Did you see the womans race? The amount of bodies on the floor at some points reminded me of the D-day landings, or the Grand National.

Yep.
Total carnage! 😮

Wow. Quite a reaction unintentionally stirred up there! 😆

I was impressed with his ability to read the race and always be in the right place this year. Seems to be becoming a mature and canny rider.

Never heard of him.

I thought it was the best Tour for years, especially after last year’s flop.
Sagan was awesome – he tried SO hard day after day for a stage win, I was willing him along on that descent. (I did think on a couple of occasions earlier on though, he spent too much time worrying about those on his wheel and threw away any chance of victory, but I guess he’s realistic about his chances in that situation.)
Steve Cummings bouncing back to take the stage was unexpected and a real treat.
Pinot, Bardet & Geschke’s wins were outstanding.
G is a top dude and destined for greatness & I was impressed with Richie Porte’s efforts on the last couple of mountain stages, burying himself for Froome, when he’s off to pastures new soon.
Quintana and Valverde working together to stick it to Sky. I was worried for a while, but by the time Sky had re-grouped a bit at the foot of the Alp, I reckoned Froome was just about safe as long as he didn’t blow up massively.
I almost wanted Quintana to win, but I’ll be happy for him to take next years!
The only thing that spoiled it for me was the behaviour of some of the crowds – booing, spitting at and hitting competitors is disgusting behaviour and not something you’d expect at a cycle race, regardless of what you think of an individual or team.
I honestly don’t know why some people dislike Froome so much – he seems a decent guy and has worked hard to get to the top from pretty modest beginnings! I think he fully deserves his win.
The evidence of defending the lead against endless attacks was obvious in the last couple of mountain stages and Chris & G looked knackered. I would have thought that was enough to silence some of the doping allegations.

soma rich wrote:

Have either of the other Gt Grade owners had issues with the stock rims?

My rear wheel has been rebuilt once already with new spokes and still wont stay true

I remember you posting about that, back when I was looking into buying a Grade. Not had any issues with my wheels. (Done about 400km on them so far, probably 70% road, 30% dirt.)

My GT Grade.
Loving this bike. Nippy on the road and pretty capable off it. 😀

Ah ok.
That’ll explain why I can’t find it.
Thanks.

I don’t use the app either.

I’ve stayed in the log cabins at Trawsfynydd Holiday Village several times since the very early 90s and have another week booked later this summer.
They seemed to go through a patch were some were a bit run-down, but I visited last year in October after a gap of several years, the cabin we stayed in was superb and the whole site was much improved, inc. a new shop. Gets the thumbs up from me!
The bunkhouse in the old dry-ski centre would, I imagine, be good for larger groups of riders and work out cheaper pp.

Thanks for the replies. No big issue, but I was surprised as I just assumed Strava just read all the data exactly as on your device.

Mines a basic Garmin Edge 200. They differ by about a kilometer distance and about 300m climbing.

In the last 20?

GT Zaskar LE
Gazelle World Trophy CX
Klein Pulse Pro
Cove Stiffee 69er
Genesis Io SS
Genesis Fortitude SS

Thanks Soma Rich.
Looks sweet. 🙂

True. I could see there was loads at the seat stays – it was the chainstays I was wondering about.

Those Kendas look pretty decent.

Good answer! Thanks!
How does it ride? Only heard good things about them.
There’s not much offroad from my door, so I was thinking it might be a good bike to extend my range a bit.

Clive Barker is my favourite horror / fantasy horror author.
I love all his books apart from Abarat part 3, Absolute Midnight, which I just couldn’t get into for some reason.
Imajica is the most amazing book I’ve ever read.
For a tongue-in-cheek, short, sharp shock – try Mister B. Gone.

Sweet! 🙂

Almost never get snakebites, but on the odd occasion I have had, they’ve been small and easily repaired.
You may as well give it a go, before ditching the tube.

My bro. snapped his mech hanger on the morning of the Dyfi Enduro one year, riding across the camping field, getting ready for the off.
To say he was a bit miffed is way off the mark. 😈

On a positive note – he always has a spare hanger with him now. 😉

We’ve camped at Hooks House Farm too. Had a great time!

Never heard of him either, but I’ve no interest in the DH side of the sport, tbh.

I love electronic music, but none of those styles particularly.
I’m not a fan of glitchy or break-beat stuff – the groove is where it’s at and those tunes didn’t really have much.

As far as the vocal trance vid goes – well, trance was ruined as soon as they started adding vocals and going all commercial,IMO.

Here’s a style of trance with a vocal I do enjoy though:

As above. Discogs. 🙂

I didn’t see the programme, but I’m certainly warming to Froome.
I thought he was a bit aloof to begin with, but now I think he’s just not so comfortable in the spotlight.
I enjoy his attacking riding on the climbs. Not taking anything away from Wiggo, but he could just about hang with the very best climbers (no mean feat,) while having his TT prowess as a safety measure, whereas Froome can take them on and it gives you something to get excited about in the big mountains. You’ve got to do what it takes to win and for some that may be to ride defensively, but it’s great to see some real aggression.

I watched the first episode, but gave up after that. It was way too slow and it’s not a period of history that I’m much interested in.
I was very impressed with Mark Rylance though, I have to say.

The right of way should be given to the one climbing IMO.
There’s nothing more infuriating than being forced to put a foot down on a tricky climb and failing to clean it. There’s often less of a doable line going up technical stuff too and to deviate from it would be the end of your attempt. It’s much easier to change your line or trackstand going downhill to allow someone past going the other way.

Just stumbled across this album – due out soon.
Not familiar with this label.
Bit of a deep-house / minimal thing going on from the samples, but quite melodic and laid-back. Sounds like a winner. 🙂

http://www.steyoyoke.com/shop/product/syyk029-v-equilibrium-cd/

Why not take an extra moment or two and add a description rather than posting a blind link?

I got frustrated trying to embed the video instead of just the link and couldn’t be bothered to type any more after that! 😳

It’s taken from the album “Sphere Of Influence” by psytrance producer Goch.

Bit of crunchy snow & ice and some slush on the main roads. Had one bit of a wobble, but all good!
Adds a bit of spice to the commute. (But soon wears off after consecutive days!)

I don’t include my commutes (too much effort to do every day) – but that means about 3000 miles cycled but not recorded last year. 😕

It’s a shame they’ve fallen into the trap of using loads of CGI and way ott action.
The great thing about Mad Max films was the real driving and crazy stunts!

I don’t mind CGI being used to create things that don’t exist, but it’s unconvincing as an easy way to do big action scenes.

Yep. Remember those books well. 🙂

We’ve had a petrol one for a few years now. (I say we – I don’t drive, it’s the wife’s really.)
Can’t complain at all. We’ve had nothing more than the usual bit of wear & tear – brakes etc. to fork out for. Fairly plush for the money. Nice to drive (I’m told), reasonable on fuel & no bother doing longer journeys in it. Roomy enough inside and ample boot-space.
We’d have one again.

For me it’s a close call between Metallica – “Master Of Puppets” & Slayer – “Reign In Blood”. (Special mention also to Iron Maiden – Powerslave, as that’s the album that introduced me to metal and has some of their best work on it too. (Plus a couple of filler tracks, sadly.))

I think “Reign In Blood” just edges it. It was (and still is) the best thrash / speed metal album ever. It’s just perfect. Slayer may as well have hung up their guitars after that one. I don’t see how it could be bettered and they certainly never came close again.

I don’t like the impersonal nature of big gigs

Usually I don’t either but there’s a very small number of bands that can do it well. Biffy Clyro, weirdly, turned out to be one-

I’ve not seen them live, but I watched them on TV at T in The Park. They were awesome, but I was left feeling I’d missed a trick by not being Scottish! 😉
My sister-in-law used to drink in the same pub as them in Kilmarnock before she moved down here.

Fair play. To be honest, I went to down to London see Shpongle at the Roundhouse in Camden with my wife and all up we spent over £250 (inc train fare.) That did include an all-night after-party though, but was pretty much a once in a lifetime job. 😉