This is mine. I’m not a jewelry wearer either and this took a lot of getting used to, though I never take it off now. It started out being polished shiny on the third below the groove, and abraded to a dull satin like finish above the groove. This lasted about a week, until too much working on machinery had scratched and scuffed it into it’s present rather battered state. Much prefer it like this. (’tis Platinum by the way).

(Crap phone pic)

Stanley looks very cool. I fancy getting a Bedlington if we decide on having a second dog, or a lurcher maybe.

She’s a Patterdale Terrior – a breed meant to chase a fox for hour after hour, then sit at bay down it’s hole with it to try and drive it out, or eventually rip out it’s throat

GRRR!
Cool, I want one

But most of the time she sits there looking impossibly cute, and smelling a bit funny.

Edit – I guess what I mean is that somewhere deep, deep inside her tiny little mind, that instinct is sat there wiating to drive her forwards one day. Not at all meant in “look at my little aggro dog” kind of way.

My dog measures nearly a whole 13 inches tall (just ckecked)! and I wouldn’t trust her with sheep. She’s a Patterdale Terrior – a breed meant to chase a fox for hour after hour, then sit at bay down it’s hole with it to try and drive it out, or eventually rip out it’s throat. This means that she is very, very quick, has stamina, a certain amount of aggression and likes to chase things that run.
Because of that instinct to chase she is more than capable of causing a sheep to abort even if she were to come back pretty quickly when told. She also, I reckon, could have the throat of a sheep out without too much hassle – she’s never going to be able to remove it’s jaw, but she could kill.
I just can’t understand other dog owners who genuinley beleive that there dog would never hurt anything. They all have some purpose to their breeding, maybe way back, maybe they’ve never been working dogs, or their parents, but that instinct is still there. Fortunately my little dog has never shown the slightest interest in sheep since she was very young when she learnt a bit of a lesson, but that is enough for me to make sure that if there is stock around (or I think that there is a chance we might meet some round the next corner) then she is on a lead. I’ll just have to walk further before she can get a run.
I don’t want to have to go home and explain to my wife that my lack of responsibility has led to the death of my dog for worrying.

TPWS stops the train after passing a red signal

Does it? I seem to remember being asked to sit next up front to verify every signal to the driver when this got switched off for whatever reason. (This was nearly 15 years ago though)!

15 years ago and I’m thinking of AWS aren’t I.

TPWS stops the train after passing a red signal

Does it? I seem to remember being asked to sit next up front to verify every signal to the driver when this got switched off for whatever reason. (This was nearly 15 years ago though)!

Sitting in the cab knowing that if some pillock decides to jump in front of your train you’d not be able to stop for a mile or so!!

Yes, the driver gets to see it happen, but as a Guard, it was my job to walk back and see what was left of them! Fortunately in my short time on the trains I only ever got sent back once, and the bloke had managed to get out of the way of the train (taking a shortcut rather than suicide) before being sucked back down the embankment and hitting the side of the train at the very back. I’d heard it happen but didn’t see anything and by the time I’d walked back the bloke had limped off. He was found in hospital later on with broken ribs, arms, a leg and a punctured lung, yet probably the luckiest man alive – had we been a 4 car rather than a 3 car train (which we should have been) he’d have got wrapped up in the bits and bobs underneath the train. That would not have been pretty.

Be prepared to queue for the cathederal. We were there in early december and it would have been a couple of hours to get in (we did find out that it was some sort of holiday weekend though). The Alcazar is ace, well worth it, as is the Exposition building. Otherwise we just mooched around and dodged the rain by eating and drinking too much!

Many, many moons ago when I was young and stupid (and Brave)! – The dashboard of a car.
Riding along minding my own business when a chav mobile pulls up alongside me and I turn to look to see what they’re doing, as you would, to get gobbed at, right in the face by the passenger.
Well, 200m later, the car is sat behind others at a red light, and seeing as it’s sunny, the sunroof is open. You see where this is going, yes? Well, stand up on the pedals, lean over, aim and fire all over the dashboard!
Not big, not clever.
Jumped the red light, pedalled like fury, and hid behind the petrol station for 30 minutes, terrified that they might come looking for me.

As I said, when I was young and stupid.

I seem to be one of the few here who does actually bring my dog to work. Most days she’s happy in my office (which I don’t share – who wants to sit in a scrotty old Portakabin in the workshop when there’s plenty of proper posh office space)? We’ve a large yard where she gets to play with ballonastring a fair bit during the day, and gets a proper walk every morning. If I’m out and about, sometimes she comes with me, sometimes not – depends on the customer I’m seeing, how long she’d have to spend in the car/van/lorry, and the premeses I’m visiting. She seems a contended little soul.
When she was a tiny puppy, she was prone to making a noise when I was on the ‘phone, meaning I often had to make calls from the workshop instead, but she’s pretty much grown out of that, and she’s never really been a chewer (one invoice as far as I can remember).
I do have to be aware that not everybody at work likes her, and can act appropriately around her, so sometimes have to carry her through the other offices to get outside, just to make sure she causes no one any greif, but it’s just being a little sensible really.
We simply couldn’t have a dog if she couldn’t come along with me as we both work fairly long hours, so it’s needs must.

Aye, brilliant and very friendly ride. Thanks to Pook for organising, and apologies to those I never spoke too. Hope the Pub was good!
Ben, Black/White Cotic.

Mine arrived eventually, very good it is too. However I can see the problem with people not getting issue 62, as mine claims to be issue 61 November 2010. (I’ve just checked the online version to make sure I’m right too)! So maybe nobody will get issue 62?

Or has this been pointed out before and I never noticed?

I like my Snooper (S2000) i think. Easy to use, big enough screen and the traffic updates are pretty acurate. The traffic thing is via an extra little ariel stuck on your windscreen and is free as far as I know (I’ve paid for spped camera updates though). One thing though, if you want to use the hands-free thingie, I’ve found that you really do need the (added cost) microphone, or people can’t hear you.

Slightly unrelated, but I also have a Snooper 3zero camera detector that detects bt GPS and by actually sensing live cameras and find that really good.

Was looking really good here near Huddersfield, until I got to work (in a valley) and now can’t see a thing!

Have to agree with PG, it’s not as good as before, but still way better than pretty much anything else.

One of the best things on radio, ever. Even better now it’s on in the evenings so I’m less likely to forget it’s on!

My company sells really big Microwave (and Radio frequency for that matter) ovens for tempering meat. If you were thin enough (and bypassed the safety circuits) then yes, you could get inside, you’d take about 20 minutes to be done, well, from -20 to about -2 at any rate. Also, sticking your fingers in the control cabinet could get you a belt of 19000V, which would also warm you up nicely.
The emissions levels for these things are set so as not to upset mobile phones. The safe emission levels for people is much higher!

I agree with iDave, I really enjoy the whole affair. Planning it, booking stuff, the actual travelling and just being in wherever I’ve been lucky enough to turn up.
The only thing I detest though is Easy Jet/Ryanair and Charter airlines, quite how they manage to make the whole experience such a miserable hassle is beyond me! Air France/Lufthansa whoever don’t give me any more leg room, don’t check in less people per plane yet it always seems so much more relaxed.
I’ve had some amazing times and seen some amazing things that simply wouldn’t happen without the travel. Yes, it is nice sometimes to stop at home for a few days, but there’s always stuff to be done and never feels like a holiday to me.

I’ve got a 909 Euroclassic G5, and can’t fault it apart from the price! It’s rock steady at speed and allthough I’ve never yet used the 4th bike adaptor, it’s fine with 3 on it.
It’s one of the clamp on the tow ball affairs and it tightens up dead easy – it’s either on or off, you can’t get it wrong (tempting fate somewhat).
They do tilt when loaded, even with the 4th adaptor.


I don’t trust the lock on the clamp though, I use an extra lock to lock the bikes together, and if parking up somewhere, a cable through the bikes and into the back of the car.

Being a Pajero, rather than a Shogun, doesn’t that mark it out as an import, and therefore maybe a genuine 2002 vehicle? Or did it arrive in the UK in 2002?
Feel free to prove me completley wrong!

My company used to run the LWB version as a company car for one member of staff who towed a lot. MPG was low 20’s at best, high teens at worst. Felt like you were driving a sky scraper with the body roll (we had big vans that cornered better). Steering was a lottery as to what actually happened at the wheels after you’d turned the steering wheel. Performance was lower than the vans we were running at the time. But the biggest problem was only the guy who’s car it was could get comfortable in it, the rest of us would have back ache after 90 mins – it was simply the most uncomfortable vehicle I’ve been in! (and I’m comparing this to making journeys like Yorkshire to Inverness in a Ka, or Yorkshire to Germany in a van). Oh, the turning circle made multi storey car parks a joke too!

I can only assume that they must be awesome offroad ‘cos apart from the towing capacity I can’t see why anyone would ever buy them.

We refused to get the guy another when it came to replacing it as we couldn’t justify the fuel costs.

One plus point, it covered nearly 300000 miles and never had any major issues, so I spose longevity is good.

Don’t let me put you off though!

I’ve got that 2.0 170 engine in a Seat, and as much as I like driving it I would try and avoid another DPF equipped car in the future. The 3000revs, 10 minutes thing varies according to who you speak to, I think the handbook says to do this at 50mph, the Seat dealer gave me instructions for doing at 35mph and 2000revs for 20 minutes. The reason I know this? The car flashed up the DPF warning light, so I did my best to drive as it said in the handbook (not easy when coming over the Strines road), until the light went off. The following day the light returned and within 2 minutes a whole host of other warning lights as the engine started to shut down. It ended up with about 15% of the power it should have and even getting to the garage was an effort in route planning ‘cos it couldn’t get up hills!
The Seat dealer did a “force reset” on it which they tell me they can only do once, before it would need replacing at a cost of many hundreds of pounds. This is when I got given the instructions on how to regenerate it, but with the advice that outside temperature/rain etc can affect whether it will work or not as too hot, or too cold (engine spinning too fast, too slow, too much/not enough cooling air passing the DPF) can all mean it won’t go through the cycle and you’ve no way of knowing if you’ve hit the sweet spot until after 10 minutes the light may go off.
The annoying thing is that the DPF is there to reduce emissions yes? yet my boss has a BMW520d, so same size engine, pulling a heavier car around, putting out less pollutants, using less fuel and is quicker!
Having been told by someone with the same engine in a Golf to rev the trolleys of it to clear the DPF, I’ve been doing that for a few months now and (tempting fate here) that seems to work – though it really does need to be revved hard and not just for a few seconds at a time.

I actually do use Wheelspin, and like it, but I’m pretty sure that out of all my riding buddies and club mates, there will be only one or two others that ever venture in.
I think I can see why people don’t like it/him, but I’ve always had excellent service, never pay over the odds, and very importantly, if my wife is buying something it is her that gets talked to not me, which is something a lot of bike shops could learn to do.

Saw a band called Bombscare at a festival during the summer who were excellent – no idea what they sound like on a recording mind…

Yes, Colne Valley has closed. (No great loss in my opinion)! Otherwise, Huddersfield has Velocity, Wheelspin and Try Cycling is on the scenic route to Wakefield.

Marmite at Chatsworth.

Marmite doing triathlon training.

I’d have thought you with your ability to spin out 44/11 would appreciate not lugging around several pounds of totally pointless weight on the bike

Is that aimed at me?

Had never thought of DT rims, but they are UST?
Looking like it’s going to be Stans/Hope after all, the Mrs will have to cope with folk thinking I’ve got here a cheaper version of my own bike! (Amazing how many people assume that being a girl, she couldn’t possibly have chosen her own spec and set up)!
The big advantage for me is that Stans/Hope could be built in my LBS and experience of their wheels is very good.
Thanks for all the pointers.
(and I hate to say it, but I just couldn’t bring myself to buy Superstar)

Yeh, will steer clear of Shimano hubs, as generally I tend to think “oh, they’ll be ok for one more ride yet”, then end up with knackered hubs.
Mint’s wheel looks like it’s going to be heavier than I’m looking for. Maybe I should have put a little more detail in the original post!
So, no Shimano hubs, reasonably light weight and similar in price to Stans/Hope as that’s all the pennies I’ve saved.
I’ve been told that the higher end Bontrager hubs are actually DT made, anyone know if this is true?

Mint – I’ll be in touch about riding,

Thanks for the replys so far. Maybe I should point out that these are for a Hardtail, and whilst I’m no xc Whippet, I’m under 12 stone and ride fairly light, so maybe don’t need anything too burly.

The wind turbine? Don’t know, but seems a shame after they illuminated it. Think I might have heard that they’d had planning turned down to replace it (though I might be making that up)!

I’ve got (and love) a Gaggia classic. Don’t find it too much hassle in the mornings either. Also use a stovetop jobby when camping, I’ve made a little adaptor so I can use it on Trangia.

Surf-Mat is right about how others do it all so much better though.
The picture shows what we were served in Buenos Aires when we asked for two coffees (nothing more).

Coffee? but of course it comes with cake, juice and water sir!
(try that in Starbucks and it’ll cost a lot more than the £2 we paid there)

Quite liked the Iveco last time I was looking for a new company van, but went for another VW as reliability has been excellent on all the ones we’ve owned. Current large van is an LT35 (not crafter) MWB HR with 158 engine that has done nearly 450,000Km, mainly loaded, often towing. Plenty of room in the back for me to stand up (6′) just have to remember that the doors are a little shorter!
Other LT’s and Transporters we’ve owned have all done spaceship mileages with very little going wrong considering. The one Merc we tried (offered a very good deal) was awful, new engine by 100,00Km and scrapped by 150,000Km.
VW’s used to be priced much cheaper than the equivelant Merc, but seemed to have a price hike recently.

Cheap M and S thing for everyday, and a Paul Smith one for when I don’t need a months worth of expenses receipts in it.
Have just followed one of those links above to the PS site. Flipping Eck they’re expensive, no wonder my missus was so annoyed when she thought I’d lost the one she gave me! Another case of wallet worth more than contents!

Hurt, the Jonny Cash version definately. First song I heard after learning of a friends death in a paddling accident.

Perhaps I shouldn’t admit to this one (Leonard Cohen), but dodgy videos aside…

Sorry, cant work out how to get the video to sit here…

I'm the other "rider"! I was so suprised at actually bumping into someone I knew – almost literally when she stopped, that I ground to a halt.
I think it was you putting me off, I rode that bit the other six times, like the rocky bit before the stream crossing later on, only fluffed when you were taking me piccy!
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Maybe it's not still available, but I've got a Bell Sweep XC – removeable peak. Basically cost's a tenner more than one without. I did find, mind, that Bell helmets fit, and Giro's don't despite being made by the same company according to my Lbs.

Dropped my Ipod into a snow drift, where it spent 3 days until the thaw revealed it – popped it on a cool radiator for a day before switching on and it's been fine since!

We have a Dunsley Highlander 5 multi fuel (not Defra approved for smokeless), and today work has started on installing a Charnwood Cove in the other room (also not approved for smokeless), but I think both companies make Defra approved versions.
We are happy with the Dunsley, but didn't want to have the same stove in both rooms. We did look at the Morso Squirrel, but it would have looked too small in position. (The Charnwood is on some kind of stand)
Price for the Cove, including ripping out the existing fireplace, lining chimney, new hearth, installing the stove and some sort of sandblasting type treatment of the existing stonework is going to be nearly 3 grand (gulp)!
Defra approved woodburners get the approval by not having a fully closeable top vent, so you have less control and can't leave it overnight and expect it to still be going in the morning.

Always wanted, but never owned, some Kona – I think they were called Dr Dews, brake lever extensions, they pointed forwards from your existing levers. The idea was that you could still use your brakes, whilst on you bar ends!

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