If it’s been a week – go to GP and ask for referral to local X-ray department missing out the overstretched A&E department altogether.

Definitely get it looked at though, because if it’s borked you’ll end up costing the NHS more money with the chronic pain, physio, painkillers, etc you’ll need as the years of poor wrist structure take their toll.

We asked for people to make a donation to their chosen charity and if they wanted give little explanation in the cards. Got some wonderful and heartwarming stories and interesting charities that we had never heard of

Now that is a brilliant idea.

You’ll be able to race it on the Church Street climb (if they do it this year)…..like this guy a few years back :D

It is definitely worth a visit! Three laps flat out will be a WHOLE BOATLOAD of fun in a very small space. MB Swindon have done an amazing job to put together such a great bit of trail.

I visit from Malvern to ride with the MB Swindon people, and I would definitely ride Croft a lot more if I worked that close.

Yay! :D

Worcester is lovely, as far as cities go. I lived there for 7 yrs (pre riding habit) and never really appreciated how nice. Until I had to move away to Brum and Manchester, then it hit home what I had left behind . Lived in St John’s and would highly recommend the place.

In terms of riding, there is a fair bit in the local area. I’m in Malvern now and the hills have some exceptionally good techy descending and singletrack, if you know where to look. There is also the Wyre and Bredon Hill close to Worcester. No doubt there must be other flat but fun stuff hidden in and around the city.

As said above, you are well placed for easy reach of Wales (South Wales, Rhayader etc) and not too far from the Pearce tracks around Ludlow. Also hop on the motorway north and you’ll be at Cannock in no time. Head south and you have Cheltenham, Stinchcombe and Nibley all within the hour. Oh and definitely don’t forget the Forest of Dean.

Yes!

Good work sir, good work

*salutes*

It’s not worth the fight, anger only eats you up inside and you’re better off focusing your energy on finding a better job.

This is the truth.

Hope you get something better soon.

I’m so looking forward to Mayhem, last year was brilliant fun sliding about in the mud!

It’s always good for a laugh – hoping to get together a team of ten ladies for cake eating/wine drinking/coffee slurping, oh and of course an occasional lap :D

I try and put back into the sport what it offered me when I first started. So organising rides and inviting lots of different people along, organise ladies specific rides to get more ladies out, moderating forums so they provide a useful place for people to get feedback on those beginners questions that bother them, trail building, taking photos, that kind of thing.

Seeing other people enjoying the trails really helps make me appreciate being able to do the same.

The people I ride with also makes a massive difference.

Maybe you could try meeting with some different folks for some casual rides and see it as a social exercise? The kind of people I started riding with – that stop at the top of every hill, bottom of every hill, and quite often halfway down the hill with a camera to grab photos. If I’ve been driving myself into the ground trying to improve my riding, my mojo usually disappears…..couple of social rides and it normally comes back. Chilled stop start pace rather than ‘we’ve gotta keep moving’ kind of stuff :)

It’s hard enough getting the right geometry and standover on small frames as it is with 26″

And with my small size and lack of testosterone-fuelled power, acceleration is quite hard enough.

There probably always be a market for 26″ wheels, even it’s just short-arses like me….

….although saying that I wouldn’t rule out a change to 650B as that does seem, dare I say it, like a good middle ground. But 29″? No ta, too big for the fun stuff.

Running a Hotel on the Roof of the World. Shocking, hilarious and definitely one of the most enjoyable books I have read. Brilliant.

Yup, will be out in Malvern for a few hours.

Rocketdog…..yup!

Grum….it’s on the GBU trail. Is fun :)

Have ridden a lot of places this year, including amazing trails in Europe, DH trails that have pushed my limits and some of the best trail centres and natural stuff in the UK.

But the best ride of all was an old-school XC loop, following an OS map and ride guide with some great friends. Late summer sunshine and the most beautiful views of Powys and Shropshire with a tour of Corndon Hill and the Stiperstones.

Bad form not supporting someone’s happiness as they make the most of a good start to a relationship IMO

Croft is brilliant fun…in fact every bit of it has a fun factor. It is fun packed into a very small space! MB Swindon have done a brilliant job down there.

I’d go take a look :)

Thanks all for the help :)

I’m actually going to be in Nelson, is there anything there by chance? I don’t need a lot of distance tbh (I’m usually up ultra early and shattered from work by the time I get to sneak off with the bike before driving home!)

I’m happy riding a loop a few times or whatever, it’s just nice to see something completely new.

Brilliant, thanks. I’ll see if I can pick an OS map up in the morning :)

This looks like fun -> http://www.pmba.org.uk/Hurstwood.htm

Appreciate the small things

I suppose if you don’t really like her that much get an orange

Ah, of course, my self-loathing led me to buy mine

I’ve got a short Orange 5 Diva (I’m 5’3″ and like my frames to be short) a for general trail riding….great bike, but needed the Fox CTD suspension tuning to really become a ‘decent’ bike.

I was little torn whether 140 mm upfront would be enough, but I’m finding it’s surprising versatile. Took it to Stile Cop DH the other day on a minor detour whilst on an XC ride and, once I settled into trusting the bike, it felt pretty awesome….made me even ponder getting rid of the DH bike for a short time! It’s great in the air and when up to speed. I do notice the brake jack a fair bit, but this is more an issue with my brake technique and I’m hoping that it’ll actually improve my braking in the long term.

If your lady is looking for an AM bike for the Alps I’d at least take a look at the 5 Diva….but prepare to spend out on fine tuning the suspension.

My baby Dillon the chammy. Set up for nightriding back at the start of the season.

Is it not less of a case of anti-PC and more of a rejection of double standards? They seem to plague modern debates.

Pictures of women = degrading, exploitation. Picture of men = just a bit of harmless fun.

Benny Hill (since he has been bought into it) = a bit of a pervert. Loose Women = lunchtime giggle.

Man gets slap from woman for staring at woman walking past, women free to oggle at Diet Coke adverts…..

And to flip the sexes on its head – picture of breasts = marginally acceptable, picture of penis = outrageously disgusting. Both harmless (sic) body parts after all?!??

I tend to find it works the other way, particularly on a practical basis: men with more than a handful of sexual partners = lucky. Women = slappers.

Men that go out and pull on a saturday night for a one night stand = lucky. Women that do the same = slappers.

Men that look at topless women/pg 3 ladies/pornography = perfectly acceptable. Woman that do the posing = slappers.

Women swooning over men = unfaithful. Men swooning over ladies = just being men.

Women getting older = past it old hags. Men = distinguished.

I could go on. The imagined sexual liberation of women is, quite frankly, disappointing to say the least.

As I said in my original post, there is a good deal of hypocrisy out there with picture of women being nothing more than a bit of slap-n-tickle fun….unless it’s their daughter/wife/girlfriend on the picture.

We are still very much a patriarchal society.

I’m a surveyor and regularly survey various workshops n the like. Guys do occasionally get in a bit of a flap when they realise that surveying isn’t only man’s job nowadays and a lady is just about to walk through the endless posters, with usually more than just a rack showing.

Still, that’s no where near as amusing as surveying residential flats when the middle-aged-single-man hasn’t bothered to hide his VHS+VHS player collection because, again, he wasn’t expecting a girl :lol:

I’ve found stashes of all sorts in various roof voids/hidden wall voids and others….anyone who thinks ‘down with this sort of thing’ is gonna have quite a battle on their hands!

I’ve only once seen the situation in reverse…in an estate agents somewhere in wales. A lovely picture of some guy called ‘black python’ or something along though lines….it was a bit -> 8O

I wasn’t surprised that Orange were happy to have it showing on the video. At the end of the day, there are very few of us ladies that ride Orange, and even less who will watch the video. It it appeals to their main market, then I guess they need not worry about offending others.

I don’t have a problem with it, other than two things. 1) Hypocrites that have the pictures up, but would hit the roof if their daughter chose to make her money in the same way or would call their current GF a slag or worse if they found out she had done something similar in her past. 2) the atrocious wages paid to the majority of ladies in the industry.

Never raced, but hoping that will change next year, can’t be many 30+ females entering their first DH races about..

You couldn’t be further from the truth!!

So many ladies in their 30’s (and well beyond) have started off racing in the last few years, myself and several friends included. My first ‘proper’ race was at 34 years old this year….and I guess my first ‘proper’ season will be next year when I’ll be 35 and counting.

The popularity is increasing rapidly, with support from the decent race organisers. Two years ago it was rare to see more than a handful of ladies at races. But out of the 6 races I have entered this year, 4 have had 10 or more ladies. The mini DH round on the 2nd of December has just added another load of places for the ladies as the original ones sold out quickly. :D

legend – Member

What would be a good, cheap, second hand first downhill bike?

I believe that Sir is needing a Giant Glory in his life. Bomb proof, good suspension, loads around so cracking value, job’s a good un

Yup, I gotta second that. There are lighter bikes out there, but for something that can cope with a battering and that is good-for-the-money you can’t go wrong with a Glory with a decent set of forks up front. I still love mine (2006 frame with 2010 componentry), even though I know I probably need to upgrade at some point, she’s doing the job atm.

Not long ’til the first round of the FoD winter series :D

It’s interesting to see so many people who like riding dh trails, really cool. As far as i’m concerned, and from my personal experience DH’ers as a group are really open, theres never a feeling of we are proper dh’ers and you aren’t because you ride x y or z. If you like riding downhill trails and hitting roots, jumps, berms and drops and it gives you an adrenaline rush that drags you back to the top to do it over and over then you are a downhiller. Doesn’t matter what bike you ride, and that’s always been the view at all the DH races/trail centers i’ve ever been to. Of course there will always be the occasional nob wobbler but I have to say they’re probably the nicest bunch in cycling

Isn’t that the truth! Was talking to someone about this the other day and I think it’s partly because uplifts/pushing are great levellers in the sense that some people get down the hill twice as fast, and with style…but once those 3 mins are over, they’re gonna be pushing back up/riding up/in the bus with you chatting about what that last run was like. Or stood at the side of the trail encouraging you when you are trying to session a jump they have just made look easy. DH is actually good for a range of levels, whereas on an XC ride, a big difference in fitness/ability is harder to accommodate….and it’s difficult to talk to that ‘expert rider’ when you are gasping for breath just trying to keep up.

Out the door in the week, but like Stoner says, the Malverns are not really a place to be at weekends. Plus there isn’t a lot of DH, so travel. Try not to go over an hour and a half, but will drive further maybe once every six weeks or so.

fervouredimage – Member

Is this thread still committed to actual mountain bike discussion? I’m almost gobsmacked. No pedantry, no snide remarks, no vitriol, just like minded folk talking about mountain biking for 2 whole pages.

A first surely?

I definitely won’t mention how my neck brace definitely saved me from a bad case of whiplash, or worse, yesterday then…. :wink:

I’m primarily a DH’ller. Although I probably shouldn’t be with the amount of time I end up on the floor lately :roll:

Ride XC too, to get to see the country and keep CV fit.

Looks fake to me

You sure these lot aren’t trying to get ‘most watched clip’ somewhere?

Really wanted to ride up North with friends but situations dictate otherwise and will be exploring around Stinchcombe Hill and Dursley hoping to find more secret singletrack on Saturday.

FoD with big bikes Sunday.

French….just like Fabien’s

West Country with a tinge of Welsh, Herfordian, Worcester, Brummie and Mancunian thrown in.

Always be nice to people when they come in. Even if they are idiots who don’t know their arse from their elbow….because you never know when they will become proper riders and suddenly remember how badly they were treated previously when they are now looking for a new bike every two years, plus kit and endless spares……

Great thread this – such stunning artists out there now :)

Things have changed and despite all the vitriol from the few haters, I have experienced 99% positivity for tattoos over recent years. It’s nice to see.