I loves it

That is all

i loves teh mlehers

I like ST

and I like DIRT

but which is better????

there’s only one way to find out……..

EDIT: I would pay VERY good money to watch a fight between Chipps n Mr Jones. Especially if they were both….actually I may leave it there.

Congratulations :D

A bit of proper romance on a Wednesday ftw!

Cor blimy, I wish I could manage enough consistency in training to need to build rest periods in!

Sliding my way around muddy trails at Stile Cop and realising that I was no longer slightly fazed by winter conditions :D

One thing a certain bad, but slightly addictive, American TV show about lawyers taught me is….

You don’t always know when someone is the right one, BUT you do always know when they’re not

I know it’s not great in terms of quality (I need a tripod for a start!) – but this was really my first experience of long exposure with my first decent manually adjustable camera. I’m proud of it, because, well, at least I’m starting to suss the complexities of ISO/Apeture/Shutter speed…it only took a few attempts to get the heart right!

It’s the OH with his Deal-extreme torch close to midnight on new years eve :D

best. trail. ever.

It’s gonna be a nightride tonight to see the year in on-top the hills :)

Technically DH, yes

Technically uphill – nope, probably worse and it’s something I am going to work on for 2012

Fitness wise it seems get more and more unfit each year, but I think in reality I just stay at a similar level. I’d love to say 2012 will be the year of getting fit….but in reality work is only going to be even more intrusive and demanding so this is a dream saved for the day I find myself out of a job!

I haven’t drank since 1999 so it’s rather likely!

everyone can whip now

No they can’t!

Stoner – Member

lbg – of you ever find yourself south of Camp, happy to show you some trails down here.

Thanks Stoner :)

Always good to find local riding buddies!

Theres loads at Bringewood/Mortimer forest. you can get a 3 hour ride purely on singletrack.

When you are up for a ride in this neck of the woods let us know.

Will do :D Ta!

No worries geologist – just give us a shout (email in profile too :) )….I’ve lived in Malvern for 4 yrs and even now come across trails near home I never knew about. If you are very lucky we may even have completed a wee bit of secret stuff away from the hills by the time you get back ;)

I always enjoy the Mynd, although even now don’t really know my way around without a guide. It would also be great to see some bits of Bringewood away from the main lines (I’ve always assumed there is a fair bit of hidden stuff there??)

I am indeed willing geologist, as, funnily enough, that is the exact same place as I live ;)

How long you about for? Do you have lights?

Cor blimy SOOOO many!

Les Gets
Switchbacks in Spain
Some of the big Lakes rides
Inners
Fort Bill
Dartmoor
Wharncliff

Pain
Judged
Happy

Nothings changed, a beautiful area, that could be so good (riding wise)

It is good, very good, riding-wise…..

….you just need a local with the current knowledge to show you around the best bits ;)

In response to the original question…..

Yes they are worth the money.

I now run the Vaults on the DH bike and the trail bike and they are AWESOME pedals. Huge platform, good grip, blingybeautiful and relatively narrow profile/light. Way better than any of the other flats I have run/tried.

Took me a very long time to make the change – maybe a year before I stopped thinking about it….probably because I learnt to ride with clipless and had totally ingrained the ‘pull with feet’ habit.

One of the best riding decisions I ever made though. Improved my riding tenfold.

In my experience, if you are going slowly and carefully you just get moaned at more because the grumpy redsocks have more chance to shout abuse. :P

Nice pics Keyses and Alex :)

Thanks Teej :)

Is NLP the same/similar to CBT?

Me

I have

He managed to get me braking with my index finger within 15 minutes after me trying for months and months.

He’s always there to give me advice when I need it and has been worth every penny.

An absolute legend and deserves every ounce of good feedback he gets

indeed

The usual – hectic at the start of the year when people come back all through of optimism, quiet over the tail end of the summer through autumn whilst they are faffing with kids n school holidays, followed by late autumn/pre Christmas PANIC WE HAVE TO GET THIS SITE SORTED YESTERDAY IT JUST CANT WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR….lots on atm.

Being a small company it’s always famine/flood/famine/flood.

Yup – awesome conditions at the FoD :D

I love Missy and this has made me most happy indeed :D

I’m a girl and we all know girls are crap at riding, and I may even break a nail if I crash.

^ I love this soooo much!!

Harry at his absolute best!

LGB – thanks for the response. I guess that, in some way, it confirms my own thoughts. Have you thought about changing your first name, or do you secretly enjoying watching that fleeting moment of discomfort on the faces of others

Indeed, I deliberately only use the short version of my name now. For that very reason. Nowt like turning up to do an audit with the element of surprise ;)

I’m not convinced that that was the general opinion. Seemed to be the minority opinion, but I could be wrong, I wasn’t counting.

Well, if/when this gets to 10 pages, or gets locked, I’ll do a count ;)

Well the fact is that that view is wrong. I know for a fact that it’s nothing to do with ‘over-sensitivity’, certainly on Sue’s part. And I think it’s very insulting to suggest that she is, especially if you don’t know her.

I didn’t suggest she was – I said general opinion seemed to think it was.

Very different

druidh – Member

lgb – Do you think that any of the mlehworld ladies feel belittled or threatened, despite the general tone of that forum? Or that any have left because of it?

Do you feel more welcome over here or over there?

Sorry druidh, for the late reply, I had to go off and do some of that awful thing called work!

Mlehworld is a very special place, full of some reet special people ;) It never claims to be anything to anyone, least of all welcoming! The wonderful mlehburds give as good as they get, and know the score. There are no ‘forum rules’ (well not that I know of, other than the unwritten ones) which dictate how you can respond and how you should treat others.

Giving as good as you get on here is very different – I’d be banned within 5.25 seconds if I responded to some people how I would really like :lol:

So I just don’t bother most of the time!

I feel welcomed by some, and hated by others, on both forums. I’m a pretty marmite kind of girl so that’s nothing unusual and it doesn’t bother me. I guess I know a bigger percentage of people in real life on mlehworld, so feel more welcomed there through that alone. I ride always with guys and work in a very male dominated environment. I regularly get comments like ‘oh, I was expecting a guy’ – whether it’s when I take of the fullface or when I turn up on site.

I am not readily offended.

BUT that doesn’t mean I don’t understand that others are offended. I didn’t start this thread as a complaint. I was genuinely interested in the overall opinion of whether the loss of the two members was down to STW not being welcome enough, or whether they were maybe over-sensitive to the issue. If it was the former, like I have already said, it would’ve been maybe worth trying to sort it out. Seems general opinion is that it was the latter.

I do think it is a real shame that two female members have gone, as they both had such useful input. But you know, I’ll go rag my bike this weekend and this thread will disappear of the face of the planet by tomorrow and no-one will really care. Other than those who have been genuinely hurt by comments that may, or may not, have been directed at them.

Interesting. TBH, I personally don’t care whether I am welcome here or not, I’d still use the site as and when I felt the need.

I do find it sad, however, that two of the regular female posters have gone, but if the general consensus is ‘we are welcoming enough’ then I guess there is little to be done about that. If more people were concerned by the loss, and lack of other female participation on the forum, I’d say it may be worth making the effort to find out why.

Sorry Phil, I deliberately chose not to use the ‘everyone’ option. I am really interested in the viewpoint regarding ladies.

Blimy – nip out for a wee nightride and come back to find three pages!

Great reading all the replies. Especially the happy-ending (well, so far!) stories. :)

carbon337 – Member

oh well run along then, enjoy your break, dont hurry back.

Can we have some more Jessica Ennis threads now that these two have gone?

No ’cause I’m still here to pull you up on it. I’m not a girly-girl and rarely take offence, but am totally fed up with seeing mtbking ladies, and their input, disappear from forums because of idiots. If you want to be offensive, drool over women and generally behave like a caveman, then may I direct you to to google….I’m sure it wont take you long to find what you are looking for.

Leave the mountain bike forums as a welcoming place for all.

Sue and Emsz -sorry to hear you two are going, but, if you read this, I really think you should reconsider. Seriously, don’t back down to the sexist idiots. Is it really better to walk away rather than stay somewhere where, overall, you are both respected and liked?

Tore around Haugh Woods on the Heckler through a mix of evening sunlight and showers. Trails in perfect condition! It was absolute bliss to a) be riding without a cast on and b) be on a FS (I’d forgotten how fast they go!)

The Bike Chain – Edinburgh

Mark sorted me all the bits for my build, kept me informed about suppliers and got it shipped out in no time once it had all arrived with him.

Coombes Cycles – Hereford

Always friendly service, always helpful and definitely my favourite bike shop in the area. Reasonably priced too.