Water for any rides less than 2hrs off road.
SIS Go ~ half strength in camelback (but full of sweeteners so will switch when its run out)
High five 4:1 with protein for long road rides (too bitty for the camelback).

I second the "whichever you like the taste of". SIS watermelon tastes like kids sweets – but not in a good way.

Is the seatpost OK?

I'll be there going slowly. Finished in over 5 hours last year. Some superfast guys and gals last year and over 25% of the field DNF'd. Last year there were 2 x 3 big long climbs and 2 x 3 shorter climbs. Here's someone else's GPS profile profile[/url].
The views are a bit special if you care to look… 8)
Some of the climbs were a bit gloopy. Conti speed kings this year.

Oh yes, the posh folk have always studied at Newcastle. History, English, agriculture, law, fine art…
not many toffs in chemistry though…

Continental speed kings – betterer grip and cornerering, extra low rolling resistance, lighter and extra cheap on-one cheap tyres

If I could fit that much riding in between work and family, I'd be fit enough already. 😉

It's great fun on the Wii so I expect its brilliant on real ice…

Robert Plant and Alison Crauss is very good.

I have an original master recording of Jethro Tull's Broadsword and the Beast on translucent virgin vinyl – does that make me an audiophile?

@grievoustim no more than the stuff that gets spouted about bikes, wine, food etc.. Some systems float some people's boats others don't, and some people are prepared to pay a lot to have their boats floated/

I did too…it was entertaining explaining to a two year old why a man was flying through the air on a bike into a swimming pool… 😆

Rotting salmon* is our dog's favourite…

*died after spawning, and pecked at by the birds

nickc – newer versions of Firefox have a private mode which doesn't store the history, and the facility to delete history for a given time period.

there was a great letter in the CTC magazine a while back from a man who rode 80 miles to celebrate his 80th birthday. He just narrowly missed his 8hr target due to a long cake stop. I was inspired!

There is a variety of blackberry that is fast growing, trainable, tough and very thorny. Marketed as natural razor wire – and totally legal. Should do the trick and you get to make jam/pudding.

To add to the confusion I have this one and it works and is nice and small. Experts tell me that regulated ones are best.

Can I add? Don't call them if you know they won't come back – you'll train them to ignore you. Walk over, put them on the lead and get them back to where you want them to be.

Sounds more like it's in your head. If you're doing all that running you must be pretty fit.
Have you given in before you even start? Do you have regular rest places? There are lots of head techniques for climbing, two that work for me are to a) break the climb into smaller sections e.g. to the next road sign, and make yourself do it, alternate sitting and standing; b) for groups you need to imagine that you're tied by a bungie cord to the rider in front, if you slip back, beast yourself to catch up and join the group.

Oh! Same as Crispy – I should have said not to wake up properly, i.e. dim lights, low voices, no conversation.

It's a very 'political' subject, totally agree with baby whisperer book, found Gina a bit rigid for our taste and non-conformist kids, and won't say what I think about 'controlled crying'…

Relax it's normal…and it doesn't last forever…
You can get round the first waking up by waking her up at your bed time and giving a bottle. Otherwise, if the only thing that works in the night is milk, you have your answer…

The last time you rode single speed was when you were a kid messing about in the woods with a bunch of mates and you thought you were cool – why not try it again?

pads out and force the pistons back in with a 10mm spanner (gently as they are resin and can break and don't push the retaining pin). Replace pads, and you're good to go…

Cold enough to freeze snow apparently…

It wasn't that hard, but the route took folks past the cafe three times before the finish giving plenty of opportunities to bail. Some riders were unprepared physically and mentally by the looks of things. I was happy to finish in over 5 hours and not get lapped by the elite riders…
I may do half singlespeed this one…then I'll have an excuse for walking the long climbs 😉

When you consider the alternatives: e.g. Bush, Rudd, Sarkozy, Berlesconi, Amin, Hussien for example; the Queen seems remarkable good value…

All of the above and –
Magnum – On a Storyteller's Night
Whitesnake – Ain't no love in the heart of the city (live version is hilarious)

My LBS will either price match the www or fit for free for many parts. This seems like a fair deal to me and involves the minimum of arithmetic.

One working definition of a grandmaster pedant is – someone knows the correct pronunciation of Abu-Dhabi, but can't be bothered to correct anyone.

These are all primary level pedantic points…

I did once read a letter in a hi-fi mag from someone who claimed to work at the national grid and said that his hi-fi sounded better when the supply was coming from a nuclear power plant rather than coal. Spoof or sad, I was never sure…

Serious answer – top marks to the bloke above who recommended an UPS.
We have an NMR instrument in our labs which uses a lot of high spec amplifiers and is particularly fussy about its mains supply. An UPS was recommended by the manufacturer to do the job.

Sensibly? – gentle road riding – a few days.
Proper mountainbiking – a couple of weeks.
I'm told, if you get a bleed it can be very painful with a scrotum full of blood 😯

The problem with the Daily Mail journo was that she did the interview, then ignored it and printed a load of rubbish but "quoted" my colleague. She is grinding her axe and ignoring the truth…

Yes I would. I can't see any medical, ethical, or moral objections that stand up.
FWIW The Daily Mail medical correspondent hates big-pharma and regularly publishes misleading articles. My colleagues won't talk to her.
HPV for boys is an interesting idea – there has been an increase in mouth cancer recently, which could be linked. One to watch…

no problems here…(used once).

TJ and others, the hazard is the drop (or other obstacle), the risk is the chance of going over it, and the severity relates to the height of the drop and the consequences of an accident.

The risk may be reduced by signage and trail design, rider skill and training, and use of the correct equipment, the severity by armour, helmet or crash padding/nets. In the end, we all make the judgement whether it the risk is worth it for us each time we ride wherever we ride.

My condolences to family and friends.

Colleagues of mine worked closely with Sir Bobby on his charity Bobby Robson Foundation[/url]. They have had nothing but praise for him. A sad day indeed.

you will probably find it is due to them HAVING to ask.
they have a script, they have to stick to it or they get penalised?

A friend of mine was sacked from McDs for refusing to ask someone if they wanted a desert. She pointed out that the customer came in every day at the same time with exactly the same order. They didn't like her attitude…

Just try asking for a cup of tea without the milk in with the teabag while it brews…
'we don't do it like that'…'OK, black tea please'…'grump!'…'changed my mind, can I have some milk please…' 🙄

Lee Applbaum, RadioShack's chief marketing officer, said: "As one of the greatest athletes of our generation, a father, a cancer survivor and a tireless advocate in the fight against cancer, Lance Armstrong understands the power of keeping people connected and that's why we feel he's the perfect partner for our brand."

For some reason he missed out husband in Lance's towering achievements…

Tell him to refuse to pay the fine (assuming he didn't have £25 in his back pocket) and contact the CTC legal department. It sounds totally unreasonable to issue an on the spot fine – I would expect "words of advice" for something like that…

apparently this is normal if you read the Marzocchi site. mine are the same – but need to go back because they've developed the TST wind-down fault.

Here's one of me with no front brake pads. It was steeper than it looks!!