+1 for the Yarg, lovely cheese.

There is a Scottish blue cheese called Strathdon Blue, creamier than a stilton but not overpowering – lovely stuff.

That section of the CVDG website does read a little bit like the diary of a petulant teenager though

It probably does Geoff, but we decided to put everything up so folk could see the picture warts and all. Apart from the redaction of personal data and the filtering of some of the superfluous emails then what you see is what happened.

We may well look like ego’s or personalities but we were comprehensively lied to on several occasions and i think they thought we buttoned up the back sometimes. Spending half a decade and hundreds of your own money trying to make something good happen, just for your major partners to stab you in the back, is unforgivable.

I’m not trying to deter people from getting involved, far from it. i just want people to enter into these things with their eyes wide open, because the puppet masters who shafted the CVDG project and others are still very much involved and leopards dont change their spots.

there are so many opportunities for innuendo here I dont know where to start.

lol @bedmaker.

The main reason I, and I suspect many others, don’t get more involved in this sort of initiative is because we come from the business environment where fast decision making, aggressive commitments, ensuring actions happen on time, and getting buy in from all parties is a way of life.

quite. This was a major factor in CVDG getting so pissed off with the way things were working. These guys plan their careers around single projects and we weren’t prepared to wait two years for 500m of blue trail. I’m sure we’ll get the usual round of comments from the same folks on here about egos and personalities etc but fundamentally we were a confident, articulate group of people who were prepared to get on and make something happen, effectively challenging the FC to behave more like people in the “real” world.

avforums.com is a good resource, but it gets very nerdy in bits and can lead you down the path of “i could pay x more and get this”

I find panasonic are very good and would get a plasma if i didn’t use the tv for gaming (screen burn is still an issue for modern plasma tv’s)

how about asking her to report in voluntarily so you can check out her particulars and make sure she’s fit for a mission.

or just ask her if you can bash the back doors in. it sounds enough like a code…

@bigjim

Have you actually been to one of these events? Your remarks about getting letters of support from bike clubs etc dont suggest so. Its going to take a hell of a lot more than waving a few letters and asking pointed questions to change anything.

I have been involved in trying to make a difference btw.

@aviemoron were you at the last one? One is certainly enough unless you have a short memory or like being surrounded by green fleece.

messiah said +1

I saw the latest BS email land in my inbox earlier this week saying that they wanted to get rider input blah blah blah. Like Messiah, I was there back in 2007 (it cost nothing then IIRC) but i’m afraid its the same old pish thats being trotted out again and again. These quango love-ins are just a merry-go-round of studies and reports and projects and fork all actually happens. We had the trail centre boom back in the early part of the last decade and since 2006 nothing has fundamentally changed or been significantly improved. They’ve had almost 3 years since the last conference to come up with something and as Messiah pointed out it was a marketeers glossy w*nk mag, full of jargon and speak about MTB as a “product” but bugger all about how this would actually be delivered, or more importantly what and where they would deliver it.

I reckon hundres of thousands have been spent to date on studies showing them what to do and where (google “an ambition towards forest cycling and Mountain Biking” if you can be bothered) and all of this data was junked for the last conference when they decided they were going to set out a “framework”. All that was going to do was suggest how they would structure development, it still wasn’t actually going to do anything! Here we are almost 7 years after TRC did a shed load of work at the expense of the public purse and lo and behold we’re not even at the point where we can do anything with the data. Its long out of date anyway so once (if) anything is actually decided we’ll need a new study etc etc – it just keeps on trucking….

Set this against the FC’s desire to reverse out of any new trail development anywhere on the forest estate (OGB137?)and you have the makings of public sector hot-potato. everyone wants to talk about it but nobody will to hold on to it.

Whatever these folks say about wanting to engage people is all balls – this kind of thing is arranged behind closed doors long before Joe public ever gets a say in it. I mean, what would they do if overwhelming public support for something got in the way of their carefully crafted plans that were set in stone years ago? We can’t have the public knowing whats better for them than the people we put there to look after it, can we?

Sorry, I’m a cynic when it comes to this crap and i admire Soulrider for wanting to get involved, but if you think you’ll change anything for your £45 quid then prepare to be disappointed.

the clunge, classic word.

Some of the blokes here carry a full chorizo in there

I find stuffing it down your shorts saves weight and looks good.

see what I did there ?

Not really, that post was barely understandable.

I was going to try and reason that you cannot eliminate mechanicals with riding skills and bike prep, but I think its already clear you are a troll we are not going to agree on this.

@thesouthernYeti

Wheelie round the trail?

i’m going to clarify my last statement actually.

You seem to be suggesting that you can use fettling and riding skills to avoid any mishaps on the trail. I agree that bike prep and line choice is going to reduce the risk, but not eliminate it.

Its all about the risk, how likely are you to need lube/tools/water etc in any given situation. Personally I’d rather overpack and not need it, even if that does make me look like an MBUK fanboi.

No, what stops that is “skillz dat pay da billz” tubless stan’s and picking the right line, next.

I cringed for you when i read that…

I guess all the guys puncturing on the fort bill DH runs all year just didn’t pick the right line then. And before you start I know they dont carry a bag or a repair kit but you seem to be suggesting that you can ride or fettle your way out of any mishaps on the trail.

If your bikes given TLC and checked over, 99% of the time it will OK

TLC or confidence doesn’t stop punctures and smashed mechs.

moss, just check it for ticks first. 😯

TJ i’ll burn 6-9 litres on an 10 hour ride. some folks i ride with will barely finish a 2l bladder – its just about how pissed you were the night before how much fluid your body requires.

Thats where Nuun’s come into their own – hydration carried in easy format. or am i just being suckered into the hype.

whats the VED on the r32?

Read the thread.

plainly i’m wallowing in fail so spell out your point caller.

The Churchill dog

Mike Russell

come to think of it the jowly insurance hound Mike Russell did float a plan to sell off some forest, but I think that was roundly criticized in the press a wee while back.

TJ – not sure why FOI stuff defers to UK govt, but I agree that FCS is responsible to Scottish Ministers.

IIRC the SNP made a manifesto pledge to merge SEPA and FCS and it hasn’t happened so either it tried and failed or they haven’t bothered to do it.

TJ – good question*. FCS does report to Scottish ministers but in terms of FOI requests FCS are a Scottish arm of a uk-Govt dept, hence they are goverened by FOIA not the Scotland act. I think FCS will be technically considered a UK body and subject to Scamerons proposals, although not 100% sure.

In any case the SMBDC quango love-in will come shuddering to a halt soon (not that it was going anywhere fast in the last 3 years)

*even though it wasn’t a question 🙂

bagsie Ardbeg or Laphroaig, will trade bottles with Caol Ila though.

on second thoughts, I might hire a skiff or raid Argos for a lilo and make for Islay:

i would, although if you’ve read (preferably) or watched “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy then its not such a clear-cut decision.

given my earlier post ^ I guess a crudcatcher would be the mudguard of choice.

Psst. No MTB event at the Delhi Olympics.

lol – oops. I guess it avoids the inevitable “What tyres for traction in human waste?” question

Kaos UL here too – unbelievably light and very comfortable, paricularly for all day rides where a weight on your neck / head does make a difference.

yeah, I dont think Scotland should be casting the first stone on this one, given we are hosting the next one. At least the MTB circuit in Delhi can’t be any worse than Cathkin Braes, with buckie-fuelled neds throwing things at the competitors.

navigon here – its fine although the constant “beware!” when committing the heinous crime of exceeding the speed limit does get on my t!ts a bit. Likewise got it for 15 snaps when on offer. I think there is a free one out called skobbler sp? that needs an active web connection too, but only heard that in passing from a mate

lol @charliemungus.

<hijack>

I have a genuine Nokia Wallcharger, USB and In car charger that fitted my Nokia N86 if anyone is looking for one or all three for a reasonable price?

This type of connection:

</hijack>

used to regularly have dreams that i'd be walking through a warehouse and there was railway sleepers stacked end-on-end miles into the air. I always remember starting the walk by them and then they started crashing down around me. I used to get woken up by bashing my shins on the bed frame, thinking it was the sleepers falling on me.

I've also recently had hallucinations at night (i can always remember them) that i've seen dead folks hanging from the curtain rails, or huge spiders crawling across the ceiling etc. definitely a freak 🙂

O – Member
I don't mind having a go at being gay, might be fun.

judging by the graphical depiction of your username you've already had a go 😯

would the tyres insulate you though? what if you had spd's and unclipped….

shooglenifty? peat bog fairies?

call it hype if you want but i'd recommend the 5:10's over skate shoes or the shimanos any day of the week. I think the 5:10's are really well made, significantly tougher in the heel and toe area and can take an absolute pasting (mine have survived 3 scottish winters to date)

plus i find the sole not only grippier on the pedal but on most types of rock too (handy when in the mountains doing hike a bike) They are also more comfy to walk in than SPD shoes.

intent to use a weapon will go against you.

This is why the law is crazy sometimes. the scum that break in show intent in wanting to nick your stuff, and picking up a 9 inch chefs knife definitely shows intent to **** up anyone that gets in his way. So why should you not be allowed to show intent to beat the living daylights out of someone who is clearly there without permission?

I know its a tricky argument but if the OP had a 9in stab wound he probably wouldn't be posting about it (sorry OP, morbid but true)

how big do you need? I have a 1gb micro SD from an old nokia you can have for nowt.