What are the thoughts on tyres, Mud tread or supa-fast XC? I guess the area is still a bit boggy??

Yes I’m in, doing it for the first time.

Can someone who has done it before give me some advice?…I’d like to ride without a backpack, so will be relying on feed stations for liquid, is this sensible, I’ll have just one bottle on board and will need topping up…..Thanks!

There is plenty. My SIL lives in Pateley and I always take my MTB when we visit. There are some great routes across a varied terrain with great views! Two basic ones, the first is as Angus Wells suggests, the second main one is a long loop up out towards Scar house res and back. I may have some gpx files if you want.

For everyone saying there was a GPX file, you probably weren’t listening to the guy on the microphine at the start line that said there was a few mistakes in it!

No, you were not listening. He said there was one small section where there was a diversion to the GPX, but he also said this was clearly marked, which it was.

TBH if you can’t follow the GPX, the maps, the signs, then perhaps you shouldn’t do this type of event?

I don’t understand or agree with all the criticism of the signs or course. The organisers sent GPX files in advance, they gave everyone a coloured OS map, put hundreds of signs out, and had lots of marshalls.

What more can they do?

I used the GPX file, and apart from one section which we were told about in the briefing, it was correct.

First time I’ve done this,. What a well organised event! Easy to get to off the motorway, no hassle parking (plenty of marshalls). Great course, and lots of nice Marshalls along the way.

No problems here. If you want me to email it to you send a mail to nbathurst at yahoo dot com……

In the OP version, during the whole episode Reeva makes no sound, even though she is in the bathroom when he is outside it and he is screaming. Just not probable.

He is also being tried on a secondary count of culpable homicide, where having admitted to killing her, the prosecution only have to prove negligence. Punishable by minimum of 6 years in prison.

He’s going to prison.

Best holiday we ever had. We went on trip organised by Exodus, so look at their website for the places they visit.

One highlight was going to the Chi-chi tunnels, and for a few dollars you can try a real AK47 at a target range, and for a few more a massive machine gun!

I am doing it for the first time, 100km. Looking for a reasonably fast time on a hardtail. Anybody got any advice on tyres, I’ve got racing ralphs or Bontrager muds?

Like any profession you have a mix of abilities….from genius to dangerous. I work in the SME sector advising on business turnarounds and I judge consultants/advisors on the impact they can quickly bring to a business measured in real sales and margin improvements.

To be fair to the sector, advisors are often very poorly briefed and managed, and often their common sense advice is ignored for short-term political expediency or parochial interests.

The best consultants are very smart people, with a wealth of relevant experience who add value very quickly to a business.

yep, Shimano m525 brakes. Bought about 7 years ago in a deal from CRC. They are light, they work, they don’t squeal, easy to maintain. Awesome.

The process is wrong with MP’s policing the matter, the judgement is wrong, and the sanctions are weak.

The policing of expenses should be with members of the public like a jury…after all the public elect them. The sanction is to be thrown out of Parliament, charged with fraud.

ride with people fitter than you….

Sounds to me like the job has turned out much harder and more time consuming, so he’s either reluctant to continue knowing he will lose money on the quote or he just can’t get it done. He must haave thought he could do it in-situ, but now has to remove whole gearbox, much bigger job.

IF I were you I would go and have a polite talk to him and ask him how much to get it sorted. Usually these guys know specialists who will do the job if he can’t.

At the very least he has to put it back together for you so you can at least trailer it to another garage.

In answer to the OP, IMHO, No. I live about 1 hour from Cannock. It’s OK but on weekends is too busy and it is not really challenging enough from a distance or technical point of view. It gets quite crowded and slower riders in busy times will clog the climbs. It is really a route through a forest, so not much to see either. Café at Birch Valley is good although you need to pay for parking.

We prefer XC in the peaks which isn’t much further.

I had this issue with a titanium frame. I bought the Velo Orange grand cru threadless BB. So far after about 500 miles feels like a very good solution. The downside is you may need a new crank.

Couple of points, I have worked on both sides of the fence. Make sure that you have agreed the credit term before you start work, and this is documented. You should also put this on the T&C on the reverse of the invoice. In these T&C put the interest rate you will charge on overdue invoices. I always send the invoice to the person I am working for rather than accounts, and ask them to approve it and pass it themselves to be paid.

If you don’t know the company, and can’t access their credit history, you can try and ask for 50% upfront?

Winding up orders frighten the hell out of most companies but they can be expensive ( I think £1.5K), but you will get paid unless the company really is in a bad way.

question for you clever people…The satellite data (IMSAT?) shows the time the airplane was moving (?). We know that there are 2 arcs, with 2 corridors. So, knowing the plane and the factors related to its speed, fuel load, its precise position should be able to be calculated??? There will be two alternatives on each arc? Or am I being stupid?

The roadie etiquette is all about sharing the work. For some people that might be coming through every 2 mins others every 30 mins. But it lacks class to sit on someone without taking a pull, unless you say Hello and then thanks. It is rude as well since they are expecting you to point out potholes, parked cars etc.

If you have such a rude person, and they won’t come through, attack on a hill!!

The roadie etiquette is all about sharing the work. For some people that might be coming through every 2 mins others every 30 mins. But it lacks class to sit on someone without taking a pull, unless you say Hello and then thanks. It is rude as well since they are expecting you to point out potholes, parked cars etc.

If you have such a rude person, and they won’t come through, attack on a hill!!

OK, here’s an idea to get you started, buy up all the Shimano 10 speed stuff you can find at cheap prices. Knock it out on ebay???

The thing with United is that you might believe in Moyes if there was any evidence of improvement or a plan, but there isn’t. Mata is a very good player but why pay all that money then play him out of position?

Like anything it needs practice to get perfect. I used TUFO tub tape and this was way easier than glue, which get’s everywhere.

The biggest hassle is that when you are riding, you need to carry a spare tyre which is bigger then an inner tube. Properly glued tubs are hard to get off on the roadside. When they puncture, you can get them repaired but they need to be sent away.

The pros ride them on the road because when they puncture you can keep going for longer, but if you cycle without a team car, then IMHO clinchers are a much real-world option. I have bought some Vittoria Open Corsa CX Evo clinchers which are supposed to be the closest thing to tubs, and on a recent 100 mile ride they were impressive.

North Korea would be about 4 hours away?

Interesting idea..off course then shot down by NK. I bet they have good surface to air missiles?

I’d also suggest it’s unlikely to have been the actions of some kind of terrorist organisation. Firstly, as the culprits would have claimed responsibility for it very soon after the event.

No one claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks for several months, nor did the hijackers leave any note whatsoever explaining their actions.

Just read that article about AF. Clearly Pilot error, not helped by bad weather…thunderstorm. No reported bad weather this time I think?

The fact that there was no communication from the pilots indicate a sudden, mid air catastrophe, either mechanical or terrorist.

The ‘news’ management from the airline suggests to me more is known than they are publically stating.

I think you have to buy wheels and treat them as consumables, rims, bearings and freehubs wear out, spokes break. I gave up using mavics years ago, they look great but are very expensive to service.

Hand built wheels are the way to go, they stay true for longer and with the right build can be lighter, stiffer and easier to repair. Recently got a set of kinlin a300 rims with novatec hubs from http://www.spokesmanwheels.co.uk, less than 1500g, very stiff, about £300, done a few 1000 miles on them very good.

I ride in some quick road rides, and the quicker the ride the more the group is likely to go through red lights, and across roundabouts when a car is approaching from the right. Going really fast at high heart rate impairs your judgement…but anyway cyclists should also learn the difference and apply at all times

I knew when I saw the intro with The Handsome Family singing Far From any Road…that it would be amazing…and it is…

Takisawa2…really nice colour…what is it?

Happy with my Etrex 20. The reason I bought it was that it runs on AA batteries so is better for longer trips, you just carry spare batteries. I bought full UK OS maps on ebay for a very reasonable price. IMHO the maps are essential for MTB and finding new/alternative routes….

Maplin do a label remover, which is a good solvent, should get it off, about £3.50 for an aerosol….

Be persistent. Take pictures. Receipts for damage. Threaten small claims. Be persistent.

We pay VAT, tax on our wage, tax on our savings, tax on money we leave to family when we die, council tax, tax on fuel, tax on cars annually, tax on new cars, tax on bits we buy for cars.

If the Council leaders, Quangos or other body leaders say they cant afford stop paying themselves six figure salaries.

+1

If local governments are not maintaining the roads to a less than dangerous state what are they doing?

My wife reported a massive pothole to Derbyshire , no less than 10minutes later she got a call to verify its exact location, and the next day it was ‘repaired’ with loose tarmac. From this I surmise that they only ‘fix’ the reported ones…

Wasted opportunity. We know what’s there. Recent probe data suggests that the nearest ET life could be on Europa , a moon of Jupiter. It has all the elements to support carbon life forms underneath a think ice sheet, water, minerals etc.

What we need is a probe to land on Europa, burn its way through the ice and then catch an alien Shark, and send it back via a pod!!!

Cheaper than a manned mission to Mars

The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.

Oscar Wilde

Agree the point about having people who know the sport, Matt Pinsent (Rower), who as far as I know doesn’t know the first thing about ‘slopestyle’ was interviewing people after the event.

Did you see Claire Balding (horse sports) patronisingly informing viewers about men’s downhill or something…its laughable really.

The BBC sent 92 people to the Sochi (source DM), was this the best they could manage?

In my eyes, by agreeing to fund repairs you have admitted liability. The buyer might come back to you for more repairs…Withdraw all offers.

As others have said, the garage costs seem very high, unless it was a main dealer. I had a head skimmed and it was only a few hundred quid.

The Italian judicial system moves at a glacial pace at best. Look at Berlusconi, the chances of these 2 ever serving time imho is zero.

The thing about this case is that the forensics are ambiguous, no smoking gun as such, but the person who can clear it all up is Rudy Goede. He pleaded guilty, but AFAIK has never said he acted alone under oath.