Yes – and then the good people of Hastings and Rye can remove her wafer thin majority there, so that she can go back being Head Girl amongst those oh-so-talented City of London folks.

ljs1977 – all those that you mentioned, plus the Whyte T-130, which is really the pick of the crop.

Yes.

Go a little bit further SW to the Gers in Gascony and you’ll have some lovely riding, without it being the full gnarr. Try Condom (always useful advice).

Mondraker Vantages are great bikes, and they have the benefit of having a +size version too – but they are NOT light!
I suggest the Sonder Transmitter.
Read Bike Radar’s 5* review.
Long, slack, available in alloy or carbon, and not expensive.
Can take a 160mm fork.

Mondraker Vantage – even better with + size rims and tyres.
Or Whyte 901/905.

Plenty of bridleways with attitude South of Cambs – even some elevation!
Try all around Wandlebury/Gogmagog Hill and also Linton. Some decent downs (and ups) the other side of Royston too. Plus, as Tommid says, you can hook up to the Icknield/Peddars Way track, and it will take you all the way up to the N Norfolk coast, or all the way down to the Dunstable Downs. Also, if you want to go further into Suffolk than Brandon/Thetford, you can have some fun in Tunstall Forest (10 mile waymarked Viking Trail is a blast) and in the forest and heath around Dunwich. Also Rendlesham Forest and XC loop around Alton Water.

So plenty if you’re prepared to be creative.

Had Raidons on the Voodoo Bizango I had, and they were surprisingly good. But right now I’m having a similar experience with my Commencal Meta V4, which has X-Fusion Sweep 160mm forks and an X-Fusion shock….and blimey, they’re excellent!

Conversely, I’ve had bad experiences over the last 2 or 3 years with Fox 34s. Right now even with the Factory variant, which I have on my Yeti. Harsh when I hit big things hard.

And Rockshox, who have generally been consistently good, do have an issue with Pikes, lovely though they are when they work well. I’ve known 3 or 4 sets of Pike forks which develop a bit of play as they get used. You can feel it on the front wheel when you pick a bike up. But Yaris seem pretty bombproof.

Debt+++ = Austerity+++ = no change for the wealthiest,
but the restof us allowing ourselves to be conned that we’re to blame and we must pay.

Ideology mate.

If those who run a failing system which benefits them but empoverishes the rest can still manage to fill our heads with self-blaming tosh, they’ll continue getting away with it!

Dunstable Downs too.

Worth looking at welshfarmer’s map – Stipersones is brilliant too, and not far from the Long Mynd!

Hmmnn………very tempted by this!

Mine is meant to be every 18K miles – I change every 12-15K.
Which is every 6 months. Worth it especially on higher mileage engines.

Unfitgeezer – while 9-3 Sportwagons are lovely when everything works, too often it doesn’t. They are the final Saabs and it shows. General Motors are responsible for destroying Saab – asset stripping the Swedish company and donating their own dodgy parts, each one of which has its own collapse-by date.

On the 1.9 TiDs, in addition to the cambelt and water pump (why no timing chain, as all older Saabs had?), there are also inlet manifold and EGR valve issues. And the electrics are crap. Plus suspension is no longer robust like older Saabs, and the leather on the seats is of such poor quality and so thin that it quickly cracks and splits.

I had one (also 55 reg like oldbloke) and by 174K miles I had to sell it for scrap, despite replacing many major parts during the 2 years and 50K miles that I had it. The electrics had become so unreliable that everything (traction control, mileometer etc) started packing up.

Go instead for a 9-5 estate. Much better build quality (the rearguard action of Saab workers and managers) and so much more robust in every way. Remarkably fun to drive and capacious too – will swallow 3 bikes whole with no wheels taken off! Mainly chain driven as well, apart from the later Dame Edna 1.9 TiDs.

Whyte 901 or Spesh Fuse Fattie surely, if you want accessible not-break-the-bank choices?

Shirts aren’t bad but won’t win any style awards – a bit boring.
Don’t buy their ties though – the one and only one I had was made of carpet felt!

When Mrs D bought her Cooper SD 5 door as an ex-demo in April, they thought it had run flats fitted – the ride was surely hard enough. But then they decided her tyres were not run flats after all. So this shows that even Mini dealerships find it hard to tell the difference!

Tyres require to be run on incredibly high PSI levels – 37-38. Even my Saab estate only needs a max of 35. So this adds to the sharp feel Minis have. Suspension is sharpest in Sport (max go-kart) setting and best in Green setting, so suggest that for all but mega-roadhogging, Green or Middle setting gives you a more comfortable ride, as well as saving a bit of fuel.

Love the Mini, but my main problem is TOO MUCH INFORMATION! It tries to tell you too much all the time, so driving it is never relaxing. I also wonder just how reliable it will be when all these info gizmos start giving up when the car is 6 or 7 years old.

Agree about the sluge/breather system issue – Aeros are least effected due to synthetic oil and perhaps better owner care (due to it being an Aero!) but it was a disaster for Saab’s more lowly petrol engines – nearly wrecked their hitherto good engineering record.

Suggest a manual gearbox will give you better take off and better fuel consumption – and IME more reliable/less fault prone.

Also suggest an estate – will swallow 3 bikes whole!

But all-in-all, 9-5s were the last well made Saabs. Saab management refused to toe the GM bosses’ cost cutting/corner cutting line. Thus they make a far better 2nd hand buy than 9-3 sports saloons/sportswagons – with these…..everything falls to bits after a while. 1.9 diesels and electrics particularly prone. Avoid unless as cheap as chips and with service records which tell you cambelt/waterpump, clutch/flywheel, inlet manifold, EGR valve, etc have all recently been done.

Did the Farley Mount loop (see current MBR) 3 weekends ago on a visit to Hampshire for a wedding. Pleasant couple of hours with gorgeous bluebell woods on the way out and nice descent on the way back.

Encona original for day-to-day spice needs, Encona hot for that little bit extra, and Tabasco Habanero for special occasions.

Plus some of the African voodoo juice!

Remember this: ‘if you want to destroy something, first drive it mad’
We’re well into the madness stage now.

As to your question – are you having a laugh?
Look at the record of eg SERCO, who have taken some big NHS contracts, and you’ll see what I mean.

456 Ti (mk1)………quite affordable now.

Thetford the only place I have been able to go locally this very wet winter where it drains well and is not too claggy. Was there on Sunday – great. I also notice a new ‘smooth but swoopy’ trail is in the process of construction coming up from the Beast. Not finished yet, but some cheeky rides are a possibility!

Several older petrol ‘real’ Saabs in the nineties/early noughties that I took to well over 200K without real issue – 900s tended to need gearboxes between 150 and 200K though. Had one 9000 Aero still very refined drive @ 230K.

More recent GM Saabs of lesser quality. 1.9 TiDs pretty rubbish and needing frequent attention – electrics, suspension, cam belts, water pump. 2.2 TiDs and 9-5s better. My last 9-5 estate went to 201K without needing anything. My present 9-5 estate on 140K and climbing at the rate of 25-30K a year.

Moral of the story – the more GM input, the more to avoid.

South of Dunwich there are some nice paths on the edge of the Heath, and after the NT Coastguard houses you drop down onto dunes and sandy shoreline. Should be perfect for fatty tyres. And you should have a clear route down to the Maggi Hambling scallop shell at the top end of Aldeburgh beach. Just watch out for the nuclear power station though!

The better way to get through to Walberswick from Dunwich is approx. half mile inland – good north/south bridleway, with a few cheeky footpath bits. Or Sandlings Walk, which is another half mile again further inland.

Coming late to this…

Against – bombing would play into ISIL’s hands and also cause much civilian collateral damage. When will Western countries learn that
even ‘liberal’ intervention causes problems not solves them.

But now after Paris it seems mainstream.

Diva
3 Colours Red
…and all the way through to Sicario.

No guilt – just brilliant movies!

Point 1 – NEVER believe BT – they’re effing liars!
Point 2 – there are many rural (and in some cases not so rural) areas where there are connectivity ‘not spots.’
Point 3 – BT extort vast some of cash from government and county councils to V-E-R-Y slowly roll out superfast broadband, while still avoiding the ‘not spots.’
Point 4 – most of the other providers are no better because they piggy back on BT’s cables.
Point 5 – satellite can be an option, but is bloody expensive.
Point 6 – here in rural Suffolk (but a mere 35 miles as the proverbial crow flies from Martlesham Down, BT’s Stasi-like research HQ) we have resorted to a community run wireless service – not too costly, but prone to breakdown, and of dubious legality insofar as it taps into the BT service in local areas where this is stronger. Pirate broadband!

We should stand with them – and against the liar Hunt (who denied suppressing the news on most Health Trusts being in the red until after the Tory conference, although it is clear that this is what happened.)

All in the interests of fragmenting the NHS and letting his nasty corporate friends in to really screw things up (as they undoubtedly will.)

But FunkyDunc – I agree with Drac, you underestimate nurse specialists and practitioners, who in my area (neuro) are much needed and in some cases better and certainly more accessible than consultants. But also, if we fight and blame each other, we are allowing Hunt a way in. Together we are stronger.

An oxymoron?

I saw Yes at the start of their career and even bought the Yes Album and played it for about 3 months solid until I realised what unutterably pretentious drivel they were peddling….and continued, along with the boorish Wakeman, to peddle. Please, younger STW members, realise how desperate was the need for punk by 1976!

cinnamon girl – I’m sorry to so utterly disagree with you. I’ve always admired your posts and your attitude, not to mention the shimmering Neil Young and Crazy Horse song from which you take your name.

But a Prog Rock revival on STW or anywhere else really is a step too far!

I don’t want to sound negative but….get it fixed as cheaply as possible and sell it quick!

GM cars are noted as they get older for their dodgy electrics and wiring, and for everything (including the suspension) having its self-destruct date looming. It therefore gets very hard to keep everything on an even keel (sorry for the nautical metaphor) as something is always going wrong.

Sorry, but you asked……..

I wish Joel but sadly no can do this year.
Hopefully up for it next year though.

Coming lately to this mighty 10 page showdown between Ernie and the rest, and even though I have a general belief that the Labour Party was established to peddle essentially reactionary ideas to the working classes (and has only entrenched that position with the passage of time), I have to say that I LIKE JC. I knew him in the 80s when he was a trade unionist, and he was a straight decent bloke then……..and he really hasn’t changed (only the sandals.)What you see really is what you get with him.

And that is the secret of his current thoroughly unexpected success.

essel – sounds like your stepson’s worked it out for himself, but how ever pretty it may be, and how ever nicely it handles, it’s an ALFA for god’s sake! This means that the electrics will be pretty crap (still, krypton!) and therefore lots of silly things will go wrong – constantly if he plans to do any mileage in it. The airbag sensor is just the start…….

Added to which, it has the 1.9 TD engine. This is a RUBBISH engine and has loadsa issues, which ever car it comes in. I had it in a Saab 9-3 estate, and while it had good poke when working well, it needs a cam belt every 72K miles (plus associated running gear and water pump etc) and it goes through EGR valves like they are going out of fashion. Combine this with poor electrics and you have recipe for chaos. Saabs in their last days under the malign hand of GM also had pretty poor electrics, and given that I do 30K+ miles per year, by 173K miles I had to throw the 9-3 away. Totally unreliable and parts packing up randomly, including ongoing EGR and particulate filter issues. Such a change to earlier Saabs. I switched back to older 9-5 estates with the 2.2TiD engine, and have done a further 60K miles over the last 2 years with no mechanical issues at all.

In summary – AVOID!

The Gers – Gascony – see SW France Cycling Adventures website.
Lovely – we did a 180km loop this time last year. Area is packed with VTT trails and lots of singletrack.

Adnams Broadside of course!

Closely followed by Butty Bach, Felinfoel Double Dragon, Wadworths 6X, and believe it or not, Greene King IPA Reserve (had a pint on Friday night and it rivalled the Adnams shock horror!) NOT what Sussex drinkers with their beloved Harveys Best want to hear (remember the battle of the Lewes Arms?) but the truth is that Harveys is OK in Sussex but just does not travel.

Sorry guys.

Some lovely trails in the Goodwood area of the S Downs, which are less than 10 miles from Petworth.

I would re-iterate aphex_2k ‘s advice. If he’s been re-sectioned, as family you can ask to be included in discussions around your son’s care/diagnosis. It may be that the diagnosis has changed since the lead up to the drug induced diagnosis. His Psychiatrist & mental health team should be agreeing a care plan with him & you as family, which can should include plans for his discharge & assessment for personal budget. But if he’s currently on a CPA (Care Programme Approach),good practice requires a care plan – do hope you & he get the help you require.
This is written by mrsdekadanse!

+1 for all that’s been mentioned, and a special shout for Stiperstones and Bury Ditches (both very near the Welsh border.)