Epicyclo, I used to surf ski a bit and used my 'regular' surfing wet suit, but if you want a 'specialist' suit have a look at the Snugg web site, they do suits for most watersports as well as the surf lifesaving club and triathlons. They are a lot more expensive than off the peg but for about £165 you can get a custom suit that fits properly and will keep you toasty on those cold feb early morning sessions, I have had about 5 of their suits over the last 15 years and they are worth the extra cash. Dont let the cold put you off as autumn/winter is the best time for good sized surf in the UK.

Yeh a good wetsuit is essential as well as boots and gloves, if your an odd size have a look at the custom wet suits from Snugg (Newquay) or Second Skin (Braunton) if you an 'average' size then any of the good surf shops should be able to set you up with a good fitting suit. Make sure you get a suit thats double stitched and has glued/taped seams.

Board wise I would look at getting a second hand mini mal or magic carpet style board (6'8" up to 8'ish and anything inbetween), there are loads of good second hand boards to choose from (take a look at Sharkbait forum classifides section). Or if your after a brand new board support the UK shapers and have a look at Fluid Juice Surfboards (Padstow), adrian makes some of the best UK boards ever (been using his boards for 23 years now and cant fault them). You will get a better board if you have it built to your size, weight, experience, foot stance, etc.

Hockropper, theres quite a bit of good riding around worthing/brighton mostly on the South Downs, some nice trails around Stanmer Park in Brighton, also 30mile north is Peaslake/Leith Hill with a good selection of singletrack. Sussex MTB have regular evening and weekend rides, some based out of Quest (bike shop in Worthing), keep meaning to join in on one of their rides. BigSi posts on here so may be able to offer more on Sussex MTB.

The group I ride with have regular evening rides as well as local and North downs weekend rides, plus a bit of trail building/mnaintenance at Peaslake, your more than welcome to tag along if you want.

Uplink, thanks for that, I have just got some odd looks from others in the office as I almost p1ssed myself reading that, class 😀

Got an engineering consultant we use at work called Dick Feast, always makes me snigger like a school boy when I hear his name.

Broke fib and tib (spiral fracture) was put in cast for few weeks and then plated and pinned, that was ten years ago and still gives me loads of hassle. The ankle area has now not got full flexibility, the problem I had was muscle wasteage, the muscle in my thigh and calf went to almost nowt and took me along time to build it up again. Also have a problem with spd's and twisting out with the dodgy leg.

Probaly the worst part was watching my mates going off biking and missing getting out on the bike, it makes you think about how much biking can reduce stress levels and how much you miss it when its taken away.

Teggs, having an argument at the moment with the NHBC regarding the bridging element on a timber frame, they use 15% as a default although I always base it on 10-12% they wont budge, any thoughts??

Well after 3 redundancies in 18 months I seem to now have got myself sorted with a permanent job only 15 miles commute (used to be 67 miles each way) and to give myself a fooking massive pat on the back I put an order in this morning for a new Cotic Bfe (Blue) when they arrive early next year.

Oh yeah and I have 7 wonderfull children from 23 years old down to one year old and proud of every one of them, life may sh!t on you every now and then but as long as the family are ok everything is sweet.

We specify Vaillant EcoTech 24s for all of our developments and as far as I am aware its also our sub-contractors prefered choice of boiler as well, seem very reliable.

A U Value of anything upto 0.35 w/m2k

basically:

12.5mm plasterboard
VCL (500 gauge polythene)
Timber frame/studs – 140 x 38mm or 100 x 50mm (structral dependant)
90mm Kingspan TW55
10mm OSB
breather membrane (could use a Tyvek Reflex for a better U Value)
50mm Cavity (Minimum)
Facing brickwork

The above should achieve a U Value of 0.26 W/m2k

If your getting the B.regs done by NHBC make sure you get a BBA certificate for the insulation as only the Kingspan is approved (ridgid insulation only), if your going to use a mineral insulation (breathable) such as Knauf Frametherm you will be alright.

Ax-Les-Thermes, normally stay with a mate who runs a guiding & B&B (Chez Toeey), place is so stunning and the trails are sweet (lots of twisty singletrack and a few DH runs), beats the hell out of Morzine/Les Gets.

Spain – Bubion (Sierra Nevada) with Switch-backs.

Weller (early Jam or Solo but NOT Style Council), quite like Newton Faulkner stuff (havent seen him live yet).

For rock stuff for me its got to be Zac De La Rocha from RATM.

John Snow (news reader) walking up at Peaslake and Louis Theroux? biking up at Pitch Hill.

Bumped into Lawrence Dellalio?? in a restaurant in Ax-Les Thermes in the Pyrennes, he is f@cking huge and was on a road biking trip across the Pyrennes with other rugby types last Oct.

Had a cove hummer which I loved but although the overall size was ok I wanted a slightly longer top tube and a few tweeks to the overall geometry, measured up the cove before I sold it and then used the measurements plus my own and ordered a Curtis FR. Had the frame three years now and its superb, a bit heavy but cracking do it all bike with Pikes at 140mm.

Love the first picture 'the unridable switchback' although its a bit washed out compared to the last few years, I love the riding around Bubion/capelieria as its got some of the best rocky single track ever.

Architect/QS/dogs body, same as Lowey really, spent years training and working for the big developers and used to love this job but after 3 redundancies in 18 months it really is soul destroying. Pretty F**king bleak.

Another vote for Curtis FR

If you live in extream exposed areas full fill cavities is a no no, (take a look at the NHBC's map for exposure areas) and as mentioned even worse with recessed joints.

We tend to stay away from full fill cavities on new builds now and maintain a full 50mm clear cavity, to be honest as long as the cavity isnt bridged, you have cavity trays in the right places and weep holes for any moisture (wind driven rain) that WILL get driven through the outer skin and into the cavity to escape there shouldnt be a problem.

I find it odd that a house only 8 years old doesnt have any cavity insulation, even if Thermalite blocks were used should still have been insulated.

I would love a BMX, my son has two (Spesh Fuse and a Haro), have a little play on them every now and then (when I have fixed them for him) but at 44 feel a little stupid and crap going out in public on one especially at the local skate park in front of the spotty yoofs (who can ride).

Using an E13 DRS which has a E type back plate and front mech (I like to climb on mine), seems to work well.

As far as bullying is concerned sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, my lads (black and brown belts 16 and 12) wouldnt use what we have taught them unless they really had to, 12 year old was bullied at school for a few years before he eventually 'smacked' one of the three lads who were holding him up against a wall and had been bullying him for ages, bullying stopped after that!. Not the ideal solution but he had just had enough.

We teach our students to respect others and where possible to walk away from bullies/road rage, etc but sometimes its not an option. I would rather my children could stick up for themselves but also show respect to others than to go through the heartache of being a parent of a bullied child.

Cheers guys really appreciate the feedback, going to hook myself up with some of the local rides and get to know the area a bit better, thanks again.

Carl and Gareth I think?

Bigsi, sounds good, live just up the road from Bury Hill (houghton) and have spent many years (15) riding and building up at Peaslake so know those areas very well, looking at getting some rides west of chichester/houghton forest. Like the sound of the Quest rides, only been in the shop a few times but they seem decent guys, may tag along this weekend.

Thanks for the replys guys, spent years riding around the brighton area with the old Sussex Uni MB club and was looking for more rides around the west sussex/hampshire way but will have a look at the Brighton MTB club.

Bunners 29" wheels is just so wrong, I cant get another bike she will kill me.

Do it!, I teach a Kickboxing/karate class and both my lads go, its a great confidence booster and a superb workout. I would say that 6 is about the youngest I would want my kids to start as their concentration does wander a bit, as long as the instructor is qualified it should be ok, if youve not tried it yourself get suck in you will be suprised at how quickly your stamina and fitness builds as well as being able to defend yourself should the need ever arise. Look at it as another way of cross training.

TOP TIP!!, I was just about to do the same upgrade, Hope M4 No.3 (gold one) onto Fox post mount with adaptor & 20mm disc upgrade, thanks for the tip all works sweetly now.

Sierra Nevada, Spain (with Switch-backs), similar to you had spent years doing the alps and fancied a change, Spain has some of the best trails ever.

I have a medium Big Hit 3 frame with DHX3 coil shock, RF bars, Truvative stem, XT BB, XT front mech, Cane Creek head set, Easton seatpost for sale for £250, the frame is in very good condition with a few scratches.

My blue Curtis

Been out there (Bubion) 5 times and first four times have used Stans, had one puncture in 4 trips that tore the tire so had to put a tube in there, went out again about 3 weeks ago with normal tubes and got multiple punctures every day (went through 2 puncture repair kits and a sh1t load of tubes). Next time out its going to be Stans.

If you going out with Ciclo Montana (same area) there seems to be a lot more thorns on the trails (dont forget to stop off and sample El Rays pizza)

Curtis FR

Had numerous powder coated frames and 4 anodised frames and would go for the powder coat, at least if you scratch it or chip the paint you can touch it up, scratch or ding anodising and it stays that way.

cheers for the replies, was looking at the head angle of some of the more modern hardtails (Alpine, 456, etc.) and they seem to be a lot slacker whereas 71deg seems comparitively steep.

Up until two weeks ago I had a Trance X0 with a set of 140mm Maxel Revs on, the bike handled so much better with with the revs over the stock Fox F120's, it did lift at the front a little on sharp climbs but was such an improvement on the descents and general single trach shennanigans.

Use the Kyles if i am clipped in, so comfy and ok for climbing in, although as mentioned they can get pretty hot underneath, and use a old pair of Raceface FR's if I am out on the Dh bike using flats (as I have plates running up my lower right leg from a mountainbiking accident I cant take the risk of getting my shins smashed by flat pedals), the RF FR are pretty reasonable to climb in as well but do slip a little (not as much as my old 661's)

For elbow I normally use a pair of the 661 chicken wings (not sure if they are still available?)

I looked at a Soveriegn and had a ride on one (was nice) and as much as I like them I went for a Curtis freeride frame with my own custom angles and lengths, a little bit more than the current soveriegn price but as your tall you can tailor the frame size to suit.

Made redundant 3 times in 18 months, I am an architect and the last 18 months have been pretty dire although I must say things are defo on the move, my line of work is normally one the first and hardest hit in a recession and as easy as it is to say 'keep your chin up' things do seem to be picking up.