Done.

WELL???????

WELL?????????

<twitches>

Never really grew up. Seen people do it and just sensed the loss of fun.

Aged 16: get wasted regularly and ride bikes (human and internal combustion powered)

Aged 48; get wasted regularly and ride bikes (human and internal combustion powered). Plus hold down management job, pay mortgage, bring up two daughters.

No need to change too much.

Audaxes are the best value cycling events out there, and are (or were) pretty relaxed. The LVIS Audax is a fine, if not finest, example of the breed. 🙂

In my new garage which is where the motorbikes live and bicycles are worked on, I went for a roll of grey vinyl flooring which I stuck down on the concrete floor, with some 1.2mm black matting where the bikes sit. Not too expensive and works a treat.

Pic of mine when I built it up in 2010 (subsequently changed the rear brake hose routing):

Well I’m 5’11” with a 32″ inside leg and my 16″ Blue Pig fits fine (long seat post, plus like you I prefer smaller frames), so I would say the 14″ should be ok for you.

It’s Exmoor rather than ‘tocks, so maybe a short drive required, but the Sparkhayes campsite in Porlock is brilliant, one of my favourite sites. Cheap, laid back, and plenty of pubs within a few minutes walk. Recommended.

zippykona – Member
Nice bantams in Classic Bike Guide this month.

Yep, and the article on the Vindian is fascinating too. I’d never head of that proposed tie-up.

Having been a motorcyclist for 33 years against a car driver for 24 years I’d say I’m a fairly decent driver as the skills you need to stay alive on a bike translate to driving.

That said I get tired, stroppy, and have bad days like anyone else, so there’s a limit to my driving awesomeness 🙂

Probably ride my MTB about 4 or 5 times a year at the mo. Got back into motorcycling and when I do cycle it’s on the road bike.

That said, I can’t ever imagine not owning an MTB.

UK Subs – formed in ’79 or ’80 iirc. Saw them a few months back – Charlie Harper is now 68 and was still giving it some on stage – fair play!

StefMcDef – Member
No idea how nice it is as a place to live but I always thought Minehead in Somerset has a lot going for it in terms of of adjacent scenery, coast and terrain for all your outdoorsy needs. Is it commutable to Bristol?

POSTED 4 HOURS AGO #

No. Out of rush hour it’ll take you 1hr 40m ish to get from Minehead to Bristol, way longer in rush hour. The A 39 to Bridgewater is very slow with nowhere to overtake.

Another vote for Brizzle here 🙂

I generally find artic drivers absolutely fine, patient and safe. Van drivers, especially local paper delivery drivers, however……. 😈

But yes, always, always acknowledge and reciprocate good road manners.

Don’t get too stressed about work stuff. It’s all just a game. *.

* applies more to corporate life than working for a SME.

I appreciate a lot of people have weight / health problems due to overeating, or just want to lose weight to aid fitness (especially as cyclists), but it’s scary (to me) how many people on these threads obsess about everything they put in their mouths.

Maybe I’m just lucky with regards to my metabolism, but I’ve always eaten what I’ve liked, never deprived myself of anything. Since the age of 18 (now 48) my weight has stayed between 10.5 – 11.5 stone and I’ve always worn 32″ waist trousers. I’ve always been active – always walked to school and work, always take stairs rather then the lift etc, and though I eat a lot of crap ( curries and cake in particular, not together !) I have no problem with feeling hungry, I often do, and rarely snack at work.

As I say, maybe I’m lucky, but a bit of common sense with regard to not eating TOO much lard and being active every day seems a more sensible alternative to the food obsessions portrayed here, and a damn sight more enjoyable too! 🙂

Makes you realise how those who moan about the Polis in this country should realise all things are relative.

Pussy Riot come across as rather ” stroppy teenager” but I respect their desire to fight against the powers that be in Russia. They have bigger balls than a lot of men for sure.

Directions e-mailed 🙂

Brizzle buses are extortionate. Less than 2 miles from mine into town, probably £2+ for a bus. I don’t know for sure, I always walk.

In my head Anarchy in the UK plays on constant loop.

In reality I’m depressingly law / rule abiding.

Plenty of free on street parking near me (my road even). 20-25 mins walk to your hotel, or jump on a bus. PM me if you want directions.

Vortex – my RD250DX back in the early ’80’s was identical to that one, don’t remember the bars being quite that high though…. Felt stupidly fast at the time coming from a 125, don’t think I’d want to ride one now, I’m sure it would dissapoint after years of riding modern stuff.

labsey – Member
The Place Beyond The Pines. Characters I didn’t care about and was far too long.

POSTED 9 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

+1. Dull.

My 11 year old daughter’s response below:

minecraft is a really fun game for kids and teenagers, not really for adults but aldults do still play the game. Minecraft lets your kids learn how to be creative and have fun with your friends because there is a multiplayer version and it’s really fun to discover all the different minerals and creations with other people. There are also a lot of servers that people have made that you can play on, you can play games like hunger games, run from the beast and other amazing mini games! Another amazing thing about minecraft is that you can get amazing texture packs and epic mods which can make the game even more fun purely because it can make the mobs massive or very over powered, and it can also add a lot more things to be creative with. Finally about the graphics, the graphics aren’t the best but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, it doesn’t change the way you play; just don’t worry about the graphics, think about the gameplay and how fun it is! Try it again after reading this and maybe you will see a different prospective of minecraft!

Very occasionally, but always feel really guilty when I do, like I’m wasting my life away. Seem to feel this more as I get older. Stupid really…

<drools>

Something like this will be better if you have the room: http://www.trimetals.co.uk/motorcycle-storage.php

Great film. And a good insight into how life was in the 1970’s.

Hissing it down and blowy in Brizzle.

That white CX posted by vortex racing – wow!! Love it!

Virgin aren’t cheap and the recent price rise did annoy me, but the service is so good I’ve never considered leaving them.

My Boardman:

clubber – Member
Riding my bike. Nothing unusual there except he’s a cyclist too. Isn’t that right aka_gilo?
POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST

A slightly lapsed one at the mo….

At my old old house whenever my next door neighbour (who was great) saw me heading out on my bike she’d take great delight in shouting out ” You off to ride the Tour Dee France Gilo?” I’d grin and say “something like that”.

They’re great bikes (for that era) and very reliable with one exception: replacing the clutch is an engine out job.

As a bike courier in the 80’s with K100s and K75s as company bikes I burnt out two clutches (beer -fuelled abuse may have been involved) and hence was disliked by the company mechanic.

As long as you’re confident the clutch is in good shape I’d go for it, great value bikes.

Great film. Took me a while to get into it the first time, loved it the second time – hilarious!

Watched it with my 14 and nearly-12 year old daughters. Jizz scene had me squirming a bit….

Blowy and just started hissing it down here in Brizzle.

I’ve got no time for RLJers, but I’ve got even less time for sanctimonious tossers like the bloke with the camera. Hopefully he’ll annoy the wrong person sooner or later.

IT Support Manager for a bank. Not overly exciting but I work with a good bunch. Some of our major internal stakeholders are a pita though, treat us like shite.

Well paid for what I do, really can’t complain at all.

I have an angle grinder – it sat unused for months until I decided to use it to cut a whole in some plasterboard that was in situ. Big mistake – layer of gypsum dust in entire room, despite only using it for about 10 seconds.
Then… I lost a padlock key so used it to produce lots of sparks cut through it. Like a knife through butter.

Cutting metal with an angle grinder is the essence of manliness. You get a big shower of sparks and everything 😀

That’s a whopper!! <vice envy>