Your loss I reckon. Personally I like what they’re trying to achieve and the reason why it’s different to your average trail centre…
As said on the other thread and elsewhere hear, it’s a bike park/skills park/play place. Spend some regular days up there sessioning the different bits and pieces, hanging out and chatting to other riders will make a big difference to your day to day riding I reckon. I picked up a few tips on pumping just from chatting to a couple of lads who were riding the pump track much smoother than me. Had a few goes on the table tops and feel more confident on them now. And the berms, well…. big grins!
But each to their own.

I was up there for the first time on Saturday and came away with that ‘what an ace day biking’ feeling. Spent a lot of time chatting with a few lads I met up there, sessioned a few bits and pieces, enjoyed the berms etc
It’s a great play place and I reckon spending some time up there will pay big dividends for day to day riding but I don’t think I’ll go up there when I want to go out for a ride – Peaks, Wales or Lakes for that I think…

No choice. My Dad was a roadie in his younger years so got taught how to ride aged 4 (that was 1977) and not looked back. Only regret I guess is we’ve never ridden together – he quit before he had kids cos he felt there was too much traffic

Get some Soul in your life :-)

+ 1 for cross training
Also highly recommend core strength for making the best of the strength your legs can give you. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes

I ran my 10k PB in 2003 (was 30) and thought age would slow me. With less training I raced last year and was only 30 secs slower. But guess what, even tho I was in top 20, almost everyone ahead was older…
You stay as fast and fit as you want to IMO :-)

The uncertainty amongst the public and business will do the recovery no good whatsoever IMO. We need to believe the future looks better than the present for the recovery to be sustained

I read a job description today which the recruitment agency admitted they couldn’t understand. I read it and told him what I thought the job was but was and admitted I was still guessing. So I’m applying for it…! I guess I’ll find out eventually…
The problem with the **** who use this kind of language is they don’t realise the damage they’re doing by communicating so poorly (ie causing total confusion and leading people to make the wrong decisions), and when you ask them to explain what they meant they take offence…
Self-employment is the only way to get away from these loons!

M4 monos on my hardtail and FS since 2005. 12 stone here and running 180mm discs F&R. Never had a problem, as above give you a lot of control charging fast into corners. Also as above lots of spares so you can keep them forever if you want..

+1 for swimming for all round upper body strength. Great all round CV exercise and good to do after a hard day on the bike. Good for core strength too.
Or, pay a personal trainer for a session or 2 to give you a routine. Won’t cost too much…

what area is the map of? Or is that just a little too geeky? :-)
If they were really cool they’d give you the area you wanted – mass customisation and all that….

I had a 2006 which I think was mk1 which was good for 130mm and a great ride. I then upgraded to a mk2 which is the current frame which turns out to be an even greater ride. But I think you’ll find either one is tremendous tbh

What you’re wanting I’m afraid, is common sense.
Which is the worst-named thing in life ever unfortunately. It’s not very common…
When my mum was taught to drive her instructor told her to assume everyone else on the road is an idiot and to drive accordingly. Good advice which stands whether you’re driving, road riding or MTB IMHO.

50 mile club road ride today with cake stop in the middle. Showing first 2011 tan lines from Friday’s hack round Edale too.
First shorts rides of the year 8)

My Cotic Soul is my preferred bike round there. Yes you have to hang on on the rocky descents but it’s easier to get up the hills and being steel, it’s as comfy as a hardtail can be. And as people say, less stuff to get wrecked by the grinding paste

Damn. I’ve always wanted some monkeys of doom. Now I’ve missed my chance.
and to be fair, the phone went down pretty quickly once I understood what he was trying to do. I knew the STW monkeys of IT would provide the answer :-)

Some interesting quotes on this topic from an article in latest CTC magazine:

Ian Warby ‘The rights of access in Scotland make sense…spreading access has to be essential when looking at long term trail management’

Richard Fox of Fix The Fells: mountain bikers do not cause exceptional levels of erosion compared with people on foot, so long as they demonstrate some care and common sense’

I kind of think that last point is spot on

I’m quite shocked that a fair proportion of people on this thread don’t seem to give a sh*t about the consequence of their actions.
It’s been said several times above that the consequences for mountain biking outside of trail centres could be severe if we don’t think about riding responsibly and avoiding destruction where we can. ie: we gift it to those who don’t want us in the hills…
Oh and I gave up riding in Surrey Hills partly because what used to be great singletrack like BKB got straight-lined and widened from people not sticking to the trail and really just lost so much of its appeal. So thoughtless riding ruins the quality of the ride too…

chiefgrooveguru has it IMO.
Worth investing in a skills course too, where you can be taught specific techniques for improving flow

I loved Green Wing. Can see the same type of humour coming through.
Whether it’ll turn out better or not I don’t know but I’ll be watching again next week to find out.
It’s got that kind of humour that a lot of people just don’t get which I quite like :-)

GeoffJ,
I think that probably is more important at the end of the day, you’re right, but I want to find out if there are any overall differences in attitudes between the two cities generally, irrespective of individual companies

These guys’ll show you around[/url]

Or just go out and explore and just ride down stuff which takes your interest. A few months of that and you’ll find all the best stuff

Joe Kittinger did it in the ’60s

It’s been done already – at least the outward trip was done in a balloon, the return trip was done in freefall.
Tom Read (book above) was one of many who’ve tried to beat the altitude record for skydiving that Kittinger set but no-one’s done it yet

NHS reform is structurally driven, not politically-driven. We have an ageing and increasingly unhealthy population. That means running the NHS is going to cost more to run in future… Anyone got any ideas where the money’s going to come from? I notice that when a government puts taxes up the electorate tends not to like it.
There’s a reason why no other country has a free-at-the-point-of-delivery healthcare system for all.

If you’re a young media type then moving your workplace from West London to the Quays will be something of a culture shock. Now central Manchester maybe, but SQ just doesn’t compare…

Wot Bunnyhop said.
+ Cheshire country lanes for road riding

one of the things I love about bikes is that the ‘supermodern’, hitech, bestest, latest things that we ride are essentially the same as the original thing.

No pic I’m afraid but I highly recommend a ‘Rat for commuter duties. Got it as the standard s/s flat barred version. Medium for a 5’11, 33 inside leg. Really like the head up position for visibility and really like the handling – good balance of road bike speed and mTB handling. Have discs for quick braking and did put carbon forks on recently after getting a bit fed up of the harshness of the Roadhog ones.
A great day to day bike

Sorry to p*ss on the bonfires of anyone who thinks they have evidence the current plan is a bad one. Or that Labour’s plan would be a good one. Who knows? And how can anyone claim they do ffs? This is unknown territory, we’ve not had this happen before: it’s global, all kinds of stuff is kicking off in the Middle East and Japan which will impact on confidence and price of oil and other key goods, US is facing a potential long term decline, BRIC countries are changing the balance of global power – all of which is unprecedented.
We can show as many graphs as we like ‘proving’ our own view but one-off case studies of some historic event don’t prove anything – they’re not comparing like for like – there’s nothing in history to compare our current situation.
It’s a bit like charging down a rocky descent you’ve never ridden before – you just get on with it as best you think, hold on tight, deal with it as it comes up and if you make it down ok, pretend you were under control all the way :-)
Frankly no-one knows the best solution to this one. Politicians will claim their ideas are the best, of course they will, if they don’t act like they’re confident the people will panic…
Rant over and finger’s crossed…

Closer to horizontal they are the more it pushes your weight back on the bike, easier to reach on rough descents and gives you more freedom to move the bike around underneath you. If too steep they pull your weight over the forks.
Exact angle is personal preference tho so I’d play around with different settings and see what you prefer

I commute 10 miles each way on flat roads on a s/s Roadrat. No problems – good to have lack of choice of gear for building strength. And with so little to go wrong it’s v reliable

Cycling industry needs innovation to survive. If your current stuff works ok for you I say keep it.
If you’ve the cash and you think the new stuff will be better for you, buy it. But I don’t think we should assume new stuff is necessarily better…

I moved up from London last year – better riding up here in the North West. And was surprised to miss Surrey Hills singletrack loads.
At least I did until I went riding in the Peaks today on a beautiful spring day :-)

Done some around Pembrokeshire. Well amongst it compared to mountain biking, and yet very serene when it’s calm. You don’t half get a feeling for how insignificant you are when the current’s against you. Def want to do more

must be one of the changes you’ve made then. Shorter stem may have changed the pressure points between you and the saddle?
Maybe tilt the saddle down very slightly to east the pressure whilst you get back in the swing of things?

Decide what you want to use it for first. I have road bikes for long, fast road rides but if I just want to go for a quick 12-15 hack then I’ll often grab the ‘Rat.
Personally if I was planning to get into proper road riding I’d get a standard road bike. The Rat is a superb concept and well-executed but I think it’s a compromise for full on road riding IMO

he makes a lot of interesting points and is right about the need for informed debate IMO. Very few people understand the system or have a wider perspective that their own personal experience. I’ve worked in financial services for 15 years and hardly anyone in that industry understands basic economics. We need to educate ourselves and think a little more. Problem is, herd behaviour is basic human nature.

urban trackstands are the way forward. especially when you find the sweet spot and just sit there static. Great for getting away ahead of traffic too :-)

clicky to join[/url]

my last job the team manager was a moral coward who ran away from conflict of any kind so he hid in his office all day. As a result there was some shocking behaviour going on with a couple of members of his team, behaving like nasty, sulky little kids. Even tho he had no sense of authority they wouldn’t have done it if ‘daddy’ had been showing them some attention…

There’s a team at my new work who’ve been bullying people and sulking like kids. Their team leader is based 200 miles away and pays them no attention whatsoever.

Now I’m not suggesting all offices are like that but you can see a link here…

If you’re sitting next to your team a) you’re more aware of any issues b) they’re less likely to arise in the first place just because of your presence. In my last job there was a culture for the senior managers to hide away in their offices but one guy refused to. The senior team didn’t like him for that but his team were definitely the happiest in the place…