I think this thread has just taken a dark and fairly cynical turn and would hope and expect that the majority of us would simply want to empathise with Katie and wish her well in a swift recovery while hoping she can ignore some of the slightly veiled accusations above.

The only surprise in this article is seeing Edmonds described as an “entertainer”.

What a self-important jerk he has shown himself to be.

Loved Dave’s old piece to camera about not wanting to be good, just “semi not crap”, a phrase that is often adopted on our rides after yet another cased jump.

I can’t hear mention of a torque wrench without thinking of this sketch:

I think the punchline was a take on the Fiat Strada ad at the time.

My initial FOMO is quickly becoming FOJI (fear of joining in)!

But great to hear the range of experiences and opinions – thank you to all contributors.

That MBR YouTube comparison review that @dumbbot linked to was very detailed and interesting.

I gather seal drag issues on the Deviate such as they were have been resolved. I am swinging towards this as my choice so will now check with them what the realistic lead time for one may be.

@Hob-Nob @bruneep please if you want, could you elaborate on what you didn’t like with the Deviate?

Thanks for the range of views. Honing in on a choice between the Druid or the Deviate now.

Not directly related to the recent goings on in Colchester but one of the more well known cases of someone taking on the planning system and losing … a lot! This guy thought he knew what he was doing and set out to flout the laws as opposed to just being entirely ignorant and/or naive to them but it didn’t end well for him.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-34585555

Or when the smaller the gear, the bigger it is (physically) and the bigger it is, the smaller it is. Cricket doesn’t compete!

If it is a comparison between Dalby and a trip up to the Tweed Valley, then it’s no comparison IMO. If you are stuck on a trail centre then Glentress is way ahead and even better if you are prepared to venture off the mainstream official tracks.

We were at the Golfie the other week and it very much lived up to its reputation. The most northerly trails (principally the ones with Wolf in their name) are shut at the moment due to forestry operations. All the trails we did were awesome. What is useful to know is that Trailforks includes numbered gradings against the black trails. Prob best to avoid any Grade 5 ones until you have your eye in. My boys loved Trevor and First Base but found Avalanche pretty intimidating. My lower level of riding meant my limits were reached with Repeat Offender and Community Service but I really enjoyed the challenge of finding a (slow) rhythm on them and just getting down. Enjoy your trip. I would really recommend a day on the Adrenalin Uplift at Inners too if you can fit that in as it maximises descending time in a day and the trails there are great too.

Cademuir, Thornielee, Yair and of course the Golfie (aka Caberston) all offer fantastic riding within easy range of GT/Innerleithen. All are on Trailforks and also you can view plenty of POV footage on YouTube to get an idea of what they are like.

Up in Inshriach near Aviemore (hope this works):

I’m struggling to understand why a fully fit 21 year old needs an ebike to ride the downhill trails at Aston Hill.

Probably because the Aston Hill push up track is about as infamous as their downhill trails are famous.

I doubt it is a question of “needs” but if that is what it takes to get her out riding and reaping all of its benefits, then all is good.

I agree it will be a great shame to lose these trails but also agree that it is a commercial forest after all so v much up to NRW when the trees get felled. Seems a shame that there couldn’t be some safeguards put in place to preserve some of the trails without unduly affecting the felling operations.

As for anyone who wants to ride them in the meantime, they are some of the best trails I have ridden in the UK. Anyone who hasn’t been there should give it a go in the short time before they’re gone (assuming the felling work goes ahead). Be prepared for a long hard slog to the top and some v steep trails back to the bottom.

I recall being told about welds that if they look good then they can still be crap but if they look crap, then they definitely are crap.

From the original pic, that one sits in the second group.

Scotland has lots to offer but slightly nearer to you, there is the Sandstone Way in Northumberland which is a mix of all the things you were after:

https://www.sandstoneway.co.uk/

It can be accessed by public transport both ends and will take you through some q wild spots.

You have clearly never ridden the Radlett Dells! Hertfordshire’s answer to A-Line.

I always find donating blood makes me much more tired for about 5 days afterwards. I don’t do a bike commute but always schedule donating for a Monday to give me maximum time until the next weekend and will delay it a week if I have a biking event on the weekend.

As for recovery, I try to take in more fluids than normal and don’t do any more than light running in the week of donating. I have not found any magic way to speed up the recovery but it hasn’t put me off donating blood which although is a personal thing, is something we should probably all think about as you never know when we might need to be on the receiving end of some.

Did you get there on Saturday and what did you think of the place?

You have picked a great place to base yourself. As others have said there is lots of riding available on the doorstep with no need to drive anywhere. Depending on what you like, the Burnside trails (on the other side of the A9 from Aviemore) are our favourite but many are not for the faint hearted – some pretty steep gradients and chunky rock slabs to challenge you.

The ones to the back of Badaguish are tamer and less extensive but great fun to ride. Further afield but still easily rideable from town is Inshriach forest with various cake-based named trails. Further still and probably better with car support unless you like a long ride in are the ones down in Glenfeshie.

Trailforks is pretty good in the area as a guide but as ever, there are far more trails on the ground than are listed there.

If you fancy a drive instead, Laggan is also great fun and the trails in the woods opposite even more so.

Given the time of year, get yourself some Smidge to keep the beasties off you.

Sounds like Thrunton near Rothbury may suit the bill?

Plenty of steep techy trails in there to entertain.

As a bonus, it is just off the A697 so not far off a main route up towards the Tweed Valley.

I did Ard Rock for the first time this year and despite a big push on training from April to August still found my fitness lacking for the length of the stages and the cumulative effect of the transitions through the day.  My biking skills (or lack of) are enough of a handicap without my fitness letting me down too.

I am doing both Ard Rock and Ard Moors in 2019 and will be doing many more longer days in the saddle in preparation together with more running and more WattBike sessions.

Asides from that, the terrain at Ard Rock was nothing like what I had ridden before but I am not sure there are many places you would find similar terrain to train on?  It certainly wasn’t much like my staple venues at Aston Hill, Chicksands, Swinley and the Surrey Hills!

I will have my 2 teenage sons with me so it will be the Sprint for the 3 of us on Sat as that is the only option for 15-17 year olds.  I am contemplating doing the Intro by myself on the Sunday which will mean I will have done all the stages over 2 days.  It is long enough ago now for me to forget how tired I was by Sat evening this year.

Not wanting to put any more of a downer on your situation, you said you had a bad concussion from the crash.  This can carry on affecting you for a good while after you think you’re fine.  I had a car crash earlier this year in which I was knocked out and I found going back to biking that, although the immediate symptoms of the endless headaches had gone, my mental processing ability at any pace was way off what it was beforehand.  Luckily I had no loss of enthusiasm for being back on a bike but I did take a few months of riding to get back to the pace I was before.  Good luck with getting back into it.

Think yourselves lucky, in our household the “best before XX” paranoia has recently been extended to the dog’s food.

When my missus expressed concern that I was about to give our terrier some food that was 2 days past its date, my response was that I didn’t see the best before date on the fox poo he ate on his walk that morning but he seems pretty damn fine on it!

In conclusion, don’t overthink it, eat your pies and enjoy your ride (but prob best to resist the urge to eat fox poo).

There seems to be very few on here hoof got much sympathy for the OP.

Using Smidge has been a game changer for me in Scotland.  It is also supposed to stop the ticks getting hold of you.  Having heard some horror stories about the effects of Lyme’s disease, I am much more bothered about the ticks than the midges now.  As a bonus it also keeps mosquitoes at bay plus it doesn’t make you smell like a mobile chemistry lab.

I can definitely recommend trying Hopton. Plenty to amuse yourself in there for a day and close to Knighton. If you want some really steep stuff, look out the trails in Bringewood nearer Ludlow.

Not managed to find any full suss hire in the area but grumpy teenager now a happy teenager as he has been forced to discover the joys of riding a super light and responsive hardtail. My old Trek 8500 has not been a bad stand in at all.

As for the trails here, big WOW!

Not sure if you have transport, but we are from Radlett and get our regular MTB fix at Chicksands Bike Park just south of Bedford. Different sort of riding from cruising around the Herts countryside but great fun and good for improving both fitness and skills.

I had the exact same thing happen to me this weekend, also with an Orange Four and a Rockshox Monarch RT3 shock. Luckily it happened as I was warming up around the car park just before I set off for a ride.

I am heading back to the retailer with it this coming Saturday but suspect they will be wanting to send the shock off somewhere which will leave me bikeless and bereft!

I may have to fetch my old Trek H/T out from the back of the cellar.