I was in the Olympic Park watching the Mens Keirin on the big screen when Sir Chris won which was quite special.

My favourite(s) though were when we used to go to the F1 qualifying in the late eighties/early nineties when it was just a single hour session and they would go out with super sticky tyres and everything turned up to 11. The Senna/Mansell/Prost battles in the last five minutes were incredible! The cars had the perfect balance of too much power and just enough grip!

I do 5km quite often but only because my gym did a challenge at the following distances;
100m
500m
1000m
2000m
5000m
…and I won the 5km challenge! . I think my “winning” time was something like 18:35. I quite like it to be honest, I set the pace boat at around 1:47 and just sit there but its a good distance, enough to start aching, not enough to elave you too tired to then do something else.

I have done 10km once to see how much different my run time compared for the same distance which was interesting. Running, my pb is 44:51 and I think I rowed it in about 39:50.

this is my favourite (road) climb, its a proper lung buster, the steep section through the copse is always slippery and there is no let up right to the end! shut up legs!…
http://app.strava.com/segments/1019230

there is a train (RB14 or RE7) from the Schonefeld airport to the centre of Berlin which is cheap and easy. They are roughly every half hour from platform 3 or 4 from the Flughafen station which is about 5 minutes from the airport arrivals. its a Deutsche Bahn service and there are ticket machines in the station but they have english instructions.

havent done the marathon but it starts and finishes at or close to brandenburg gate from the website so if you can afford it, you owe it to yourself to stay at the Hotel Adlon but there are loads on Unter der Linden…. enjoy!

their underground (U-bahn) is awesome, fast and efficient and way cheaper than london too.

I cant believe that Chelmsford 123 hasnt been mentioned! Jimmy Mulville and Rory McGrath were brilliant in it, McGrath particularly.

Nightingales is fantastic too, well worth hunting that down.

I bought the Peep show box set series 1-6 from HMV recently which was really good, i kept missing it when it was on so it was nice to watch it all in a week!

Game On was also quite good but then maybe that was just because it had Samantha Janus in it and I was 14….

My favourite ever tv comedy though was Bottom… 30 minutes of complete anarchy!

i hope the guy gets the bike back but i can not believe i just read all that… it really is time for bed….

easily the most violent gig i have ever been to, cant remember who they were supporting but we thought it looked quite tame as we were waiting for them to come on stage, then within seconds, loads of old school punks turned up at the front, climbed the lighting rig, kicked off a massive circle pit and generally tried to injure themselves in as many different ways as possible…. it was ace!

Metallica on the Master of Puppets tour, before Cliff Burton died and still on the way up.

Rocket From The Crypt on their first UK tour.

Doom and Gloom by the Rolling Stones makes me want to stab my ears. planet rock is off for the next week or two until this drivel goes away and the Stones love-in is over.

I was lucky enough to have a guided tour of the mine with Roly who was in the documentary and one of Mark’s oldest friends. Roly talked about Mark a lot during the tour and was a really good ambassador for the mines activities and the project. The documentary didnt show Mark at his best when confronting the protestors but the Council leader was spot on when he declared their opposition to be based on not wanting to spoil the landscape and to keep it looking pretty for the walkers and effectively keeping everyone else out of the lake district.

Mark had some awesome ideas for old parts of the mine including a recording studio and theatre. Think of the Minack Theatre in terms of an equivilent atmospheric setting but 100ft underground with the potential for total darkness!…

we built an inukshuk just off the path, if anyone sees it, let me know its still there…

Toh Kay aka Tomas Kalnoky from Streetlight Manifesto and originally Catch 22.

check out the Streetlight manifesto stuff, fast lively ska punk sort of stuff, then check out his version of the songs played acoustic. the man is a genius.

TooTall – never knew about the custom OS map, thats brilliant!

havent got an OS map to hand but there are some awesome white roads, RUPPs (are they still called that?!) and By-Ways around Pensford. I get there from Keynsham via Stockwood Vale, then through Publow to Pensford (good pub and little village shop!). From there head west towatrds Stanton Drew, Chew Magna, Dundry and back into town. I appreciate its not quite what you wanted but a half an hour with the OS map is all you need. At this time of year it will be proper filthy and ‘ardcore!

isnt there a branch of Bike Science in Sheffield? they have a place in Bristol that seems to get good feedback.

I marshal a lot at parkrun in Bristol and I have to say its a great buxzz seeing all these people on at Saturday morning ready to run. Its a tough course but we have runners finishing in under 18 minutes through to 45 minutes… just turn up and get amongst it. You just need to register first and take your barcode. Then you have a pb and the fun starts, its just you against you. Its always very friendly and a few coaches turn up from the local clubs so you can always have a word afterwards.

your local running shop may also do guided training/group runs, especially now as it gets closer to cross country season. They should also be able to advise on footwear and training plans.

Finally, a stretching session instead of a run will do you just as much benefit. learn the basics and spend an hour or so once a week stretching the muscles. it will help combat cramp and aches whilst running as well as reduce the risk of injury

if they are genuine zipps they are about £1500 per pair rrp.

seems odd that he has a load of nice kit, Zipps, 3T etc to throw at a deng fu frame. i know a good few people have built up deng fus on bike radar and said they ride ok but they normally appreciate them for what they are and dont stick top of the range components on them. Although some people make big claims that the frames are from the same mould/factory as the big brands, use the same carbon/layering etc but i suspect thats somewhat delusional.

Menchov has been linked with doping throughout his time at Rabobank, 2005-2010. Like others have said, Moncoutie is one that a lot of people refer to as “the clean one” but after the revelations regarding Zabriske and Hincapie, I wouldnt be surprised if there are rumours arising now about a fair few people racinga round that time or of the “right age”, Sandy Casar, O’Grady etc. Lemond I doubt was clean, even Fignon dabbles according to his book.

I would say that the Brits were/are clean bar Millar. Boardman and Obree came from a track background which I understand has always been better regulated comapred to the road. Also the need to dope in Track cycling is removed given the distance of the races is 10km max. In “put me back on my bike” Barry Hoban says that they all knew it was going on on the continent and that Simpson was hugely invovled in it but it juts wasnt a British thing and PEDs didnt feature at any level of British racing from club to international.

I have no doubt that Wiggo, Cav et al are clean.

Cornwall, somewhere on the coast around Sennen or Zennor but then I’m a roadie at heart….

sportives can be hit or miss at the moment, some are almost races, others are like family outings. the early/late season ones do tend to be a bit more “focused” compared to the charity ones in the summer. Where there is a charity element to it, the whippets seem to be put off and its a more leisurely sort of crowd.

So even though Russia and China have joined the carrier club it will be a few years until these assets can really became an effective tool though the way things are going out here I can see China sailing it around a few contested areas very soon.

Russia have been “members of the carrier club” for years, it was launched in the mid 80s but wasnt operational for a further 10 years accoridng to wikipedia. needless to say due to Russian build quality in the 80s and a lack of money for upkeep, its now very tired…. it was around Scotland late last year sheltering from storms in the North Sea

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8956262/Russian-warships-park-30-miles-off-Britain-to-shelter-from-storm.html

The Sea of Aden and surrounding areas is a big place and North African pirates are now active as far as 500 nm from the shore. Needless to say there is a fairly heavy military presence including UK, US and Russian navies.

QEC is coming on well, the thing to remember is that there is loads of stuff being fitted inside the blocks before its all joined up. So although it looks like its just a big block, its a lot more advanced in build than the pictures suggest. The first eight members of the Ship’s company joined earlier this month too.

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/News-and-Events/Latest-News/2012/October/02/121003-Queen-Elizabeth-Crew

HMS Albion is in extended readiness with Bulwark and Ocean carrying bootnecks around the world… I think Rusty Lusty is alongside having some flight deck refurb work.

i started because i couldnt afford a racing car, now I have spent pretty much the same as a racing car on bikes but wouldnt have it any other way…

http://www.pieminister.co.uk is what keeps Bristol going….

matthewspb – Member

@BristolPablo -was that in the section after the transition on the first rocky steps bit (new barn?)? If so that was me careering into your rear tyre with my face! No harm done. All good fun!

:oops:

one guy just came flying past me shouting “LEADER!”, he may have been first or last i couldnt really care but it was quite effective so i threw myself into the bushes! I guess the fact that he was gone a second later would kinda indicate that he was going to be competitive. it did have a slightly more relaxed atmosphere comapred to june though.

ah well, we had fun and i only caused one accident this time – apologies to the guy on the specilaised epic who tried eating my rear tyre as a result – I was victim in another – though to be fair the rocky berm was slippy and i was a bit too close to the guy in front- and then had a third accident all by myself albeit infront of a photographer, i suspect my “take a picture now and you are going to regret it” face ensured that moment will remain between just the two of us…

i need to find out where i am losing time on that course too, the first bit of singletrack after the transition felt ok, i know i am pretty fast on the second section which brings you out by the gate house so I assume its that section after the long climb following the zig zag descent and before the quarry section.

finally the maxxis ignitor tyre was superb on the front, saved my on more than one occasion where i exceeded the limits of my talent and needed some divine intervention to keep me upright.

the cats protection league will take it off you if you dont want it, they will neuter it and find it a home. if you do want to keep it, they will offer loads of advice. take it to the vet if you havent already done so as they will scan it for a chip though the CPL will do this too.

now bask in the karma and await your puncture free winter… :wink:

pastrami and rocket on wholemeal rolls. i fear i may be demonstrating certain social class traits at this point but i would like to stress the following;
i have no children called archie, arthur or isabella
i shop at tesco not waitrose
bordeaux is a sprinters stage and not a wine region……

to quote Bob Marley
“Sun is shining, the weather is sweet, yeah
Make you wanna move your dancing feet now
To the rescue, here I am
Want you to know, y’all, can you understand?”

or rather, its not raining in Bristol today.

if it helps anyone not local, we had close to an inch of rain in Bristol today, more expected overnight but its supposed to be dry tomorrow and saturday…

If it were me, I’d seriously conisder Manchester. Its a good uni, an ace city and having the velodrome nearby cant harm your academic opportunities to get some fantastic experience.

of your choices, Sheffield for the student lifestyle, Loughborough in relation to the course and your ability to make contacts and get a good job post graduation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mljet
Miljet is a nice quiet island, use the jardolina line passenger ferry. its convenient and much cheaper than the tourist ferries. the office is in the big harbour the other side of Lapad, itself a nice beach and worth a visit. there isnt much there but its a nice walk, there is a supermarket near the ticket office for a picnic stop

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lopud
Lopud is another nice island, the ferry drops you off on one side, but walk to the other side following the path signposted to the beach, if you are brave, you can swim in the sea but it might be chilly….

when we were there, kayak tours were the big thing so there might be some still running despite teh tourist season finishing. we never did it but the walk to the top of the big hill is a good trek and offers great views.

you can spend a day just exploring the old town and drinking coffee. just avoid the cruise liner parties, they descend on the place form about 1030 to 1630 and there are groups of 50-100 just wandering around the town. its hellish but given the time of year there may be a reduced number. we went in september and there were always tenders coming and going.

cant remember the name of the island just off the coast, its quite small and favoured by german nudists and home to some truly evil peacocks…

there is a great little pizza place called barracuda in the old town too, its worth a visit and dead cheap. other than that, its fish for supper….

i did the clay pigeon trap operator thing as well, it was hell.

loads of people you wouldnt normally trust with scissors are given a shotgun and told to point it at the sky and shoot things. I was behind a single piece of corrugated tin firing off these damn clays praying to god each time i heard the gun cock.

the worst traps were the ones that fired the clay vertical straight, if they missed it, you had to dodge out of the way. they had another trap that was on top of some scaffolding, it was so badly put together that when you released the clay, the scaffolding would wobble. Health and safety would have had a field day at that place…then we had to go around picking up the ones that they missed and hadnt racked on impact.

I have also had to interview bankupts straight from the court, not odd per se but pretty wierd experience as you sit infront of them cutting up their credit cards and asking about the value of their house, their car, savings etc etc

I’ll be there with the other half of “100% British BFe” in the 8 hour race, we’re riding um, well, BFes…. :) I was up there on Saturday morning and it was ok, a bit wet in places but it still seems to drain really well. I’ll ride up there one evening and see if those mounds of dirt are there, thats going to make that climb interesting for sure…

Kingsway Hall Hotel in Holborn is my favourite hotel in London, quite indulgent but really very nice, http://www.kingswayhall.co.uk but the Gouman on the Strand is almost as good and a bit cheaper http://www.gouman.com/charing-cross

obviously london nights, late rooms etc are a good bet for cheap rates at either

you just need to go into the store, say you’ve changed your mind and they refund it. its not a hassle.

I agree its a pain them making you pay £50 in the first place but they have probably had hundreds of wasted orders when people have ordered in half a dozen bikes and racking up endless stock movements obvuiously costing them money. sure they are a big chain but its a logistics nightmare and if a store in surrey ends up with loads of 8 inch downhill monster bikes, they are unlikely to find buyers quickly…

talking of new road mags, I had a flick through “Cyclist” in WHSmith last week, the new roadie mag from Dennis publishing.

In short, I thought it was a poor mans “Rouler”. they have tried to mimic the journal type appearance of Rouler and feature higher end stuff but the general lay out and articles werent much cop at all. I got the imnpression their market was rich newbies given the Wiggo article which was a bit same-y as so much has been written about him in the last 12 months.

Some of the editorial team are from CW, others are from Men’s Fitness, it shows. It was very fact-based and lacked any real emotion. It didnt make me want to put the magazine down and go out riding in the same way Rouler or ST does.

I buy CW before and during the Grand Tours but its just repeats for the rest of the year, anytime now they trot out the winter clothing, how to winter proof your bike and what training wheels articles….
Like I dont need to read a magazine before I go to the supermarket to buy food, I dont need a magazine to tell me what bike to buy.

thanks, problem solved, looks like the day one cross does have mounts… i’m sure i can bodge something to fit guard wise…

I’m only coming if my requests for fire and claymore mines have been incorporated into the field of despair.

also, is there random drug testing? I’m getting pretty good at telling the difference….

yeah, that was a too hypocritical….. ah well, good luck to all concerned, i’m glad team lycra earns queue jumping status, now i dont have to rely on my swarthy hispanic looks to push in as I ignore yout tuts.