Tubeless for 11 years now me! Best thing since disc brakes…

Maybe we could fashion some sort of collar for you Jo so that you don’t have any choice? ;-)

Some nice bikes there, seems as if nice bikes are being nicked to order now, either followed home or watched.

With the ST address being published there’s no real need for following…. best they can do is just make it as difficult as possible with security devices.

Many normal riders show off where their pride and joy live all over the internet too. E.g. Photos with obvious landmarks or publishing their rides. Strava has a privacy setting for hiding the start/finish of a route within half a km of your house but many don’t realise. Not sure about other online mapping….?

Well worth a trip up the hill to the castle and park.

Wander a few streets back from the touristy streets for quality “local” bars.

Thinking about it we’ve had a few incidents with fauna over the years. As well as the previously mentioned deer:

We once all climbed over a style into a narrow footpath (yeah, yeah…) it was a metre or so wide with a fence one side and a hedge the other and it was dark. The horse that had got out of its field and got stuck in it panicked by our lights charged us. We had nowhere to go! A few minor injuries and bits of damage from that one!

We had another deer which we accidentally cornered (again on a night ride) that charged and jumped over us.

On another night: my mate felt an impact and something clinging to his chest: on inspection it was a bat!

I came round a corner once to face a young badger hissing and spitting at me from about 3 feet away.

Found an adder happily basking in the sun right next to the start of a section of trail at Kirroughtree.

When doing a heli drop in Whistler we spotted a cat like creature sat on a rock some distance away. Someone asked “is that a cougar?” Our guide replied “No. That’s a bobcat. If you see a cougar? It’s too late!!”

I’ve seen plenty of other wildlife without incident (bears, foxes, owls, etc etc). Always a highlight in a ride.

Deer attempting to leap a train of riders clipped my mates bars with it’s hoof and chipped/scratched the carbon!

Been riding the Saints for a while now and think they are excellent.

Plus they are sensibly priced and I’m expecting the usual Shimano reliability.

I have both and agree with what Stuey01 said!

Was the wife riding or just doing normal holiday stuff? If so how was it? Always looking for location where I can indulge in bikes whilst the better half indulges in sunshine….

I agree with Trekster. Get a guide if you can else you’ll be missing loads of good stuff.

Here’s a video of what to expect. I’d say it’s generally more “rocky and technical” than “flowly,swoopy,fast stuff”

More here: http://mountainbikerides.co.uk/video/19-spain.html

Local beer festival this weekend :D

Keep him here in Leicester. York gets enough tourists already. We could do with some more….

My blog of the weekend: http://www.mountainbikerides.co.uk/news/53-race-reports-a-results/429-2012-fetish-bike-gravity-enduro-series-round-5-dyfi-forest.html

Any info (web site?) on the whats and wheres of the proposed BDS one next year?

Put my few snaps here too: http://www.mountainbikerides.co.uk/photos/races-events/uk-gravity-enduro-2012-dyfi.html

Off to the Docs later… smashed my foot off a stump (or something?) near start of stage 4 and it hurt like hell! Finished the race tho. Now all swollen and purple and that… :-(

Anyone know how the vet is that stacked it big time on the second drop in seeding? Looked nasty and proper put me off as I waited on the start line!

ASR5 is smaller than 140mm though isn’t it?

ah yeah it’s 127mm. thought it was 140. sorry

(prob one of the smallest bikes there)

nah loads of 140mm bikes were on it (me included). Ibis, Orange 5, Zesty etc etc….

All your bike-park features – table tops, jumps, big berms everywhere on wide fast tracks

That’s what I like about trail centres! If I(you) want techy natural singletrack then just go to The Peak / (insert any other good natural trails here).

If you build any jumps on natural trails – well you know!

anyone have a pic of the drop in at the start of 4?

Yeah already put some on http://www.facebook.com/mountainbikerides

Sorry can’t do FB at work to provide exact link

My wife had a go at me last night. She said ‘You’ll drive me to my grave’.
I had the car out in thirty seconds.

I’ve ridden some of the off-piste stuff there years ago. Is this one of the stages? http://mountainbikerides.co.uk/video/15-wales/165-dyfi-forest-moel-heulen-1.html

I read somewhere (on the Facebook page maybe?) Mr Parr saying that this round is gonna be different to all the others and that the best technique would be to leave your brain in the car park and grow a pair!

Guess I’ll find out tomorrow on my first practice lap?

Presumably these people feel that disabled people hold some responsibility for their disability, and should therefore not enjoy a totally happy life.

Remember Glen Hoddle’s god bothering outburst about them being punished for things done in a past life a few years back? If my other half ever meets him he would be in danger still!

In this case the person doing the shooting reported themselves to the police. The police took them into the nick and then investigated. They were then not charged. The robbers were nicked and charged.

All sounds very sensible to me.

This happened about a mile away from my house!

A little inside info (from copper mate): the owners woke up at gone midnight to find masked men in their home. The guy did tell the scrotes to get out of his house. They declined. He shot at them after this warning.

Fair enough to me

Yeah been lovely round our way of late:

Sorry I went home and went for a bike ride (some of you should try it some time).

@mrmo: you are doing what I said not to do and focusing on the car. Higher level disability allowance is not specifically for a car as has been pointed out earlier and re done by slowrider. It can for example also be used to get a mobility scooter thingy.

@stumpyjon: people choose to have children yet every one of them gets child benefit. It’s not means tested. Nobody chooses to be disabled.

The route for this weekend is up: http://www.ukgravityenduro.com/rd5-dyfi-forest-wales-8th-9th-sep-map/%5B/url%5D

See you on it!

Just for your entertainment/info too: I have heard my wife say the words “they’re not disabled, they’re just fat!” Usually when we’re struggling to find a blue badge parking spot!

Perhaps she could do the assessments? ;-)

I accept that a car on motability is often adapted to the user because they have needs and that this adaptation costs money.

However if i want a car i have to pay for it out of my earnings.

Is the car allowance a figure to help cover the increased cost, or does it cover the whole cost, ie is tax payers money putting you in a position that is more than just assistance?

theflatboy has already answered this above pretty well. Ignore that we choose to use the allowance for a car. The allowance is to help her cope with the parts of life that are more difficult for her than normal folk like you or I.

Out of interest (and again, none of my business), has your wife had to take the new assessment?

In all honesty I am not sure! There is often paperwork and Doctors letters etc moving about! However as she gets the allowance for a permanent, uncurable condition then I’m not sure how it works….

The DLA she receives is due to her lack of mobility. This is what I was trying to point out. DLA (as very early posts pointed out) is not to do with ability to work. She has worked and paid taxes all her life.

Essential or nice to have? Well it’s not that simple. She has been fortunate enough to have a job a short distance from our house (and at the time her nearby mum’s house) since she left school. She can’t drive, ride a bike, run or get anywhere far away or get there fast. If she lost that job then “essential” but I guess as it is then you could currently say “nice to have” because I could afford to fill in.

Before we met then again it was probably “essential” as due to discrimination she has never earned as much as her peers. This has changed a bit but (as you can see on this forum!) the general population’s lack of understanding of disabilities leads to assumptions, prejudices and discrimination – this is not necessarily deliberate on the part of those that discriminate but they do it.

There is a question here that I really want to ask, but fear it will tip the thread into the abyss. Can anyone think of a sensitive way of putting it?

Just ask it

You lot need to get a better understanding of what DLA is and how it is awarded. Its not all about ability to work.

My wife gets DLA (we use it to get a car on the Motability scheme) because she has cerebral palsy. She has held down her current job for 27 years!

Depends on your fitness? At the last round some of the link stages were tight for some people. I span along and made it ok and tend to favour lighter over burlier for this reason. I’m probably loosing a bit on the the actual timed descents but not a lot I reckon? I ride an Ibis Mojo HD 140 for these events which I guess is nearer the Yeti than the 160?.

Have not re-mortgaged for years. Never had any kids. Worked my way up to a decentish job. I can now blow cash on XTR and the like willy nilly, near enough when I feel like it really :)

You makes your decisions you pay (literally) the consequences.

Rebels without a clue?

10mm difference in fork travel will make hardly any difference. No point in messing it about. Just put them on and ride

We had Basket Case (from Nottingham) at our wedding. Fantastic! The dance floor was rammed… But punk and new wave covers isn’t everyone’s idea of wedding music!

I (well I paid a local sewer!) converted my Endura shorts to a jeans style button cuz it wa speeing me off so much!

I carry a few SRAM 10speed power locks (they are re-usable depsite what SRAM say)