If it’s trad sponge really beat the fat and sugar hard to get it as light (colour and texture) as possible.

Sift the dry ingredients properly and only JUST fold them in – overworking the gluten in the flour is a BAD thing.

Don’t open the oven door.

Paula who I work with has just found a recipe that uses mayo instead of butter/marge – gives the sponge a very open ‘factory-made’ texture if that’s what you’re after. I’m sure a Google will find the recipe (how many “Mayonnaise Sponge Cakes” can there be?).

slainte 8O rob

Not totally sure yet.

Astrid is a pretty decent Android ‘ToDo’ app. Looks like Astrid.com will be their online ‘hub’ (currently I have to sync to Google Tasks or Producteev to access my lists away from the phone and the sync isn’t perfect in terms of features).

It’s not fully operational yet and it looks like I need 3 referral signups to get an invite to the ‘pre-release’ version to have a nose around so just trying to drum up some ‘business’ to get an in.

slainte :oops: rob

Have been on Pipex for about 10 years now (although they’re now owned by TalkTalk IIRC). Can only remember 2 unplanned outages in that time.

slainte :D rob

Another alternative if you’re in rush – if you don’t need hugely complex spreadsheet functions you could always upload to Google Docs and work on it there.

slainte :D rob

Not sure, but (IIRC) if you know when you last heard it on there you can check the R1 site for the show playlist.

slainte :?: rob

Whatever is currently living in the Camelbak Chaos. Usually –

spare tube or two
mini pump
shock pump
alien 2 multitool
leatherman wave
‘socketdriver’ and a few sockets
glueless patches
zip ties
tape

And then the ‘non-bike’ stuff –

2L water (bladder)
flapjack/cereal bars/sweeties
phone/GPS
house keys
cash
debit card
whatever extra clothing is appropriate

slainte :-) rob

http://www.foobar2000.org

With the right components installed (converter and ALAC decoder), it will decode/convert FLAC to .wav and decode Apple Lossless, but not sure if it will encode direct to Apple Lossless so you would have to do the iTunes convert mentioned above.

It’s also a pretty decent media player.

slainte 8) rob

From Leeds the Lakes is surely doable for a weekend.

Epic natural stuff and a couple of Trail Centres if you’re that way inclined.

slainte :D rob

Another fan of the way Danny Hart rides.

With all the younger, looser riders coming through I think the next 2 or 3 years are going to see some astonishing riding and racing.

Why this stuff doesn’t get even a little bit of ‘mainstream’ coverage is beyond me.

slainte 8O rob

slainte 8) rob

Coast-to-coast on Public Footpaths surely?

slainte :twisted: rob

Also openoffice (free office suite compatible with Microsoft office files) will export .pdf.

slainte :D rob

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/workstands-park-v-feedback-sports-v-others

slainte :wink: rob

buzz-lightyear – Member
My personal thoughts, looking across to athletics for instance, are that the sport would benefit from a prominent, British female role-model. Then young women can think: “Hey, I like bikes, that could be me”. I wonder if this would happen if DH made it into the Olympics?

Aside from all the gender conditioning type responses, I reckon this is a big factor.

A lot of those middle-aged overweight gear-obsessed overbiked bubbles of testosterone who might put girls off the sport would have ‘grown-up’ in MTBing with Peaty/Warner/Palmer et al as the saleable public face of MTB and that may have coloured their view of the sport.

While there are some great female DHers around at the minute (and they’re even British!) they don’t really get the media exposure to break out beyond the MTB ‘scene’. We all know who Atherton and Moseley are and how good they are, but not sure how many non-bikers would have heard of them.

Possibly also a childhood thing. Most (sweeping generalisation?) boys grow up messing about on bikes in a way that I don’t remember girls doing when I was a kid. We all crudely modded our bikes and attempted to use them for inappropriate purposes (I was a road bike with cowhorn bars off-roader for example). I think it’s just this lets-get-muddy-bike-as-plaything ethos that male MTBers carry through into adulthood that women are missing?

Ramble over.

slainte :D rob

Quchua Base Seconds 4.1[/url]

slainte :D rob

Thanks for the comments everyone.

In the end not brave enough to go semi-slick on the back end.

Currently running Michelin Wild Grip’r 2.1 F & R and love them (now I’m used to the ‘grip gap’ between centre and shoulder knobbles).

Want to stick with what I know for now so have now ordered a fatter Wild Grip’r 2.25 for the front and a faster rolling Wild Race’r 2.1 for the rear to see how I get on.

slainte :arrow: rob

aracer – Member
I have no idea how he does it

Smartarse.

And WAY more patient than me!

slainte :lol: rob

bigjim – Member
slainte rob
pHz?

Certainly is (IIRC STW won’t allow a 3 letter username?), right down to the blue text.

slainte :D rob

TurnerGuy – Member
Apparently Gary Fisher visited that shop and bought one

See, it does work!

slainte :D rob

Yeah, just without the .html.

Straightforward, old-fashioned bbcode.

slainte :wink: rob

jedi – Member
god knows………………………… kin show off

This.

slainte :lol: rob

You don’t say what your budget is, but I’ve always been a fan of Fuji compacts and until my current compact have used Fuji for years and years without complaint. Don’t remember any real issues with shutter lag.

My current compact is a Panasonic Lumix TZ10 which is ace but not cheap – not sure what the cheaper Panasonics are like but they might be worth a look?

slainte :arrow: rob

I think the bowler helmet must have mangled my noggin, because I reckon their cargo bike looks pretty cool!

slainte 8O rob

Filthy ahead of its time noise

Filthy pop (2nd half is awesome)

Filthy oddness

Filthy disco

slainte :D rob

slainte :D rob

Best we have tried is the ‘official’ WeightWatchers one – not sure whether you can buy them without joining though (my wife is a member).

Top tip whichever one you go for – totally decompress between uses – seems to help with the clogging etc.

slainte :-) rob

ajantom – Member

Woohoo! I’m not alone.

slainte :D rob

Love these (more so than my Fox and Specialized gloves) but they are starting to get a bit frayed.

slainte 8) :cry: rob

Mr Hyde in play mode (seat down)

Mr Hyde in lardy XC mode (seat up)

Old skool 1st gen hardnut hardtail Trailstar

SS urban MTB commuter (nice handmade frame though)

slainte :-) rob

Don’t peel at all, just wash and cut out any nasty bits. Even for mash the skin adds taste & texture and leaving it on keeps most of the good nutritious stuff in the spud instead of in the bin.

slainte :D rob

Saw a couple when riding Thetford a few weeks back. One was just a blur as it darted away from the trail, but the other was stood halfway down one of the inslopes to Madgett’s Pit. Stayed stood there all casual munching foliage as I rode in and out of the pit 3 or 4 times. Had I jinked right instead of left when I hit the pit the first time and taken a different slope I might have been having venison for tea (assuming a 15mph+ Mr Hyde with bloater pilot is harder than a small deer?).

slainte 8O rob

(Full disclosure – I’m a teacher).

Home/school contracts are a good idea on the surface (we have one), but actually have very little substance. Much better to actually try and build a positive relationship between school and parents by other means (community projects, good quality communications, getting parents involved in school in practical ways, etc.).

Of course, there is no ‘right to strike’ in UK law (although IIRC EU legislation and High Court rulings earlier this year run strongly contrary to that), so you could always try a legal challenge against your children’s teachers.

My own union has not yet made a decision on strike action. If I’m honest I would be torn – I understand the union/profession’s stance, but striking as a teacher doesn’t personally feel right to me.

slainte :? rob

Husker Du are great. discovered them via their Leicestershire ‘cousins’ who I actually have more of a soft spot for.

slainte 8) rob

We had this (or at least the slightly shorter Radio Edit) – not really your usual wedding fare though I guess?

(Can’t find the official video on YouTube)

slainte 8O rob

Can’t resist a dogs thread.

Rex looks a fine figure of a (**** off huge) dog. Reminds me of my dad’s old giant GSD Mick who used to play with bricks like ‘normal’ dogs play with rubber balls.

Anyway, our two –

A tired, grumpy, “why the hell are you taking my photo at this time of night?” Pablo (8 year old English Springer – possibly the handsomest dog in the world)

Also tired, but with more of an “OK then, just get on with it” attitude is Stig (5 year old alleged English Springer, but I suspect a smidge of Border Collie in the mix somewhere – definitely NOT the handsomest dog in the world – his name is ‘of the dump’ rather than any Top Gear reference)

And a rare picture of them together where they’re not sleeping, eating or fighting

slainte :D rob

Northwind – Member
Minoura are great, though seem quite expensive now- way better than any of the Park stands other than the professional level ones.

Just got a Minoura RS-5000 from Merlin for 120 quid. It’s my first workstand so nothing to compare it to but it’s chunkier than I expected and seems pretty well put together. Haven’t used it in anger but have had a little play and it’s quick and easy to adjust and holds the bike nice and solid. Unless it bizarrely falls apart in use seems like a good buy to me.

slainte :-) rob

molgrips – Member
Gimp is a head-**** though. At least it was when I tried it years ago.

Having used GIMP for years now, I start to feel the same way about PS!

For the simpler PS style stuff http://www.pixlr.com might be worth a look.

slainte :D rob

slainte :D rob

I use KoS ‘non-foaming’ gel too. Top stuff.

I think the foaming gels are a bit old fashioned and pointless myself – if you want foam buy foam.

slainte :-) rob

Caveat – I currently own 4 pairs of Merrells and love them.

I’d take a punt on another pair of Merrells – I’ve had 7 or 8 pairs of various models over the last few years and never had an issue with build quality or longevity.

Usually wear Chameleons of one variety or another but wanted something more substantial so just got a pair of these which seem to be pretty decent –

http://www.merrell.com/UK/en-GB/Product.mvc.aspx/22564M/0/Mens/Refuge-Pro?dimensions=0

slainte :D rob