@elf – how about using a melon? Could make a good vid for YouTube…

TJ have you hit yourself on the head with a hammer yet? Something between a tap and a whack will be fine.

Has TJ hit himself with a hammer yet?

I’ve come off a couple of times and been glad I had a helmet on. Saved my life? Prob not. Saved me from some pretty nasty cuts and whacks? Definitely.

If you hit a skip lorry polystyrene won’t help much but it’s useful when bouncig off trees.

I’ve come off a couple of times and been glad a had a helmet on. Saved my life? Prob not. Saved me from some pretty nasty cuts and whacks? Definitely.

If you hit a skip lorry polystyrene won’t help much but it’s useful when bouncig off trees.

Mine ran a couple of weeks back. All 250mb of it.

Seeing my wife and daughter playing together and laughing. That’ll do me every time. But then I’m a soppy git at heart.

I’m struggling, too. Loads of red wine last night, not enough sleep and had to do a presentation on ‘what is marketing’ to a bunch of very nice but very hungover builders at 9.30.

Think I might tidy my desk. Again.

I’m with fennesz – anyone who cuts the nose off should be boiled alive.

Surely

littered with bits of trees

makes it better?*

It’s usually more interesting in the went and the trails usually hold up pretty well. The unmarked stuff could be quite ‘exciting’ given all the roots.

*Until I hit something and come off, of course.

If it was Haldon there’d be people walking up the tracks the wrong way a scowling at them :)

Scrap – was thinking of Haldon for Sunday morning, what’s it like at the mo? Was up there a week or two ago and it was pretty bloomin’ wet, even on the marked tracks.

There’s quite a good one close to the raptor trail just after the blue crosses the road for the first time – head off to the right and look for a pink-ish rag tied to a tree.

Have a pootle along some of the forestry roads on the cafe side and keep your eyes open, there are quite a few that cross them / start off them at random places. Finding them is half the fun.

It’s tricky…

The ‘innocent until proven guilty’ part of my brain thinks it’s probably nothing – known to police could mean anything (have the police alluded to anything?)

But…

The ‘Dad’ part of my brain think it’s time to scare the 18 yo to death with threats of axes, plastic sheets, shovels, big holes and 1,000 rats.

So on balance perhaps it’s time for a ‘friendly’ word with the 18 yo whilst sharpening an axe / butcher half a pig – preferably whilst some of your biggest mates are around.

The problem is, I’ve seen 14 yos act like 20 yos and vice versa and as you get older, it gets harder to tell them apart (esp girls). Has the 14 yo had a proper talking to?

If you can afford to keep it and it’s something a bit different/special, then keep it – I’ve always regretted selling my Bonty.

If you can’t afford both then it’s MTFU time and make a decision one way or t’other.

Did 25 miles around Haldon (a lot more interesting when it’s been pi$$ing down for days) then made pink cap cakes with Mrs and Mini jruk. Very cool day.

If you’ve got rats you don’t want then get a couple of rescue cats – the rats will soon be gone.

Thanks for the tips – anyone fancy acting as an early morning guide?

You can hire my cats – £50 a night, guaranteed to kill any rodents in the vicinity (quite happily do 2/3 each per night). Only down side is that they have a habit of skinning them and leaving the guts at the bottom of the stairs…

The ones in my head scare me the most…

Who has killed the most people in the region in the last 25 years?

At a guess, Arabs?

@Northwind – I think it comes down to company culture. I used to work in London and get scowled at if I left before 6.30 and would be expected to drop everything if a big project came up. The company didn’t care about people and soon dropped us when the recession hit.

I’d much rather work with a team of people who start 20 mins early and go hell for leather until a sensible time (I hate being late for jnr’s bath time). I guess I just don’t like working with people who put the minimum effort in.

I usually start just before 9 and go flat out to 6ish. Might get 20 mins for lunch whilst working and stop to make a couple of cups of tea but that’s about it – still, a lot less than when I was in London but it’s the joys of being client facing.

Never liked working with ‘I won’t work any more than my exact hours’ types as they don’t really seem to give a cr@p about doing a great job. Perhaps I’ve just been unlucky.

Those were the days…really regret selling my old Bonty (esp since it had Manitou 3s, Revolvers and proper sized chain rings – what is it with 42t ‘big’ rings?).

The joy of children, eh…oh well, at least I’ll have time to get my kit ready. Anyone fancy a bleary eyed ride round Woodbury Common tmw?

Another vote for SLX – easy to fit, decent weight, not expensive and stiff. What else do you need?

I spent years riding the Northern end of the Chilterns on a fully rigid Clockwork. Don’t think I ever came across something that needed fs. I’d go 100mm-120mm HT with plenty of clearance for the gloop. If budget allows, you could always get yourself a spare set of heavy duty wheels for those crazy days.

I’ve seen good and I’ve seen bad.

It’s a bit like saying has anyone found a decent IT department…

Funnily enough TJ I’ve never seen a formal report into competence levels in the different sectors. However, having had a mix of private and public clients, I can honestly say that working with public clients is generally like pulling teeth – no one takes reponsibility for anything, decisions are all by committee so are watered down, they’re all out the door on the dot and they’re more concerned with politics rather than results. There are some real stars but they’re few and far between.

The private sector isn’t perfect by any measure, but at least I’m not forced to pay for their services/products if I don’t like them.

One thing that’s being missed here is that public bodies can’t go bust so there’s no incentive to work hard. If a private firm is rubbish they go bust or really struggle. Also, I’m not forced to use the services of rubbish private firms – if I don’t like what I get for my money, I go elsewhere.

With public bodies, I’m forced to pay for them, often upon pain of imprisonment, even if I don’t want / or like what I get.

I’ve seen useless,lazy idiots on both sides – it’s just that there’s a lot more of them in the public sector.

And if it makes any difference, I hate New Labour, who built the economic house of cards, just as much as I hate the bankers who brought it all down on our heads.

Most peds in Exeter and elsewhere aren’t looking out for bikes. In fact most of them don’t know the difference between red and green lights. But an air horn isn’t the way to go – ‘excuse me’ tends to work fine if delivered in the right voice and is likely to result in a slap.

JMC.

IIRC there was a rather attractive brunette that rode for Specialised in the early nineties. Bumped into her when Jesus Jones were DJing at the Malverns (92?) – she was so pissed she got on her bike and fell straight off the other side…

MTFU – you came off, you’re alive, get back on – it’s a bike and you’ll fall off sometimes.

What bigjim said.

How about Dave Clarke / Red 2 or Jeff Mills / The Bells – always sounded amazing on a big, bassy systems. Or even a cheeky bit of Lochi :)

I’ve only been riding Haldon for the last 6 months so I’m not too sure what’s been blocked off but there’s enough up there to keep you entertained. The red and black are fun if you give it some welly and the blue’s good for some miles.

The best tracks aren’t marked so you have to keep your eyes open for random small openings – one’s pretty steep and has some ‘interesting’ gulleys. A few of them have red rags tied to trees close by.

Woodbury Common is also worth a look as it has a real mix of tracks / surfaces. You just need to keep your eyes open for Marines jumping out of bushes…

Rewski – the k stands for khol.

Can’t beat a bit litho with a matt lam / spot úv combo.

Dunno if it’s of any use but I can get much a similar amount of stuff in my Camelbak Rogue – would rather have the weight on me than the bike.

I’m getting it from Merlin and hopefully they know what they’re doing…

Thanks – sounds like db are worth the extra £9…

I think the general rule is:

Private sector: when you’re just about dead – we’ve got bills to pay!
Public sector: whenever you want – who cares?