’ll have cheer leaders follow you and shout encouraging stuff for you.

I hereby solemnly swear by almighty STW God (or TJ) to stick to all the rules.. I shall ensure these rules are upheld and policed in a strict but fair manner. Should I break a rule I shall wee in my own shoes and attack oneself with a set of borrowed bombers…

As in Goodfellow and Steven up the road or Gregg’s?

I’m not minted you know!! Nisa is next door and they sell Cafe Noir’s… Biscuits of champions them!

God Damn.. So much has changed since my absence.
What is rule #9?

What happens if I get caught with a water bottle for say a quick 10 mile evening ride?

I have a trying really hard face already.. Was practicing at the weekend.. I grit my teeth and make my mouth wide (like Wallace), frown my eyebrows a bit and breath/spit through my teeth while grunting and saying “I am Cavendish” over and over.. I’m not by the way!… Oh and for added effort I may have a snotter blowing up my face to look like I was going really fast.

I heard all coppers were nympho maniacs anyway!!

Ok just thought I’d check.. Are water bottles still banned unless the ride is 3000 miles or more? I was told you had to take a mouthful of water at the start of the ride and it had to last you the duration… Resistance is futile and all that.