bit of a let down really.

Though the two onions and a carrot that were "propped up" with a sign that says tired of dicks was funny.

the one that had the guy supposedly hanged was… unique 8O

I use a two bottle, under seat rack and can still get the saddle bag on fine; if you need to get into the saddle bag, it's usually cos you've stopped anyway (be flat or to get out a phone/cash etc), so not like you need overly easy access the whole time.

That, plus two in the frame, then refill as needs be from wherever en route. A few ziploc bags with a bottles worth of drink mix in for when you do, all sorted.

coyote – you know it is crap so why go in? take your business to a place that is not crap and that place will survive, the other won't (well, shouldn't…)

perhaps I should have typed "is it worth being bothered about to the extent of posting online, in a forum where almost everyone already knows the service is less than perfect? prob not…"

sell the other links on?

put them in you saddlebag/backpack/panniers in case it happens again?

thing is, you are the one fussed, not any of the staff in their. Is it worth being bothered about? prob not…

i use one of the those hand pump garden sprayer things – cost about £8 and does the job nicely – not too powerful but shifts the sh1t.

the weed sprayers are great – plus you don't end up spraying more water than you need everywhere either.

leave to dry
bounce a few times to knock some of the crap off
quick once over with a brush to get most of rest off
sprayer and cleaner
brush stubborn bits
spray to rinse
dry and lube
beer/food/coffee/tea/etc

Yes…

Well, apart from adding some lock-on grips.

Rides fine as is; however, as bits wear out and break, I will take time to consider the replacements. Just took time and bought what I needed when I bought it and so far haven't felt a need to change anything.

I reckon I'll go 2×9 with a 38-28/26 up front due to the terrain I ride when I get to the stage of needing to replace front rings. But the triple on there is fine if somewhat under-utilized in some ways.

I thought about tubeless, but haven't even bothered going ghetto as I rarely get flats of any sort (*touches wood) and still run a low enough pressure that I don't lack grip – one of the benefits of being 10-10.5st!!

agree with busy – first half of Oct is killer; great riding at that time of year (used to live in Colorado).

it can get cold, but cold doesn't stop you riding, does it? rain? probably less chance than there is in UK at that time of year, but of course who knows; wouldn't be enough to put off though.

we have an 09 estate and it is lovely.

swallows bikes, dogs, luggage etc.

we do a lot of motorway driving in it down here in Aus as everything is so bloody far away, and find the MPG to be pretty good. then again wife's crappy work astra auto for around as we don't pay the fuel, so don't notice that side of things too much.

love the stability, especially when we get on the dirt roads out in the country, just holds so well with the AWD.

nothing has broken, numerous friends have them and they all just seem to go forever with no major troubles.

Use them a fair bit down here in Adelaide.

Saw and lopers to clear bushes/branches, Mattock to loosen everything up, one of these to fine tune – you can rake looser stuff down, scoop/scrape stuff off, rake grass/brambles leaves out of the way, use it to compress too. Pretty versatile, but def don't try to do too much with it – you still need the other tools to do the heavy work

But it does depend on the ground type; they'd be fairly useless in clay stuff I'd think.

First come clean – it's way easier.

I'd say that at that age, if you keep up the home reading your are probably not going to have him left behind especially at that time of year – my folks used to do in the lower years of primary school and I never had a problem with school work.

However, always used to do the "project book" – like a diary of the holiday with photos and stuff afterwards, had to learn a few words of language and use them in restaurants etc.

When you get to exam time it's all sorts of different though.

GTA
Almost anything Mario
Ebay for Tetris
Brain Training titles are good – started getting the wife into that
Zelda stuff as you have to think not just bash stuff up all the time.
The parlour games – mahjong, poker, etc are all stuff that you tend to keep going back to and don't date so much.

i assumed it was about some dogging variant… :? 8O

KiwiJohn – what about the 2 metre tall brewing co? they're putting out some good stuff down your way…

Glad to here that things are progressing Zokes – see ya soon!

wouldn't worry about MTB in WA; they've got some good funding coming through at the moment for new stuff, so they are gonna be alright; true not huge mountains, but lots of undulating stuff that is different but just as fun.

I'd say cost of living is a little bit cheaper and over here in Adelaide house prices are better than Perth; overall it's a better set up I reckon and thats after nearly turning around and going home in the first 3 or 4 months of getting to Aus!

The weather is dependent on where you go; get south in WA, SA, VIC or NSW and its temperate; hotter summers for sure, but you still get a discernible change in seasons. Head to Tassie if you want a proper winter – or at least to be blown away in the wind (though also by the scenery)!

Having been here for almost 4 years now and having been back "home" in the last year, I don't see anything that will lure me back. Besides, I get my Aussie (dual) citizenship in May too – can no longer lose the Ashes!

mine show too… but in fairness haven't got any worse; looks 'wrong' but still works fine.

I run 35psi – ish too…

slept in a few hedges, the best one being outside of an ambulance station.

was about to throw up, try to direct it into an empty beer bottle only to result in a "sprinkler" effect… :oops:

my wife has a good one though; on the train, gonna throw up, but the train is moving/not in station so what to do? decided to open backpack and vom into it. 5 mins later same thing, so opens bag back up and voms in again.

next morning, realises and opens bag to find that she'd opened two seperate compartments of said bag and so had vomitted over absolutely everything.

Gets to work the next day and the security guard tells her how he saw her the previous night and is surprised she made it to work. she calls BS; he promptly goes on to tell her – and everyone else there – how she was hanging on to the railing fence of the park, to stay upright to get up the road from the station to my (parents) house.

"so why didn't you stop and help me?"

"didn't want you puking in my car"

awaiting the latest Maruki Hurakami to be translated, so working through Salman Rushdie's stuff; currently a few pages from finishing Grimus.

His newest work – The enchantress of Florence – was good; as was Midnights Children. Satanic verses for all the controversey, was one of his weakest I'd say

well f*** me; they do – albeit gashly – exist!! 8O

I recently saw in Borders (in Australia mind) a book about the great hors category climbs of the TdF… cool photos , descriptions of the climb etc. Depends on if the roadie thing works for you.

Second Lopes' book and the Tim Moore TdF route ones too.

Eve – the time spent in the mountains. And as you say with your edit the fact that the early stages of windloading are visible in the form of a "cornice"; these sort of things are things that you notice readily when you have been looking for them for a long time. Also, I lived in Colorado for a number of years where the snowpack is very sensitive, so in many ways you pay more attention than in Europe where it is (very, very) generally more stable.

Ash – that is exactly it; I wasn't get stuck into what was being said, just that if we are looking at minimising risk when skiing/boarding/snowmobiling/whatever(which despite the editing style that makes it look as though it is to the contrary in most of the snow flicks these days), then you start with terrain. Even the most stable snowpack in the world can fail; if the terrain is selected wisely it is not as much of an issue.

Also, hopefully obviously, terrain choice alone won't save you just as weather reports, pit analysis, wearing transcievers or carrying the appropriate complimentary tools won't on their own save you. It is just one part of the whole system. And sometimes it still doesn't stop it from happening; not something anyone wants to experience at any level.

Wow lots of lovely snowpack talk there… but neither of you have mentioned that fact that it is right on a rollover on the windloaded side of the hill.

TBH that would be more of a signal to not go there, even before we start talking about weather and bonding layers etc

Have his book – have several other street art/non-commissioned art/graffiti/vandalism* books too. Hangover from a 'mis-spent' youth I guess.

Whether it's to your taste or not is up to you, but most of Bansky's stuff is quite clever in terms of the observations made. He does seem to be getting a bit up himself though lately, what with the whole thing with going over other peoples stuff when there was no real need to. Don't buy the "other's go over his stuff" argument in that it hadn't been there for 20 years or however long, plus in the book he actually courts the interaction of others with several of his 'pieces'.

*delete as appropriate ;D

too slow, already fixed…

All the time now (except the 10 metre pedal after fettling to make sure things are schweet…)

Down here in Australia, you have too. Law, fines etc.

When I was home in June, I did find it hard to understand the number of people without helmets in London traffic.

I don't ride differently with or without; I don't try to fall off; but if caught unaware by a ped/car/bus/van/truck/etc who isn't concentrating, I may have less chance of being as hurt as I would without it…

Even if the numbers are unreliable, unavailable etc, I reckon more serious injuries are reduced by having a helmet, than are made worse by wearing one (if it fits right, etc). Therefore, I feel they are worth having and if you have one, you may as well wear it.

nice… I can feel the need for a few milk bottles come winter here, now.

'like'

marty beat me to it…

you're not wrong trout; they aren't as good as the "real" thing, but…

GTA, Zelda's, all the classic Mario stuff and Tetris.

a Team Sky Pinarello on the net…

just keys…

Lavazza decaf is passable.

Oxfam fairtrade decaf is what we have at home at the moment.

I only have decaf tea and coffee at home for this reason; otherwise some w/ends I'll drink half a dozen or more of them a day before I even think about it and then find that I can't sleep, which is great come the next work week :roll:

The Alcohol… Over Xmas it was 3-4 beers a day cos I could as much as anything; now it's back to work, maybe a couple over the w/end. That's self control, but the easy thing to do is not have any in the house to start with; if you have to go and get some, you think about it and can remind yourself why it's not there. Then you consume when you really want to rather than just because you can.

The drink itself is not hard to cut out, it's changing the rest of your routine which includes the drinking (both alcohol and caffeine) that will seem foreign at first. Another way to break ours was to night ride on Saturday evenings instead of pub; trails are quiet, ride is relaxed and fun so you still get the social interaction, but ends more often in food with maybe a single beer rather than a big night out and the money that costs.

Yes, now I read that, I realise I know that can't be it.

Must be the excess beer and carbs of Chrimbo stopping me from thinking clearly! ;)

I guess the staying hydrated makes you feel 'full' and therefore you are not eating 'for the sake of it'/empty calories and that also it helps to completely process what you do eat, and not pass it before the complete calorific benefit of that food has been realised.

Should add a friend of mine has followed the reduced carbs after midday thing and lost a stone and a half over about 8 months and is now holding steady; he still has enough to function, but also gives his body a period to use up any 'extra' energy rather than store it as fat. EG not having seconds of pasta in the evening, but instead having some more veg or a piece of fruit to 'fill up'; sharing a naan bread with his wife when having a curry rather than one himself and then finishing hers off as she can't eat it all Doesn't sound like a lot, and in honesty it isn't, but the change has paid off hugely without the need for excessive regimes of exercise or food deprivation type dieting. You don't need that much in the evening when you are just going to go to sleep, but your body stores it 'just in case'. Obviously, if you had just had a big ride and were due another the next day, the scenario would be different.

Also, if you don't eat breakfast, do; stops the want to snack (which is often rubbish if you are unprepared) and therefore reduces the 'poor' calories that you do consume.

The Beatles.

Someone was saying how special they were etc, and, yes, the White Album is very good and very unique and was groundbreaking in the way is wasn't any one thing, but was what the four of them (well maybe except Ringo, but that a whole other story…) liked regardless of how it fit their 'image'. However, much of their other work was not special, but marketed well – they are unique in that they were one of the first – and certainly the first successfully – marketed 'boy bands'. As such, the lessons learnt from their success is still being seen within the music industry to this day. However, many of the records they produced, although popular at the time, are overrated in retrospect.

ride to work
coffee, fruit (nana) and a muesli bar (organic one where poss with less sugar etc)
have veggie chips, dry berries or fruit, more organic muesli stuff on hand for snacks, odd biscuit or slice of cake if around although a bit more of an indulgence than a regular thing
lunch is either a homemade sandwich or some pasta/noodle stuff
afternoon is as per morning for a snack
ride home
dinner is rice or rice pasta or veggies as wife is vegetarian
decaf tea or coffee and something sweet but small

However, it is all portions; when I want to loose a bit of excess weight, I do a couple of things; totally cut out drinking, reduce the amount of carb/sugar after midday. Drinking equals beer which equals carbs and the feeling that I need to eat more to not get pissed. Carbs after lunch means that I don't have too much extra that the body stores as fat etc.

Also, make sure I am as hydrated as I can be at all times; this helps a lot I find. I guess you pass the excess stuff out to a degree rather than store it up…

commute and riding gives me over 200km a week; often over 250… work is a mix of unloading trucks = physical or sitting behind desk = sedate, but generally fairly active throughout the day

Grandfather = Edward John
Father = John Edward
Son = Jonathan Edward

That sounds like a big jump and still quite tall gearing… but depends on what and where you ride. Also, sure you'd get used to it if you gave it time.

I'm about to go to 38/28 – rarely need the super low of a granny, only used the 44 on the road really, so this spread in between is great for what I ride (LBS owner has this set up on same frame as mine and having pedalled his a bit, I know it works); just waiting to have money and for the current rings get to a point where they need replacing and will be swapping it out.

Gives a bit more clearance too with a little smaller ring regardless of bashie or not.

I'm with Hilldodger – can't beat roast pots with lots of salt. And another pint to balance out the salt afterwards ;)

One of anything I like the look/idea of – Ti, Carbon, road, CX, MTB, whatever. Keep what I enjoy riding, sell/give-away the rest.

A big chunk of land with rolling hills, woods, open space etc and a lake with s bit of sandy/beachy shore to it and get a few diff people to come a build a variety of trails for me; someone to build some techy north shore style stuff, someone for some fun DJs and pump track, someone for some sweet flowy singletrack, someone for some hero DH tracks.

A big enviro-focused shed/chalet to hang out and have all the bikes in, etc fully decked out with everything I'd ever need.

A whole heap of coaching to get me some rAd sKillZ on the bike and to fix the bikes all back up when those skills let me down or to fettle if I don't wanna actaully ride.

Then repeat but the Ski version.

Then repeat again but the ocean/beach version.

I need to tone it down, especially as we have a little one on the way.

But we all (extended family) swear in front of the nieces and nephews and I don't see any reason to stop per se; there are certain words to steer away from and certainly don't turn the air blue when they are around, but they are going to learn these words at some point, so it may as well be from family who can hopefully direct them to when it can be or isn't appropriate to use them.

One of my wife's very young cousins (6? 7?) suffers from a mental illness as well as Down Syndrome; he LITERALLY won't eat certain things at certain times. For a while he would only eat Nutella sandwiches.

What do you do? Feed him something[/u]? Or nothing – and then he ends up in hospital on a drip? That really is the only alternative due to the dis-order he has; there is no real reasoning with him and the "when he's hungry, he'll eat" thing doesn't apply as he doesn't function that way intellectually; he doesn't grasp that what he is doing is harming himself.

The chances that this couples child is like that is pretty low but doesn't mean you have to pass judgement on everyone based on your presumptions.

Thinking it is one thing; I do it everytime I walk past the likes of Macca's or KFC and someone who is obviously obese is chewing down on a big mac :roll: but save the comment for the wife when you are in the car, surely? Then it's just between you two…