Once you (and your other half) gets over the comedy look of bib shorts (which are underneath everything anyway) they are absolutelyl the future. wouldnt ever buy regular shorts now, and hoping any of my old regular shorts dies soon…..

bargain. MMbop tastic

I never get why people get funny about multiple posts on the same subject, unless you LIVE on here, it is possible to miss the odd post…..

sorry if I upset anyone!

yeah I thought 31 lbs was a bit ambitious – but that's OK, I've got a lightish hardtail, and wanted something with, er, substance!

5th element coil
Manitou Shermans (with the 1.5" head tube)

Getting quite excited now!

Well I'm now excited – it looks ace, and a bargain to boot!

now just need some brakes, pedals, wheels, grips and a cassette and shifter and I'm away!!!

he he – off home to holmfirth tonight. Havn't been back in a year (bike no in van due to wedding commitment 🙁

I think it's an excellent idea and am getting my card next week.

the scheme has worked in loads of cities before london, so why not?

Whites, then skyline (short version)

Great day out, and I can't wait to get out there again soon.

sad to hear – While he may come across (after footage has been edited) as being pig headed and arrogant, he's also done a lot for charity.

Last time I checked, riding a bike wasn't needlessly risky, in fact, I'd venture that most of his adventures were pretty well risk assessed before he did them, and the dangers were largely exagerrated for good TV.

And laughing at someone who's been run down by a truck isn't cool, or clever, or funny.

yes, it is rather dull. Essentially it's a railway line, so very straight. and flat, you even miss the south downs if you're heading to shoreham.

you can access downslink by riding along the canal south till you get to broadford road bridge – cross over that, then turn right (south) onto horsham road, and then left onto downslink just after you cross the canal.

several ex railway stations on the way which offer nice pubbage.

Its my (occasional) off road route home to brighton.

afraid you can't state the actual amount til they actually offer it to you (only hint at what it might have been historically)

5-10% seems normal though.

+1 for neilson. Vassiliki is an excellent resort*

*please allow bias for an ex neilson employee – but these days I'm a (paying) punter.

you can say what you like about cav, but he's a bloody classy sprinter – left em for dead!

it's going to be bloody close.

clever tactics from Cav, sitting on Hushovd till he saw Petacchi go, and then attacking himself.

Hushovd will be kicking himself, though respect is due for hauling his ass up the mountains this week to pick up some points….

Maybe that's why he didn't look as strong today though….

That'll be Sunday afternoon sorted then. go on Cav!

born warrington
grew up in holmfirth
uni wakefield
Worked seasons for a few years so flitted between holfirth, brighton, france, Italy, austria and greece from 2000 – 2004

settled in brighton and been here for nearly 6 years. Can't see myself moving anytime soon, though the south west has a massive draw for me.

Rubbish that you need 750 notes for a kite. ebay is your friend. don't buy anything earlier than 2007. The best Waroo is an excellent kite and always popping up on ebay. Start off with a 10m, which will be your go to kite for most conditions. these days most people on my beach will have 2 or 3 kites, though one will hardly ever get used.

My other tip would be to not learn in the UK – expensive, unreliable winds, crowded and cold. Best to go somewhere warm and reliably windy – Egypt for instancer – you can pick up package deals there for £250, and get a beginners course for around £200.

Lessons are important. kiting is on the verge of getting banned in a lot of places so needs people to act responsibly – you wouldn't consider paragliding without taking a lesson, and in many ways kiteboarding is no different.

It's also the best sport I've ever tried. Sorry bikes, but if I had the choice, I'd be out on the water every time. (but biking is ace when there's no wind.)

You'll love it. really love it!

Sounds like the bike for you. I'm lucky enough to have access lots of different bikes, and the five does everything well.

Climbing doesn't fell quite as connected as some other designs, but its certainly not slow, and handles technical climbing very well.

This doesn't mean they are slow by any standard – A good friend of mine was within 2 minutes of the fastest riders at set2rise this year on his 5.
At the end of the day, climbing is a test of fitness. Descending is a test of the bike as much as the rider.

Descending, both fast and slow is where it really shines though, simply one of the funnest bikes I've ever ridden down a hill.

Would I have one? Well, don't tell Mrs JB, I'm getting closer and closer to being the owner of one. Simmply brilliant bikes. The other nice thing is they hold their value well, and seem to have a long long life. I guess it's because the design really hasn't changed outwardly in nearly ten years, while other brands re-invent the wheel every year.

Yes, others climb better, others are lighter, some perform better under braking, are more efficient when pedaling out of the saddle. But the 5 is a jack of all trades that will deal with everything from the odd XC race through to a full on Alps trip, with a few modifactions.

I like em.

People always seem to get confused about what pro sports people are. I'd argue that no one gets to the top of those sports without being a bit of a ****t at some point.

Cav? Yes, he can sometimes have errors in judgment, but you don't get to be the best sprinter in the world by letting people past. Continue giving the establishment the finger!

that'd be a deposit on a house for me.

and a bloody nice bike/holiday/van.

I forgot to put my gerber tool in my check baggage when going on a shoot once, so I took it out and gave it to the security guy, hoping they could put it in a envelope and I could pick it up at the other end.

He called the police and I ended up with a caution for trying to take a weapon onto a plane. despite giving it to the security guy.

Never saw it again either.

To this day I still reckon it's on some coppers belt somewhere.

I always thoguht the riding was poor and the hills small before I moved down south to brighton from huddersfield where I grew up.

Now, I think all types of riding that I do are perfectly served by the south east, and the riding I've don in recent times in Yorkshire hasn't been up to much, but I suppose its all just different, and you become fond of what you know best.

Warmer down here too.

Sorry to add to the workload,

Any of 2290-2294?

Team Yasu Nafti.

As an aside, I'll be putting my photos onto flickr tonight all being well – so keep an eye out!

does anyone know who the photographer was in the 2nd set of woods (the fast flowy ones before you descended back towards the campsite?) at around 8 on the saturday night?

fairly pro looking set up, I imagine he'd have got some good shots (hopefully of me :-))

Saturday dawns and someone else turns up and wonders what's happened to their taped off area?? Yes, the people had just taken the person taped off area !!!

wasn't really anyones area to start with though was it? first come first served IMO.

That note on the website only came up at the last minute – I didn't see it, it wasn't in the rule book, and since you couldn't hear the briefing at the start, I had no idea.

Listen to tunes on the lonely bits of every lap until someone told me after I finished my last lap!

Sort of makes sense I suppose. Shame as I do like tunes while riding.

Good event, Weirdly I found it harder this year than previous, and at the risk of being told to MTFU, I'm still coughing up eastnor dust!

very enjoyable though with great people and a friendlier atmosphere than previous years – suppose that's got something to do with the weather.

the new singletrack bit wasn't that enjoyable, but it was testing, which is what it's supposed to be, I ddin't think it was that narrow, and it beats the boring fire-road bimble that you could have done on a road bike that it replaced.

don't think I'd change anything, other than ask the organisers to ban Generators in the campsites – really, are they actually necessary for people to have a comfortable camping experience? did my head in!

cynic-al – Member
Why not not give an enthusiast, rather than a semi-famous person the oppertunity to do some of the things they'd never get the chance to do?
Likelihood is an amateur could make a crap presenter.

Mark beaumont made an excellent presenter on his cycling the americas show.

FWIW I quite like the cracknell/fogle duo, it's good telly, (even if it is shout at the telly content as per the south pole adventure) and if it inspires a few people to get out on a mountain bike then whats the harm.

Will they do it? I don't see why they couldn't – Don't forget that Cracknell is a man who likes to suffer, and Fogle is actually a strong athlete himself – they've both got the strength of mind, and isn't that half the battle in events like the great divide.

I fear there could be some dyed in the wool cyclists noses put out of joint if they did do it!

I think they're ugly.

sorry.

I'll be riding at an unsustainable pace for about half a lap I reckon.

You can't help but race when there are so many people out there

1 person on a bike = a bike ride

2 people on bikes = a race!!

Cookeaa:

Fair enough I'd say – if you see a tent, at least it's pitched and not someone whos run round with a tape for 5 minutes.

The thing that bugs me is people bagging tennis court sized bits of land for three tents, and then not usuing them.

uplink – Member
If I were Pat I'd be getting someone to pull up taped out/staked out areas
Can't you just take the tape down yourself?
If there's no tent there – it's fair game IMO

I definately saw some taped out areas shrink considerably over the two days leading up to MM!

+1 for towel downers.

Fine if you want to come down and camp from thursday for a longer weekend, but to tape out your area just cos you live local kind of sucks for people who travel a long way on a friday night only to see huge swathes of the campsite taped off but with no tents on them – bad form really innit?

The thing that really annoys me is people taping out MASSIVE areas for just a couple of tents and then not arriving till saturday morning.

If I were Pat I'd be getting someone to pull up taped out/staked out areas that pop up on thursday/friday

We'll be up tomorrow night for a bit of a reunion and camping fun and I can't wait!

+1 for a P7. Every time I ride one I really can't believe how ace they are.

it's figuring highly in the 'what bike next' deliberations…..

Looks like he came off best too – starting todays stage, while others out with fractured pelvis (ouch)

Bit of a token fine for cav anyway – £118 not exactly big dosh is it?

ValleyDaddy

us too, but then a four hour drive would be a bit excessive to bag a pitch!

We'll be there thursday, CycleSurgery EZ up come say hello!

I'd go for surgery – lumps suck, and sometimes don't unite. and if they don't, you can end up with the end of the bones dying, necessitating bone graft off your hip, which is unpleasant.

I had a hook plate on mine, which was painful, and had to be left in for 9 months due to the lack of growth in the bone (normally in for 6-12 weeks) because they refused to operate for five months after I broke it.

right as rain now though 🙂

Nip it in the bud – it'll be under general anaesthetic (it's pretty invasive so it would be a cruel doc to do it under local!) and you'll be riding in 3 months….

As far as I know, the pin method isn't that popular in the UK, preferring to go for the plate on top with a load of screws…

Hope that helps. mail in profile if you want more info (I spent a lot of time researching it when I was considering legal proceedings against the NHS due to their f£(k ups!), though I am no doctor….

trickydisco – Member
anyone know if we're allowed to set up camp tomorrow night?

I hope you're not considering…..

Does my head in!

Just had a look at the course, looks alright to me. almost certain the off camber bit is still in there, I imagine that will still be greasy once it's been ridden over 2.5k times.

think I'll leave the high rollers on and hope for the best…..