Isn't it that you can pay your fee for the number of years you choose, up to 10 years?

Another vote for She Active – my wife used to get a bunch of stuff for various sports from them when were in London and worked in/around Covent Garden.

Got talking to one of the girls in there too about ski gear – she really did seem to know her stuff (I lived in that industry so was able to judge) and not just what the reps rattle off; if the staff are still of that calibre, she won't get fobbed off I'd have thought.

Epicyclo – we'd better not even start on that; I live in Adelaide, so we are at the end of the Murray and as such are the most vulnerable to the fact that it's dying, but so many of the politicians have their heads stuck up their own ar5es, it's just gonna die anyway whilst they talk about how important it is and how to go about saving it.

TBH, fu(k Sydney's lack of a view today; the chopper pilots in southern Queensland who can't take off to water bomb the bush fires that have started already up there are the ones we should be listening to in relation to the dust and trying to help.

And that last picture (looks like Bondi, but not certain) – that's about the only time you'll see a Sydney beach with that few people on it, even though its no more impressive that bloody Broadstairs when you get there IMO.

Def agree with the feeling better/more awake/more alert after riding in – the train or the car just leave me flat.

Awesome that it is the quickest door to door option too, so unless really windy or really wet, it's usually the winner unless really low motivation (which is only usually due to illness injury or excessive tiredness)

typical Sydney, whining bloody loudest down here as usual…

you have changing room and shower? almost doesn't need to be weather proof!

Leave shoes under the desk, trousers at work and toiletry stuff there too; then all you have to carry is undies socks tee/shirt.

Personally, I use a breathable lightweight waterproof jkt and 3/4 waterproof shorts – this keeps you dry in the key areas without overheating and getting saturated from your own sweat. Also keeps you clean – there is so much crap that you get thrown up from the road in the winter.

S'ANK YOU SIR!

Get a waterproof to stay dry – colour etc doesn't really matter.

heaps of reflective tape and blinky lights in the dark. Come daylight, there really is no excuse for drivers not seeing you (I know, that is no help if you get squished etc!) and flouro yellow doesn't really stand out to be honest anymore than any other bright colour – 'normal' yellow, orange, red, 'bright' green, etc

my tuppence…

lets try it…

langj AT gghw DOT com DOT au

yes.

not used hopes for such a long time, couldn't tell you more comparitive details, but k18s are fine for what you describe; mine have been great as is with 160mm rotors front and back – the hose and pad option you describe with those bigger rotors should make them forgettable, in a good way, once riding.

Been riding them down here in Aus for our winter – been good; very predictable and hardwearing (I have a long road ride – 22kms! – to get to the trails). They ride well on stuff from just damp to quagmire/saturated, so helps to just set and forget and not have to go swappping them every other ride.

Be coming off soon down here, but great value at $70 for both ends (~36GBP) too.

suck it up for another 6 months, assure you ay the mortgage, and do what you need to so that in 5 months time you can give your notice and move on.

I've walked away with nothing to go to and been in limbo for several months – no more fun than a crap job you dislike, but your not at least getting paid to be in said situation!

I've done great, fun jobs but had to live hand to mouth – after a while not being able to do squat outside of work isn't worth the fun of the the job you like.

I'm now in middle ground – earn enough, although nothing even getting close to great, but it's more or less flexi time, not too stressful for more than a short period when at our absolute busiest (15hr+ days etc)and get on with everyone I work with; I don't dread coming, but then I don't get excited about it either.

For me the balance is right – earn enough to have toys and do things in my time of and can switch off at 5pm Friday and not have to worry about things. I also have enough of my own time to enjoy it rather than just recover from work!

Fox Flux for everything; some other MET thing in case I split that one.

Need something new as the Flux is getting knocked about; can't get Xen here; didn't pass the Aussie Standard, which is very odd…

craftworkscycles.com

another vote for newspaper, but also, if you're not already, take out the insole too. Dries quicker seperately and stops that damp sponge feel when you put the shoes back on!

If you get pulled up at these lights, can't you move across whilst everything is at a stop so that cars have to give you 'your spot' in the right hand lane? That would prevent the issues with changing lanes.

Otherwise, I reckon do what you feel safest doing; enough drivers make lazy decisions when driving and TBH, it's a speed limit, not a speed target, so they just have to be patient and wait for a bit – tough luck if it adds 20-30 seconds to their drive – as long as you feel and are safe.

pass…

Personally, I'd take the 'middle' of the left/slow lane during and after the roundabout, whilst looking over shoulder after it to spot a gap for merging to the right hand lane in time for your right hand turn.

It won't stop people being pizzed at you at times, but it keeps things 'tidy' by making them have give way or to overtake you on the right, so you – and they – have a situation that is familiar the whole way. Otherwise they'll squeeze you and not let you out as you say. Just riding the extra foot further in road so they have to actaully think about what they are doing should be enough for such a short stretch.

Otherwise, I agree that trying to turn right and feeling that you have to cross two lanes of traffic just to get the opportunity to turn is not easy or comfortable. However, being further across already and keep glancing back for the gap, should mean that drivers behind you some time and space as you obviously intend to merge right letting you wory about just the one column of traffic; and if you need to slow right down – and force them to do the same – so you can merge then turn, do it.

Unfortuantely, too many cyclists ride overly cautiously on the road; it allows drivers the chance to get away with things to often when they shouldn't and gives them a belief that the should be able to.

Another point with that – make sure you stay in your lane, within the lines; faster traffic has to overtake slower traffic – regardless of if you are a bike or a car, not bully you into riding on the shoulder so that they don't have to think!!!

Days are getting longer here too – but rain and wind getting stronger as this w/end evolves :(

Still, with summer on the way there'll be more night riding to be done – Temp gets below 30c some nights! :twisted:

Ahh, Australia, what a funny place you are!

5250ft climbing? that's gonna hurt in such a short distance!

it'd be within the parameters of the "Style id" or "Iconstyle id" i'd think… but I have nothing really useful that would help you be abel to get in there and therefore be able to adjust it.

as silly as it sounds, have you googled it?

you can maintain a high level – just not your absolute best – but the peak is usually becasue the structure of your training program is aimed at this. Also, in the terms you seem to be talking (pro-level), rest and (yes!) psychological factors have as great of a bearing on this as the physical effort. They are aimed at at end point/desired result; the peak!

Peak drops off, because all of the factors have to be in sync at the same – rest, base fitness/skill level, lack of injury, positive mindset etc; it's hard to keep all of these things at the required top level for an extended period – more training = less rest, competitive focus = ignored social life, etc and vice versa, which creates a balance that is hard to maintain in a real life situation.

Peak too soon is just getting the structure of your training/focus/rest/whatever you in particular need program/schedule, "wrong" and therefore not being able to maintain the above mentioned delicate balance through to the intended/desired end point in time (eg final or champ. race, etc) hence too early, or not having it all in place in time – not reached peak

I've been so messy on Sumer Lightning – be careful, it's very quaffable!

yep…lunchtime here in Adelaide

whilst I would love to say "the wife!", its 10:30am and I'm at work…

However, it was beetroot cake – one of the girls at work has been baking again. And strangely, it was very edible – ginger and semolina and stuff in it…just have to get your head around the beetroot purple-ness in a cake!

bedroom pirate radio stylee – crap load of egg cartons stuck to the doors?

Might take a while to collect enough (and you'd be egg bound! :twisted: )but may be cheapest…

Or what about the Salvos for some old heavy curtains – bang a rail over the doors, slide 'em across when you go to 11…

I miss Soreen…

Australia – so **** behind!! ;D

Toasted is good, but hardly lasts long enough to get to that stage for me either.

fly to geneva or zurich; it's switzerlan, nothin is really too far away.

St bernard is the bomb in the winter on skis – must be awesome fun in the summer on the bike…

eldridge – in the space of an hour!! 8O

Do you commute? Easy way to get the base miles in – if I just ride straight to and from work every day I get 150kms/week. Add in w/end rides (actually on the MTB) I get around 200kms thru winter.

Down under, we are getting into spring now, so starting to take the long way home couple times a week to increase the mileage and ride the MTB to work and go for a ride from work too.

Unfortunately, the boring hill reps and intervals have to be done to really get race fitness. Try to find a good route to keep them interesting – ideally a partner is good for this as the competition between you will give the incentive to keep it up i.e. "got beat him up this hill today", "gotta outsprint him this time", etc

the R&R/week off has to be down to let your body actually benefit – 4th week is good, can spread to 6th week as you get stronger/fitter, but if you feel crappy (not just tired, but like you can't do anything let alone ride) before that, listen to your boday and take a few days off, and make sure you eat well to get over the hump.

Also, make sure you don't do all your rides based on Road/HRM – it's easy to get disillusioned and bored, plus MTB skills need to be trained just as much as fitness does – too many people neglect them; no point being able to cruise up hill at only 60bpm @ 30km/hr only to go down at 180bpm @ 20km/hr cos you are crapping your pants at how "hard" the descent is cos you've got so used to everything being flat tarmac. sounds obvious, but…

Well, I lived in the US (colorado, home of the rockies, great skiing/biking/hiking/climbing/just about every "outdoor" sport you can come up with!) and now live in Australia.

not much different between the three of them…excpet the style of living; From London – hassle to do our type of stuff, but lots of work, but lots of noise, dirty etc, to Small CO tourist town – great everything you need, but not always everything you want, go a bit stir crazy after a while, to Adelaide – small city, can get everything I want and need easily enough, but not too crazy busy, esay to get away and have pristine and quiet etc.

Personally, don't think its so much the where, as the how, you live.

There are two great shops I use/have used down here in Sth Aus;

one is http://www.bmcr.com.au – my 'local' shop. They are in the city, open 8.30, close 6, 10-3 on Saturday closed on Sunday. Being in the city they open this bit earlier and close later so that before and after work you can drop by and get what you need without breaking balls to get there before they close. They specialise in Workshop stuff with only about 20 bikes on the floor – mix of commute and "proper" MTB stuff, lots of tools, tyre choice etc. Focus is sevice – to bike and to customers (stuff like remembering your name, workshop being seperate but not hidden so you can see whats up and still talk to the Mech as he works)

other is Over The Edge – http://www.otesports.com.au – these guys are in the middle of nowhere, but just like the Fruita sister shop are right next to killer singletrack; being somewhere that you'd only go specifically to MTB means they focus on top-end bikes and blingy bits, but with not much else in the town, they can afford to do the couch, vids on the TV, coffee machine type thing. Also bring in other local businesses – collabrative beer and wine with a local wine-/brew-ery, locally grown dyed and made wool garments, frozen meat and fish from the area to throw on the BBQ after riding, etc

But like cycleworlduk said, put a few days aside go look at other shops, see what works, what doesn't; but don't limit it to just bike stuff – I worked in and outdoor store that was one of the first to layout like a high fashion boutique with great effect – punters were more comfortable and the staff knowing what they were talking about brought the hardcore in too combined with a large and often exclusive range (we used to get models and or colours that no-ne else in the country got as we would order enough that they'd let us order from the US selections etc)

^better take a raincoat on that commute, woffle!

from London now in Adelaide via Colorado.

I used to work in the ski industry as that was My Thing. Used to be okay, but was usually ready for the off season to come by the end of April.

Didn't stop me enjoying skiing itself, but was def over The Scene after 6 months of winter listening to the first season kids who were all hyper about how great riding everyday was, the long termers who had grown bitter and didn't ride/ski at all and just wanted it to warm up already, and the 'know it all' punters that you can't slag off too much as they pay for your lifestyle with their holiday spending in one way or another.

Whilst I'd readily move back to the mtns and do seasons (esp. as I would now bike in the summer) I think I'd want to work in something not quite so 'hands on' or 'front of house'; for example a friend of mine is the driver of the town dump truck in a Colorado mountain town – sounds horrible, but he is a local govt employee; paid annual leave, health cover, sick days, regular hours, RDO, work is 6 hour shift over by midday. So in Winter he snowboards 4+ hours everyday he wants to, in summer he rides 6+ hours day due to daylight savings.

But it's all to each there own; as above some love it, but remember that as you know it thus far, it is your release from work. What will be your release if it is your work?

dunno costs anymore, but poland is a good bet, lots of history etc and (was) reasonable

when you get a name and login for an internet forum…and use it to answer questions, rather than ask them or give an opinion or comment!

was it a cheeky trail? maybe it's gonna be used by the local walkers to prove a point about bike riders on foot paths!!!! 8O :roll: :wink:

I'd say with 3-4 nights back home, you'd have a blast; London pay, decent flat and no commute? struck it pretty good there if you ask me.

Sure riding isn't the best in itself, but the other half the week at home makes up for that, no?

Besides 2 years isn't really all that long.

Ale/real beer:
Australia – James Squires Amber Ale or Coopers Dark Ale
US – New Belguim Fat Tyre
Anywhere they can pour it properly and it is draught – Guinness

Lager:
As long as it is "proper" cold and with a lime wedge – Corona

not really fussed about Red or White even though I live in Sth Aus, the wine state!

Bubbles:
Adelaide Hills Organic Champs hits the spot pretty well
Special occassions – Veuve Cliquot (pref with fish and chips!!)

Glen Fiddich or Crown Royal, with a splash of lemonade/sprite/7-up with ice when in need of a short drink.

Hard to beat a bombay saphire or Tanqueray with tonic and wedge of lemon when a long drink is needed in the summer.

…wow, considering I don't drink much, I'm quite a drink snob!! :lol:

another vote for rinse with hot water, put in freezer.

every once in a while, i'll give it a 'proper' wash, but nothing seems to grow in it if you rinse it straight away.

longer, multi day rides, stick to water in bladder, energy drink in bottles as they are easier to clean out and tend to be prepared to carry more fluids anyway, so no hassle.