Simple. Change the choices people have available to them, or at least make the healthy choice the easy one, the unhealthy choice the difficult one.
My diet overall is very good and I’m mainly very disciplined about my health – at 38 I’m almost the only one of my friends who does regular exercise and doesn’t have a a belly.
But I have a serious sweet tooth and eat too much chocolate. So I don’t buy biscuits or chocolate when I go to the supermarket. When I’m at home, if I get a craving I have to sit it out.
At work we have a vending machine full of crisps, chocolate and soft drinks. When I get a craving I grab a bar of chocolate. If the machine wasn’t there, like at home, I wouldn’t.

I take full responsibility for my chocolate indulgences but the choices presented to me make it much harder/easier to eat healthily and avoid the bad stuff…
As mentioned above, supermarkets and shops have a MASSIVE role to play in this. Maybe we need restrictions on how unhealthy food is sold, like alcohol and fags…

The bonus culture did get out of hand. A friend of mine works in HR in the City and sacked a guy several years ago cos he’d screwed a trade and lost a few million for his employer. The guy was insisting on his guaranteed bonus. My mate was freaking out at the arrogance of the guy.

More importantly tho, the national debate about bonuses and bankers is very very poor quality. Very few of the people complaining have any idea how banks work, what the life is like, what the sacrifices are, how bonuses are calculated, how they related to profits earned etc etc.

It simply doesn;t make sense to let people who know virtually nothing about banking and remuneration (the general public) dictate the terms of how a bank can remunerate its staff. It would be very dangerous to let the emotion of the debate rule how decisions are made about an industry which delivers and supports such a huge proportion of our future national wealth at such a crux moment…

IMO we need 3 things:
1. Cyclists to be given due respect and courtesy on the roads
2. Car drivers to be prevented wherever possible from driving in a way which puts cyclists in danger
3. Those who do not respect cyclists are punished for it

Primarily driver behaviour change is what’s required. That means a change in their thought processes. Changes to the law will not deliver this entirely but will, so long as it’s enforced, begin that journey.

In the main the national debate about cycling is shrill, emotional, ill-informed and often psychopathic. This parliamentary discussion is forcing the issue to be debated publicly in a measured and adult manner. Again, it’s a start.

British Cycling are soon to be picking up a lobbying role I believe, as well as CTC. That will also help.

I’m hopeful in time that cycling in the UK will become safe and stress free and whilst I don’t seek to be treated as a hero for riding a bike, an absence of being treated like a 2nd-class citizen will be enough…

Charlie, sorry for your loss. I hope none of my friends and family have to go through that too.

No reason why it wouldn’t – just hoping some locals can tell me how much stuff is out there that I can connect up into a decent ride

My Rev’s are dead stiff with maxle. You can dial them down to 110mm, and still have longer travel when you want it (140mm)
If height is vital you could take some stems spacers out (if you have them) or flatter bars

I was there last night. Atmosphere was amazing. So much support for the Brit team from the crowd. Need to get myself to a TV for the Olympics, and somewhere I can jump around and make a racket 🙂

Great to see Brit team do so well. Maybe us regular riders will begin to get some respect out on the road. About time…

6:30 till 9:40pm. Gates open 5pm

Realised I should have made this clearer. I’m going, and offering the second ticket to anyone who wants to join me.
They’re not for sale…

17 months not enough IMO.
Using a bus to harm someone is behaviour we don’t need. It’s psychopathic
How is 17 months sending the right deterrent signals to other aggressive drivers who hate cyclists and contemplate the same?
I;m sick of nearly getting knocked off every road ride because drivers think their needs are the only important ones

Speak to Cy, send him photos. His customer service is exemplary IME

free flying always looks like more fun than the belly-to-earth stuff. cool vid

Surrey and Kent lanes round Biggin Hill/Caterham. Some good hills for strength too.
Just join Dulwich Paragon Saturday morning social rides – sensible pace – will get you fitter quicker than doing it on your own. There are other groups for when you feel stronger.
Riding with them is the best way to get to know the roads and routes

If we don’t stop navel-gazing we’ll be speaking Chinese…

The main threat to our current levels of wealth (relative to the rest of the world) is that the poorer countries have everything to gain, and we have it all to lose.

Shouting at rich people/’benefit scroungers’ and politicians isn’t going to save us…

I have a standard Voyager. Not used a huge amount but it’s light and packs down to not a lot. You can fit 2 people with kit but it’s a little tight. Quasar with 2 porches def better for space but heavier I think.
I thought I’d read that the Superlight is not sealed as it’s designed for high altitude mountaineering trips – has to cope with snow but not rain as too high up…

Beigel Bake. Truely one of the greatest places in the world.
Salt Beef especially. More beef in the bagel than you can fit in a cow!
And all the world’s weirdest people are there at 3am on a Friday and Saturday night.
A wonderfully unique experience.

Putting out his email address is vindictive, childish and naive. you’ve clearly massively bought into the left-wing agenda that all rich people are nasty and selfish. Which is simple prejudice and wrong IME.
He didn’t wreck the bank, he’s trying to straighten it out and give us (taxpayers) our money back, and maybe more.
There’s plenty more he could do and earn more if he wanted to. If he gets hounded by joe public and refused the reward he was promised when he took the job he’ll walk, as would anyone decent. So all we’ll be left with is the dross.
Anyone carrying out an email harrassment campaign like this clearly has never taken any responsibility in a business environment and understood how challenging it is to have other people’s livelihoods in their hands.
If this is how the British public think it’s ok to behave then we’re proper stuffed and it’s time to leave IMO

Cheer up you lot!
If there was ever a time when the UK needed a bit of a national party…
We all love cycling, right? Remember how, for a few weeks, cycling was cool and positive PR all over the place in 2008, well we’ll get something similar however well the Brit squad do. And we get an ace new velodrome in London 🙂
We should be proud of our country, support our team and make the best of a once-in-a-lifetime party…

Not stretching after, failing to use an HRM to measure your effort, or using a structured training plan are all mistakes IMO. They’re the essentials.
As is thinking about your diet, rest and sleep. These are essential to support the battering yr giving your muscles.
IMO the compound result of paying no attn to any of the above which are very well known and understood, and simply going out and hoofing it on a regular basis, are leading to your poor performance. You’re probably overtraining – anerobic all the time.
IME a concerted focus on your core strength will pay massive dividends to the your strength and power on the hills too.
Whether it’s running, cycling or just general endurance, all of the above applies… Some of the above has come from a guy I knew who was training Commonwealth and Olympic hopefuls…

sounds like he’s not of this planet. Why plant trees 4 doors from your garden to get privacy. Surely you’d put them in your own garden?

Go and take a listen to Screaming Trees too. Massively underrated from the 1991/92 era when Soundgarden and Nirvana got all the publicity. Mark Lanagan was their vocalist

Cy is a businessman as well as an engineer. If he wants his business to be successful, he has to keep up with what his customers want and provide it to them.
As a 2x Cotic owner I may be biased but his bikes are lovely to ride so I kind of don’t care if there’s any bandwagoning going on because the results are as good as, if not better than the others…

Re bandwagon-following I also think the facts do not bear this out:
1. Soul – the first hardcore hardtail with long toptube and short rear & stem to really take off. Simple was one of the first pure singlespeeds
2. Roadrat – nothing else like it for versatility. I would say he created a market here, not followed anyone else
3. Hemlock’s adjustability and mismatched travel was one of the first of its type

Softer saddle/better shorts to make the easing-in period less painful?

@brooeses – take your five on a Nirvana freeride ride. I admit I’m dragging a 6″ travel Reign around and ts too much for most riding but it’s great in the Alps etc

I got broke and left to make my own way home last time I went out with them…

Flapjacks

Instead of 50g of dried fruit i put in 50g sultanas AND 50g chopped nuts. Tasty and effective. If you bake them well they hold together in a shirt pocket absolutely fine

hadn’t thought about the Sov. Agree it fits the bill. But for 2012 model it’s twice the price of a Bfe, £200 more than an Alpine. Is it really that much better?

Five is relatively burly for days in the Lakes, Wales etc – Mavic 521, Hope M4, Pikes

The best thing about riding my bikes is that out there, the countryside is the same as it always was, nature doesn’t give a toss about politicians or economics and politics becomes an irrelevant and distant memory…

Tough one, and bloody annoying when things like that get in the way…
Are you using gels or just changed to new ones? Those things are a weird mixture of stuff.
I make my own flapjacks for mid-ride – with loads more sultanas and nuts than the recipe says. Easily digested and plenty of slow release energy.
As well as the ongoing carbo loading and slow-release breakfast, I make a point of a good protein/carb snack within 20 mins of getting back. Banana smoothie with milk, banana, honey and oats is my current favourite. All natural, all easily digested.
I sometimes have salt/sugar cravings too but generally this sees me right. I’ve never had probs with stomach ache after exercise.

Spinach is more filling, tasty and nutritious than lettuce and those bags of leaves you can get.
Worth buying good quality olive oil and balsamic for a dressing – then anything tastes good.
Adding cheese, meat, eggs, fruit etc and you can get some really interesting and damn healthy meals out of a salad

My 2003 F800 had a ding bigger than that, which I put in overtightening the front derailleur mount. No problems at all

This thread is 110% silly

it never fails to amaze me how people will use words/expressions without first making sure they understand them/work out if they make any sense…

new frame is lovely to ride. 140mm is the nuts for downhill esp.

I thought this was genius

I guess there may be some, but you only notice the ones who just chuck them on the floor without a second glance. Does my Swede in, that. Pollute everyone else’s atmosphere and then litter the place. Do they not remember Kings Cross?

Didn’t work for me, but standard Superfeet insoles did.
But I’d pay attention to your specialist tbh

Just think how much you’d regret it if you said nothing and ended up in hospital…

I agree there’s a risk he’ll be offended but he can’t sack you for that if you’re sensitive about the way you do it. Talk about it being your preference as you’re not comfortable rather than saying his driving’s poor.
Keep notes of the conversation you have so that if he does sack you then you can go for the constructive dismissal route.

And if he really is that bad you could be saving his life, and someone else’s – he may not have realised how dangerous he is…

Mine is black and covered with electrician’s tape.
I;m sure orange will look georgeous but very very noticeable if you leave it anywhere in the street.
A lovely urban bike

Not all sales people are @rses. But you really notice the ones that are…
I’ve rarely met one tho who I felt really understood or cared about what they were selling as well as the producers did, and acted like one of the team… lone wolves most of them. Where they do have empathy they seem to use it to manipulate rather than to genuinely build a relationship
Main thing I find frustrating is often their inability to see the bigger picture/anyone else’s point of view. Certainly they seem to forget that being good at Sales, as they often are, doesn’t make them good at everything…
But at the end of the day, good sales people bring in revenue, which is crucial, esp right now…

Exercise, especially outdoors.
And remembering that it’s actually my choice to respond to the situation by getting stressed. Not always that easy to do, but works when I do…
Oh, and counting my blessings…