Speaking as a somewhat lapsed rider and a lifelong walker I, and I think most countryside frequenters, would far sooner say “no” to excess speed, skidding and illegal digging than bikes which are a bit easier to get up hill and a bit less good at going downhill.

Even regular trail bikes these days are hugely capable and make the trail “easy” in lots of ways – what’s the problem with making the boring bits easy?

I do not believe anyone gets stuck behind walkers for any great length of time. If you ride behind them at walking pace for, say, a minute or two… make conversation, say hello, be civil… are you seriously saying they will just block your path? Nonsense. They might wait for an appropriate spot to allow you to pass. I don’t see why walkers should jump into the ditch, or even stop and step aside, but when the path widens suitably then it is a good place to pass.

Back on topic – if I see horses at all I usually just stop completely and wait a few seconds. Say hi, wait until they’re gone and then on with my stuff in peace.

Bloody hell, that was quick – thanks!

Sorry – I was being defensive and argumentative. Personal failings. I am 100% behind Richard and wish I could spend more time helping him out with this. As well as being a massively hard worker for mountain bikers, he is also a best friend and drinking buddy.

The delay to opening is just to let the mineral bed consolidate and not get rutted.

Whatever – it is narrow, or rather it will be when it weathers and grows in. It is not possible to build a durable and sustainable high-traffic singletrack without this method, or something similar. It is hardly double track!

It doesn’t matter to me that you won’t want to ride it, I only wanted to explain a few basics about trail building.

The general idea is that this trail will be sufficiently attractive to take a good proportion of the bike traffic – I think that once people give it a try (rather than slagging it off based on a picture of it not even finished) then this will be the effect.

Oh and one more thing Hora – do you realise that this isn’t even the North Downs?

Hora – without patronising the f out of you, you do realise that it will weather-in and look a lot more natural?

You do realise that undergrowth, er, well, grows?

You do realise that if you don’t build the trail base out of mineral (i.e. the sand that lies underneath the black mulch) then water will never drain off and a perpetual mud-fest will prevail?

You do realise that the above IS rolling/flowing single track?

Or maybe you don’t.

That’s just one particular bit – there will be lots of variety, for example a massive step-up. It will be possible to roll through it all, or add speed and turn the experience into something a bit more full-on!

There are sections of machine-built, with berms and jumps and rollers an’ all that. They will weather-in and look and feel more natural after a while. The strip of yellow sand should hod up pretty well and shed water. Will be a bit like Sumer Lightning but pumped-up. There will also be hand built sections with more of a classic Leith Hill flavour, but with better drainage.

Helping hands are needed – contact Richard via All Biked Up fb page. All Biked Up

Can I just add: Please please do not ride it if it is taped-off. It takes several weeks for the sand to compact and harden – if you leave it it will go hard and water will sheet over it as designed. If you ride it it will rut up and hold water.

A hell of a lot of effort has gone into this, and it is pretty unfair if the builders have to repair it all the time.

In good time you will find that this trail contains some awesome stuff!

This would all be non-problem if Specialized did 2 things:

Innovate and create brand names – don’t just try and own weak generic terms. Lazy.

Run their legal team to the same “socially responsible” standards as they claim for the rest of their company.

The whole thing would never have happened if the Specialized statement…

“We win by working in a highly collaborative and transparent, non-corporate and non-political environment with a mission to:
Create a culture that attracts, develops and retains the best people on the planet
Design and build the best bikes and equipment in the world
Foster social and environmental responsibility in the world in which we live”

…was written on the wall of their legal department, rather than just a load of puff on their website.

“We win by working in a highly collaborative and transparent, non-corporate and non-political environment with a mission to:

• Create a culture that attracts, develops and retains the best people on the planet
• Design and build the best bikes and equipment in the world
• Foster social and environmental responsibility in the world in which we live“

Here’s a hint Specialized: don’t just have a mission statement, try being your mission statement.

Again, cynic-al – all the answers have been provided. Why not just read?

Specialized are basically saying that they believe some Canadian cyclists will associate the word Roubaix with their plastic bike rather than with the world famous classic race. Pretty much a definition of arrogance.

Still think the whole trademark is highly dubious.

This guy Dan Richter has named his shop as a tribute to the great race and the spirit embodied therein.

Specialized have merely appropriated all of that for themselves, and are using their weight to bully others into not referencing all those good connotations. If Specialized had created the race they might have some kind of moral claim over it, but they didn’t and haven’t.

That isn’t correct poisonspider. They only need to defend their trademark against genuine confusion. The trademark authorities have already made this very clear (I read yesterday).

Added to which I think it highly dubious that they should be allowed to trademark a common usage term in the first place. I think the race and the city should issue a Cease and Desist notice to Special Lies to stop freeloading on their name.

Seems their fb person/people have started work. Trying to clean up their page.

Mine was removed immediately:
“Taking down all the posts about Dan Richter and Café Roubaix? Gonna be an unending job. We’re going to harness the determination and grit required by the Roubaix (the RACE that pre-dates your bike by a century) and make you guys do the right thing.”

Shameless ****.

Just make it illegal for a cyclist to filter inside trucks and busses at junctions. It’s already f’ckin stoopid, so just ban it. Stop the cycle lane 20 metres back from the junction, or allocate some of the pavement as cycle lane.

There aren’t many acts that can carry a football stadium and still make everyone in the crowd feel as if they are being performed to personally. The Boss can.

Flat out the greatest live performer I have seen. Not just Bruce (Bruuuuuce) but the E Street Band too – what an outfit. These guys can change gear at will and go from massive orchestrated/chorused sound to intimate/delicate/spare – and all the while Springsteen will hold the audience in the palm of his hand.

On top of all that he has a huge repertoire of brilliant songs. The man is a poet. Really.

The cep really is a good cyclists’ mushroom – sturdy enough to survive bumping around in a bag or jersey pocket. Try that with shaggy ink caps and you’ll regret it!

River Cottage book is a good one.

Cep Paté
You need a few decent ones
Cut them into thin slices, then into thin batons, then into tiny dice.
Slow fry in a bit of olive oil and a knob of butter with whatever you fancy (could be a very finely sliced shallot, a clove or two of garlic, some suitable herbs, any or all of those).
Season – I always use Marigold veg stock powder which is salty/umami and makes all savoury food better.
Once you have driven most of the moisture out of the mushrooms and everything is more concentrated and less wet, leave to cool until warm not hot.
Mix in equal amount of full fat cream cheese and put in suitable container.
Keeps in the fridge for a week or more. Excellent just on toast. Also very good as creamy pasta sauce, for which you might want to slack it off a bit with a dash of cream.

That small one, Lazgoat, is too immature to identify safey, plus you can’t see the bottom of it which would give vital clues.

Amazing year seems to be nearing the end here in Surrey Hills. Just about hd enough anyway! Got 3 Kilner jars full of dried ceps and a lot of cooked and seasoned risotto kits in the freezer. Chicken, sausage, ceps and cream pie with homemade rough puff favourite so far. Cep paté a close second.

I have my pair of these: Audio Technica ATH M 35on right now, as I do most all day every day. They are closed so have great bass and no-one else can hear it. You an just about notice if someone wants your attention though. Great build; fold up into a soft case; very nice balanced sound.

Yep – for £20ish the E6 is easy to like. I don’t think it does anything to improve my portable headphones, but they don’t need much driving at all. I got Etymotic HF3 in the end.

However, if I ever took a fancy to carting around my big headphones I would just slip the E6 in-between to drive them properly. The biggest pita was having to get a Lightning-30 pin connector and a 30 pin line out cable to make it all work with iPod Touch 5th Gen. Bit of a jumble of wires, but it does work.

What you do often see is lpg converted Mercs at a good price.

I have an older Y-reg C220 diesel estate and I love it. My Merc mechanic friend cautioned me against the newer, oval headlight ones. So a long search for a non-rusty yr 2000 ish resulted in 100K miles and £2K price. Does 45mpg all the time and is a really likeable drive.

I have almost no experience as such, but have been thinking about trying one out.

I did get a FiiO E6, which is just as basic amp with some eq settings. It provides a LOT more oomph than the standard out put of my iPod, but mostly that just takes the available volume range well beyond what I want. The other use I have for it (was only about £20) is getting enough output to plug the iPod into any line in, which it does just fine.

However, I have been looking at a desktop dac/amp… been thinking about trying a Aune T1. Or, might also consider something portable to use just as an amp with the iPod and as dac/amp at my desk.

I always find that after I have been tinkering around with a gearbox and my hands are ingrained with that thick black grease there is nothing better than kneading dough to get them really clean again.

Aye – it’s a win-win. If your hands aren’t clean before you start, they will be by the end.

My Nan used to tell me – making pastry is an excellent way to get really clean fingernails (i.e. clean your fingernails first!)

I liked the Bertinet video.

I have a much neglected sourdough starter in a tupperware box in the back of the fridge – no matter how long I leave it sleeping it still seems to work just fine when I wake it up.

Anyone that thinks this represents having too much time on their hands is an idiot! You don’t have to stand and watch the bread rise you know…

10 minutes mixing and kneading – make in a big bowl to contain the mess
I don’t use fresh yeast and the results are excellent
a further few mins shaping the loaf
You need to be nearby whilst it is in the oven, but it does not require any attention.

Total time spent prob 15 mins tops.

Apologies again for the p!ss-taking tone – but sadly, dog training takes huge amounts of time and patience and I don’t believe there is really a substitute. It is part of having a dog.

Hunting behaviour is really difficult to control too. But impossible without the basics first.

Take the dog, on a lead, down to the ponds. Walk it around, calmly. If that is not feasible take the dog to a completely neutral place and teach it to walk calmly on the lead. If you can’t walk your dog calmly on a lead you are maybe not a dog person.

Then go back to the garden, progressively towards the more exciting areas if necessary. Build up to having the dog sitting calmly near the water. When the dog gets excited by a frog, give it whatever signal you use for “no”. I use the rather weird method of saying “no”. Combine with a jerk on the lead (not hard, that’s not the point). Repeat, repeat, repeat.

DezB are you serious? The dog doesn’t link the puking and the frog because they are separated by time. I am not suggesting using a collar, by the way, only that it is pretty dumb not to figure out how a collar works – the human needs to be observant of the dog’s behaviour and intervene at the right moment in the right way, whether it be with a command, a collar, using a lead, whatever.

I tried to find a collar that gave her electric shocks whenever she eats a frog but they don’t seem to exist.

Er. they DO exist! Fit collar, wait until dog chases frog, press button and say “no”.

Sorry for the sarcastic tone, but surely you have taught the dog other things? Takes persistence, patience, consistency etc. How did you teach it not eat shit? Or do you just let it do anything it likes?

I can’t believe it has to be spelled out. Try getting a frog and having it near the dog whilst the dog is calm. My dog chases rabbits, but not the rabbit that lives in our garden. There is no magic to it, just commonsense and patience.

I don’t really understand this question. OP – you do realise that it is possible to teach dogs things, don’t you? Can you really not work the rest out for yourself?