NOT THE USUAL SCALLY CRAP THAT YOU FIND ON EBAY.

Oh the irony!

Although I'm now really keen on coaching and think I'll find it massively fulfilling. As part of my assessment for trail leader we had to do a skills session. I had a pretty naff area to work with so did trackstanding lessons coupled with some games to aid in developing balance. Most of the other candidates could already trackstand with some proficiency, but one who couldn't before the lesson ended up doing the most amazing trackstand out of everyone and was hugely pleased with himself. That felt pretty awesome! 🙂

Mr Agreeable: no idea yet really. As mentioned, my initial motivation was just doing it for a laugh and also because I lead so much with the cheesy riders it might not hurt to get a quali…

Right now I'm just going to focus on fulfilling the requirements for Technical Leader and go from there… 🙂

And last week they were pretty cheap on Merlin!

I love mine, did a trail leader course at the weekend and I was the only one who didn't have any items in the drying room. Altura Attack Jacket and 3/4 Shorts. 🙂

I passed! "A strong pass with an exceptional performance! Well done!"

Yay, right, paperwork and frameworks to sort out, log a load of rides and bring on Technical Leader!

but people who rode bot prefer the meta 5 am I right?

Actually I found the Meta nervous, fidgety and with a rear end made of jelly… sometimes felt like the rear wheel was loose or the tyre was going down…

Luddites 🙄 😛

Drac, that's fine assuming you want a wordpress or joomla template. And even then, from my experience of the "I want to make a website" types is that Worpdress and Joomla won't be that easy to use.

Moon-Stick I'm afraid… if such a thing existed I wouldn't be in a job right now…

The word pray also means "to hope desperately" so to say you're praying for some isn't necessarily a religious statement.

http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?query=pray&title=21st&sourceid=Mozilla-search

http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/conticycle/ti%20rubberqueen.shtml

Website confirms, 2.4 is Hot chilli, 2.2 is not…

C-Max although the interior gets a little rattly.

Can take 3 bikes inside and three riders (Take two rear seats out). Drives like an actual car.

Might be a bit of a mare for novice driver to park…

I think it's a useful skill to learn, particularly if you ride with SPDs. Restarting on a very technical climb with SPDs can be tough but if you can start into a trackstand, take a second to clip in and get settled and then pedal, it's surprisingly easy to get going again…

Me and my brother used to play the downhill trackstand game when we were kids. Start at the top of a slope pointing downwards, you can't pedal and hence can't go back up the slope. Last one to the bottom wins. If you dab you lose.

It's quite a forgiving way to learn as you can roll out a little bit when you lose balance and then try again, obviously the better you can trackstand the less you need to roll down the hill and thus you'll win.

I really like the Altura Attack. When it works it's supreme. But I have had an '08 fall apart and an '09 loose all waterproofing. That said, they've seen pretty horrendous amounts of usage.

Thankfully Altura have warrantied them both and I'm now on my third one going into my third winter of using them lol.

The '09 one was much better built so didn't fall apart. They reckon it lost it's waterproofing because I didn't wash it enough LOL – and there was me being worried about over washing jackets!

Home made white (3/4" slices), Bacon (unsmoked, thin cut, 3 rashers), egg (large, runny yolk), real butter, ketchup (applied liberally).

If you're hands are clean afterwards you've done it wrong.

+1

I'm going Orange Graphic wrap and fitting some 140mm Floats, but I already have those knocking around. Interestingly mine will be a singlespeed conversion for a bit as I'm doing a part swap on a Genesis iO…

Not yet but should be ordered before the month is out, black or Orange?

I don't normally run mud guards if it's a short ride. But doing my CTC trail Leader course this weekend, I'll be out in what's likely to be awful weather for two days on the trot. I'll be waterproofed and mud guarded up to the hilt.

I did the same for the CLIC24 which was torrential, never used any of my spare riding gear aside from a change of waterproof socks in the morning of day two.

Unless you ride like some kind of slow poke pansy, a crud catcher is not going to keep you completely dry in the short area.

Just lob some dual ply tyres, DH tubes, a 40mm Stem and a Bash to the Tracer.

Chances are if you're only just thinking about downhilling you won't be attempting courses that need a DH bike from the off (e.g. CwmCarn) and the Tracer will be fine.

I did the above with my Orange Five at CwmCarn and survived 9 or 10 runs and most of the day before arm pump forced me to stop. I was a long way from being the slowest there that day as well…

If you like it, get a DH bike.

Altura Attacks on Merlin cheap right now…

Got my lock blocks ages ago, torches shipped a week later but have been 14 working days so far which makes me think they've been caught up in the Royal Mail strike action.

Of course, I seem to be unable to get anywhere with the tracking code so getting a little nervous now.

I'm not convinced by the don't use wet lube argument by the Juice Lubes chap given my Fox forks are fine after nearly two years of using wet lube method (they've been serviced and stanchions are fine thanks) and given a Mojo rep I bumped into a Brechfa said it was fine too…

Although the frame and rigid fork will be for sale shortly to fund a Soul!

Cheers for those links Trekster!

😛

Glen, I don't know if I remembered to thank you and Richard, but massive thanks for answering all my inane questions, Jedi too!

When it comes to F1 haters are always gonna hate…

I agree with Legard needing to go, the rest have been great, even EJ. He's like a really inappropriate Uncle who livens things up with his unpredictability. I loath the guy but he's probably provided more comedy than annoyance for me.

I've found the lack of ad breaks a slight pain in that I can never make up my mind whether it's safe to vacate the Sofa for a piss or when to get up and make a brew – at least ad breaks decide for you.

I honestly don't know… I'm doing this on proviso that it's fun and I'd only be doing it anyway (I'm guiding and teaching all the time anyway). If I make some pocket money out of it, awesome, if I make a career out of it, bloody awesome!

That's reassuring! It's all happened very fast, 2 weeks after I do the Trail Leader course I've got my REC 1st Aid up in Snowdon, and I only thought about doing all of this about 6 weeks ago, yikes!

Yeah the plan is to be Technical Leader before the end of 2010 and possibly even Skills Instructor but I guess that'll hinge on how quickly and effectively I can fill my log books.

Btw, I offered in another thread and it still stands, if you're ever coaching or guiding down in the South West or South Wales and you want an assistant/monkey for the day FOC, let me know!

Jedi, interested in guiding too, and currently having no qualifications, I'm under the impression that trail leader and technical leader are pre-reqs anyway?

Yeah I think so…

I chose the CTC route as it seems to be as much focused on tuition as it does guiding.

Cotic BFe would work I reckon…

50:50

Had a nice ride at Afan, Penhydd and the Wall back-to-back, quite tough as I don't normally take the SS outside of Bristol…

Must say I quite enjoyed passing a big group of expensive full suss owners all scratching their heads at the Graveyard slab section and skipping through with a cheery nod 😀

Did miss my full susser by the end though, bloody knackered and battered lol

I think you're fine with it. I do think the placement of the T/Cross is a bit awkward. I'd like to see the top of the T inline with the rest of the characters.

I wouldn't be sure without seeing it but I want to put put the 2013 inline with the end of the last T as well…

Yeah if they Stinky is in good working order, a well listed ebay auction with decent pics might surprise you…

You could get a frame builder like Argos to braze some on for you but tbh it'll probably be cheaper to find another retro-ish frame…

I ride a Five but have ridden an ST4 quite a lot, they feel the same in terms of fit.

At 5'10" an 18" is what I'd call comfortably "roomy" so for a six footer an 18" would be on the nippy/flickable side. If you're looking for a more all day kind of bike, consider a 20"

I personally think Orange's are better on the slightly larger side as they're strength is in their sledgehammer like ability to roll through and down anything at speed and I think the longer wheelbase of a larger frame amplifies this…

All IMO of course…