Can I share a table with someone please? I have some bits and bobs but barely enough to fill half a table…

topeak mini aero wedge, has a nice clip you bolt to the saddle rails rather than cheaper fabric straps, its easy to then clip it on/off as reqd. I can fit a small multitool, spare tube, two tyre levers and a park patch kit, a few quid in lose change and a garage key in mine….

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/topeak-aero-wedge-clip-on-mini-saddle-bag/

Saw him in The History Boys in the West End, his performance was utterly brilliant, held the stage and the audience in his hand, his performance in Withnail is fully deserving of its status too…

http://www.raf.mod.uk/news/archive/incredible-rescue-by-raf-25032013

Regardless of whoever ends up doing this sort of thing, I think we should just be grateful that somebody does it…

The SAR pilots could be recruited from the RAF but there are dozens of highly skilled rotorcraft pilots in the civvie world already, all the police chase helicopters are piolted by civvies for example as are air ambulances.

I dont see the fuss myself, take away the emotive issue and it makes perfect sense. I think people assume there will be a big cosy office somewhere and a man with a radio controlling who gets rescued and what the charge will be if it is deemed a just cause…

“Auntie Doris in flip flops on Snowdon in December?, right Dave, fire up the chopper and lets make some money, dont go too fast, its sunday, we can claim overtime….” or “some frenchman on a trawler with a cut on his head in an atlantic storm? not likely, its the semi final of the snooker in ten minutes……i mean, would love to go but the choppers in for a service”

I think I first read “The Shepherd” by Fredick Forsyth when I was about ten and still remember it being the first book I read from cover to cover in one sitting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shepherd

read up on the “Elevator Pitch” – there will be hundreds of CVs all the same, at that age all they can do is list GCSEs and some out of school activities so follow the elevator pitch structure and structure it completely differently to the rest, describe her skills in a different context rather than her expected results as a list. Hpoefully she has done enough to justify the different approach.

As an example, these are the headings on my CV in order as they appear

PROFILE
A single paragraph on my awesomeness, key achievements etc

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE (short paragraph under each)
-Prince2, APM and similar formal qualifications
-Strong background in development and/or delivery of Simulation and Synthetic Training related projects gained within the Defence domain
-Project planning/scheduling
-Well versed in contract and commercial issues including compliance, quality, pricing and procurement
-Proactive approach
-Diplomatic with excellent interpersonal skills and Conflect Management Experience
-Results orientated
-Ability to prioritise own workload

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Date/Post/Employer

EDUCATION
Date/Qualification/Issuer

INTERESTS
Beer and Mint Aeros

you dont need to test ride a frame before you buy it, thats overkill if you actually do some research and speak to people. Unless you are really lucky You wont get a full ride and ten minutes up and down the street doesnt really tell you much about a bike.

Also, if you are going down the custom route, you cant really test a frame. Say you want a Cervelo S2 as an example, stockists arent that plentiful to begin with and the chances of them having a bike in your your size built up are low. When I bought mine I hunted around and found a 54cm bike in Bath which I tried before deciding that was too small and then bought a 56cm frame.

If you go for carbon, I’d look at the Dolan Ares too, Pro level frame and seriously god value for money…

Definition of stereotype:
A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing

Not necessarily incorrect however ;)

Why those three? as rickon says, they are markedly different frames for different riding though you could do anything on them, they will suit some styles more than others. You could race F1 in a rally car and vice versa but you wont win in either…

With a very borad sweeping brush, the Enigmas will be nice and comfy over long distances by virtue of the frame material, the DeVinci will be stiffer and handle better at speed.

If you are looking for something that will last a lifetime and be perfect for audax/sportives and club rides, I’d go for the Eclipse but also look at the Lynskey Cooper.

For fast road stuff, I’d get a Canyon Aeroad or a Cervelo S2, something like that but only because I know very little about DeVinci!…

Whilst the Extensior will ride beautifully, its very expensive and unless you really something craftsman-esque and are prepared to accept the weight penalty, I cant see much more logic to buy it.

Perhaps everyone should just ride naked then?

sorry for being pedantic but very few of those were actually taken at the Olympics… as far as I remember, it wasnt sponsored by “Spar”… you may as well just post a link to Nuts magazine….

They are very light but I wouldnt worry too much about that, straight pull is common these days and 20/24 spoke count is enough for your weight not to break at the first sign of a pothole. Assume the weak point is the hubs? the danger is they are no name budget ones that wont do the rims justice and be rough.

You could get the same rims on novatec superlight hubs for not much more from a reputable wheelbuilder or for £300, some Campag Zondas which have amazed me in terms of quality and performance since i bought a pair!

http://www.parker-international.co.uk/20305/Campagnolo-Zonda-Black-Road-Wheels.html

Rogan Josh – Member

Ye I agree, far outclasses that Japanese stuff.

You do know most Campag stuff bar Record and Super Record is made in Romania these days… not saying thats any better/worse than Japanese stuff, just makes me smile to think that people still assume Athena and Centaur stuff is cobbled together in Vicenza by some gnarled old Italian who remembers building frames for Coppi as a youngster…

Ultegra are by far the best brakes I have ever used too.

just be careful when comparing bars that the measurements are the same, some companies measure from the centre of the crops to the centre, others from the outside and some bars also turn out on the drops so they are wider at the bottom compared to the top and a centre to centre measurement will be at the widest point…

if you spend a lot of time on the drops, the Ritchey pro logic 2 bars are very comfy and have that kink which gets you in a really aggressive position, £42.36 from Ribble. They were on my Boardman and I liked them a lot. I have alu 3T ergonova bars now which are pricey (£63 from wiggle) but have a nice flat section at the top which is uber comfy for long distances/sportives etc.

we stayed with my brother in law in Seaford then drove to my family in Adelaide via the great ocean road so didnt have to worry about accomodation!

The ocean road is a good trip, hundreds of places to stop and watch the world go by. Lorne and Bridgewater bay are worth it for the stunning scenary. I think we stopped in Halifax (it had a British name!) for the night then went North towards Adelaide via Murray Bridge. its a damn long way but it was an awesome drive as we got to see some inland Australia and drove those big open roads with the road trains…

Too much is made of pronation in my opinion, its poor technique more than anything. A lot of people seem to diagnose over pronation because its easy to spot and easy to resolve using structured shoes with loads of support but that doesnt actually correct the root cause of the problem. Although its not the shops job to correct technique, thats teh root cause of people over pronating. I have Asics Guide 8s now having gone from shop diagnosed over pronating and they recommendation of big chunky Nike things to support the foot. The more I ran however, the more my technqiue improved, the less I now pronate, funny that!….

I dont believe that people over pronate for long, sure they might when they start running but i think most people folow a similar pattern to me if they run regularly.

Structured shoes just stop the arch collapsing, its questionable how much effec this is having to then prevent the impact of pressure as the foot continues through the stride pattern. To me, structured shoes just seem to resovle one issue and push the problem elsewhere in the foot, ankle, shin etc…

Why Running shoes do not work: Looking at Pronation, Cushioning, Motion Control and Barefoot running.

Always end a run/gym with a stretching session, just ten minutes of quads, hamstring stretches etc can make the world of difference. You will recover for your next run quicker and be less prone to injury. as you increase the mileage this will become more important.

I’m in Bristol too, drop me a line and I’ll happily do a few laps with you, think I’m free this weekend… got quite a fondness for the forest of dean at the moment too!

I wonder if its a victim of the odd tax on visiting sports stars that’s apparently keeping the stars away from the uk.

possibly though thats been lifted for this years diamond league events after everyones favourite Tory Olympian had a word in Gideon’s ear….

More likely because there are fewer big athletics meets in the UK to justify it and no football team will ever use it again.

The Alexander stadium in Birmingham is a far better athletics venus and Crystal Palace also has better facilities and rumours are that if the Olympic Stadium does lose the running track, the new owners have to pay for the refurbishment of Crystal Palace to up its capacity…. however, if the Diamond League event sells out in July at the Olympic Stadium, it does lend weight to the argument to keep the running track in situ!

I’m making the Lamb, spinach and potato curry from the Hairy Bikers “Hairy Dieters” book tonight, great cook book and a great (low fat) curry….

The “race bronze” membership is half the cost of the “ride” membership. How have you upgraded? Bronze is for people who just want a race licence the cheapest way possible, surely?

I upgraded in the sense that I now have race license but I didnt really register the price difference meant a reduction in benefits when I applied for it so sure, Bronze is for people who want to race as cheaply as possible (and I appreciate taht i would still need day licence!) whereas i quite like all those extra benefits if I have an accident etc so I’ll happily upgrade…

Thanks for that, had Ride status last year to get all those benefits (amongst other stuff), thought I might try some races in 2013 so upgraded assuming I would retain those benefits, its my fault for not checking but I’ll give them a call and ask if there is a sensible reason why they remove the benefits for Bronze licence holders!

as others have said, being able to ride straight from your garage is the biggest benefit and for me, getting to quiet roads within ten minutes or so of the house. Cars and traffc arent so bad in the quieter areas and there is something nice about climbing big steep hills on a road bike. Looking at your computer and seeing that you have averaged 30 kph on a ride is nice too given you struggle to get half that on an mtb ride. I ride alone too, pick the right route and you can not see anyone for an hour or two.

The Cwellyn Arms http://www.snowdoninn.co.uk has a campsite and is close to the start of the Ranger path so you have a few choices nearby. Its quite a small camping site but you get use of the bunkhouse facilities too. The pub is ok too, gets busy but has good beers.

Anjum Anand’s “I love Curry” book is the only one you need… you can easily adapt them to suit personal preferences and replace the coconut with tomato to retain the heat.

To be honest, having to wade through all the “Its Tuesday, please congratualate me on this photo that I took” thread is far more annoying than the roadie threads but then thats because I am also a roadie and not a photographer. I came up with an ace plan though, ignore the photography threads…. Mrs BristolPablo likes the dog picture threads though so wants those to stay.

the cateye strada is a really nice piece of kit, its probably the best computer before you start getting into the GPS side of things as it does everything that you could need having two trip meters so you can keep one for total and one for individual rides and it has a pace arrow (although its a bit hard to see) which is quite useful.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cateye-strada-wireless-cycle-computer

yeah thou shalt only use thy jersey pockets etc etc… :roll:

I have a topeak mini clip on saddlebag which neatly holds a tube, two tyre levers, a multitool and a pack of park super patches. There is also some cash floating around at the bottom for emergencies. I normally ride circular routes so I am only ever 10-15 miles from home so dont take a phone. My pump has a nice bottle cage attachement so jersey pockets are free for gels and other such nutritional culinary delights.

I bought some Campag Zondas from wiggle for my roadie, general road rides, training, a few sportives and that sort of thing.I’ll even race on them in the summer. I’m 82kgs and they are seriously light (mine are a few grams under the 1555gs quoted by campag), yes they have only 16 spokes at the front and 21 at the back but they seem strong enough not to flex although I havent but too many miles on them yet. The hubs are nicely finished and I’ve fitted them with Conti GP4000s, they pick up and hold speed very well. It does feel weird looking down and seeing so few spokes at the front though and you just have to trust the G3 thing and the hub flange at the back…

Originaly I was looking at the Campag Neutrons which are just superb, light and strong, I was also looking at the Vision Trimax 42s and the Easton EA90s but the Zondas are just very good value for money, they have hundreds of good reviews and a friend of a very similar weight has them and gave them them thumbs up so i wasnt buying them blind.

For £300 you could do a lot worse.

the dark glacier mints are awesome, definately the sweet of choice for long car journeys!

some people may find this controversial but when I am king all venues will employ snipers purely to shoot the people who ruin concerts by getting out their phone to record 2 minutes of crappy footage purely so they can upload it to youtube as soon as they get home… Now i’m old, i let the kids at the front jump around but my view is basically 100s of mobile phone screens. i liked concerts more when there were no mobile phones and everyone was enjoying the band not worrying about getting some grainy footage with bad audio to get some bloody youtube likes…

Kirk Hammetts solo at the end of “the struggle within” on Metallica’s black album is ace…

The burgers at Llandegla are awesome but the bacon sandwiches at the Forest of Dean are also very good. I am a particular fan of the ham, egg and chips at Cwmcarn and the beans on toast at Coed y Brenin are pretty darn good too. In general if there is a good cafe there, its ok with me… :)

OP- deffo recommend a ridgeback. Originally breed for for traveling big distances tracking big game then still be able to put a 200 yrd sprint in at the end. Of course you would have to build up the miles but they are more than capable.

Awesome, he sounds like some sort of Jens Voight cloning experiment gone wrong!

The “AA book of the car” was a classic, published back in the 70s. Its hardback with a silver cover, well worth hunting down.

I am dubious of these “bike fittings” that seem to be so popular at the moment, to me its just another way to get more money out of the new roadies who want to be treated like a pro. Sure a good fit is important and one of these sessions can be useful but nothing is better than going out with a multitool and adjusting things as you ride rather than go.

Fittings also tend to put people on bikes that are too small for them, there is this appeal for the pro look, ie huge amounts of seatpost on display, and people think thats the right position because that what the pros use… so thats the position they think is comfy [/psuedo psychological waffle] To be honest, if you have 56 and they say you need a 54 or even a 55, there is a lot you can do with stem length and seat position to make up that 1 cm. I’d try a new stem first and adjust your saddle every few miles till you find something works. If you are riding sportives, you will be mostly on the hoods so having a bike thats a tiny bit too big wont be an issue comapred to being on the drops.

If that fails, or you really want a new frame, Dolan always have some good suitable frames for long distance, the Tuono and the Hercules are worth a look.

there are a few nice cafes around Nyhaven on Nybrogarde opposite Christiansborg but its also a bit of a tourist trap so you need to be careful and judge places on sight, plastic menu places are best avoided for example. There is a good rooftop cafe in the old post office too, you can see it from the top of the round tower (which is also worth a visit as its got great views across the city)

There is a great cafe on the waterfront on the way to the mermaid, cant remember the name but its a wooden building, its pricey (fish and chips for two, a beer and a juice was the equivilent of £20) but it was ace with a carlsberg on the side and you can sit and watch boats come and go from the harbour. Its near Kastellet which itself is worth a visit. There are some good cafes and bars between there are Rosenborg too and a really good but expensive Italian in Osterbro.

There are loads of good places in Versterbro which is where we stay, one in particular on vesterbrogarde which did ace burgers and proper beer! it had a black wooden door, thats all i can remember, its on the right hand side if you head away from town. There are also some ace ice cream bars around there too.

Get the train to Malmo for a nice day out, its quite a nice little city and you can hire a pedalo for a bimble round the canals. There is a reasonable beach there too and the train is cheap and regular.

Tivoli will only appeal if you have young children or no soul. Its a big fairground, read about it in the guide book but its pricey and full of fast food places.

The Carlsberg brewery is worth a visit, the outdoor barbeque is good and you get a few free beers during the visit.

Christiania is odd, the original ideals of the place are mostly gone now and what was once a peaceful hippy commune is just a drop out wasteland, there are some veggie canteen style cafes but you need to get through Pusher Street first aka “dropout boulevard”….. the wasters just go there because smoking dope is tolerated but there is a fair bit of crime there too. Christiania Bikes is worth a visit just to chat bikes and check out teh cargo designs and there are some good bars and cafes off Torvegarde though before you get to Christianshaven though.

So in a few days, you could see the round tower, kastellet, wander down the main shopping street (Friedriksberg) and wander round rosenborg castle. Then the next day, head the other way have a walk through Vesterbro to the Carlsberg brewery, go through Friederikspark and see the elephants at the zoo (the elephant enclosure backs onto the park) and as a bonus, Friederiskpark is where the most beautiful women in the world go to read and sunbathe and then take a day trip to Malmo…

Copenhagen is a nice, compact city and its safe and friendly. you will need to be up early to get one of the city rental bikes though as they are popular with the locals too, to be honest, its a great place for a bike geek, loads of cool bikes going past, some good shops and a very positive cycling culture and you can alwasy find good coffee and some epic pastries too!

thanks to all the people who organised it and made it happen, no bull, it was udderly great and it was nice to meat lots of like minded people, a good herd if you will. Although it was chilly, it wasnt friesian and i had no beef with anyone overtaking, i know, i’m milking it know but ut have a Cotic BFe and it seemed like a good idea at the time…

meh, I’m still confident my decision to fit tri-bars will come good….

I havent really given much consideration to bike or tyres yet having been preoccupied with the important things like excuses thus having undertaken a rigorous period of assessment and trialled numerous different fancy dress costumes I have finally decided on the most appropriate for the conditions which also has some aero benefits…. and a tail…

Still undecided on mid-race nutrition, yeah I get the benefits of the research developed gels and energy bars but until Torq or SiS start producing gummy fried eggs and fizzy cola bottles then its Haribo all the way. The only problem is having to mix up a bag of star max and tangfastics pre race to get teh right variety. I bet Bradley Wiggins has someone to do this for him (probably Chris Froome… ha ha!)

we were regulars at the fleece and firkin in Bristol so got to hang about backstage with a few cool bands like Rootjoose and 3 Colours Red, Spunge were very amusing too. I’m sure they would have all hung about with horny teenage girls and not skanky long haired sixth formers but thems the breaks!….