I had an unusual one last night – was riding on the road between a couple of bridleways when a range rover slowed to a stop, the guy wound down his window and complained “your light’s too bright – it’ll cause a ******* accident”.

I provided (under my breath) an appropriate response and only later realised that if every car to stopped and swore at me the chance of accidents (certainly ones involving me) would probably be close to zero.

Next time I’ll be ready to point this out (and one for the STW pedants out there) could I also accuse him of some sort of practical oxymoron?

32:13 – I don’t spin, I mash, and it’s pretty flat round here.

could be ladyboybirds?

possibly the most unIdave breakfast ever:
one weetabix
cover with a generous sprinkling of rolled oats
cover with a generous sprinkling of bran flakes
cover with a less generous sprinkling of good granola
top with a light sprinkle of currants/sultanas/cranberries

(I like sprinkles)

I wondered what surf matt had been up to since he left the forum

go speckledbob!!
that’ll take some beating

As always with these threads about sneaky/embarrasing music, many people miss the point. T-rex – Depeche Mode – The Buggles – Tenpole Tudor – Communards – Soft Cell – The Primitives – nothing sneaky about these – all pop classics to be proud of, and who could be sneaky about Sparks – “This town ain’t big enough” – is pretty much a work of art!

Mulletus has got the idea (although Sonic boom boy is certainly in the classic pop category).

I’ve recently bought Fugazi by Marillion – that’s the sort of thing you need to be sneaky about.

PS with all the suzi quatro, where’s “if you can’t give me love”

service at all big bike chains is variable (think halfords) but in support of evans, their price match is pretty good – including giving me fulcrum red metal 5s for £89

so that’ll be a no then?

what does an insomniac dyslexic agnostic do at night?
.
..
…
lie awake wondering if there really is a dog.

I’m 5’8″ – my 2008 model is a 17 and just right – i think 15 would be too small

No idea of weight, its the first bike i’ve built from scratch. Surly 1×1 plus various cheap bits/leftovers from old frame. Alread lost a bit of weight when half the transfers fell off during construction.

look at the trail guides on bucksmtb.co.uk. The wendover route is a particularly good one, especially the descent through bacombe hill into wendover.

wwas – thanks for the offer – but I need the smaller size

wwas – I might have a look at that decade frame as well. They only seem to have the medium frame – what size frame do you have and how tall are you?

Surly seems to be getting a lot of postives – but some reports say its a bit lardy? I’m keen to keep the weight (and price) down.

What sort of weight can I expect for a full build without resorting to XTR kit?

Try the wendover route on the bucksmtb site, but better to turn it into a figure 8 – start at low scrubs (1) then anticlockwise to dunsmore. take the bridleway through upper bacombe then join up with the route. The run down to wendover through bacombe hill is a highlight. This gives you get the best descents on trails and the climbs on road.

wwas – interesting, although I have a moral problem buying anything from cyclesurgery, in light of their pricing strategy – which seems to be a promise to match any price and then add 25%.

charlie – that’s very tempting

wwas – EBB sounds a bit more complicated than I want – i’m looking for something that I can build myself from cheap components/spares, so preferably fairly simple. Its going to be a second bike for winter/mud riding so needs to be reasonably priced (about £250 for a frame, ideally new, but will look at second hand)

c girl – thanks but probably a bit small

Sad to see that Stevenage (aka the ‘Nadge) hasn’t got a few more mentions. Basically its Slough with all the character and charm erased.

I've done this for the last two years – not for the racing but just because the course is fantastic. I can't make it this time round but want to do some riding there when I get the chance – is the area open to the public all the time or can it only be ridden on the day of the army event?