Lol.. nothing moderate about XC racing. You start off as fast as you can go, then you continue going as fast as you can go until the end.

Sounds fun :?. Didn’t Ed Leigh quite an average speed of 14mph at the Olympics. The endorphins are flowing just thinking about it.

Not done much XC racing have you?

I thought that would have been quite evident. Of course I haven’t.

You mean like going for a ride?

Not done much Downhilling have you?

I’ve never seen anyone suffer from exhaustion after the 100m, but the marathon…

No, you really haven’t done much Downhilling.

Surely kids just prefer DH over XC because of the fact it’s adrenaline fuelled, skill centric, the bikes are cool, the gear is cool (I don’t expect the middle aged folk on here to agree with that) and it’s just a great way to spend a day with your mates.

DH is pure fun and adrenaline, which is what kids for the most part are looking for. The kids who ride XC are the sort who started reading the Telegraph when they were seven.

I enjoy riding trails out in the wilderness but for competition I would never dream of riding round and round for an hour and a half at a modest energy conserving tempo. I want all out, fast as you can test of skill and explosive fitness racing whereby the endorphins flow and the momentary joy of nailing a run is overwhelming. When I’m 50 I may reconsider but for now I’ll stick with DH.

There may be things wrong politically with various areas of cycling and there may be levels of imbalance when it comes to funding but for what it’s worth all I will say is that I’ve loved all aspects of cycling at the Olympic Games. The BMX was incredible, The Road and TT races were inspiring, the Track cycling was edge of the seat exciting and the XC was a joy to watch.

I’m a cyclist first and foremost, I have a cheap road bike when the moods takes me on the hard stuff, I have a trail bike for some explorative off road riding, a have a 4X bike for when the bar to bar racing mood takes hold and I have my downhill bike for when I want an immediate adrenaline fix. I love all aspects of cycling, they have all collectively enriched my life and I wouldn’t be without any of them and I would have a very hard time choosing just one if it came to it.

I love watching competitive cycling and I love taking part myself and I love the freedom that all forms of cycling ultimately give me and I couldn’t bring myself to argue about which is superior, which is more difficult, which is physically harder, technically harder because I’m just grateful I’ve got cycling in my life and nothing makes me feel better than riding a bike.

Sorry, that was a bit ‘mushy’ but I think it’s worth taking a step back and remembering just how great all this bike malarky stuff is.

looks a bit hard can’t do that.. pass me another beer and the remote, what channel is the footy on…..

Sounds about right. The event was a raging success then.

Mr John Hopkins.

He was my year 10 Science teacher.

I preferred it to watching dh events as, to me, it felt more relevant to the trail/xc mountain biking that I am familiar with.

As a Downhiller predominantly I’d obviously rather see a DH event so I agree with the essence of your statement ultimately. I’m more interested in how none-mountainbikers would perceive the sport.

…Saying that would watching a World Cup Downhill round inspire a none mountain biker to buy a mountain bike, or just terrify the life out of them?

Would it inspire a none-mountain biker to take up mountain biking? I realise that isn’t the acid test for the event but curious as to how it would be perceived by none-mountainbikers.

Is it just an optical illusion, or does the french girl have see-through shorts on?

So far pausing at key moments on my Sky Box has yielded nothing (not noticeably so anyway).

He’s right.
I haven’t see one podgy IT manager wobbling round a car park yet.

I knew there was something missing.

I used to think he was great on the Big Breakfast. Remember when all the tabloids had him down as being the ‘funniest man in Britain’ and everyone was raving about him, got a BBC chat show out of it – flopped. A sitcom on BBC 2 – Flopped.

Admittedly I haven’t heard him on Radio but I’m told he’s almost incomprehensible. Sounds like it’s been a long drawn out fall from grace.

Do you only qualify as a cyclist if you have been doing it for a long time up to 2012?

Aston hill this afternoon. Long mynd tomorrow. Attempt 4X on Sunday.

Ah, the Edinburgh defence, fevouredimage. A homage I assume

😆 Of course.

Sounds like you’re getting a bit worked up about this fervouredimage.

I don’t know whether laugher constitutes ‘getting worked up’ but fair enough.

Ask Stoner

Fast for him yes.

But only when on a fast bike it would seem…

Goes without saying surely??

You guys take this internet forum stuff way too seriously.

I came on here for a few weeks about a year ago – got into a massive row with TJ with the usual suspects egging him on (the ones now blaming the people he argued with but are just as culpable). I tried to make light of the row and gave him loads of chances to just agree to differ, take the piss a bit and leave it at that. He couldn’t – ZERO sense of humor and never took a backward step.

I left it over a year because the place was just too intense to bother. I come back a year later and wouldn’t you know – TJ mouthing off still.

Some of you lot (and TJ) need to lighten up a bit. You are not going to change the world by shoving your views down peoples throats on the interweb. This forum could at any minute get shut down and deleted – the lot gone. In the meantime you will put people off joining in because it’s just too much like hard work. You find yourself re-reading your posts in case you’ve given someone fuel to roast you with.

By all means have a barney. But do with it good humor and nobody gets hurt.

Exactly, It’s bordering on being unbelievable that human beings can have this sort of reaction to forum postings. It just doesn’t matter at all does it. It’s completely inconsequential what is posted in here. It’s just a feature of a website to a publication and some of you make out that is some sort of hallowed ground.

You need to take a step back and grow the **** up.

Well I’ll miss him.

I’ve had plenty of long run-ins with him, but then I specifically come here to discuss things, ask advice and hear people’s differing opinions – I kinda thought that was the point?

I understand why he has been banned, but I’m afraid his departure gives me one less reason to come here.

Interesting to hear from all the people who “never post”, but are glad he’s gone. Somehow I don’t think the forum will be improved if we ban all the regulars and whittle it down to the people that never post.

Dog Speed TJ, dog speed.

Not dead.

It’s the reason I generally avoid interacting on any subjects where opinion dominates truth. I don’t think many of the so-called ‘big hitters’ are deliberate bullies but sadly their behaviour tells a worse tale. The irony is that the reason their tactics feel like bullying is because they have the time and obsessive nature to continue arguing at infinitum whilst others (particularly newcomers) have better things to do and aren’t so self-obsessed that they can’t admit that not only is their opinion not actual fact but also that someone else’s opinion may differ.

This ^^

As a newcomer to this place my general opinion is that the long-termers on here are very strange people, but at least they are all contained in here.

Can someone just clear this up, because it’s not entirely obvious.

He is still alive right?

Surprised. I thought he would have stuck at it with Ducati for another year to try and hammer it out. Clearly that bike is going nowhere…For him anyway.

I often wonder if the internet, particularly internet forums, have had a detrimental affect on peoples ability to communicate in real life situations. I’m sure that nobody on here would talk to others face-to-face in the same manner they do on here. But I would love to see some of the people on here try, just to see the physical outcome.

My dad would argue that it’s pointless unless you can digitally throw a fist and break the other blokes actual nose.

He’s just like that I’m afraid.

It’s actually quite embarassing that a man roughly the same as my dad has managed to get himself a lifetime ban from an internet forum

I’m glad I’m not the only one thinking that.

simple things…

Well, not BMX, but I would argue in a similar vein to BMX I have just got myself a new Nukeproof Snap Pro with the intention of entering the 4X Nationals next year.

I’ve been to my local BMX track once (yesterday) to get a feel for jumping and needless to say, it is waaay more difficult than it looks. It’s the moment of hitting the face when I just bottle it and apply a little brake and then end up not clearing the table top or landing short on a double. Love the bike though. Lots of fun.

Why is everything more difficult than it appears?

It is. It’s rubbish.

Most casual observers will never take it seriously as an ‘adult’ sport.

Shame really.

It must be bloody intimidating coming up to the face of those jumps on a tiny, rigid little bike.

Hats off to them all.

BBC 3

Saw a blinder of one the other day.

Can’t remember what it was though.

When someone has an opposing opinion to you on the internet, do you:

1) Politely state that you disagree?
2) Disagree and put forward your POV?
3) Disagree strongly and argue your point of view?
4) Weep initially, pace up and down, get your head together, drink something with a kick and break a few inexpensive household items?
5) Weep uncontrollably whilst lambasting the opposing poster, threatening his family, his life and anyone he may have once met, try and establish his whereabouts and follow him for a number of days until you realise he is much bigger than you and you would never speak to anyone in real life the same way you do on an internet forum. Close account and log on to youporn.com to ‘de-stress’.

If 4 and 5 apply you will do well here…. So i’m told.

One of these in the eye is not pleasant.

The Big Sale that CRC has on at the moment is negating the need for vouchers.

If we don’t start rounding up none Facebook users now then we’ll all be sorry.

I just hope our coalition government look into this and act quickly before it’s too late.

good to know. Cheers.

Hot chocolate please. feel like a treat.

Anyone got any voucher codes for Wild Pooing gear from CRC?