Considering that’s a 120mph wind in there it’s incredible control.
Even if synchronised swimming does come to mind ;-)

I have some XT ones which have lasted me 5 years and still going strong.
I think keeping cables in good nick is as important as shifters tbh

You describe the people at work who are rubbish at playing the political game… You’ll really like the people that are great at it… they’ll seemingly be straight talking, endlessly selfless whilst dry bumming you the whole time

You’ve met my last boss then?

Speed Awareness Course?

I went thinking ‘I know what I did wrong, I did 35 in a 30 limit’…
But they don’t really go on about that, they do tell you loads of stuff that you should already know if you actually read the highway code.
Like rules for speed limit when there are no signs
Like tips for people who are driving too close behind ‘they have no friends and are lonely’
Like however good your brakes are, your reaction speed of c 0.6 secs means you’ll travel 15m before you even begin to slow down. You could well take someone out in that time…
I generally drive with much more thought than before – and I was a pretty sensible driver already. (although clearly not sensible enough!)

Oh, and they gave us a warning: if someone famous happens to be in your group, don’t even think about taking photos with your phone :-) Mine was in South Manchester so I suspect they have more than their fair share of footballers and WAGs on their courses!

I was essentially ‘ousted’ from my last job, to the point where I had an excellent case for constructive dismissal…. but a family friend who spend their career in HR advised me strongly against it.

Same here. If you’re confident you can get re-employed quickly then why hang around dealing with people who sound like they’ve no worries about unethical behaviour. Spending time taking them to court is just time-consuming, emotionally draining and stopping you from moving on.

Two thoughts:
1. Get some proper legal advice on your situation. I never replied to any questions immediately but said I’d like to take some advice and come back to you, and then rang my HR mate before I responded. You’re at risk of being manipulated otherwise IMO
2. Speak to an accountant re tax and NI potentially unpaid. Maybe worth calling HMRC yourself to ask them to confirm. That way you’re showing you’re not trying to evade…

HTH

When I walked in there first time I wondered what all the fuss was about.
But it deserves it’s legendary status. Not least for the random crowd and weird 3am conversations…
It’s the one-off places like that which make London ace to live in

There’s quitting the rat race and there’s living less of a consumerist, stressed, status-driven, at-full-speed life whilst still being financially secure.
I’ve been through this thinking a lot over the last 5 years. And my end conclusion – I want financial security… I can focus on my day to day life if I don’t have immediate money worries and am providing well for my future. That peace of mind is priceless…
The closest I’ve come to finding the right balance is contracting re Molgrips suggestion but it depends on your industry/profession/experience/personality whether you can succeed in that. There’s no guarantee of work either so you tend to work much harder when you do have work – the opposite of what you wanted to achieve. But you do tend to let go of a lot of work-related baggage and spend less because you don’t know how long it’s going to last.
Personally I spend to my income and the income-insecurity does help reduce my spending…
I think what you need is to look at your work-life balance and priorities and how to find a little more meaning to your life. None of those things IMO have to mean dropping out, just a number of small readjustments…
This is just my opinion but based on experience ;-) Hope it helps…

insurance companies put up their premiums for no other reason than they want to make more money
not because repair costs have gone up or people are making more claims or people are ‘arranging’ write offs to make money during the recession, etc.
end of story

2 key reasons why claims are going up:
1. Whiplash claims
2. Fraud – for e.g. waiting till someone’s too close and then jamming brakes on so they go into the back – then make a personal injury claim.

Howies must be gutted. You read the language there and it’s about as far from a genuine love of adventure and respect for nature as you can get. Just corporate language talking about an opportunity to sell stuff to people…
I doubt that was where they wanted to be when they decided to do the deal with Timberland.

Some great friendships…

I have Veloce on my winter bike and it’s certainly less clunky than 2005 Shim 105.

It’s not always this way. Recent threads like the domestic abuse have shown a great generosity of spirit.
I think the whole country is feeling a bit stressed at the moment…

That Reading poster takes me back :-)

I would get a few lessons to make sure you’re learning the basics right and don’t injure yourself.
Maybe a couple of sessions with a personal trainer who can work when you’re free? Got to work out cheaper than paying a physio if you pull something. Prob need to talk through with them what your objectives are and get a recommendation what’s best for you…
I do core strength and yoga all the time and it makes a surprising difference to the power you can put down and general feeling of being fit. Helps tech climbing too – your legs get on with the power whilst your core keeps your weight over the front.
Need to be warmed up before you do any stretching/core/yoga too…

Flying Scotsman

I’m not a rep, I’m head of customer relations

Now **** off.

??

Gerald Ratner misunderstood the negative impact of a business leader making derogatory comments, claiming it was a joke…

Gerald Ratner lost his job and nearly wrecked his company

Road shoes for sale here

Personally I do – road pedals usually have a broader platform than XC SPDs which is good when you’re pedalling away for hours – less likely to get a hotspot.

Race MTB shoes like you have are pretty stiff but I think the grips on the sole would get in the way of a dedicated road SPD.

Friends of Hurtwood[/url]

Everything you need to know is here.

I’ve been a member for a few years, for a few reasons:
1. They support mountain biking
2. In supporting biking they give it legitimacy amongst those who don’t want us to ride there – even though the landowners are happy
3. They help to bring the different user groups together to deal with usage issues
4. They organise maintenance days which a) keep the trails in good nick and b) give us the opportunity to give something back

Well worth your £25 IMO. And their work is sorely needed now there’s so many people riding up there

This is why the anti-cycling brigade get on my nerves – bad cycling is only one lot of daft and inconsiderate behaviour. Blaming cyclists ignores the bigger problem – it’s everyone who needs to sharpen up…

Mind you, in the UK at least, road deaths are falling so although near misses seem to be a fact of cycling life, statistically it’s getting safer…

I had a similar on Monday. Country lane, just coming out of a 30 limit. I’m doing 20 and beginning to pull out to overtake a slower cyclist.
There’s a car coming the other way so I’m holding back when the Merc behind me just pulls out and overtakes.
He sees the car coming and jams himself between the (car length) gap between me and the cyclist.
My brakes went full on and I had to ride into the hedge to stop myself rear ending the car. I managed to stay on and gave his car a whack as I stopped, just out of sheer anger really. No damage, just a slap with my hand.
Did he apologise, no, gave me the finger.
I’m still angry at his arrogance. He was driving aggressively, made a mistake, nearly took two cyclists out and his attitude was it was my fault for pointing out how dangerous this was.
I guess he was a selfish @rse before he got in his car of course.
Just annoys me I can come so close to being hospitalised because someone else makes a mistake and isn’t willing to take cyclists needs into account…

People who harm animals when they’re young are showing tendencies of psychopathic behaviour. I suspect the police know this and will be keen to get them inside before they do worse…

Anyone fancy an STW roadie Richmond Park TT? For a laugh like.
I’m up North at the mo but moving back to London in the next month or so – maybe sometime end July?

+1 PCS-9. Not least because when one of the bolts rounded out, they sent me a new one FOC without any problem. Like Hope and Oakley, seems costly to buy but you don’t need to buy again for years because the customer service is so good

I think it’s worth taking some legal advice, that seems excessive. Worth speaking to the Ombudsman too – you’re probably not the only one who’s been faced with such charges.
RBS will be under great pressure right now to turn a profit so it can be sold back to the private sector and the debt to the taxpayer paid off. For the country as a whole, that’s probably a good thing. For individual customers it will mean they will try and make a profit any way they can…
There’s a difference IMO between what you were doing which was taking responsibility and trying to clear your debt, and people who run up massive overdrafts without making any attempt to pay them back or pay the fees

I’d like to see someone on a fixed getting up and down the steeper bits of Richmond Park – fair play.
And to be fair, the fixies live in the centre of London Village, Richmond Park is more the domain of casual newbies and MAMIL…
I give him credit for doing that on open roads too. A bit like the Spanish Inquisition, no-one expects someone on a bike charging round Richmond Park at 30mph. Could have been messy

For me the appeal of Surrey Hills is finding all the stuff for yourself over a period of a few months of regular riding. Hooking up with locals helps tho’: Diary Of A Mountain Biker are a good bunch to ride with (see their website)
Nirvana do shop rides but are best described as having a ‘marmite’ approach, and many people have strong opinions of their customer care…

Nice one for getting out.
Good to see STW at its best too
Best of luck

They may well be doing it because they think they should or because they can. Not all big businesses lack a conscience (just most of them IME)

But they wouldn;t be doing it if it wasn’t adding value to their shareholders/share price…

oh, and don’t expect to have your usual energy levels for a day or two afterwards. I don’t think I could have functioned at work tbh – and ate like a horse and slept like a sleeping thing for a couple of days…
Would love to give a oner a go…

I don’t like the ‘point and laugh’ mentality behind that kind of show but we do have a weight problem in the UK….

Newgale, Whitesands in Pembrokeshire. If it’s sunny, simply stunning. Pembrokeshire isn’t much hyped a) because it’s Wales b) it’s the far end of Wales from England and hardly anyone gets that far…
Pembrokeshire beaches[/url]

Can I also recommend Nanjizel in Cornwall? Again if it’s sunny it’s stunning. Proper Famous Five territory with rock pools to jump in and a cave to explore.Cornwall[/url]

Five AM?

I did SDW in two days last June and I know it’s not easy (and not as easy as you’d expect) so best of luck to you all, it’s a great ride!

A couple of thoughts:
1.

The navigation is a doddle. You don’t even need a map.

Ignore this man. I don’t mean to be rude but although the nav is not that complicated, there are a few places where signage is not obvious and if you take a wrong turn down the wrong hill, that’s 15mins the wrong way, which is 30 mins off your schedule. Do that twice and you’re finishing in the dark.
You’ll also be running on empty towards the end so you don’t want to be wasting energy earlier on by taking scenic diversions IMO.
2. Water – you’ll need loads. The water stops are well placed and relatively easy to find but you won’t want to miss them if you plan on staying hydrated ie: if you miss one and your camelbak’s empty it could be an hour till the next which could be serious. I found a website with OS map refs for each one and marked each one on my paper map.
3. Food. You’ll need loads. More than you expect
4. Pace – SDW hills take a lot out of you, expect an average of 6mph unless you’re a racing snake. FWIW I rode a 122 miler on my road bike a month earlier and was as fit as I’ve been and the 2nd half of the 2nd day required a lot of refusal to stop…

It’s a bigger effort than it sounds so you should be bloody pleased with yourselves when you’ve done it :-)

Went in 2004 for a mountaineering trip – organised thru a UK company.
My first time outside the western world, opened my eyes. The Khumbu and Himalaya are stunning, Kathmandhu was fascinating. But most of all the people were incredibly friendly and generous – Sherpas in particular.
Will definitely be going back…

+1 on on the turbo trainer. Keeps you fit and gives you a dose of the old dopamine
Any gentle exercise you can do? An hour’s walk outside? Exercise in green spaces is supposed to be particularly good.
Anything you can do at home which gives you a sense of achievement, learn new stuff? I was forced out of my job a few months ago and started making my own bread and other bits of home cooking to help save money – I’m surprised how much satisfaction I get from it. Takes up a time too. And tastes great :-)
Also, this site is quite useful. Moodscope[/url]

People who do adventure sports are in a very significant minority so for most people, the only situation they’re likely to be in where they break something like a leg or ankle probably is being p*ssed. That’s their (limited) frame of reference.

When I broke my collarbone coming off my bike quite a few friends asked if I’d be giving up mountain biking. I think they saw it as an unnecessarily risky activity, so limited was their own experience of anything outside of work, social life, sleep…

If I were Jewish I don’t think I’d be too happy seeing Nazis commemorated.

+1 for homemade flapjacks – you can up the fruit/nut content to suit your own taste and energy requirements.
Don’t want to brag but I’ve not had a bought one that tastes as good as my own