We’ll see, I guess.

I’d bet on Ferrari and Red Bull ahead, McLaren just behind. I also think Renault will continue to improve, whatever they’re going to be called.

I don’t think they were all that far adrift of Red Bull. Certainly, they were second best car, and without the reliability problems (and I think a little bad luck) Alonso would be WDC right now. I think Red Bull still have an edge, because they have Newey and momentum on their side, but Ferrari are def second favourite.

To believe that McLaren always wanted to miss the first test is a bit, er, swallowing the spin whole! No way was that always their intention – it might not be such a big deal, but I don’t believe it is ideal.

I’m speaking there on the basis of second-hand information, so for me to speculate further would only be guessing. So I’ll do a little guessing! Forestry is contracted-out, usually to Tilhill, who (already I’m running on a kinda basic understanding of how things work here) will probably have an on-going contract to do thinning of trees and their end of it is linked to the the value of the timber.

Thinning, by the way, is necessary just from a conservation point of view. I guess what is needed in this instance is either an undertaking to work around BKB and not damage it (unlikely, in my opinion) or for an agreement that maybe they drop the trees they need to drop and just leave them where they are (it is the massive trailers that haul the trees away that do all the damage).

If anyone is familiar with Abinger Common (the woods, not the village) then you might have seen just how massive the ruts created by the machinery are… Abinger Common woods is a SSSI…

Aye. Irritatingly, other people seem convinced that cyclists are all one group – all alike and all talking to each other!

It might be a minority of STW’ers, but there are a huge number of people who ride mountain bikes and are very pleased to enjoy the countryside as it is, and who appreciate what a fantastic thing it is to have such a great area so close to London.

Oh, that’s what you’re on about. So no other team broke them? Not McLaren? Not Red Bull? Why do you think they’ve been overturned, by all the teams’ consent?

Think you might have your blinkers on.

Yes, that’s true for sure. I think it is pretty well impossible to get the legacy trails to stand up to everything winter brings. Some minimising of damage can be done – esp sorting out drainage. When you get down to it the Surrey Hills is just a massive pile of sand, so making that hard-wearing is a challenge. To date we are actually only allowed to do stuff on Yog and BKB anyway, although other trails fall into the category of established “legacy” trials.

It’s never going to be possible to have very neat and absolute rules – organising mountain bikers is like herding cats; difficult and ultimately pointless. But some sort of sensible status quo that is acceptable to a high percentage of riders ought to be the aim.

Cheat? What are you talking about?

All teams push the limits technically.

I love the launch/test season – I love the armchair aerodynamics, the endless banter about bloody overtaking (which I merely roll my eyes at), the pointless speculation… Most of all I love the desperate optimism of the McLaren fans – who are already on the back foot with no new car for the first test.

Lovely Lola

Well said Elfinsafety and Ernie-lynch, the reason i posted this story was to show homophobia is still all around us,its like a serious cancer thats affecting society and its in all parts and needs to be cut out.

You seem to have forgotten to mention why you tried to suggest that society “down there” was complicit.

Idiotic comment.

Your contribution to be a Friend of the Hurtwood isn’t for the maintenance of mountain bike trails, the money is used for the maintenance of the whole area for every reason – conservation, safety, ecology, car parks, access etc etc.

The scheduled felling on the BKB slope is a bone of contention, admittedly. Surrey Hills AONB are not desperately impressed that funding was applied for and given, only for the felling plan to surface some months later.

Non-local makes no difference. Hurtwood is for all to enjoy.

But to enjoy within the rules of the game!

The land in question remains unsold and has been revised in price severaal times. The current signs do give a figure, but I can’t remember what it is. Only the top plot is SSSI, and in any case if you have seen what has been done to Abinger Common woods you’ll get an idea about how liberal owners can be with SSSI.

It isn’t true to say that Ian Warby and CTC do not have excellent links with local community! For a start, Richard and I are part of the CTC network and are both Surrey Hills born and live here still! There are many other people who are very well engaged with community and opinion and conversant with all the ins and outs. I won’t comment on any other people’s suitability.

There are many riders who would be of equal skill level (if not higher) than the ‘instructors’.

Very true. A great many riders would be faster than me, and have more tricks. But teaching riding is completely different.

PP: I’m interested to learn what is wrong the the “attack” position (I prefer to think of it as the “Ready” position)?

A well worn debate, often turning into ranting! FWIW, I also prefer a term like “ready” to a word like “attack” – I know it is only a name, but if you are talking to a novice rider who is open minded it isn’t helpful to imply that the trail is the enemy!

The two schools, in relation to “attack” position, are those that like head and torso somewhat forward, elbows out and pre-loading the fork – versus the other school which prefers relaxed back into the middle of the bike, wrists and heels down with neutral weight on the ‘bars. In the second model you ride the bike with foot-weight much more. Both these clearly do work – it’s just that the latter technique is better for more people more of the time (in our experience).

Even the best riders get instructor training from more experienced trainers. There is a network. So – even the best known skills trainers have incorporated ideas about coaching from other coaches.

I know a lot of people don’t want to hear it, but a modest network of well built trails is the only thing that will be acceptable to everyone, long term. The simple reason that trails don’t get built steep, for example, is that they won’t last more than a few months. That’s just tough – some mountain bike trails is better than none. It is a minority of riders that don’t find that kind of trail fun.

It’s very easy for some people to grumble about increasing numbers – but that’s a point of view that I don’t understand. I live here, and always have, and I don’t want everyone to “clear off my hill”. You might think that you were here first and others should stop ruining it for you – but I can assure you, you weren’t here first.

I think a lot of the talk is misunderstood, or taken the wrong way. All the CTC network instructors use a similar system to base their training on, and this might well be different to other coaches’ techniques. What our (CTC-based) method does give any rider is a method that is easy to understand and build on, and it works for all levels of experience from pure novice to high-level competitor.

It is as much a way of thinking about things as anything, although some physical specifics are obvious, such as heels down, head up. No-one is judging anyone that doesn’t ride like that, it’s just that we know by experience that the way we do it is good for a lot of people more of the time.

Then I can have your bike.

… they don’t want you to build. It interferes with their desire to negotiate with a group of people currently seeking to obtain sole trail building rights across Hurtwood that will result in the scratched in stuff morphing into exactly what any of us can find at trail centres across the nation.

There isn’t anyone with that ambition – why would they? The people who help out with things officialy are engaging with the only form of building that is acceptable to the owners. They don’t get paid – they give lots of hours, and are subject to considerable frustrations because lots of stuff just isn’t practical or acceptable.

The only trail that is running nicely in the winter is BKB – the reason it is built that way is not to make it a “trail centre” but so that it stays running nicely!

And. You did not read. Any wrecking of the trail has not been done by the ranger. Probably an irritated anti-biking local, of which there are many. Yet more reasons to stop this stupid inflamatory attitude. Like it or not, the only network of trails that will stay long term is the one that is allowed.

Er, no. Once again – there are a set of well known and approved trails which are sanctioned and have volunteer maintenance to varying degrees. BKB is the best known one of those.

Mind you – that sneaky off-shoot of Barrys that has sprung up which pops out in the big berm will get blocked soon I imagine.

Well you’re contradicting yourself a bit, oldgit. You say you want ultimate performance, but then you say you want a steel bike with a bit of character. Do you mean you want an additional bike as well as race bikes?

When I was a kid you weren’t allowed to cycle on the Hurtwood at all. Things are just so good now, and some idiots are determined to ruin it for everyone. It isn’t a massive area, and the owners and ranger think that there are enough trails already.

Other land owners at Leith Hill are massively less open minded and prefer to put as much woodland as possible behind barbed wire. Hurtwood are progressive and tolerant – and this is how they get repaid.

Shame.

We get so seduced by magazine mentality and the latest thing that we forget what really matters. Just like cars – who cares if one is smidge faster than the other? What you really want is something feels nice more of the time.

I have recently ebay-ed my factory road wheels and gone back to handmades – makes the road bike a lot more comfortable, love it. 25mm tyres ditto.

Also, I’ve always thought that extra attention to the bits you touch and that are in your field of vision is well worth it. Soft bar tape, a neat (to your eyes) ‘bar arrangement (computer etc), lots off time spent getting handlebars and levers just right (shallow drops, both depth and reach wise, are much better for me). All that stuff – fave saddle, nice shoes etc. Maybe get a softer seat post… Could be that you could transform your current bike?

Depends – if you got it back in just-so then it will be fine. I almost never re-join a chain in any other way, and they seem to go on.

Edit – there you go – classic stw! A range of opinions! If you’re good at joining chains it may well be completely fine for the rest of the life of the chain.

In pure road riding circles it’s considered a style no-no. Mind you, that’s talking about people who take offence if you have your riding glasses inside your helmet straps.

I use the Shimano pedals above, which are single-sided, light, and mtb spd compatible. I have some Shimano brown suede touring shoes, which are close enough to a normal trainer shoe in style to just wear with jeans and have a recessed cleat. Plus I can jump on the road bike with my other spd shoes on (hang what anyone thinks).

The recessed cleat is essential really, considering the certainty of slipping sooner or later if you clump around in road shoes.

Having said all of that, if I had a full racer (rather than my Audax style bike) I probably would become the style victim and use proper road shoes and pedals.

“They can still go mental and bite somebody.” That’s just really funny.

God there are some pedants around. OK, some people have allergies, in which case that would need to be taken into account. OK, you need to stop them “running around” – that’s just painfully bleedin’ obvious. As for “peeing on a computer” – well, it might be a good idea if the dog is house trained. Obviously.

So – what I should have said is that there is nothing intrinsically unsafe about being around dogs, notwithstanding badly trained animals and exceptional medical conditions. Plus you may just not like dogs – in which case the office would need to make sure that there is a level of consent.

H&S argument is just a nonsense. Dogs aren’t unhealthy or dangerous to be around.

My dog goes to my wife’s office every day. There are quite a few dogs there. Obviously owners are expected to take it seriously and dogs must be under control. There are sales people there on the phone, so barking is a complete no-no. Wife takes dog out for a run-around at lunchtime, usually with one of her office doggie friends.

If you slow to walking pace, you won’t be going any faster than the walker and wouldn’t be able to pass.

:roll:

Anyone using an air horn off road would get an extremely angry reaction from me! I’d be inclined to make sure I got IN the way, so that I could express myself at length to the idiot doing that.

I think it will get better in time/with practice. Possibly you’re not quite as relaxed as you might be also? Stiffness can be quite wearing on its own.

Moving your cleats back a bit is not going to rob your power, in act there is a school of thought that it is much better that way.

The entire “problem” is entirely of cyclists’ making. Passing too damned fast. Slow right down. Like walking pace slow – that is the only courteous thing to do.

“Barging past” and all that is just ultra rude. If I’m walking I will move sideways to signal that I would appreciate less speed from a coming cyclist.

Don’t know about “needed”. I never switch tyres – it’s more slippery in the winter is all. Everywhere apart from the properly built sections of trail is puddled and muddy. Some the wiggly stuff hidden away in the woods will get even worse if ridden in these conditions. The fire roads are fine though, so getting around in general is simple enough.

Not a bad choice. Anywhere but actually along the road in the village, which drives residents mad, understandably.

If you start in Peaslake and go over Holmbury Hill and up Leith Hill (to the far side to Summer Lightning etc) and then make your may back you get to finish off with BKB, which is by far the best track at the moment, due to the conditions.

Complete foods are great in my experience, although there is a range from cheap to extravagant so I guess there must be degrees of goodness.

Anyhow, mine gets one feed a day of Autarky Chicken & Rice – just dry, as it comes. A few biscuits during the day and scraps every now and then, but very little. I think it is better to just stick to the same food.

It’s hard to see how much better 2011 would have to be to convince anyone! 2010 was one of the all-time classic seasons, with four championship contenders right down to the end of the season. And now we have yet another world champion on the grid, plus new gizmos to help overtaking.

wow itll be just like watching paint dry in HD!!!!!

Double wow – is there anything more boring than someone so predudiced and ignorant of F1 that they bother to comment on an F1 discussion? If you find F1 dull then surely a conversation on the subject is ultra-dull to you, so why bother.