I love Peddles 😀

Put the tights on for teh first time this autumn / winter at the weekend, they make all the difference to my knees too. Other times my knee pads do the trick on cooler days.

So many things!
My lovely wife,
rough and tumble with my two boys,
being warm inside when its raining and cold outside,
getting my bike ready for the Konamashup next weekend,
accepting its going to be muddy and riding my bike anyway,
Christmas on the way,
Scheming for a possible move overseas,
work is going OK,
West Ham actually won for once,
Just made nice past sauce for dinner with bacon and chilli's
Nice glass of red… maybe a crisp? 😀

High rollers – 60a on the back and a super tacky on the front?

I can thoroughly recommend the sunline V1 all mountain stem. Very light and stiff and looks good, a bit pricey though.

Hmm thanks all – looks doable but then again…

Ace thanks uplink.

Ah brute for and hammers! A recipe for disater with me… Exactly how much brute force is too much? Oh that much…

Yeah I don't when riding, I'm just worried that I'm forgoing a bit of maintenance that I might be able to do myself if I knew what it was. I'm not a mechanical numpty, just don't have the knowledge here.

I learnt a lot about this from other riders and my arm pump during the mega. I have always been an index finger braker but got bad arm pump. Then on advice I moved my levers further away from the grips, it really works, then due to arm pump started alternating middle finger and index finger braking, in the end had no problem either way. But not two fingers, couldn't hold to the bars if I did that…

I was wondering about the driving thing – seems to have coincided with a new car and I can never seem to get comfy with my clutch foot in it. I hope it not arthritis! Nothing I can do about it other than try to keep strong and flexible as you say…

I have had something similar for a while, its really gradually going away and for a while seemed to be manifesting itself as what felt like a mild groin strain, or a hernia (but clearly wasn't), or a sore outer hip (bositis?) from one moment to the next. I've taken ibruprofen, had a few weeks off the bike, stretched, etc etc. Now its just a background thing that doesn't seem to be aggravated by riding but its still niggling away. I've no idea what it is and am just putting up with now.

Your wife could and should claim the parking fine back on expenses from her company. Its even tax allowable I think.

You can't hurry muff

I'm in the same boat chico, work all week and by the time I get home, help put the kids to bed and sort some dinner I can rarely face going out in the dark again. I try to do one decent ride every weekend which is as much as I can get away with. Summer is much better, I can fit in an hours ride some evenings and also ride to work some days.

I'm going to try getting out for a run one evening during the week to keep me a bit fitter over winter.

We went for Its Only Natural by Crowded House. The start is great.

… and the Elsworth Joker I had for ages and learned how to jump properly on… great bike that was.

Hi all – I was hoping for something I wouldn't have to use the car to get to but Berkhampsted on a Thursday night could work…

I had a good 2 hour local ride yesterday morning and had fun with all the slippy leaves covering the trails, managed to avoid the rain!

Just remembered the Specialized Enduro I had… And the Marin Mount Vision…. er….

Crickey its hard to remember them all… I'm sure I have missed a few.

Peugot Racer
Saracen Ali Hardtail
GT Zaskar
DMR Trailstar
Marin steel hardtail (got nicked)
Ridgeback Road bike
Diamondback x?? dh bike
Orange Sub 5 (broke)
Merlin steel hardtail
Remec DH Pro
Another Orange Sub 5
On-one Inbred (still got it!)
GT Avalanche
Orange ?? Ali hardtail jump bike
On-one 456
Orange 5
Banshee Chaparral
Giant Faith
Orange Patriot
Another DMR Trailstar
Santa Cruz Blur 4x (latest bike will be a keeper I hope)

Now wanting a Ti456….

Second hand Chris King in good nick, I've had two that way they last for years, £40 to £50 generally.

Shameless bump 😀

Might be an option for me too, thanks. Where does the the ride start from in Berkhampsted?

And another thing, not only do I think that JC is sometimes controversial on purpose, I also think that some of the things that happen in their escapades are a little bit contrived! No really! 😉

I think its the fact that he is a c*ck that makes Top Gear so much fun. If he wasn't it would be a pretty dull programme.

I thought the main thrust of the thread intially was that he isn't a c*ck, is he a c*ck or isn't he? Can I keep watching Top Gear and enjoying it while totally disagreeing with half the things the c*ck says or not? This is confusing… 😯

I'm glad your are doing so well kimbers and have so little to worry about.

I'm thinking more of being able to retire before I'm 80… not whether or not I get a flash car.

kimbers do you pay tax? Would you rather get some services for it or have it fall into a hole?

I used to run my inbred with 4" forks as reccommended and it was fine, then I upgraded to some 140mm talas forks and I'm really loving it with the forks set at 140mm. I do like slack head angles though…

😆

Looks very nice, love the paint. Makes me want to buy a new one but there's nothing wrong with my old one! Chiz.

He he "death defying monkey" Its good, its not right… 😀

That's it really – there is no need to risk death or injury to have fun or progress. Cleaning something really tricky, up or down, getting a really good feeling of flow from a section of trail, not stalling in the corners, hitting small jumps and drops and not going offline or casing the lips, that improves skills and does not involve much risk and is ace fun.

Plus stopping every now and then to take it all in and look around, exploring without any real aim, its all good. Why I love riding bikes off-road.

I quite enjoy the whole getting lost experience of Swinley, feels like you are in a proper woodland. No need to sanitise it further by adding labels and arrows.

I like it – make sure you ride it hard.

Saving weight = saving money in aeroplanes so it makes sense, seems to be the other way around with bike frames!

One thing "risk free" I have worked on and improved is pumping, its really satisfying to be able to carry speed by working undulations in the trail, and progress to getting the wheels off the ground and doubling up stuff. Its hard work so adds to fitness and also helps with progression onto jumping proper. I find that I can now do small jumps on trails on my XC hardtail with the seatpost up that I would have not attempted 5 years ago with the seatpost down. 😀

I think the key with progression, especially when you are getting on a bit and don't bounce very well any more, is to make sure its very gradual. I like to feel I am getting better as a rider and I think I am better now than I have ever been. I might not be faster though, and I probably take fewer risks now than ever, but as I am technically better I can do things that would have been a big risk before and not be scared by them. But I still like to get out of my comfort zone sometimes otherwise I'd get bored I think.