It’s a bit sloppy and slower running all winter down here. But cornering is considerably more fun in winter. And the pub at the end is also good.

“shows that she’s still available.”

What happened to [list]not wearing a ring[/list] on the ring finger?

It’s got nothing to do with your age

A Tracer 275 all spring and summer. I’m back on my little 26″ HT for the winter. The Tracer will come out next spring.

Climbers tend to be a different breed, capable of stepping over their own dying mothers just to summit the stairs

Really, no. But Everest aspirants do seem a bit special. There are cocks in all walks of life, even cycling.

Saw it in 2d

Human interest: 7.5
Spacewalks and hardware: 10
Musical Score: 8
Credibility of plot: 5

Overall, it’s a worthwhile film.

(I’m a space system developer)

Crests on an Anthem

Anyone who can spot and correct errors is clearly not an idiot. Everyone makes typos, spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. What’s wrong with correction? Why have a hang-up about it; just learn.

If they were putting themselves in harm’s way to really protect this country, I might see the point, but they aren’t. They’re political playthings

I share your distress at the way politicians have abused the purpose of our armed forces, as do many soldiers it seems*. But soldiers do see themselves as protectors, and do fight for that reason. And while deep sea divers and fisherman also get my respect, they have not died in vast numbers to protect my nation or principles. So for that reason I honour soldiers.

* I had a fascinating 2 hours chat in the pub with half a dozen Nepali Gurkas recently; they were not long back from Afghanistan and doing R-and-R/outdoor pursuits. They were very disappointed that the UK Parliament had rejected military intervention in Syria, regarding it as cowardly and a loss-of-face for not going in and trying to protect the population from the administration. But they are professional warriors so they would think that. I explained to them that after the lies leading to the invasion of Iraq, the public/back-benchers didn’t trust the motives of the Government. They had a good think about that!

I now keep my 5.10 Impacts for decent conditions only because they are IMO, unsuitable for British conditions. I have some non-cycling 5.10 Guide Tennies from a sale for the wet season. They lack the foot support, are not quite so grippy, but are half the weight and dry out easily.

Yes. That thing when you attack the pedals and it tears off like a rocket, is fun as hell! I borrowed a Scott Scale carbon 29er for a ride and it was instantly wanting to be in the big ring totally caning it into everything until I exploded with effort. I almost bought one.

That and being able to change direction on a sixpence due to the lack of mass, and the reactivity of the steering compared with the slack beasts that seem more popular these days (me included). Not for the feint hearted though.

“thanks you for blah blah and I respect your position…

I understand and agree regarding the negative impact of off-road motorbikes, but would like the opportunity to demonstrate that occasional use by off-road bicycles has no more impact than use by pedestrians, and certainly less impact than walking dogs. Would you agree to meet (when and where), perhaps bring an off-road bicycle so that we can ride together and I can readily demonstrate what I mean?

yours blah blah”

Cycling has changed me as a person, I’m sure. Mountain biking has enriched my life:

* Given me something involving and active to enjoy locally
* Increased my physical capability and confidence
* Helped me mentally with personal and professional crises
* Helped make me a lot of lovely new friends and acquaintances
* Kept my body weight under control
* Made me the fittest I have ever been

Made me somewhat financially poorer though!

Is there not a difference between jobs that have a risk of death and injury (Health and Safety apply), and the “job” of deliberately putting yourself in harms way (hostiles out to kill you)?

Do you not see that?

Sudocreme
South African Romance

STW should deffo run a proper poll from a short-list

Before you buy anything, take another 5 psi out of both front and back and try again. A tyre needs to deform to grip, and to shed mud. If you are running summer pressures at slower winter speeds, the tyre may not be deforming enough.

Conti MK2 black chilli is now available in 650b 2.4.

I’m still getting away with Dampfs but when they start balling up all the time, I’ll switch to the MK2s, as they have more paddle-like centre blocks and larger gaps between blocks which makes them shed more easily.

They make technical descents more fun as it’s easier throw the bike around without risking the saddle coming up and it throwing you off. I put up with a QR seat post on my HT as it tends to be ridden in filthy condition that would quickly kill the dropper.

I dont think they add much to non technical descents. When you stand on your pedals with saddle up, you still have inches of clearance to move around in.

Cheeky David!

More rigid forks around here than you can shake a stick at. Try asking on pink bike. ;-)

Grilled white fish. That’s it.

Put the money into the Philippines storm disaster fund please.

Younger than 20. I’m 44. What does this mean?

“,your hand/grip should be spreading all your body weight evenly “

Why have any body weight on your hands? Stand all your body weight on your pedals, steer and push with the feet. Just use your hands and arms to stop the bar twitching about. No arm fatigue here even after 30 plus minute alpine descents, and the bike usually goes where it’s put :-)

How the Moon stays “up there”^^^

The following explanation is wrong in a number of ways, but I hope you get a feel for it:

1. Put a weight on a bit of string and gently spin it around (don’t hit yourself or anyone else).

2. Do you feel the weight pulling-away at your hand? That is the “spinning” energy you imparted. The moon has a lot of that. (If you stop spinning, the weight falls toward Earth; if the moon span slower, it would fall to Earth).

3. You are resisting it flying-away through holding the string and that is like the effect of gravity between Earth and Moon. The gravity is acting through “invisible string”. (if you let go of the string, it will fly-away; if gravity “failed”, the moon would fly away)

4. Because the moon’s spinning and the gravity are in equilibrium (balanced), the Moon is a satellite body i.e. it neither falls to Earth, not pulls away.

5. Actually, but not noticeably to us, the moon is so large that the moon does not spin around the centre of the Earth – they spin around each other: “Considering the Earth–Moon system as a binary planet, their mutual centre of gravity is within the Earth, about 4624 km from its centre”. That is a slightly odd thought to the normal Earth-centric paradigm!

OK?

[now get a physicist to explain this properly]

Front brake has all the power, but it only really works safely in a straight line. Back brake works a bit for comfort, but don’t over do it. You can use the back brake to square off corners by making it lose traction, under some circumstances. Consequently:

1. Brake only when it is safe to brake i.e. no braking when rolling over anything steep or knarly, or cornering. Braking here could send you over the bars. Keep in a neutral position with no braking

2. Always look to your next braking zone down-trail i.e. where it is safe to brake because traction looks OK and you will be going straight-ish, and plan to brake only when you get there. And brake hard with both brakes, briefly resisting the braking forces by briefly dropping your heels and wrists.

3. Then, let go of the brakes, take a neutral position again, standing on the pedals, and roll over the next bit

4. And so on. The result is overall higher speed and growing confidence as you have maximised traction, control and safety by making the bike behave nicely, when it is most needed.

It gets more complicated when the entire track is steep and knarly with no obvious braking zones!

Real people fought and were killed protecting and serving the interests of the nation and moral principle. Warfare is a desperately unfortunate condition, but one that happens all too frequently when national politics become aggressive. It is a truly scary business that requires courage to endure. Regardless of how people became soldiers, or whether you agree with the principles or national-interests involved in any particular conflict, I respect a soldier’s courage and sacrifice.

Direct your anger at politicians throughout our history who have sent brave warriors into conflicts for unsound reasons.

I’m just not inclined to pin a hole in my GoreTex jacket.

if you ask about winter tyres round here you get funny looks.

I bought 4 new “summer” tyres on Saturday. The garage owner said: “The concept of all-condition compound tyres, which contain a lot more natural rubber, is fairly new in these parts, so I don’t stock them. I have one winter/snow tyre that would fit your wheels, but it’s horribly squirmy on tarmac due to all the extra sipes in the blocks and it’s much worse at dispersing standing water so far from ideal in the normal winter conditions we get.”

No. I just start slower and get into my stride after about an hour, which is tricky as a certain person in the riding gang likes to (and can) whizz off uphill like a missile. You know who you are ;-)

A bit low speed balancing exercise around the car park while The Avengers Assemble seems to be helpful.

Three cheers free beers for Helen!

Good luck dude.

Your body position isn’t different because you have a lower saddle. You can just move around more easily.

Are you now squatting a lot with the seat lower, because you can? This is very tiring and limits your leg-suspension! Still ride with your legs fairly extended as if your saddle was up and just use the extra saddle clearance to let the bike come up to you when it needs to, or flip easily from side-to-side without worrying about catching your bits.

You’re mad riding XC trail bikes if you don’t enjoy climbing. Whites was a better flowing climb that carn, although I like carn too for its interest. Whites always had better overall descents too.

I can’t wear down exercising, I’m just to hot.

I tend to wear it only on winter camps or standing around on cold evenings in Keswick ;-)

PHD is wonderful, but RAB is affordable.

Plus you know it’s maintenance-free compared to any SC and most other multi-pivots

Intense’s have pivot grease ports.

3x Is this a new record?

A front wheel folding on you is not fun. Fix it pronto.

Depends what you mean by better. Crackly and pop is non-existent on CD and audio file of course, but I have pressings that audibly re-produce far greater dynamics, frequency range, and stereo depth and width from the record than the CD (most notably: Billy Joel – An Innocent Man).

Record pressings do apparently get worse later into the production run so maybe I just got a good one. And CD’s of older albums are often re-mastered, EQd and compressed for more basic reproduction system. These two points may account for the superiority of my record over my CD.

Decent build 456 should be good. Consider double-ply or protection tyres as there are some sharper rocks on some red trails you can end up hitting it all quite hard. The guy in our group on his HT was still quick, but kept slicing and pinching his rear tyre.

Mendip at its worst. From the Trail guide up there ^