I've just read The Beckoning Silence in which he writes a lot about the Eiger. It's a good read and has a bibliography with lots of recommendations for other books on the subject.

How does a penguin open a door anyway?

Bill Brandt

Eddie Merckx reckoned it took him a month to recover from the Tour and a year to recover from the hour record. Ton go and ask Eddy just how tough mentally and physically you have to be to even attempt that record.

Nice Nico but Old git surrey will have dozed off by the time he gets to page 2 of this

Go for a ride! just how many homeless people could you feed if you sold that bike? You have some really big problems but whether to go out for this meal or not isn't one of them.

De Havilland Comet until they lost the rectangular windows and called it Nimrod.

Goan I hope your not paying tuition fees. Your not at the University of East Anglia are you?

Wait for the rush of people wanting to give free advice to someone on £100K + a year. :)

This is quite useful although it doesn't have the Alfine listed.

My wife is also a full time TA after doing some voluntary work at the local school. She has responsibility for 2 difficult cases working one to one with one in the morning and the other in the afternoons. She finds it hard going at times but really rewarding. As part of her training she recently spent a day at the local LSU and despite a few missiles flying her way she thinks it might be somewhere she wants to work in the future. It might be an idea to see if you can get some voluntary experience first.

No but libraries do.

Thinking

It even comes with a Spanish waiter.

I'm hoping it's going to get colder so the mud freezes. My commute is hard work at the moment just because the ground is so soft, it feels like I'm dragging an anchor around. The puddles had started to ice over this morning but most of the ground was still really soft.

Jamie have you tried the light off road? I'm looking for something that will replace a couple of 10W Cateye halogens that I'm currently using for the off road commute. I have a Son hub so the dynamo option supernova is attractive but the specific off road E3 triple is over budget.

Everyone believes in some things that are not true. Don't worry about it.

Home made no cheese – if you can call it a pizza

F1 – a sport followed by men who like to wear smart casual who aren't fit enough to make it around a golf course.

I see a gap in the market for people who can fix cars and have the right tools to do it before they start. Anyone think that might be worth following up?

Only thing I'd add is using rising butt hinges as they make taking the doors on an off for checking a lot easier. My old house was built in 1866 and there wasn't a straight line or square opening to be found so I imagine you'll be facing similar issues.

You say you are a Financial Services Salesman and that you have done nothing wrong. I think I see the problem.

It must take a lot of practise though to make sure you've always got a strap swinging in front of the lens! I think the helmet mounting is always going to give you a steadier shot as well as the option to film more than your front wheel.

Where can I buy a print? It would take pride of place above the fireplace.

Yes which is why nearly all my riding is on the way to or home from work. I'm lucky in that the shortest route is 6 miles and 5 miles of it is off road. When the evenings are lighter and the weather a bit nicer I often extend it. If I get some better lights I might start riding further in the dark as well.

Talk to SJS and get their recommendation as I don't think they use the standard set on their own builds. My Thorn Catalyst is over 3 years old now and must have done 10,000 miles on it's original cables with no maintenance at all.

1986 – Specialized Rockhopper
1988 – Roberts White Spyder frame
1998 – Marin East Peak
2006 – Thorn Catalyst

I've ridden one in the past until the bearing retaining clips were ground away to nothing. A stripped crank thread and having to wait for a spare from the US meant riding it for quite a while while it felt very rough. It never seized though.

If it requires wellies I just get a peasant to do it for me.

Depends on whether I switch the light on or not.

It's starting to look like you are. I can't offer any more useful insight as there are no frames that are far too small for me.

Well yes blowing up the moon might stop the tides but just imagine watching it go bang. And given enough time it might put itself back together again, after all it started as as a pile of hardcore orbiting the earth.

Couldn't we just blow up the moon and use the bits. Moons are dead common really a ring would be a big improvement. I've also got quite a bit of hardcore on the drive at the moment that I'd be willing to contribute.

Look around you. Do you actually see anyone whose really knows what they are doing, not just pretending they do. Thought not.

Anything on the Odur forks in all that info. I get the feeling that mine will need a service at the end of a second winter of off road commuting. As a budget fork I really don't think that they justify the cost of sending them away so I'd like to do it myself.

Have you tried dressing to the left?

Uncle Fred try Game 11982.

If you free at the weekend you don't fancy popping down to Brighton do you as my back fence needs looking at. I could do it but I want to get on with building a raised deck. I've got all the materials and you won't even have to mix any concrete by hand as you can use my mixer.

We had one at work for 7 years or so. Not a single mechanical problem in all that time and I always found it good to drive. But and it's a very big but the body work is dreadful. They just rust before your eyes. I understand they were built and painted in Spain at the time we bought ours, 2001, but I think that changed later. If you do go for one check very carefully for signs of a respray hiding all the rust.

So you always have to have something at just the right height to lock your bike to.