Do people realise that riding trails which are a saturated, boggy mess, does the opposite of making them less boggy? 😯

Sounds horrible… I don’t believe anyone would come away from an incident like that without some level of trauma so I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself.
When I broke my shoulder a few years ago I started feeling like I never wanted to ride again, which was a ridiculous idea but the whole incident really shocked me as I was still recovering from another broken shoulder…
I got over it by taking it easy, only riding when I wanted and coaching myself it was a normal, natural reaction to a scary incident…
You;re bound to be fine in time but you may need to coach yourself carefully – being aware of the negative thoughts and overriding them with positive thoughts instead
Good luck…

Similar thing happened to me a year ago. Very well known ‘blue chip’ insurer. My face didn’t fit and my manager was useless but he stepped aside and made sure I took the flak and told a pack of lies in front of HR.
I took it personally for a while but got over it and it’s made me more alert to political players and more wary at work.
Frankly you’re better out of a company that behaves like that. They lose the good people and collapse eventually IMO…
Hope it all works out for you in the end…

The irony of public sector workers avoiding paying tax is there’ll be nothing in the pot to pay for a pay rise or pension contributions next year…
Lower tax take = need to make more public sector job losses too 😯

The Windows backup process, saving all files so they can be reinstalled if needs be

How do you expect to increase demand ?

Who said increase? How about uncover existing but currently unmet demand? That’s called generating economic growth…

And what crisis? Developing world is increasingly wealthy and seeing massive economic growth, sell to them?

The point of all my posts on this thread is that we need positive attitude, energy and a bit of DIY rather than being defeatest…

Set up a company yourself and create some jobs for others and wealth for yourself and taxes for the hospitals, schools you think society should have etc
Or set up charity to deliver some of the social good you want to see (or volunteer and start making the contribution you want to)

Debating the whole affair on STW on a wet Sunday won’t get you too far!

I make an effort to be an honest and fair seller so it would be good to a) know if people who buy from me think the same and b) for other people to know

1. Ask exactly this question instead of blaming bankers/politicians/unions/immigrants/fat cats etc – it starts us thinking positively about a solution
2. Accept the economics and politics of the world have changed, less in our favour and work out how to survive in the new world order
3. Focus on what we’re good at: creativity, advertising, finance, inventiveness, international trade etc and invest in them
4. Get rid of our sense of entitlement and work hard for our future prosperity
5. Make more of an effort to get on and be respectful of others’ needs and opinions
6. Give over expecting someone else to give us the solution on a plate and just get on with it ourselves…

CaptainFlashheart – Member
If you lot put half as much effort in to something worthwile as you do wibbling on here, the world would be a better place.

LOL!

+ 1

Anyone who thinks the Tories got us into a recession is naive IMO. Equally if we think a Labour government would see us with growth – equally naive.

We’re not as rich as we thought we were – it was all based on debt remember.
Developing countries have seen us get rich and wealthy on the back of postwar growth and are now, as they see it, straightening things out. And why not?

This isn’t a short term recession which we;ll come out of next year, back to what we got used to, or even a lost decade. It’s a long overdue IMO rebalancing of wealth and power in the world – we industrialised first and got first mover advantage, that’s all.

Instead of giving other countries aid, we’ll trade with them. They’ll get richer. Doesn’t mean we get poorer, prob just more equal.

It’s called globalisation. No political party or political ideology/dogma is likely to produce a better way of dealing with it IMO… it’s too big, too fundamental

Those who have most to gain from the status quo – politicians, bankers, chief execs, union leaders etc etc are unhappy about this – they quite like the wealth, power and status they have (who wouldn’t?) they’re scared of an equalisation, so I wouldn’t listen to anything they have to say, they’re scared and trying to stop the inevitable change coming thru…

Just accept we’re not going to go back to the economic growth we’ve got used to all our lives… no bad thing IMO, maybe we’ll be a nicer society for it…

IMO the whole ‘cycle lanes’ debate is so far off the point it’s on the moon.

The problem is that motorists choose to have no consideration for cyclists. No-one forces them to endanger our lives, nor do circumstances make it likely, they choose to. Defining the problem really is that simple isn’t it?

Behaviour change is required, which comes from changing attitudes, which comes from education.
As per seat belts and drink driving, and also smoking, making it socially unacceptable/lower status is a rather effective technique.
If we can bring about those changes then I’m sure we can bring about better attitudes towards cyclists.

Those that refuse to change behaviour should be penalised.
In principle this is all very simple. It would also be cheaper than all the £££ needed to put in separate facilities.

I suspect the current heightening of the issue has come from the sudden growth of cycling. In time, drivers will come to get used to it – they’ll have to. So long as growth in cycling continues (which, looking at oil prices, looks likely), then the balance of power will eventually fall in our favour…

This whole aggressive driving thing seems to have got a lot worse over the last 3 years. Not sure why. I guess a lot more riders = changing the balance of power and car drivers don’t like it.
Either way the main issue I have is the lose/lose dynamic we seem to have ie:
Ride in the gutter, get squeezed past and no margin of safety/belted by the opening car door.
Follow the Highway Code/Bikeability/British Cycling advice and take your lane, get abused, hooted at, close overtakes etc.
Can’t win…
Starting to spoil my riding at the moment… we need change

CBT seems to be generally accepted as the best solution to such things.
Bringing it out on here is also a good step – accepting you’ve an issue you want to deal with is key.

I know 2 friends suffering from depression and I think their lack of real effort in resolving it is the reason they’re still ill…

Can’t get the links to work but I’m reading these at the moment – they’re both interesting, thought-provoking and useful and helping me keep going through a rather rough period. Both are on Amazon

Counselling for Toads
Feeling Good – the new mood therapy, David D Burns

Also look at Moodscope – very useful diary/tracking tool, with great daily emails. Using this I can see that a good run/bike ride has a positive effect every time 🙂

Good luck, you’ll probably find out who your friends really are, know yourself better and be stronger once you’re through it 🙂

That Direct Line link is interesting. And scary because so few drivers are aware of the findings…

I think cars have had so many safety features (for the occupants at least) built in now, that drivers are losing the feeling of vulnerability and their ability to judge the risk they are putting themselves and others under. I think very few of the drivers who cut me up on my 30mile ride this morning had any real intention or understanding they were putting me at risk…

I can’t remember the source but someone worked out we have a level of risk we’re comfortable with, and if we feel safe, we change our behaviour to take ourselves back to that level of risk. Hence people driving like idiots now cars are so much safer e.g. traction control and ABS…

We largely eradicated drink driving, which was widespread when I was a kid, partly through properly enforcing the law, sustained government communications, and making it socially unacceptable. Time to do this again, but with mobile phone use and general inconsiderate/dangerous driving

I wish I’d rung the AA when I saw one of their instructors (in a liveried driving school car) on his mobile driving up to a roundabout with zebra crossing in my local high street…

Not a lot of hope really when you see that kind of stuff…

BKB is only 80cm before the (old) berms because we narrowed it last week…! It was getting close to 2 meters
BKB used to be far narrower 5+ years ago, and Clawhammer never seems to dry out since it got popular.
I’m just using Surrey Hills as an example because it’s what I know, in the scheme of things, you’re right, they’re not the worst damage in the world

How does the damage done by mountain bikers in the Surrey Hills, compare to the impact of roads, agriculture, forestry, industry, towns, power lines, rail tracks etc etc.

You know just for a bit of perspective.

it doesn’t compare, not in the slightest. You’re totally right.

My point was that I don’t think we have the right to do more damage than we do already, by riding on footpaths…

he’s a fool. Not just for his original article, but his defence of what he wrote.
If he reviews the social media he’d see scores of people boycotting his company and cancelling their corporate accounts. Apologising profusely would be the only way to deal with this IMO.

He also seems unaware that it’s not just cyclists using mobiles and iphones when on the road…

What programme was he on? I want to listen to it myself

Whether his point was that cyclists needs to have more common-sense or not (which sounds horribly like defensive post-rationalisation now he recognises he might have broken his business), his tone of voice was inflammatory and not at all in keeping with what he claims his main point was. Judge a man by his deeds, not his words.

Sadly, his core point is right IMO, there’s a lot of really poor, dangerous cycling in London. But it’s been utterly lost because of the tone he used to express it…

I love social media, allows idiots and bullies to hang themselves…

As a mtber, walker, mountaineer I see the perspective of all sides.
If I’m out for a walk I;m doing it in part for peace and quiet and to enjoy nature. An mtber ragging past me kind of ruins that.
On that basis I think mtbers should be grateful for the access we do have and respect the ROW laws as they stand. Leave the footpaths for walkers, their dogs and kids so they can wander somewhere in peace and no danger. I don’t believe we have an entitlement to ride where we want, that’s rather a selfish view IMO
Bikes also cause a chunk of damage, especially where standing water creates puddles, quite a few of the trails in Surrey Hills – BKB/Orange Clawhammer for e.g. are getting wrecked (widened, permanent mud) because riders aren’t sensitive to the damage we’re doing and until MTB as a community can prove we care about the damage we do, I don’t think we can claim the right to an expanded access network.
One issue that does counter this however, is that since MTBing has grown, other than trail centres, our access has not grown at all, in terms of miles of trail available to us. This has probably led to some of the damage, more riders over the same trails = more erosion. If we were spread over a wider area then maybe the damage would be less.

I feel more isolated from nature on my bike than I do when I;m walking, and I think that means MTBers can have a more distant, less sensitive relationship with the areas we ride in. Until that changes, I believe we have no right to demand additional access. We’ll just give ourselves a bad name by knackering everywhere we ride…

BBC

This ^^ focus on riding smoothly and flowing, less on going fast

For chocolate ones, stick cocoa in – Bourneville’s good.
When I did that, the whole batch disappeared in a week!

Blaming the rich/bankers/policitians won’t make you any more desirable to an employer or your life any better IME… I’ve seen quite a few people do it. And I’ve seen a lot of people not do it, and I know who’s happiest…

Anyway, haven’t the rich already consolidated their power, isn’t that how they got to the top of the tree in the first place? Hierarchy exists in every social structure in nature, someone’s got to be at the top surely? In global terms, and even within Europe, living in the UK actually puts us pretty firmly in the rich camp anyway!

When the world is changing around us, victimising/disempowering ourselves by blaming others strikes me as an unlikely recipe for personal fulfilment and happiness… I’ve not seen anyone pull that one off yet

We’re going thru one of the biggest shifts in power and wealth for centuries. We’ve had it rich since the industrial revolution and particularly since end of WW2 but the future doesn’t necessarily look like the past for us…
Countries we used to give aid to and look down on are now gaining in wealth and political power.They’re willing and able to do stuff for a lot less money than us in the ‘rich’ world. They’ve got it all to win and they’re after the big prizes.
There’s also a tonne of stuff which people used to do, which can now be automated/done by computers.
IMHO it’s not a zero sum game, China still needs our creativity and innovation so they have stuff to make cheaply. They’re a collective society, they don’t do thinking for themselves like we do.
Doesn’t mean we’re going to be poor but the way we create our wealth is going to have to change if we want any…
But don’t expect our wealthy lifestyle that we’ve got rather too used to, to be sustained.
Don’t expect politicans to know quite what to do about it and give over blaming the bankers and the ‘fat cats’, they’re as scared and unsure about it as we are. They didn’t see it coming and just like us they’d like to have maintained the status quo. It was quite nice really…

Think carefully about where the ops to earn a living are, create opportunities for yourself, get the experience and quals you need to be employable, be resourceful and don’t expect it to be done for you…

Quite interesting times really….

After years of obsessing about mtb I’m doing much more road these days. But when I do ride the mtb I still love it.
I would break the Five up and swap as much as you can to a hardtail so you can still mtb when you want to. Use what you’ve made from the sale to buy a nicer road.
I find road makes me fitter and stronger for the mtb but handling skills from mtb help you go faster on the road so riding both can make both more enjoyable…

In total I’ve probably known less than 20 people who were ever seriously into their drugs. All were trying to deal with serious personal issues/insecurities. Never seemed to sort them funnily enough… always seemed a daft solution to the problem to me…

Best reason I can think of to stay off the Class A’s is the total lack of regulation as per some of the stories above. ie: you have no idea what you’re taking most of the time because there’s no transparency in the supply chain. All you do know is that it got to you via chain of criminals and gangsters. Go figure…

Not that beer and cigarettes are somehow ok because they’re legal but at least you know who’s made it…

I’d quite like to get my lunch hours back to take a break/do some exercise, and not be expected to work evenings and weekends.
Agree companies should not have to put up with skivers but I’d like to see employers keep to their end of the bargain too. E.g. if I work a weekend, time in lieu please. Or pay me for it…

Five is spot on for the Alps IMHO. Loads of the Lakes locals have them which tells you something.
I have two mates who guide in the Lakes, both have Alpines…
I don’t think Five is overbiked for the bigger, rockier stuff in the UK.
Surrey Hills maybe but not the places you’re talking about.

that’s a hell of a lot more of an effort. you would expect to drink over twice as much – you’ve ridden for over twice as long.
Can’t diagnose what’s wrong with you but if you’re going to increase the effort like that then you need to prepare – carbo loading the days/night before, big slow-release breakfast (not fry-up) and feed well during, and after the ride.
Think about what you’re eating/drinking as well as how much.

When you’re doing endurance stuff you need to think of food as fuel – there’s loads of info on the web and some of the stuff from Matt Hart in the mag is good.

On my social ride yesterday with Dulwich Paragon there was at least one Pinarello Prince and one Dogma. Not seen bikes as posh as that on the social rides before…

double post

ask both for a quote of take-home. They may not be too willing but my takehome improved by over 10% when I went PAYE.
Most importantly the Umbrella company utterly refused to take my issue seriously when I said they were underpaying me (very defensive) and wouldn’t supply a proper explanation.
They just take a margin from your hard work but offer little in return IME…
WHichever you choose, you may be able to swap anyway

Def skills training. My confidence was in bits after I broke both shoulders in 2 separate falls. a couple of days skills + lots of practice in my own time and I;m smoother, more relaxed and confident than I ever was.
There’s bound to be a skills course somewhere near you.
Try CycleActive too. Based in the Lakes but I think they do multi-location…

Look on Amazon for Brian Lopes’ book – very well written and gives you all kinds of ideas for being a smoother rider

Good luck… the buzz from improving is the best 🙂

Hope not, my Soul was on form today.
Bike industry only survives through constant innovation. A quality bike lasts years so there’s no need to replace it. A company grows by selling more bikes (need expansion of the sport but MTB only really appeals to a niche); or by selling more stuff to existing customers. Hence 29ers, and loads of us owning several bikes where actually one would do.
26ers haven’t suddenly become unfit for purpose just because someone’s discovered that 29ers can be quite good for the right rider in the right terrain. Just means we have more choice of what to ride and bike companies shareholders get richer!

The point is why is it in Tamworth rather than round the back of MY house

Original article takes a bit of a childish/entitled stance IMO.
Been illegal for years, locals have ridden it anyway (breaking the law) now law is being enforced, make a fuss…

Sound like spoilt kids to me. There’s plenty of decent riding round there anyway.

Maybe they don’t want our soldiers to be well-trained and would rather they lose their battles/die just for the sake of a weekend bike ride… 😯