The latter (heart makes the brain work). :-)

Cardiac myocytes (muscle cells) in the sinoatrial (SA) node display automaticity ie they are capable of firing off electrical signals to commence a heartbeat without any external stimulus.

Therefore, the heart can work without a brain, but the brain cannot survive without the heart sending it blood.

Here comes the science bit…

I love that, along with Wales and football pitches, a Lego man is now a unit of size!

I’ve had one for a few weeks (got a second hand one off eBay as the RRP is pretty steep). I really like it. It works well with both strava and cyclemeter and gives you lots of geeky data. If I’m using it seriously to “train” in a specific zone (rather than just seeing how high I can get my HR whilst cycling up a hill), I have cyclemeter set up to speak to me through headphones when I enter and leave that HR zone.

It doesn’t add much to the battery consumption either – whilst skiing recently I had both strava (for monitoring HR) and Ski Tracks running for GPS for 7 1/2 hours per day and used about 60% of the battery at most. It’s comparable to usage prior to the wahoo dongle.

The dongle adds a bit of bulk to the phone, but only a tiny bit. I still keep the phone in my pocket whilst out cycling.

It’s perhaps for the best that I can’t figure out how to link to my first ever GoPro video that I made on my last trip to Hamsterley just before New Year. Just search for other people’s!

Cafe is still open, but at this time if year it’s only open at weekends I think.

My favourite routes are to do the first bit of the black, then climb to the top of the best red singletrack, then crossover and do the black/red on the other side of the valley. The black climb will be horribly boggy at the moment though (as seen above).

GPS files here: http://www.mtbtrails.info/Trail_Venue.aspx?VenueNumber=72

Strava has all the hidden stuff too.

I put the tin foil on the stairs and sat down in a roughly bike-riding position, then got up carefully without moving the foil. It’s not very scientific, but it seemed to work.

The old town of Nice has the best ice cream shop in the world – Fenocchios. Was there twice a day for 4 days last summer :-D

Another vote for the Spesh BG saddles. I measured myself by sitting on a bit of tin foil, which leaves dents that you can then measure. It’s not pretty or dignified, but it works!

http://Www.mtbtrails.info

Uses OS and google maps alongside each other, and your rides can either be private or public.

Here’s a couple of routes from near Guisborough:
http://www.mtbtrails.info/Trail_Venue.aspx?VenueNumber=126

Oh, and the hospital canteen is shut because “it’s Christmas” so I couldn’t even have a pre ride bacon roll :(

Berm Baby Berm. I’d happily drive the two hours up there from Newcastle to spend all day going up and down that section. The blue descent from Buzzard’s Nest to the Peel car park is a close second. Grin-tastic!

I quite like Kielder, but I agree that it’s not quite Glentress in terms of constant flowy singletrack. There are 3 reds (lonesome pine, bloody bush and deadwater) and one blue (osprey trail). Lonesome pine and deadwater have some great bits of singletrack (“skydive” and “into the valley”), and the blue has some nice flowy singletrack amongst the trees. The bloody bush trail is poorly surfaced and has a lot of fireroad, but is good as part of the Cross border route to Newcastleton (a great XC day out of about 45 miles if you include the newcastleton trails).

GPS files here.

Ended up at Mabie as I’d heard there were still a few icy patches at the top of Spooky Wood, and a sketchy loop around Hamsterley in the ice yesterday didn’t fill me with confidence.

Really glad we tried out Mabie for the first time – I had a great day out. The red loop is a pretty decent workout and Descender Bender is now my favourite trail centre section (beating Spooky Woods and Berm Baby Berm into joint second place!). No ice, well drained, and excellent coffee in the shed at the end. Brilliant!

Anyone else?

Any update on conditions in Mabie and Glentress from today? Thinking of heading to one of them tomorrow.

I wish Spain was even on the cards – I’m stuck in Middlesbrough until half nine tonight :-(

Well, you lot are full of joy this morning! What happened to MTFU?!

No-one got any info on conditions in the north east of England/south of Scotland?

I sympathise.

We’ve been looking for a house for 18 months, putting our lives on hold and saving like mad. Then, a couple of weeks ago, we got fed up and spunked a fair chunk of the deposit on a new car for him and a new full suss for me.

Guess what we found 2 days later … yep, our dream house!

Anyone want to buy my boyfriend’s bright yellow Lotus?

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(well, I’m not selling my bike!)

maybe you just have naturally high chlestrol worth checking, a friend of mine has this no matter what she eats or exercise it doesn’t change…

Familial hypercholesterolaemia

I see a lot of young people with this in my line of work – don’t ignore a high cholesterol just because you’re healthy!

I quite often do stuff like this. My non-cycling boyfriend is horrified when I tell him that I talk to, and often join, random groups of mountain bikers when out cycling on my own, but the truth is that it’s a great way to get some company and find some new trails. Like you say, if they turn out to be weirdos, you can always pedal in the opposite direction!

In fact, I met P20 and Ahsat of this parish in the middle of a moor in Northumberland one day last year, and have since not only been out cycling with them and their regular group of riding buddies, but have also assimilated several of my riding buddies into their group too. We’re even Facebook friends ;-)

A friend and I did Carlisle to Newcastle on Hadrian’s cycleway in a day last summer with no training and it was totally fine. It’s mostly flat and exclusively on quiet B roads or dedicated cycle paths.

Hopefully this links to the strava route that we did: http://app.strava.com/activities/6089705

I’m pretty pleased with my QOM round Glentress Red, despite being twice the time of the KOM!

Alternatively…

How old are you? Family history of heart disease? Smoker? High blood pressure? Diabetic?

Could it be stable angina?

GP seems like a good first port of call :-)

Many thanks! I’ve not lived in Edinburgh for a while – how would I get from morningside/comiston to west Linton via the Pentlands?

My 6’5″ Geordie riding buddy has a 22″ pink Orange 5 with a cow print saddle (and now with pink bars). We’ve had nothing but positive comments (although I don’t think anyone would dare say anything negative to him!). Occasionally, people assume that the bike is mine, until they see the size of it!

Hannah

[/url] Pink Bike[/url] by Legolam[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Several on http://www.mtbtrails.info

Yay. I like when the system works!

TBH, GPs aren’t best placed to access quick scanning. This is the kind of thing Accident and Emergency departments are designed for, so that would be my choice. It’s a bit more inconvenient but you should be in and out with a diagnosis in under 4 hours (ish). Although you’ve managed to survive 5 days, so it’s clearly not THAT life threatening!

I’m sure the GP can refer you onwards for belly button correction though :wink: :lol:

Needs checked out – kidney damage and retro peritoneal bleeding would look like this. You need to get an ultrasound of the swelling, and A&E is your best bet for getting this done in a timely fashion. Probably wont be busy at this time on a Tuesday morning either.

Agree with the comments about your belly button too ;-)

A Female Doctor :-)

PS. +1 for a comfortable saddle. I went to the Specialized website and followed the instructions for measuring my arse. Although it’s not particularly dignified, I’ve ended up with a very comfortable perch!

Just wanted to add to the voices saying how important weight of the bike is. I found it really difficult to manoeuvre a heavy bike around. Women just don’t have the upper body strength of men. It’s fine on smoother stuff, but on technical terrain it becomes a real problem. In my case, my heavy hardtail got me into mountain biking and taught me good skills, but the new lighter full suss already feels so much more manoeuvrable and appropriate for my feeble muscles.

Hannah

I was impressed by the delivery time too! I ordered it late on Sunday 28th Oct, and it was with me by 10am on Thursday 1st Nov! And that was despite my credit card being refused first time around (my bank obviously don’t realise that I spend large sums of money with German bike shops…)

Thank you for all your advice – I eventually bit the bullet and bought the XS Canyon Nerve XC 8W.

I went out on it for the first time today and it was AWESOME! It’s lighter than my hardtail (weighs in at 12.5kg, which I know isn’t that light but the hardtail was 14kg!), and it fits so much better. I wouldn’t like to be much shorter though – it fits me perfectly at 165cm/5 foot 5 but I think smaller ladies would struggle. The brakes aren’t Avid as well, which is nice.

I’ve switched the Rocket Rons for the Maxxis Advantages that were on my other bike, and the saddle will have to go as I don’t think I’ve ever sat on anything so uncomfortable (no sniggering at the back!). Other than that, I think it’s pretty much perfect!

Here’s what it looked like after I’d built it and ridden it around the kitchen island:
[/url] I got a new bike![/url] by Legolam[/url], on Flickr[/img]

It’s muddier now!

I can’t feel my toes – I’ve had to do an emergency cake and coffee stop on the way home to warm up.

I’m still totally confused by all of this!

Can someone point me in the direction of the appropriate sized bearings and/or an appropriate replacement headset? I’m getting myself all muddled :oops:

How high? If it’s >7, you’ve probably got familial hypercholesterolaemia. Needs medical treatment.

If lower than that, you should be aware that you can only lower your cholesterol by MAX 10% by altering your diet. That’s because the majority of cholesterol is manufactured in your liver.

Statins are great drugs! (I may be biased…)

The balls were/mostly still are in a little compartment-ed ring thing: here