dont forget theres the need to change at victoria and transfer to deansgate/oxford road or picadilly station depending which is easier/nearer. and theres no metro in the city centre ATM. and if there was – you cant (supposedly) take your bike on the metro, especially during rush hour when theres only room for sardines.

i had one for 3 weeks as a courtesy car while my own car was being fixed.
twas a '02 111S (with the toyota engine)

like Del, when it first arrived it felt like it was on ice. then i checked the tyre pressures a couple of days later, they'd blown the tyres up about 10psi more than the lotus recommended pressures. once at the correct pressure it was much better. tho it was still a little skitty – but i put that down to the car having summer tyres on, and it being February!
yes – its noisy on the motorway, conversations are more shouting to each other. when it rains its noisier because of the water splashing on the inside of the arches.
the air con option helps keep the windows clear of mist in the snow and rain. its warm enough inside with the roof on when its -2c outside.
i looked back at the car after parking up and heading into the office.
about one of the first times we've just gone out for a drive – purely to drive. headed up the A682 to Settle and back to Bacup, just for the pleasure of driving it – and it didnt matter that we got stuck most of the way behind little old '40mph everywhere' alot of the journey.

getting in and out was ok once i'd worked out a technique.
oh and going to the shops – we could get as much shopping in the boot of the elise as we could in the MX5 – which does us for the week. and the boot is insulated enough from the engine that the icecream didnt melt either!

I'd have one in a heartbeat – tho if i had the option i'd go for a Caterham. tho Lady S would have the Elise.

Michael Moorcock is a good read

I'll agree with that – i'm about halfway through his Eternal Champion omnibus collection. Von Beck, Hawkmoon, Elric/Stormbringer, Corum all stick out for me.

my bias in thinking the lotus 11 was the best looking car ever made?

Lotus 11…. 18…25…49…78…Elan…Elite…
soo many lovely cars from Lotus

seem to remember when the throttle cable snapped on our saab the local motorfactors said to use a normal bike brake cable (they didnt have any cables in stock)

"the crashes are usually better in MotoGP"

thats the difference for me. I dont watch motorsport for the crashes. crashes mean expense for the driver/rider/team and possibly injuries.

I watch racing for the on track battles. the Aero is a problem for F1 at the mo – because they just cant get close enough in the twisties. were as the GP2 cars rely more on ground effects than F1 (it being banned in F1)

Oh and refulling is banned next year, tho tyre stops arent. TBH – i wouldnt want the farce of Indy 2005 to be repeated (the year they banned tyre changes)

for me… i don't watch motogp, or at least actively seek out to watch it.
I do for F1. again it is all subjective.

If we're talking about F1 at Valencia, verses bikes at Laguna Seaca.. then Bikes win hands down…but F1 at the historic tracks – Spa, Silverstone.
The problem has been for years Bernie, Mosley and Tilke designed circuits.

That said – i love club racing, which is why you'll find me on a weekend in my orange suit waving flags at Oulton Park or Anglesey. I'm a 4 wheel man, the only time i've marshaled bikes was the Plum Pudding meeting.

another pleasant days marshaling here too.
started off near the bottom (at the join between the climb from the start and where the lap turned back to the finish) then moved up to just past the finish line to the first split on the course.

Lots of friendly riders, thanks to those who stopped for a natter as they retired with punctures or mechanicals.

Gordon is too busy writting books about 'Courage' to have time to TV Debates.

Bojo's (Lange Leidsedwarsstraat 51) is a good indonesian restraunt, Eaten there a couple times when we've visited.

BBB_ Rich.

Visit the Van Gogh, Anne Frank and Rijksmuseum museums.
theres also a couple of Diamond cutting houses that do tours – the Gassan tour was the best one of the ones we visited.

theres a great market (Albert Cuyp Market) on 4 or 5 days a week that is about 1km long

Here is a walking tour round Amsterdam from the Hostel we stayed at last year.

alternate route avoiding the leeds traffic.

go up the M66/A56 to M65, and up to Colne. then follow the A59 via Skipton and keep following that road to Harrogate/Knaresborough and onto the A1(M) well north of any traffic problems nearer Leeds.

Its a nice route over the pennines that. And fairly free flowing, used to take me about an hour to get from Bacup to Ilkley (turning off the A59 to go down the A65 for that) and about 1 1/2 hrs to go from Bacup to Harewood (roughly half way between Harrogate and Leeds) as a comparison its about 1hr 15mins to go Bacup to Harewood via M66/M62/A1(M)
As a comparison

Top Dog – they do work with Sky+ if you get a remote that has the sky+ options on it.

Satcure has pretty much everything you could want for an installation
Sat Cure Remote Extenders page

One thing you may find. you can plug the RF2 output into your aerial socket, and then plug the extender into the second TV. then just tune one of the channels of the second TV into the Sky output as you would any normal terrestial channel.
If you find the second TV picture is snowy then you can try running a shielded CO AX direct

Mark -on the financial side – talk to McMillan.

You should not have to worry on that side of things and they are there to help.
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Get_Support/Financial_help/Financial_help.aspx
sopme advise on that page.

if you like any of these:
Woodforde's of Woodbastwick, Norfolk
Headcracker 7% abv
Pale but strong & full-bodied. Plums, damsons and lots of hops.
Nelson's Revenge 4.5% abv
Rich floral aromas, sweet malts & a burst of citrus hops.
Norfolk Nog 4.6% abv
Smooth rich old ale. Hints of chocolate, treacle & liquorice.
Sundew 4.1% abv
Subtle pale golden beer. Light on the palate with distinctive hoppy finish.
Wherry Best Bitter 3.8% abv
Fresh and zesty with crisp floral flavours. Numerous Champion Beer of Britain awards.

then they do home brew kits – which are very very good. (cept for headcracker which is available only in bottles)

not much to say but all the best Meg and Mark!

I came through cancer a couple of years ago, and i know the scary process it can seem at times… an at others – it feels like its happening to someone else and your just watching a film of the events.

mountaincarrot – Member

Did you ever cross the channel on the old Hoverspeed? (Since deceased). Like a ride in a WW2 Bomber. Amazing

yip, many times. was said to see them go.
Brought back memories when crossing on Speed Ferries and stood on the concrete at dover looking at the landing area.

you can get Skype on window mobile 6.1 devices.

here tested on the HTC Touch Diamond

linking in with this pair

Linky

She's after publicity for her campaign… he's…well, he's after publicity

i do like the discription of Blackpools Wild Mouse – you enter via a small entrance, then the Mouse chews you up and spits you out an equally small exit. Built at a time when they said – if its too extreme, folk dont have to ride it.

were as now, if its too extreme they tone it down (see the reprofiled first drop of the Big One cos it was too violent for alot of people)

iirc there's only 3 left in the country now.

theres a few still left thankfully

in Blackpool there is:
Grand National
Big Dipper
Wild Mouse
Zipper Dipper.
Roller Coaster

At Gullivers World, Warrington
Antelope (used to operate that ride when i worked there as a ride op)

Oakwood (wales)
Megafobia

Great Yarmouth
Roller Coaster
Tyrolean Tubtwist ( a Virginia Reel)

izakimak – RIP to Cyclone. pulled down by that ****!

i always loved how there was that kink part way up its lift hill. Designed by Charles Paige – same chap who did the reprofiled Big Dipper and Grand National rides at Blackpool (and the long lost Texas Tornado in Morcombe)

Tis also a shame that Alton Towers once had a Schwarzkopf Jet Star 2 and 3 (known as the Black Hole and the Alton Beast/The New Beast) both have been removed – they where great rides!

the missus has been doing a load – got some recipies from a home brew forum..

over the last few months we've had

Wine #1, #2, #4, #6… which are combinations of grape juice, either on its own, or with apple juice, bananna or other juices.
all rather nice.

but basic equipment your gonna need is a gallon demijon, a 5 gallon bucket, bungs and airlocks, and steriliser. oh and some tubing for syphoning between buckets.

these guys are very knowledgeable and could get you all the kit you need to start: http://www.zen37219.zen.co.uk/ based in Stockport.

I'm hoping some of the news channel reports are exagerating the statement issued by Ferrari that Massa is recovering in intensive care after the successful operation.

How much is a Westfield kit? I (as mentioned before) could really see myself putting the 1.9TD from my Passat in one, since I know exactly what I'd to do it to get 200+bhp That's another advantage to diesel btw, it's easy to get bags more power out of it since you can up boost and fuel as much as you want without worrying about pre-ignition and whatnot. All you have to do is make sure the pistons don't melt and the head stays on

kits are around the £5-10k mark. but remember theres lot more to a westfield kit that just bolting a few bits together. and sticking in a VW diesel – what gearbox will you use?
as for upgrading – i'd stick to the standard power for a while, tho you may find going for a petrol engine option best in a westie – remember a westie is around half to 1/3rd the weight of your passat – jumping straight into the 400BHP/ton will be a express ticket to the exiting the road backwards very quickly!

a good starter kit would be the MX5 based westfield – with either the 1.6 or 1.8 engine – and the supercharger kits can be fitted under the hood at a later point.

if your after 45+mpg sports car – get a 1400cc K Series Caterham, yes it might only be 100bhp or so – but again in something that only weights 500kg

petrol turbos are just as easy to remap btw – a simple plug in stage 1 reprogramming of the Saab's ECU will take the stock 150bhp to 210+bhp, changing the exhaust will allow better breathing and give a bit more power – then a stage 3 reprogramming will take the oringonal 2.0 low pressure turbo to close to 300bhp.

For example, I don't think I'd want to drive a Lotus Elise – aren't they bare bones racing cars that are noisy, uncomfortable and don't even have a stereo?

noisy – yes. the engine is just behind your head, and there is very little sound proofing (if at all), so you hear everything rattling in the wheel arches too (tho to be fair the one i had for a couple of weeks also had an upgraded exhaust that was a little louder than stock)

uncomfortable – depends on your point of view – no it doesnt have big leather armchairs in there, but body hugging, thinly padded seats that i didnt mind spending a few hours in the seat.

Stereo – yep it had one of those – when using the upper reaches of the rev range, you couldnt hear it, but most of the time when just cruising you could hear it over the noise of the car.

(heck the come with Air Con, and the latest ones have a CUP HOLDER! WTF?)

it is a proper sports car, rather than a track car (the track versions being far more 'hard core' like the the S1 exige (not bootspace) the 340r and 2/11 having no roof, doors, interior etc.)

On the other hand a Caterham 7 is a race car, with a few road trimmings, but very stripped out. the only main differance between the road going versions and race versions is carpets.

you also have a stonking great turbo, which would be useless to a petrol driving mortal,

errrrrmmm lots of petrol engined cars have turbos (or superchargers) you know. so you get loads of torque… but also the rev range to use it for longer.

Saabs, mitzy evos, subaru impreza to name but a few.

i found with TD its a case of nothing, nothing…woosh, change gear 1.5k rpm later… nothing, woosh, change gear 1.5k rpm later… nothing…

were as the saab is more nothing…woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh from 2k to 5.5k rpm – and cruising at 2k rpm right at the peak torque point.

personally i'm more of a fan of either naturally asperated or supercharged engines with a flatter torque curve than the surge of a turbo (tho the turbos are great for that shove in the back that give the impression of gaining speed, but dont necessarly increase speed any faster due to the lag of the turbo spinning up)

Molgrips – it sounds more like your after something like a audi TT Diesel, or a Merc. c class coupe diesel auto. since you want the appearance of 'sportyness' without any of the actual attributes of a sporty drive.

A sports car to me is about nice handling and a reasonable amount of pace. Kind of like batting along nice singletrack on your mtb rather than getting kitted out for monster DH.

then TBH your not after a 'sports car' but a roadster. HTH 🙂

Met Henry a couple of years ago at a race meeting in spa, and had the chance to speak to him for a sort time while his dad was being interviewed. He was a lovely lad, who was just starting out at the time in his first season of Formula BMW.

My thoughts to John and Jane Surtees as well as Jack Clarke. And to the Marshals around the circuit

talk to Sorry Mate[/url]

also look at tyres from Falken and Maxxim – have had these upfront on our Saab 9-5 – and have been good grippy tyres (both wet and dry) with good wear rates. (got 20,000 miles of hard driving out of the Falkens – in a car known for wearing the fronts quick)

I'm with TooTall on this one. got a pair of Fat Airic's for me and the missus not so long ago and they are brilliant! very comfortable. having tried offerings from Vango, and Aldi and a couple of others – we'd consined the idea of sleeping mats to the bin and gone back to an airbed. but the FA get great reviews, and sell out quickly. and now i can see why they do.

aye, never follow your sat nav blindly… you never know where it may be takening you (wrongly, thinking its a shorter route)

See this bloke for reasons why

to add to the Lidl beers prices

frikinbrau (or summate – green label in bottles or cans) and graff-summate with a more pale yellow label – both brewed to german purity laws – both lovely lagers (in the proper sense, rather than cheap pee pee water that is UK brewed stella/fosters etc.) i think cans of frik is about 49p for a small can, and 79p for the other one in a 440/500ml can or it can be had a little more expensive in glass bottles
or the churchwardens cider at 99p a pint bottle.

had several gerbils escape, and they are the same whiley buggers to catch again.

tho one did climb up the stairs to our bedroom and was sat by the door looking at us when we woke up.

Nowt wrong with Aldi or Lidl, been shopping there for years.

particulary love the milk choc biscuits which are nicer (i think) than McVities version, same with the digestive biscuits (bonus is they are 49p and 29p respectivly for a 400g pack)
the ready meals actually have pleanty in them – the currys are very nice for microwave meals, and have plenty of chicken in them, compared to the 3 pieces of chicken in the last one i got from ASDA.

i dont find they are pikey places tho – thats ASDA and Tesco round here. the local Lidl (todmorden) is mainly hippies. and the motorbiking and cycling gear goes very rapidly.

Rock Radio in manchester has a ‘guess the album’ comp in the morning – short snippets of an album which you have to guess.

they played the first 0.5sec of The Who’s Baba O’Riley and the first caller got it.

aye. slipped way down the rankings since the racing season started and i’m not near ther PC as much so my boat sails with the ghost fleet for ages.

i was top 2000 at one stage NY to Ireland then went away for 3 days and came back to see i was somewhere north of scotland

just a FYI now its getting close.

The Cricket Club car parking has been completely taken over by the stage crews and loos so theres no parking at the club. our office car park is for disabled concert parking only.
the parking that used to be on the waste ground and road behind the old trafford metro station is closed for building work.

so your best bet to park is around Man U’s ground, or possibly the B&Q behind the grounds

touring cars aint motor racing – its bumpercars for neanderthals.
Matt Neal cannot make a pass without bashing into the others cars.

Least put it this way – i spend 99% of weekends on the side of a race track as a flag marshal.

Single seater racing (except for formula fords) is by its very nature a case of getting the driver in front to make a mistake, of some kind (be that selling him a dummy, running wide etc.) becasue the aero means you cant get close in the corners
I was at Oulton Park yesterday for the legends, pickups, Sports Saloons, 2CVs, and MG races – and yes there was a brilliant days racing – but closed wheel racing is a whole different kettle of fish with cars able to run alot closer together