the press are going to have mixed views about this!

they do need some stwers coming down that singletrack

we are in the middle of the biggest financial shitstorm in a century, no one has a clue how to fix it and the idea that another political party who’s main differential point seem to be they wear different coloured ties could magic it away is frankly laughable.

+ 1

This is an interesting viewpoint

Kondratiev waves

Extraordinarily naive/dogmatic for anyone to believe any of our main political parties’ respective stances would make anything more than a gnat’s chuff difference to our GDP.

Both parties are just off-centre, barely any distance between them in terms of policies
Globalisation
Europe’s getting old which will impact on growth (unless we increase immigration – should be interesting trying that!)
Eurozone is in a mess
We borrowed money we couldn’t pay back. All of us. Government, companies, banks, consumers

Blaming a specific political party in the UK for a problem of global proportions is just silly. Like voting Labour in would make a blind bit of difference!

Popularity has been growing for years. Results today won’t change it that much IMO.

Remember cycling is hard (and requires a degree of being able to deal with fear given yr average driver) and the motorist has power over the politicians… barriers you only overcome if you really enjoy it…

I think the long term trend will continue growing but doubt we’ll suddenly become respected and ‘approved’ just because we’re so awesome at it at competitive level…

Went out early for a quick ride so I could be back in time to shout at some cyclists on TV 🙂
Instead of shouting at pedestrians to stay on the pavement till I’m past!

I’m emotional.
What a result
And still have the Olympics to come 🙂

I dont think people are objecting to a legitimate claim for actual losses what they are objecting to , and rightly IMHO [ al for example] is the advice tom “milk it” for all it is worth which suggests to gain as much as possible rather to reclaim actual losses.

Thanks Junkyard for bringing this back on topic. IMO the OP should claim for legitimate costs and compensation. And I’m glad he’s largely ok.

‘Milking it’ is just immature and showing a gross sense of entitlement, driving up the costs for the rest of us, and would be fraudulent IMO. But it was not the OP who suggested he would do this. Some other muppet who hasn’t even been knocked off his bike and suffered the consequences 😯

Hugely happy to see the British team perform so well.
But rather disappointed the team’s funded by Sky. But let’s not let it spoil the celebrations, eh?

My kit is mainly Lusso, Endura, Gore. Had most of it for years and still looking good.

Rapha’s marketing is really strong and their premium pricing is a case study in how you can make a brand more desirable by jacking up the price. But whilst I admire their marketing strategy i’d never buy their kit – just no need to spend that much to get good kit that’ll last you years…

Milk the accident for everything it’s worth.

And drive up everyone’s premiums 😯

Glad you’re ok OP, too many drivers not looking properly or caring about cyclists ATM

I love to see creativity and dedication like that

Some Olympic style-negativity on here! Anyone can do that 🙄

I was chatting to one of yesterday’s torch bearers earlier on (I work for one of the main sponsors) and said the enthusiasm of the public who turned up to cheer them on was overwhelming.

I think London’s going to be amazing for the next few weeks, and riding into work instead of tube and train will get me dead fit 🙂

Our sports people need some support. We stand a good chance of tearing the cycling apart in every discipline…

Not sure why we can’t enjoy the party while it’s on and celebrate some British world-class success

NHS review of the story

Vision Direct £20+ cheaper for me (J&J acuvue moist) for 90 pairs and service has always been good

Contact lens check is to ensure you’re eyes are healthy and undamaged by contact lens risk – they block oxygen getting to your eyes.

Contact lenses are not risk free. You could end up with serious eye issues from skipping the check…

Thank goodness for that!

I don’t think a law change will help too much. Likely to just get the ‘war on the motorist’ lobby on their self-righteous high horse
Enforcement of current laws
Proper penalities when caught
Re-test every 5 years, practical and theory
Less of a culture of entitlement, greater sense of courtesy and responsibility
And maybe change car design so drivers feel less safe…

I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration, basic movement – stable freefall, turns, dives etc only takes a few minutes to get the hang of – most Accelerated Free Fall courses will get someone basic control in 7-15 jumps, with less than 60s free fall per jump. The main limiting factor is cost – freefall is flippin expensive in terms of £/second unless you use one of those indoor turbine things.

Don’t forget you have to voluntarily and for no other reason than the desire to have some fun, throw yourself out of an aeroplane… beyond most people IME

Have you ever made yourself stable after being thrown out in a ball? Not as easy as you might think, but rather essential…

The risk of sensory overload at the time to dump your pilot chute to open is high… hence AFF jumps they hold on to you until you can prove you;re capable

When I was doing it, it was £17 a jump. Plenty of regular skydivers are not high earners… only AFF and tandem cost a lot – to cover the insurance I believe. Once you’re packing for yourself, the only costs you have to cover are your share of the fuel and the lease on the plane

Having never done it I don’t know quite how much control they have – Continuity’s comments up there suggest a few awkward moments have to be dealt with….!
Freefall terminal velocity is c 120mph and AFAIK these suits give you nearer 60 which means less of a wind to push against for control. But I guess the larger surface area of the suit gives back the control, but moving more slowly. I suspect the videos are edited to look as good as possible…

You’re essentially falling all the time, I don’t know if they can actually regain height, depends on your speed I suppose. I suspect the places they jump from and the routes they take are very well planned so they know there won’t be an unexpected higher bit…

Skydiving and BASE are pretty well understood in terms of the risks and how to manage them and as it goes, relatively safe – very few incidents as a % of jumps being done. As you say the margin for error is tiny in wingsuit.

Which is why I admire them. It takes balls to do that… and I can’t think of another sport where the limits of what man is capable of are being pushed so far right now…

Not sure why anyone would consider these guys dicks… presumably you know nothing about the skill and courage required to do what they’re doing…??

I used to skydive 10 years ago when wingsuits were just beginning to be tried out. They’re pioneers in the real sense of the word. What they were doing then was cool but this kind of stuff is amazing. It takes more balls than any trick you can do on a bike.

Yes it’s dangerous. But it’s a hell of a better way to go than old age or under a bus IMO… and who knows what kind of military purposes they’re using it for, a lot of skydivers are ex-Paras. One day someone doing this may save your life….

The skill it takes to control yourself in freefall is beyond most people. To have the level of control these guys have now is beyond belief…

I value my life

maybe you should give skydiving a go someday then. You appreciate life like you’ve never done before when you see a full canopy above your head…

Did it for a few months last year.
Loved the sense of calm afterwards
But went back to my old core and flexibility regime which just works better for me.
Helped posture and general strength no end.
Give it a go and if you enjoy it, carry on

on and off all this afternoon.

First the Banks and now mobile co.s and no-one sure how to fix them…

I’m wondering if someone’s having some hacking fun?

Ah.
I’m planning on riding to work to keep out of the Tube network which could be a mare… I was hoping it would be quick and easy.
Silly me.
Not sure how they can enforce it.
And they’re wrong about London cyclists filtering down the outside. I do because it makes me more visible to drivers, but most people seem to filter down the inside line (which is why most deaths are from left-turning lorries)
tbh not that many roads are being given over to the Olympic lanes, and the whole point of cycling in London is you have the freedom to avoid traffic and take the side streets instead. So in principle, yes it’s a bit control-freaky. In reality, it’ll be easy enough to find an alternative route…

Not sure if this counts as dressing or not but i just drizzle good quality virgin olive oil and really good quality balsamic, sometimes with a sprinkle of dried basil.
If you get the really expensive balsamic (£12/bottle in Sainsbury) it’s much thicker so you actually need a lot less, and the taste is way better

I’ve got £45 for Thomson stems and seatposts before now. My kit is always in good condition
Only the frame and brakes are old, the rest is all 2-3 years old with barely any use in last 18 months…

There’s a reason why roadies wear lycra… and after a few decent length rides you’ll realise why + no-one else rightly cares.
It’s comfy basically

Toned all the way please.
Partly for shallow aesthetic reasons 😀 partly because a girl who’s toned has IMO enough self-respect to want to look after herself and the motivation to do it…

Bike Shak
Do a good job and great service

Anyone?

Pretty impressive in real life. Dead cool standing underneath and looking up. Views from the top must be stunning
Wonder if it’s been BASEd yet?

Look up interchange fees, look up 4 party model.(applies to Visa and Mastercard but not Amex, which is a 3 party model)

Visa website

Interchange varies according to many factors. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to pay by card because the system wouldn’t exist as no-one would benefit from accepting cards instead of cash…

Visa/Mastercard do not issue cards or take any income from the transaction. They set the interchange rates but this is not an income stream for them, they make their revenues elsewhere. Their main asset is the networks through which the payments are sent.

Interchange is a revenue for the card issuer e.g Barclays
The retailer’s bank pays the issuer
The retailer’s bank recoups this cost when it charges a merchant service fee to the retailer for giving them the kit and support to accept card payments
So the retailer has to pay their bank… and this cost makes up part of the cost base of their business. If they didn’t accept this cost they wouldn’t be able to accept cards and likely they’d be less successful as a business

I had an odd moment in 2010 ragging down a twisty country lane on one of my first rides with my road club and realising it was more exciting than mountain biking.
It definitely gets you fitter, and is a less expensive and saves a huge amount of faff and time.
I really enjoy it and am riding a lot more road than MTB.
But then last weekend I went and re-introduced myself to my old trails and remembered why I love mountain biking.

SO it’s all good. Just riding bikes is good 🙂

If you do both I think you become better at both – MTB skills give you better road handling, riding road makes you a lot lot fitter

EGF: The Five is a medium 2004 in black (130mm) with Pikes, Hope M4, XT & Thomson kit.
Whilst the frame and brakes are few years old, it’s a bit of a frankenbike with most other stuff only having a couple of years use tbh
Dunno how much I want for it – £950 all in? May split it for bits if you think you want the frame/forks? Email in profile if yr interested…

The mountain biking version of that could be embarrassing!

Just listened to the programme. Interesting point they made about cars not actually delivering on the ‘personal freedom’ dream cos there’s now just too many, but that bikes actually do.
I know I feel envious of cyclists who pass me when I’m sitting in a traffic jam.
Although the presenter didn’t use the word the point made at the end seemed me to be that car drivers are envious of the freedom that cyclists have, it’s what they want themselves.
Explains a lot of the leaning on horns, not waiting to pass when there’s space/get out of my way-type activity which we seem to be on the receiving end of so often…

I would get something reasonably priced to get into it first so you get a better idea of the kind of riding you like and how often you;ll use it… then, when you have more experience, go for £2k+ on something decent.

You can afford to spend more on a road bike than mTB IME as the ongoing maintenance and kit costs are minimal. My summer roadbike which gets used every weekend from April-Sept and is nearly 3 years old has had nothing at all replaced from new – not tyres, chain or even brake pads. And maintenance is minimal too.

And club riding is a great way to learn about how to ride, and about kit, and a lot more fun than you might expect 🙂

I wouldn’t say cyclists are morally superior, but IMO certainly commuters and roadies, from bitter experience, have a broader perspective and awareness than your average joe, about the dangers of a car-dominated society (pollution, congestion, obesity, unpunished agression/bullying).

A broader perspective generally brings wisdom… so maybe we’re wiser rather than morally superior.

I do think including cycling in the driving test would do a lot of people a lot of good in terms of helping them understand the myth that car driving is some kind of entitlement without external costs on the rest of society, and in helping people be more thoughtful, could do a lot of good generally…

What a tragedy for Nora Gutmann and her family and friends. 97 years through, and having an end like that.
How many times do incidents like this have to happen before something changes?
Are the CPS, Police and anyone else involved in the first case prosecutable for contributory negligence which should have had the driver prevented from driving again?

Makes me very sad… I hope no-one I know ever goes like that…

scu98rkr – Member
Im quite happy to agree the OP has no right to be complaining. Its a working forest trails will get destroyed but this sort of post just winds me up ->

better understand that we’re riding at the gift of the Bray family…
I hope you doff your cap to his Lord as he comes walking past ?

Why does it wind you up? The land is owned by the Bray family and we are there only with their permission…

Friends of the Hurtwood[/url]

More than 90 years ago, Reggie Bray, Lord of the Manor of Shere, granted the public a ‘right to roam’ with ‘open access for air and exercise’ on the Hurtwood – one of the first estates in England to do so. This set a pioneering example of a landowner welcoming the public on to his land and finding a way of working with the public that would benefit both the land and the people. Open access is available to bird watchers, dog walkers, horseback riders, mountain bikers and anyone who enjoys the fresh air!

I don’t doff my cap, no, but I don’t forget that if we don’t respect the fact it’s private land they may just change their minds…

Cycleactive[/url]

Give Jon or Rich a call – both top notch riders and top notch guides. They know the place inside out and very customer focussed in terms of making sure you have a good time…

Private land too…
tbh given some of the Surrey Hills threads recently where some riders appear to be showing a sense of entitlement to do what they want with someone else’s property, I reckon a few blocked trails will go some way to help people better understand that we’re riding at the gift of the Bray family…