binners – Member
There are things going on in the woods near Jacksons Boat that no man should ever have to witness. The counseling has helped, but sometimes I’ll just burst into tears without warning

If it’s that bad for you, just imagine what it must be like for your victims!

Edit: joking, if the authorities are reading this.

I reckon I can get to Roman Lakes for about 7 tonight if anyone fancies it. I’ve got a silver Toyota Avensis

You’d be better off with an MOD-spec Land Rover Defender for the Roman Lakes road.

Park on the road at the top of the hill.

Hang on, you live in Chorlton, but don’t wear tight chinos and have stupid hair?

hora – Member
Two weeks ago I chased a bike thief in Whalley Range.

…but he still wouldn’t take your bike or talk to you?

Some dodgy people live in the badlands surrounding Chorlton, like Hora.

Phillips Park would be more likely and it does involve hills. It’s not that great though, if you’re riding from Chorlton.

You might have noticed that you’ll not find much in the way of hills in south Manchester, although there are a few ‘singletrack’ trails alongside the Mersey.

A lot of westerners don’t go out of hotels/compounds without armed guards.

I went there a few years ago. I have to say that at no point was I ever accompanied by an armed guard! I’ll admit that it was a bit odd to walk into a heavily-armed-guarded bank to withdraw cash and then wander out onto the street with a pocket full of money, but nothing untoward happened.

Manila isn’t a particularly pleasant city, the traffic is manic and air is thick with pollution. I wouldn’t recommend it as a cycling venue, but outside the city, it is a very nice country, spread over a large number of islands.

At the time the FCO warned against travelling there, but in 3 weeks of being in the Philippines we were not robbed or obviously scammed, despite being the only fair-haired Europeans in most of the places we visited (aside from the US and German sex tourists in the more resort-like places)

It possibly also depends upon how (and where) you ride. If you look for good lines and try to lift/float over obstacles rather than just bashing into things, then a hardtail won’t be too much of a shock to the body.

Having said that, the full-susser is often faster on rougher, looser stuff as the wheels are kept in better contact with the ground and is certainly more forgiving. Again, it does depend upon riding style. Not everybody will need or experience the extra traction.

I ride a fairly chunky hardtail(sometimes on flats) and a full suspension (although 5″ is probably regarded as almost a hardtail these days by dudes) bike.

I enjoy both and have ridden many of the same trails on both (UK mountains, Rivi, Peak, trail centres, Wales, Morzine, Les Gets, Chamonix Valley, Les Arcs etc. etc. etc.)

It’s good to ride both to keep you honest. There’s no such thing as somewhere that can’t be ridden on a hardtail.

Of course a Peak district all-day ride can be done on hardtail. I and many others have done it numerous times.

I also have a cyclocross bike that I have ridden on some fairly rough, gritstone-strewn trails in the past. Other than the challenge of it and trying to out-ride the people on mtbs, it wasn’t that pleasant and resulted in a snapped frame.

During a wander above Uspallata, Argentinian Andes.

the old engines were Ford, the newer (2.0 at least) is based on a Peugeot.

DPF issues appear to arise on cars that don’t get warmed-up properly.
-I’m assuming that a big, powerful diesel estate car will be used for long journeys at speed. If so, then it shouldn’t be an issue. If not, then it may not be the tool for the job anyway.

-I’ve never noticed my car doing a forced re-gen, but the shortest journey it ever makes is a 12 mile motorway trip, although it is usually much further.

Any dual-mass clutches can wear out and I don’t think the Mk4 Mondeo is any different to any other car. 100,000 miles might mean a new clutch will be due soon, but it might not.

I don’t know if the 2.2 is chain or belt.

Yes and yes.

In fact, I often forget that I even get paid for my labours of love and it always comes as a surprise when my bank balance grows at the end of each month.

Oh, hang on a minute 🙂

Potentially high consequence snack?

One of these Fugu on a sandwich:

what I struggle with is when everything is pointing downhill including the take off and landing – ie it is all downhill and steepish

I know what you mean.

I’ve found that getting weight back and the front wheel up is the way to do it. Easier said than done, though, especially when it is too steep to modulate speed easily. I’ve improved a bit with practice.

On my hardtail I’ve almost fallen off the back of the bike as it is much easier to pop the front wheel up than my full susser 🙂

There’s nothing wrong with having coaching. Had I done so in the past I think I’d have improved a lot more quickly.

I was always reasonably quick(at a weekend warrior level) and fairly confident on trails, but a bit too erratic and gung-ho with it. The standard of my riding stagnated for a long time.

For me, learning to ride a motorbike and become better (Improving smoothness, control, relaxed grip, concentrating on observation etc.)at it prompted a renewed interest in mountain bike technique.

-I would definitely recommend the Mastering Mountain Bike Skills book.

I like a rough, tight or fast, technical trail, I’m fairly happy with drops and I’ve recently become more comfortable with jumping, although there’s a long way to go.

ps. Having given the 2.0 engine, intake piping, sensors etc. a good checking-over and cleaning and running through a bottle of decent injector cleaner, I’m achieving (an indicated)60-odd mpg on cruise control at (an indicated)70-75mph.

Mustn’t grumble.

I’ve got the 2.0 “140” Estate. It’s a very good car (although in some ways I preferred my Mk3, particularly the narrower width & better outward visibility)

The 2.0 won’t out-drag a Fireblade, but it’s got useful grunt and climbs steep UK roads without problem. I’ve had faster cars in the past and ride a motorbike, but the Mondeo never feels under-powered on the road (my Mk3 “130” only felt as if it needed more power whilst cruising at 120+mph on the German autobahn with the air con running…) and the handling and ride for a big estate car are excellent.

The Mk4 engine is supposed to be more reliable than the Mk3, but my Mk3 never went wrong anyway.

The 2.2 should give a more than adequate performance.

The tolerant should tolerant intolerance? No

….Intolerance based on blind faith, rules that change when it suits and a holy text that appears to be read by many as some sort of multiple-choice, “Choose Your Own Adventure” book.

No one church (or any religious group) should be linked so closely to the state or have such a prominence in public affairs.

The dis-establishment scare (although who would actually be bothered anyway?) is just a red herring and is avoiding the issue of some “theologians” caring too much about how other people choose to live their lives. Women priests/bishops and gay priests/bishops are also long-standing pressing issues in the church.

If it does come to it, though:

The CofE can do what religions in this country and others do. Have a ceremony on their terms and have it recognised either by the presence of a representative of the state or in a separate ceremony.

The CofE (pseudo-protestant, headed by the monarch and conveniently allowed divorce)may have had privileges in the UK for historical reasons , but they are not special and are increasingly irrelevant.

ps. The sky hasn’t fallen-in over other countries that allow ‘gay marriage’

What’s the opposite to homophobic without actually being a gay?

Tolerance?

Not concerning oneself with the way that other people choose to live their lives, in ways that don’t cause oneself or other people any problems?

It’s funny that the drama queens think that taking their handbags home is some sort of terrible threat.

In their world it is a terrible threat -probably equivalent to launching a nuclear strike.

They won’t understand that, in the event of “de-establishment”, many people (Non-CofE and possibly CofE) would just shrug their shoulders and carry on with their lives as before.

Others would see it as progress and be quite pleased.

genghispod – Member
it seems to me there are more pressing issues to shout about.

Quite.

Making the small step from civil partnership to homosexual marriage should be a non-issue (The world hasn’t ended in the countries that have already done so). It is being made an issue by ‘the church’.

As a bonus, it’s being hinted that bringing about marriage equality might lead to the separation of church and state. So, win-win.

Unfortunately, this only appears to be the CofE’s main weapon. It appears that they think that ‘the people’ will be scared into opposing gay marriage if they believe that the queen will cease to be the head of the church, the bishops will lose their place in the lords and vicars will have the same status as the clergy of other religious groups when it comes to marriage.

Let’s call their bluff 😉

Maariage and civil partnerships are not the same legally – although its a bit hair splitting definition

I do know this. The difference is small, but it was enough to get it accepted. The final push for the full marriage is the next step.

My registry office wedding to my wife was a partnership recognised by the state, it had nothing to do with any church, “established” or otherwise. It is de facto civil partnership.

The CofE folk on the radio this morning amused/irritated me.

I was a bit confused though…

Does the church just object to the name “civil partnership” changing to “marriage”?

Is the church actually as embracing of homosexuals as they were suggesting they are? Is it still a “don’t ask, don’t tell” or is it ok if you don’t inhale, as it were?

Are the church aware that anybody who currently wants to get married can do so at a registry office(what is a heterosexual union at a registry office if not a civil partnership? Presumably “The Church” don’t recognise it) and not involve the local parish CofE at all?

Does the church think that scaremongering about them losing their “established” status is going to help? Who exactly, other than them, cares if they do lose it? Do they deserve special treatment anyway?

Let’s have a secular republic, re-name civil partnerships to marriage, let the CofE Synod spend the rest of eternity talking about gay bishops behind closed doors with no media coverage and be done with all of this nonsense.

Being ‘okay’ at a few things and having a reasonably good start in life, but so far not really finding my ‘niche’ or having the imagination, talent and dedication to excel.

…to be honest, though, what have I got to complain about compared with most of the world’s population?

Mustn’t grumble.

ps. I did go to the see The White Stripes. Twice. They were rather good 😉

I agree with most people that the hazard perception test is a load of absolute garbage.

However, if it actually makes new drivers think about potential hazards at all, then it may have some merit.

In reality, people (including me when I took it for a bike test, 13 years after passing myt car test and a lot of cycling on the road ) just practise the test to be able to pass it.

One thing that I’ve found having bled many different brakes on various bikes and motorbikes is the importance of getting as much air as possible out of the master cylinder(squeezing the lever quickly and repeatedly, but only far enough to produce a stream of tiny bubbles. When this stops the air has hopefully left the cylinder). The lines can be air free, but an air pocket can sit in the master cylinder which requires compressing before the pistons move.

Push the pistons fully back to squeeze any air out from behind them and rotate the calipers around to dislodge/move any pockets of air.

Check for sticking pistons.

thisisnotaspoon – Member
On a serious note, AM bikes are (generaly) faster downhill than XC bikes, a slow rider would be even slower downhill on an XC bike, so why shouldn’t they ride AM bikes and get the same downhill buzz as everyone else?

Given that ‘most’ people don’t ride anywhere near the limit of the capability of their bike downhill(or even make any attempt to set up any suspension they have) and that technical and downhill riding is mostly about confidence, I reckon that ‘most’ riders would probably be as ‘fast’ downhill (other than the rockiest) on a moderately light, tough hardtail with a decent, medium-travel fork and much quicker up.

They might not be as comfortable as they crash over obstacles though…

Before anybody says it, no, I’m not awesome 😉 I’m quite partial to a technical or fast downhill and like to set my fairly humble bikes up as well as I can. I’m not a fast climber, but I do try to ride uphill as far as I can. Lots of pushing-up to do a small amount of downhilling doesn’t appeal to me much.

Monarchy:

a ‘tradition’ that involves a ‘special’ family (who managed to gain their position in the distant past by various means) being endorsed, funded and provided for most generously by the state for eternity and fawned over to a nauseating degree by many of the common folk of the country, for no apparent reason.

The monarch ‘reigns over us’, but has no (real) power or authority and rarely comments publicly (less is more? -or is it less?) and stays in post for life.

The words duty and destiny are used a lot in association with the various royals.

The bunting and commemorative tat industries benefit most greatly from the monarchy.

As an aside, a surprisingly large number of medals often appear to be worn by some members of the royal family at important occasions

Vive la republique!

Rusty Spanner – Member

I think you’re wrong.

Remembering the past might just help us postpone making the same mistakes again.

I don’t think kids today know enough about WW2 – the allied victory was an amazing achievement.
The principles of freedom and democracy that millions fought and died for can so easily be taken away.
They seem even more precious when you realise how close we came to losing them.

Helped in no small part by the Russian Communist regime, but as you say, kids today don’t know enough about it.

The acceptance of monarchy may be linked with the seemingly British tendency to ‘slag ourselves off’ and to laugh/poke fun at/resist people who attempt things such as reform or forming extreme political movements(This may or may not have anything to do with our political stability)

Royalism/a mis-guided sense of pratriotism/wishing to maintain the status quo/having somebody “who are ours” to look upto or gossip about being the effect rather than the cause?

oh yes, and I use a fairly short cage XT mech.

I’m not sure that the monarchy can claim to be responsible for preventing a revolution in Britain. Monarchs didn’t do much to prevent them in neighbouring countries. We Brits are a complex bunch who moan a lot, but don’t often act upon it. The weather is poor all year-round too. Even when we go out and loot JD Sports en masse in our cities, we stop when it rains.

Of course a race horse breeder is trying to be faster than others. It goes without saying…. It is just another example of the heart-warming, wonderful non-stories being spouted about the queen at the moment.

Thankfully the wall-to-wall sycophantic nonsense from almost all media outlets is almost all over and I’ve managed to avoid most of it.

This morning I was listening to the Today programme on the way to biking and there was a piece about the Queen’s love of horse racing:

She is apparently an expert on horse racing, which is fair enough, and owns horses. Were she not ‘regal’, it was suggested that she may well have worked in horse breeding.

It was said that her ambition was,

“to breed a horse that was, “

wait for it….

“faster than everybody else’s”

-Profound stuff indeed.

I got the impression that Evan Davis was as amused as I was 😉

There’s no black art to it.

I use

Shimano 11-34 cassette
34t chainring (Unramped, can’t remember which brand)-but may change back to a 32t next time for a slightly lower bottom gear for long hills.
DIY Aluminium ‘bashring’
Jumpstop + Blackspire Stinger to keep the chain on

My view that the concept of monarchy has no place in our country in 2012 is my own.

I don’t require any sort of celebrity endorsement of this view.

TandemJeremy – Member

It does amuse me the delusions. Bread a circuses it is indeed and at that it only attracts a small %he population. Many of us see it for the crass waste of money and symbol of servitude that it is

Its just a symbol of times gone by and servitude. Some of us have grown up beyond that hankering for the victorian era

Quite.

If 100s of 1000s of people want to stand and watch a Royal pageant (millions didn’t and I saw a lot of people out and about who were obviously not watching it on TV) , then fair enough, but I’d prefer not to have my country represented and reigned-over as such.

It appears to be some sort of desire to be deferential and servile to a ‘superior’, paternal/maternal being, who are somehow better than politicians by virtue of a system of eternal hereditary privilege. I wonder if there is any connection between monarchists and adherents of religion?

I do not see any logic in it all.

Voltaire et al were of their time. It may suit some people to hang on to quotes from 100s of years ago, but (some) things have moved on since then. You may not have noticed, but France is now a republic, and despite what some blinkered patriots like to think, France is fully-functioning country that is very popular with the British -especially the middle-classes who are probably the least likely group in the UK to be monarchists.

Germany also has no monarch, and aside from the fact that lots of British people still base their view of the country on WW2 propaganda, it also functions well -and I like the place a lot.

No of course not, but would Christmas be safe ?

Who knows? …although the ‘Jesus’ bit could probably be safely removed without many people noticing whilst they buy huge amounts of ‘stuff’, go to the office party and eat lots whilst watching The Great Escape and “The President’s Speech”, so I’m prepared to take the risk.

Zulu-Eleven – Member

Little test – can anyone remember what happened when we tried running the country without a monarch, and with just politicians in charge?
It was before my time, so my memory lets me down…. I suspect that Cromwell (or any other divinely-guided protector) would not return if we tried it again though.

* It could be argued that other countries have managed without hereditary monarchs looking after them, although do feel free to disagree with this.

MSP – Member

Why does there need to be an alternative for the queen, if as we are told by the royalists, her power is theoretical, then the system would remain as is without the theoretical ruler at its head.

If however she actually wields real power, then having that power by a freak of inbred birth has got to be the worst option available in any country that claims to be free.

That’s the thing that I can’t get my head around.

It is as if a large proportion of the population somehow believe that hereditary nature of the monarchy is somehow better and more virtuous than any alternative….

We don’t need a monarch (nothing would happen to the running of the country or the economy, other than short-sighted people possibly flogging their shares, if the monarchy and royalty were disbanded tomorrow). I’d be happy to have a president similar to the Irish model, with the Prime Minister remaining the person who heads the government and ‘runs’ the country with the cabinet.