No idea what the advert is for, but that black and white one where Scarlett Johansson gets picked up in a fancy car by Matthew McConaughey. I keep catching it and it is further winding me up every time I hear:

Matthew: I like your dress
Scarlett: It likes you back
me: What. Does. That. Mean?

No bar end plugs? Are you sure?

GrahamS – Member
Nice one jamiep – Japan is definitely on my Bucket List, but it seems to be mighty expensive and a massive pain to get to. Would you mind revealing what you are paying and how you are travelling/staying?

It is more spendy than a week in France, of course, but not crazily high once flights are bought. We have gone diy rather than a package. it is fairly trouble free to get to.

Flight was £560, which was a steal. Manchester-Hong Kong then Hong Kong-Sapporo.
Shuttle coach transfer £20-25 each way
We have an apartment rather than a bunkhouse. About £48 a night, which wasn’t much more than a bunkhouse.
Lift pass is still to be bought but they are cheaper than Europe.
Food/drink is cheaper than France resorts

FYI I will be riding powder (boarding) in Niseko, Japan for two weeks from end January. happy face

I HAVE a gold super burner bought from gumtree. I am 40

Alpkit Gordon is cheap and waterproof, although I recommend panniers (Ortlieb) for commuting

does FLYER10 work? That was the only other one I knew. (Might be FLIER10 if they can’t spell)

see the link i posted previously

Bought the Planet X 3/4 bib. And then bought another pair as I was impressed – only £22.50 and thick (but not with additional fleece, just thicker than standard lycra)

Define “not too expensive”. Edinburgh has tourists all year round and so city centre accomodation is relatively pricier than other towns. Best deside your price-range and go from there.

Try on TripAdvisor, Grassmarket Hotel or Apex (also on Grassmarket)?

edit: if there is a group, a serviced apartment might be worth considering. Family visisting frequently stay in one on the High Stret (aka Royal Mile) that is cheaper than a hotel would be

cheers

I got an email notifying receipt of my order but then nothing else – anyone get a dispatch email etc?

The bollards are at the start/end of the cycle path whenever it meets the road, recently hastily put in some time after the path opened to prevent cars accessing it.

The whole of the cycle way on George Street is an ‘experiment’ and so all of the infrastructure may not be the final version.

There are many other things wrong with the cycle way (eg impossible to exit it at the St Andrews Sq end if one obeys all (conflicting) signage). Nevertheless, I think actually having the path (however poorly executed) is a movement in the right direct by ECC

Cr@p, just had to buy a jacket I wasn’t intending to buy

Take a course of ibuprofen, 2 at 4 times a day for 5 days. That will reduce the muscle swelling and hopefully take pressure of the nerve.

I have one spare if someone wants to email me for it and I’ll reply once I’m home from work

Scott Monument
Walk Cartlon Hill rather than spending time going over to Arthurs Seat
Walk around the side alleys off Royal Mile (to get a flavour) and then on to Mary Kings Close
Chambers Street Museum
Walk along Water of Leith / Dean Village and on to Modern Art gallery
Wouldnt bother with Castle or Hollywood Palace
Maybe Camera Obscura (although I havent been)

Selective video editing by the roadie – at 0:01 he/she partially overtakes bmxer. I think bmxer is alongside roadie all the way (and roadie is perfectly aware of this)

Doesnt excuse the kick tho

joshvegas
The weather beautiful here?!

I like Scotts monument, its 4pounds to climb some stairs but its the ultimate view of edinburgh.

this

Superstar for ring – £26

their twitter said closed this sunday as a one off, and new opening hours will be announced monday

Got the saddle pack recently after much deliberation as to which brand. Very impressed with it – light, absolutely cavernous,very stable

The second* word I uttered was “coffee”. From before I could talk, my Dad and I would have a brew every morning, me very milky Camp Coffee.

* the first was “screwdriver” – had amassed a good collection of coloured electricians’ screwdrivers from an early age

Disagree with advice to go to A&E. Sure, go if it is an emergency, don’t if it isn’t

I have a tale too but am waiting until their offers to fix it come good before I go public

As above, if you have transport then GT would be better as the Pentlands is hilly in parts and you might find yourself doing significantly more ups and downs if you don’t know the area

The ‘Pentlands Reservoir Loop’ is the most straight forward to ride and navigate for novices

There is a bike bus from Edin to GT at the weekends for £15 (i think) return

Does anyone know anything about the additional routes yet?

“Set over a challenging yet fun course, combining sections of existing trails with additional runs[/u] and multi-terrain sections…”

Edininburgh Meet-Up[/url] (although the site in currently down at the mo)

Scotland is blessed with numerous small centres dotted around beyond the 7 Stanes. These vary enormously in terrain and ‘naturalness’, from rocky stabs, to gravel, to motorways. And they are not mobbed. Saying that one does not like trail centres because they are all sanitised or because they are all X is a rather limited view

Remember the Merlin will cost £30 for delivery

Coaster brake

If it is for tow-path blasting I suggest rigid forks. Evans’ Pinnacle Ramin One 2014 29er is £400

chrisdw
Got my deores for 63 from Ribble a couple of weeks ago.

me too, although about 2 months ago

I broke two metacarpals (3rd and 4th), both fingers and a tiny wrist bone. Cast up to knuckles was 4-6 weeks, I forget exactly.

Hand was (and still is after 18 months) weaker – there isnt a great blood supply to that area.

Bones set slightly squint so I now struggle slightly with jars, screwdriver, etc, using ‘The Claw’. But it hasn’t noticably weaked for riding.

(They can’t really set the bones without an op to pin them but everything being equal one would not want to undergo an op because there isn’t much free room for a surgeon to digging around in there and there are nerves that need avoiding.)

Get one of those squeezy balls to build strength initially. I got a 661 wrist guard but didn’t need to bother with it after few rides

I was up Tue night and the conditions were still great. Blackhill descent was a treat

the rear wheel need not be on the floor – why not mount the bracket as high up the wall as possible? I do, but do also rotate the bars 90deg

Pop a few of them in those Duff Bags that are currently on offer?

grips, seat clamp, spacers, inner tubes(?), pedals, cassette, chain, both mechs, shifter(s)

I rarely watch normal TV. Turning on Saturday evening I was amazed to see something with ‘celebs’ doing gymnastics. How to rinse out as many different versions of the same tedious formula

Bolle Contour: ~£7-8 on Amazon/eBay