Thanks for the heads up about the joystick 👍

I’m after a sub 100 Exposure joystick or sub 150 Diablo

Harry_the_spider, where do you train ? I’m also a branch of Shūkōkai, called Shushokan. I’m in Ludlow.

Thanks, we have Heians rather than Pinans. For Blue I have to do Godan, Heian Yondan is the purple belt kata for Shito-Ryu. That’s the next one for me , and then it’s brown.

Good luck with the grading. Grading for me on Monday too – Blue belt 🙂 Oos

Karate for me – took it up a few years back when my son had progressed into the kids intermediate / adult beginners group.

Best thing I’ve ever done and should have done it many years ago !

Thanks all,

I should have said I use an old Troute Lumen Liberator on the bars , so sort of have the flood thing covered by that. But I do like the idea of being able to use the Diablo as an emergency get me home light.

Not consideredthe Axis, will have a look now.

Thanks

It’s a great little trail centre. Packs an awful lot of variety into a small circuit.  Challenging both physically and technically, immense fun.

Great replies , thanks all.

I don’t think I could ever not Mtb, but I think over winter I’ll be exploring my nearest big hills (long Mynd, Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons) primarily on foot. I may even discover some new mtb routes 🙂

Thanks Caher. It took a lot of effort, for 2 years I swam pretty much everyday. It’s the most commitment I’ve ever given to any activity. But the initial improvements came very quickly. I was very much spurred on from going to the pool and being the quickest one there (untill I worked in Plymouth and went to the city pool there ! )

Yes, couldn’t swim a length of front crawl 4 years ago. After being inspired by my 6 year old son making full lengths look effortless (after 4 years of lessons) I booked myself some lessons and set a goal of being able to swim a mile.

very soon got my 400m time down to 8 minutes, then very soon 7:30 then finally about 6 months later broke 7:00. I’m now knocking out consistent 6:15.

Ive done several open water races including Coniston end to end.

The best thing I did was get a great coach (that was purely by luck)

iainc – good luck with the hernia. Mines also a second , a simple small umbilical this time though.

I have just finished my first week on meds. Taking 5mg tablet of Amlodipine. No side effects at all. I suffer from white coat syndrome too. I had a pre op for an impending hernia op and BP was 160/118. My Omron at home has been measuring around 140/95. The doctor said that white coat syndrome or not with s BP reading of 160118 in the morning of my op they would send me home.

So to lower it for my op I’ve gone on the meds. Im carrying 10kg more than I should be , drink maybe a little more red wine than I should , but also exercise lots (mtb, rowing , karate , ccts, – something everyday). However I don’t think I can lower the BP naturally- I should have gone on the meds 5 years ago!

I have started suffering from this too ( it suddenly just started about 3 years ago) after 27 years of regular mountain biking. I’ve tried new grips , positions etc etc, but it occurs no matter what, tends to be related to rides with lots of braking.

I’ve just got a Scott Genius B+. It’s by far the quickest and smoothest bike I’ve ever ridden downhill and on ‘more techy’ general trails. It’s obviously not as quick as my 29er HT on smoother XC type trails. But by god it’s good fun, and you really can just point it in a straight line and ride hard, I don’t see that as a bad thing though, it’s blisteringly fast and that brings fun 😀. An all day bike for sure if that’s you’re thing.

I’m there on my hols right now ! Second visit for me , first time was 6 years ago with my 3 year old. This time we have an additional 2 year old 😀

I think I actually love this square 20 miles more than any other in the world !

one point to note though is ; next time remember to bring an inflatable kayak 😀

You should be allowed to mock whoever or what ever you want, as long as it isn’t inciting to violence or anything illegal.

Its the joy of living in a free society.

Why shouldn’t we mock them ? We mock Jesus, we mock scousers and brummies, plus a whole host of other types / colours/ backgrounds etc etc…..

I’m bald with a beard , im going to get overly offended and demand respect the next time someone says I’ve got my head on upside down !!!!

White dog poo

Great thread, my 10 pence worth , is that as you get older you should embrace the fact that you are still able to ride tricky techy descents  on that 2 hr Sunday afternoon ride , whilst most people of your age and type are in the pub drinking ale and never having any back wheel slide outs that you catch , and make you feel alive!

You will never compete with the fit 25 year old you, but just enjoy what cycling gives you , and set new goals.

I don’t feel old at all, having a 2 and a 9 year old keep me mentally young (and acting stupid 99%of the time 😀) , but I just can’t shift the weight around my middle and moobs.

I’m 43.

Interested in this. I’m now 43 and my biggest problem is the middle aged spread ! Despite exercising a lot I just can’t shift the gut. I do karate twice a week and ride my bike 3 times a week. Also knock out a couple of rowing machine sessions.

still the weight just doesn’t shift 🙁 it’s getting me down a bit !

Thanks for the advice all.

I’ll try the Intex 2 for starters I think and upgrade next year if it all goes well.

And yes, I’ll be carefully on the sea. It’s unlikely I’ll go on it as it’s very rarely calm enough in the western isles even in small sheltered bays. The river Teme it is 🙂

Point noted and actioned 😉

Rocky box set

Thanks all, it looks like the spark is a bit of a no brainier then.

DT78 – im looking at the 945 vs the cheapest Lux model.

Robby Williams, Cringeworthy beyond belief!

I’m in Ludlow, and it’s about a 5 minute ride from door to Mortimer/ Bringewood forest. This  is excellent by any standard. Full on national DH tracks to sublime Singletrack. Defo need local guidance though. Happy to show you around 🙂

Does birdwatching count as a sport ? If it does , that’s mine 🙂

For most adults who like to have a bottle of wine every now and then , then drinking one or two of these in an hour before driving  is probably no more dangerous than taking your eyes off the road to change your radio station.

ps. I don’t drink drive ! And think that the drink drive limit should be changed to a zero tolerance level. Just so there is no doubt.

I’ve got the clockwork 129. Without a doubt it’s the quickest hardtail I’ve ridden on the flat and for general trail riding. I’ve got practically all of my Strava PB’s on this bike.

Overall it was great, but yes – the catering really was the worst I’ve ever experienced at any sort of event! The overpriced burger was truly disgusting 🙁

I wouldn’t go because of this. But I am a weird nature obsessed type person .

The Maltese government turn a blind eye, whilst the hunters of this tiny island are responsible for the extinction (within Europe) of an estimated 20 bird species in 10 years.

Haha – it is STW 😀

At least this topic has opinions from people who are actively knowledgeable (although maybe not in agreement). If it was inline with most threads it would be full of people with no experience or knowledge of what they are arguing over.

I design commercial and military sat comms systems, I put together the RF chain from modem to LNB/HPA. I’ve designed systems for the biggest operators from SES through to Eutelsat, and I have never heard anyone refer to them as aerials .

Are there any good films set around walking (I’ll check out the one mentioned above) ?

I like ‘The Big Blue’  A true story about the pioneer of Freediving. Hollywood turned it into a bit of a love story , but it’s still a classic.

I started my son in Karate 3 years ago at age 6 and he is on track to be a black belt  by the time he is 12. Karate has given him self confidence and he has learnt that if something’s worth having it’s worth working hard for!

Now that Karate is an Olympic sport he has his sights set on being an Olympian 🙂 I think that choosing a martial art which has lots of exposure is a good idea. It’s good for the little ones to see it on TV and believe that it’s ‘cool’ to do it.

But yes- starting him in Karate is possibly the best decision I’ve ever made on his behalf . I joined up a year later and it’s possibly the best thing I’ve ever done too. I wish I started years ago. We are on track to get our black belts at the same time.  That will be a proud day in the Geologist household .

What about gay giraffes? I don’t see any representation for them in the magazine. Yet I know they do exist!

So I changed the tag from indoor cycle to commute and it appears to have sorted it.

Yes, I did about 50 Zwift rides last year and they all went on my yearly total , I’m really confused by this one !