S Club 7’s “Dont Stop Moving” covered by the Beautiful South. Enjoy – http://youtu.be/Vgknitn_DbY

Bike cover on my household insurance. Because some people can’t keep their hands off other people’s stuff and insurance companies capitalise on that concern.

Friend of mine was after some snow goggles. Only Oakley lenses allowed him to see contour lines on OS maps by headtorch light. Just saying.

I’m a bit tired of sports governing bodies shifting the goal posts to keep the blazer wearers in brass buttons and G&Ts.

On the faster roads you seem to ride I’d generally be inward of prime but not less than around 60cm from the kerb. At tricky points, though, I’d look to move out to prime. Most drivers will pass with care and you won’t change the behaviour of idiots whatever you do.

Speed difference between bike and other traffic is an important consideration in whether to stay in prime. On suburban (20/30mph) roads occupying the middle of the lane isn’t usually a problem and allows you to see and be seen, communicate with other road users and, if needs be, control situations. Things get different on faster roads.

I tend to ride “proper prime” (middle of the lane) on 20/30mph roads unless it’s safe for me to move over to allow traffic to pass. On faster roads (which tend to be wider) I tend to ride a little inward from prime.

In some ways the best bins are the ones you always take out with you. If they’re too bulky you might be inclined to leave them behind. Worth thinking about with porro prisms, though you tend to get better optics for the money.

I’d go for 8×42 as the brighter image afforded gives an impression of better magnification somehow. Not just in low light conditions.

Have a look at Opticron’s range. Approaching Leica, Zeiss, Swarowski quality but at a much more sensible price.

“That was truly diabolical”. Keep up the weird work.

Hilarious, gothic surrealism. I look forward to more from the Hammer House of Hebden Bridge.

At the end of the summer and up to Christmas, for the last few years, I’ve had very itchy forearms which I’ve put down to the after effects of years of contact with summer trail veg. It eventually subsides in winter, ready to be topped up again. I don’t mind the stings and scratches but the long term itching can be infuriating. Anyone else get this?

On the fire thing. A kelly kettle is a rewarding bit of kit to use.

It’s Dunsop Bridge for the M&S beige carcoat brigade. And roadies. ;-)

Whitendale Hanging Stones (on molgrips’ map) is the geographic centre of Britain (see – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_points_of_the_United_Kingdom ).

I’ve been meaning to bivi there myself for a bit.

You might struggle to find a Ti456 at that price? However, it’s a great riding bike. Think you’d have to get the EVO version too for dropper post guides. My older one hasn’t got ’em.

Very sorry to hear that CG ;-)

Off-road SkyRides happen in the Bradford area. IIRC

Certainly the Breeze rides I’ve met out and about seem very convivial and I think the volunteer nature of the leaders perhaps helps to break down any barriers between participant and leader.

The “leader and client/participant” aspect of SkyRides perhaps develops a different sort of expectation/relationship.

Pondo has it for the r’ship between Sky and Breeze. Perhaps Breeze rides benefit a little from the distance from the Sky brand.

SkyRide leaders get paid (not much). I’m not sure about Breeze leaders.

As for the ride experience we used to get a real mixed bag of participants – beginners and families but also experienced riders wanting something different, an easy day, different group – whatever. Rides would be typically 3-4 hours but take up the middle of the day with a late start and mid-afternoon finish. The experience was generally positive – everyone wanting to have fun and generally happy to be patient with slower riders. Only on the odd occasion would someone have to be reminded that it wasn’t a chaingang and we also got the odd person who’d brag about their cycling prowess (once spectacularly so, someone claimed to be a LEJoG record holder) only to blow up early and their bike fall to bits.

1 year old snoring away on my lap right now. Pineapple, curry etc. might not move things along but moving house does. Our eldest was born within 24 hrs of moving house 2 and a half years ago. Must’ve been getting the Mrs to shift all those boxes. The few days they spent in hospital gave time to sort such fripperies as a cooker, fridge…

Good luck. Having kids is the hardest job you’ll ever love.

Not just Guy Fawkes Night is it. Its the whole Samhain and guising tradition. If people really knew it was about speaking truth to power and celebrating the equinox there mighht be more of it. Long may it continue.

Keep it if you’ve got space. They don’t go off and looking at stuff under them is great.

Ah, yes Jim Bob. I know that feeling. Due to lawyerly screw-ups little Gritty was born the day after we moved into our current abode. I reckon getting the wife to carry a mattress upstairs must’ve encouraged the labour.

I teach in a further education college (business, IT, employability and communication skills) for three days a week. This is the difficult bit (much of my work at present is with students undertaking foundation learning or on alternative curricula from schools, some attending pupil referral units part-time) but helping youngsters achieve is a great feeling. The pay and conditions are OK but not getting better.

Two days a week, and during some holidays from the FE teaching, I teach environmental education and outdoor activities (D of E award, climbing, cycling, hillwalking and navigation) for a number of private and third sector organisations and sometimes freelance. This is less onerous but also, usually, very rewarding. I get to work with different types of kids – primary school, brighter, less “challenging” – which gives good variety to my work. The pay varies from OK to rubbish.

Sometimes, especially in winter, I don’t work outdoors so much but with 2 kids under 3 this suits me as I get to spend time with them.

Generally this balance works out OK but the FE teaching workload and politics can get silly. There’s always something you could be doing “out of school” to do a better job and usually something you have to do to avoid doing a bad job.

That’s my experience too BWD. Be nice not to have to risk prosecution though, say where ownership changes.

Yes BWD,”campaign” is probably too strong s word.

Sorry, double post.

Not sure that the same ideas of design shld apply to shared use bridleways as to trail centres where the main risks presented by bikers are to themselves. Bikers need to demonstrate responsibility on shared use trails. Otherwise there is a risk that we’re perceived as effectively saying, “Ban us. We can’t be trusted”.

I agree that speed is a bit of a hijack and the real issue is one of effective representation. So this is the last I’ll say, I think…

@MrMo – I recognise the idea of “safe speed” and “conflict speed” too (though you’ve introduced me to that last term, thanks). It’s mildly irritating when walkers leap in the air or shout “look out everyone” as you trundle past at a considerate speed. :-) I also know about the headless chicken effect of taking walkers by surprise where it seems as likely they’ll jump into your path as out of it. I’ve seen riders barrel past other users at speeds where luck has played the greater part of avoiding a collision. I’d suggest that an appropriate speed is that which reduces the chance of collision to as close to zero as possible and minimises the potential for conflict as much as reasonably possible. Bikers are nearly always the least vulnerable users of bridleways and speed is always a conscious choice. To blame the trail surface as some (but not you, I note) do is stupid and damaging to the wider access campaign.

Chrismac/MrMo – I’m not really arguing a legal point about whether enforceable speed limits exist on bridleways in the same way they do on roads. I know they don’t. Just the sheer stupidity of arguing that the nature of the trail surface somehow makes riding at unsafe speeds an inevitability. I’ve seen this point argued on similar threads and it’s bone-headed nonsense that does our claims for wider access no favours. End of discussion. :-/

If we, collectively as bikers, can’t control our speed within safe bounds on shared trails, and are happy to admit as much, we deserve to be banned from these trails on safety grounds. And stupidity.

Imagine the car driver that admitted the same thing with regard to the 20 mph zone outside their local primary school. “I’m sorry officer, the road’s so straight and the tarmac is so smooth I can’t possibly stick to the speed limit”.

I’d also argue that the notion that trail sanitisation dangerously increases speed (as has appeared in similar threads) is rubbish and does us no favours. If a motorist made the same argument there’d, rightly, be outrage in this parish.

What antigee said. In the meantime, ride where you like,take care, smile and play nicely.

Potential conflicts of interest aside, there’s a risk here that we’re appearing to deny, for one group of legitimate bridleway users, the enjoyment of a shared resource that we want exclusively for ourselves. The politics of the playground? What can be an engaging trail for mountainbikers can be impassable/dangerous for equestrians and also novice bikers. What we call “sanitisation” other legitimate users may call “making reasonably safe/useable”. The primary purpose of rights of way is to function as effective rights of way for all legitimate users?While I can see that I might be possible to resurface trails in a way that also maintains interest for bikers I xan see that this is expensive.

A Cube. Looks like current model. Seen this afternoon.

Climbing walls are ace but any fule kno that the only real climbing is trad leading and soloing. Everything else is just playing at it. ;-)

Good advice about hips, feet, fear, fingers and loved ones :-)

Climbing subculture is such a rich territory. Try to read a bit that gives a historical, personal perspective on the places you climb but don’t be a prisoner to tradition.

When training on a climbing wall/on top rope, try exaggerating certain movements. Sometimes it’ll feel wrong but you’ll often discover the “sweet spot” and sometimes a “wrong” movement is what it takes to unlock a problem. As “pedestrians” we’re often just not aware of the range of movement our bodies are capable of. That’s why dance, gymnastics and martial arts can be such good cross-training

Leading low to mid grade outdoor trad routes is very much a head game and technique game rather than having too much to do with specific strength if you’re coming from a relatively active background (eg.from biking). Though flexibility might be an issue.

Aim to get in lots of mileage on relatively easy routes and get used to exposure and how your slightly tired body and mind behaves with n metres of space beneath your feet. When you find yourself in such a position, relax your grip, drop your heels and look around. You’re still enjoying this, right? Good. Climbing may well be for you. Stay safe, watch your feet, check your knots and tie-ins, belay well.