poppa – Member
Yeah, it's looking like a goer for my next mid-week day off. About an hour ride on the train from me. Just trying to work out the most pleasant route from a station to the ferry…

From Branksome Station:

Bournemouth direction – Past the 24 hour Tesco – Right hand turn at the Liverpool Victoria roundabout – past Westbourne – past Bransome Beach – short uphill section then through Canford Cliffs – downhill turning left – past car parks with Poole Harbour on your right – continue past all of the megabucks houses, expensive German/Italian sports cars and silicon enhanced platinum blonde second wives til' you arrive at the ferry.

No duty free on board sadly, but there's a shop just before you board if you fancy a Solero.

Can't get it to open as am on government secure internet (not sure about the 'secure', but it's certainly sloooooooooooow), but have you tried:

http://www.bikemoviemusic.com

adstick – Member
In my early biking days they were called both MTB and ATB. MTB stuck.

Except in France where the Académie Française insist upon VTT (Vélo Tout Terrain) and most people ignore them.

C'est la vie.

Nah, some examples from other sports…

Rip Curl Girls/Surf Girl Magazine learn to surf events for women, women only weeks at Woodward Skateboard/BMX Camps, women only weeks at at least three snowboard summer camps I can think of have all been running for at least 10 years.

Although, thinking about it those first two wouldn't be covered under UK law anyway.

The real outrage is that La Senza wouldn't even interview me for that bra fitting position.

Kate Humble?

Just me then! :oops:

Well, the ragtag assortment of rapists, arsonists, heroin enthusiasts and paedophiles that form my client base today are far preferable to some of the types I used to work for!

It just reached a point where the job was utterly predictable. I developed an almost psychic ability to sense who would call about what and when, it was groundhog day and I was running on autopilot. Additionally, being in such a niche area was all very interesting at first, but there was nowhere to go with it. We couldn't defect to a rival because there simply wasn't anyone else doing the same thing. In true JPM style, sensing a captive audience there was a pay freeze and they set about altering the terms and conditions and blah blah blah

I'm sure finance is super for the traders/brokers with their penthouse flats and nightly cocaine fuelled orgies on helicopters with Latvian lingerie models, but most of the back office stuff is tedious in the extreme for pretty modest salaries.

I went from working on behalf of the Trade Bank of Iraq for JPMorgan Chase Bank to working for the probation service, that was quite a change!

The result is, I'm much happier, have a sense of job satisfaction for the first time ever and although the drop in income was pretty steep, thanks to various allowances, getting regraded and the free for all overtime culture on the public sector gravy train I'm actually earning more now than I was then.

Best of all, I don't have to put up with calling New York to beg for permission to reorder printer cartridges and other such nonsense anymore!
I wouldn't have minded, but HQ at 1 Chase Plaza were spending over $100,000 p.a on flowers for their reception.

DirtyLyle – Member
My mate Clare once asked "Have people reached the centre of the earth yet"?

My friends in London are convinced that they live there.

Does anyone remember the televisions series 'Walking with dinosaurs'?

I was watching it one evening with my brother and his girlfriend. A scene unfolded where an injured stegosaurus was lying down beside a lake, slowly dying from wounds sustained in some kind of dino ruck.

I heard a whimpering sound and turned to find my brother's girlfriend in tears. Asking her what the matter was she replied, 'Why don't the camera crew go and help it?'

In the grand tabloid tradition, I made my excuses and left…..

in order to piss myself laughing.

Good call by the OP to finish the silly cow too. Have a wander around the threads here, there'll be someone offering up a sister I'd imagine. If not in chat try the classifieds for a lightly ridden one in good condition

Amy is a lot like my new Commencal…

a lot of fun when the going is easy, but a bitter bloody uphill struggle the rest of the time!

Hairychested – Member

Hang on, you ditched her because of what?!

Multiple counts of being utterly thoughtless and flaking out of dates via text message.

Previous notable instances include:

– Texting me on the morning of my 30th birthday to inform me that she wouldn't be coming to stay as had been rearranged due to the fact that she was 'skint', this from a girl who earns a not unreasonable £25K and lives with her parents rent free.

– Texting me at six on a Friday night to bail out when we were supposed to be going to see Florence and the Machine (yeah, lucky escape…but she loves them and the tickets had been purchased months in advance) due to some frankly incomprehensible existential crisis.

Broken Social Scene were great at ATP Pavement, I'd never seen them live before, but realise what all the fuss is about now.

Unfortunately, I neglected to mention the fact that she is flakier than a brunette reclining in a slowly overflowing free standing bath tub on the upper floor of a 14th century French chateau and true to form has just bailed out, via text message.

This has happened once too often for me, so I've just ended it…at which point she turns on the tears! WTF? You'd wish it would be as simple as having a nice day together in a beautiful city on one of the hottest days of the years, but it never is.

Maybe it's like they say…..men are from Mars, women are from Broadmoor.

I met a guy in Bournemouth's Camel souk bar who was a Walter Mitty on a truly epic scale.

During the course of our conversation he claimed to be an aeronautical engineer, a qualified solicitor, property developer, hotel manager, semi-professional rally driver and kept on hinting at being ex-special forces (he couldn't tell me anything about it though, otherwise he'd have to kill me etc etc).

Of course it could just be that I've lived a sheltered little life, but I can't say I was entirely convinced.

Clovelly springs to mind.

http://tinyurl.com/ykyea7v

You could combine it with Croyde/Woolacombe too.

Edric 64 – Member

Take your bmx on the ramp in Victoria park! that will impress her

I used to skateboard there in my late teens/early 20s, I remember the vert ramp being pretty sketchy.

Okay, I'm going to take her to the Fashion Museum as she's into that sort of thing and should win points…either that or she'll think I'm gay.

piha – Member

It's gonna be a nice hot day tomorrow, so a walk round town centre taking in the sights and end up in the park with a bottle of champers and a punnet of strawberries. Jobs a good un!

The picnic idea is a good one, will have to be alcohol free though as we're both driving.

I suppose there'd be no harm in stopping off at a bike shop…

I'm aware of John's Bikes, but there must be some other bicycle emporiums of fine standing in Central Bath?

Edric 64 – Member

Bath is a really pretty city .Go to The pump rooms for afternoon tea.

Good call on the pump rooms.

Set to be a lovely day, might do the whole open air tourist bus thing before lunch, then let her drag me around the shops before a trip to the Pump Rooms, busker watching in the centre then something else.

Haven't been to Bath in years…any pubs you could recommend?

I fancy an Enduro Comp. Think I'll wait and see what happens to my particular carriage on the Public Sector Gravy Train (Copyright) first though.

I wouldn't bother with the AA.

I told them the fan belt on my Golf had gone, but they just insisted on sitting in a circle bollocking on about how much they could drink.

g-dawg – Member

Shed 7 – Chasing Rainbows

Holy mother of Christ, I'm having a flashback to Hull University Freshers Week 1999!

rusty trowel – Member

Last – Rollins spoken word (sort of a gig), next – New Model Army next month. Yes, i am old.

Funnily enough, I'm wearing my Henry Rollins 'Frequent Flyer Tour 2010' shirt at the moment. Saw him for the third time in Bournemouth in January.

Seeing NMA later in the summer too as I have never seen them before and Green & Grey is one of my favourite songs.

Oh and I've recently turned 30 which I used to think was old, but in STW years it's like being 12!

Back at the old place I saw them all…Roses, Stuffies, Manics, Blur, Neds, Ride, Levs, Senser etc etc

Senser, there's a blast from the past!

A proto-Rage Against the Machine, but from South London for the uninitiated. I've got a copy of Stacked Up kicking about at my parents house somewhere.

Will always remember their blistering set at Glastonbury 1994. I was standing right by Katie Puckrick (who? Exactly)…

Reading the same year:

Sounds very shoegazey to me, have definitely heard it before. Like Swervedriver, but with a better vocalist.

Just remembered….am going to Field Day too, but that's just an all dayer so doesn't really count.

I was never a heavy smoker, but gave up entirely a few years ago.

I've never really been bothered if girlfriends smoke though. For one thing, up until a few years ago about half my circle of friends were smokers. Additinally, a disproportionate number of foxy types seem to have the vice and I've long theorised that girls who smoke are willing to put anything in their mouths.

…sticking with the Pikes.

Been to ATP Curated by PAVEMENT already.

Got Truck (Oxfordshire) and End of the Road (Dorset) still to come.

Really wanted to go to Benicassim, but my friends are all skint, married, old or some combo thereof.

I heard my favourite festival quote of all time at Latitude 2008:

'No India, that's daddy's Yakult!'

:lol:

'Get your Goat' – SHUDDER TO THINK
and…'Fuel for the Hate Game' – HOT WATER MUSIC for when
I drive home after this night shift.

Just tarted my bike up with some of these ultra tasteless yellow Nuke Proof grips…

http://tinyurl.com/28px3v7

Primera – Charminster, Bournemouth.

It's the model upmarket LBS.

I bought a Spesh pump for me and a Spesh multitool for my dad.

If your frame's still in warranty, I'd think twice but other than that I'd crack ( ) on.

It's a Commencal, so I may be tempting fate!

nedrapier

Bonus point for doing it in flip flops, thereby increasing the danger quotient by at least 50%.

RIP Lieutenant Richard Palmer (The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards)

19/03/1979 – 15/04/2006

Thanks for the replies.

I really like the Pikes, I was tempted by Revs, but was under the impression that they might not stand up to as much abuse. Additionally, I know less than nothing about fork maintenance so figured something coil based might be easier to keep in running order….just been on the Rock Shox website and yeah, the weight saving would be considerable.

Am looking at wheels/tyres now.

namastebuzz

A salient point re: pies, I could do with shifting a few pounds from my own frame!

nickjb

Point taken re: the two bike solution. Was considering getting a cheap and cheerful Marin or something like that, but I'm in a houseshare at the moment and my room is already jammed full of snowboards, surfboards etc so it's a non-starter for the time being.

Realise this particular bike will never allow me to compete with the racing snakes, but that's not really the aim. Just want to make it a tad lighter for recreational xc. Fitness wise I'm some way off entering Mountain Mayhem et al right now!