Cool
thanks for that.
Bought my wheels from JRA & they were very friendly / helpful at the time.

It was suggested that my 6yr old was kept back one year (last year) but we rejected it.
We took the decision to work on the areas he needed to improve (concentration & doing things he doesn’t necessarily enjoy) and it’s certainly been the correct decision. He has additional specific tutoring on the problem areas 2 times a week & now considering the development he has made it’s almost frightening to think he could have been still repeating the previous year.
(I had similar attention issues at school and had the reverse done where they made me jump a year…)

We’re also in small village so I was concerned how the teachers might react if we rejected their proposal but due to the progress he’s made it’s been no bother (and wasn’t at the time we discussed it either).

If you’ve got time to help tutor on the tricky things maybe it’s more useful than just having the little guy repeat a year?

As the holder of a foreign credit card I thought (hoped) I might be resistant to the CRC fraud but I’ve been caught too now.
I’ve been away on business trip but just come back to a letter from my credit card provider telling me someone tried to make some purchases on the 6th April…

Looks like I’ll be a paypal user in the future or shop elsewhere.

oooooh
I thought I was full of woe but I checked on the birthdate / day website & I’m delighted to discover I”m actually full of grace.

Marvellous news :)

It even states on the advert “Ink MwST”. That means including VAT & indeed there is no import tax.

Cannondale RZ120 is reckoned to be very good particularly when equipped with a lefty…

Crikey.
Never seen the Koppenberg like that!
Despite the crowds spoiling the climb I bet the atmosphere was great yesterday. Did you get a clear(er) climb on the Paterberg / Muur?
I still can’t believe I worked on re-laying my rain water drains instead of taking part…
It was perfect conditions though & they were speaking of not much else on the radio on Friday evening / Saturday morning.
Haven’t heard as yet how many participants there were but they said that there were already 12,500 registrations in advance.

Some of my colleagues are in the process of trying to put through 40-47% price increases…
The product in itself was loss making previously but the loss was accepted as part of a package. Not any more….

Cycling past fields that have just been ‘treated’ with I am guessing silage or cow poo is pretty grim. Was nearly retching on my Monday evening ride.

The cow stuff is quite ok, it’s the chicken & pig farms that get me wretching… (maybe that’s just me though as I see a cow farm out of the lounge window)

as for best: the spit roast chicken & ribs vans we have over here (Belg) are pretty awesome (my vegetarian sister would likely disagree).

the new XTR are really small & a fraction of the size of the older Shimano brakes.
Had mine around a month now & I’m very happy

oh yes – taxes similar to Belgy +/- 50%.
Lovely place though Sweden. One of the few places I’d be up for relocating to.

I think this will very much depend on where you go & how it’s organised?

For example, I’m based in Belgium & paying full local taxes :( but I have colleagues who are on expat contracts that only pay minimal local taxes (calculated on days within the country) & no UK tax.

My sis has lived all over the place (outside the EU) and never pays tax….

Big ring was probably a joke right?

Koppenberg…

Forecast is up to 20degC by the way, light breeze & no rain so at least you’ll all have nice conditions for it.

They have these waterless facilities in the toilets at service stations on the German Autobahns…

I was thinking a similar thing last week when I was confronted by a rather hairy receptacle.
Looked like someone had been grooming a particularly hairy dog above it….

You will miss a lot of the Classic RvV if you take the 75km….
(also it’s a bit expensive entry for just 75km@€20 whereas the 150km is just €5 more )

As mentioned here, it’s not a race, just take your time, particularly on the first third of the 150km because it’s a comparatively soul-less route just to bring you to the link with the 150 / 260 route.
Got a heart rate meter? If yes, use it & strictly stay relaxed for the first half. Fight the urge to stay with the pensioners who are holding a steady >35kph pace. :lol:

Munich to the UK: I would recommend;

Munchen > Frankfurt > Koln > Aachen > Antwerp > Gent > Brugge > Calais

(Use the Eurotunnel unless you want to use the ferry as your R&R)

I drive around Europe a lot & find this a reliable route. Avoid Belgium at rush hour like the plague though – it’s lots better going via Antwerp than Brussels but will still be a wasted hour if you hit it at the wrong time.

The key to riding cobbles is to use a bigger gear than you would do normally and hit each section as hard as possible

I very much agree. Cobbles are one of those things that are easy when you are feeling good but when the fatigue sets in the speed drops off incredibly rapidly & the discomfort climbs…

Well on the Saturday there is Tour for ‘wielertoeristen’..
This starts from either Brugge for the long ride or Ninove for the ‘short’ distances. You can register on the morning in Ninove.

ToF recreational[/url]

The 140k is a pleasant distance to ride & includes all the interesting bits but can be a bit busy on some of the hills…
There are folks of all speeds riding from pro speed through to people on totally inappropriate bikes :)

It will definitely not break your bike & there are not so much cobbles on the RVV. It’s a breeze in comparison to the Paris Roubaix!

I was planning to ride too but my lady arranged a builder to come & fix some drain issues on Saturday hence I need to be present. hmmmm.

Car tyre engineering manager, so I always find the topics about ‘which tyre for my car’ or ‘should I bother with winter tyres’ an interesting read :)

Used to do similar to JAG I think (principal engineer)…
What area of the vehicle engineering are you in? (I’m ex-Gaydon btw)

Middleburn inner chainrings chainsuck like mad.

I’ve had the same experience with ‘slickshift hardcoat’ type on my 960.
They seem a little wider at the tooth than OE shimano which might not help.

What other options are there for non-Shimano 960 rings?

Can someone tell me how Lorenzo passed Pedrosa?

I fell asleep mid way through the race & only woke up when my lady gave me a kick with 1 lap to go.

Charleroi airport is indeed minging.
Horrible place that I wouldn’t trust with a Boardman let alone anything decent (joke – well the Boardman bit was).
What time of the day do you need to move from Bruss to Char? As long as it’s not evening it’s OK no?

What’s the taxi bit for btw? Is it not a direct transfer from the Thalys?

The penguins are awesome but my kids prefer King Julien “I like to move it, move it” :)

Over here in Belgium, individual shops are still very normal.
In the small village where i live, we have 2 butchers, 5 bakers (2 of which are on opposite sides of the same street), fruit & veg shop & a deli.

I’m always surprised to see people queuing outside a bakers or a butchers for their preferred buys.
I have to say though the quality is wonderful, particularly the bakers.

I couldn’t imagine not using the supermarket though…

Been in Belgium (Flanders to be more precise) since 2004.

It’s wonderful to be in a place where cycling is so popular.

Language still throws up the odd dialect based issue now & then but that’s just funny now.

Just make sure you stand behind people with laptop cases as they’re normally the quickest through. I’ve become quite accustomed to picking my queue based on the volume of old people or families in front

oh so true.
I have to fly to Rome a lot & always do everything possible to avoid queues with the Japanese tourists for the same reason.

Speaking as an EU expat, this is not so easy…
Everyone else in Europe gets issued 12 month green cards with their policy, rather than just a UK type A4 certificate, that looks like you could have written it yourself at home.

I appreciate that ultimately UK insurance is required to cover you anywhere in the EU but if you have a problem whilst overseas the police will expect to see a green card. Without they may assume you are not insured…

Mole grips
It’s not pretty but it works…

For the size it’s the most enjoyable car to drive…

The Galaxy has more space for sure but starts to feel more like a small bus. In the S-Max you can still have a bit of fun occasionally.
Nice place to sit for long journeys too.

The new 170ps diesel makes it even better but I’m only allowed the 136ps engine (tax reasons).

Indeed. This years route seems much more pleasant. Last years visit to the coast on a very windy day had quite a few people complaining.

This may be the last year for it to finish in Meerbeke. Seems quite probable that it moves to Oudenaarde (or maybe Ronse) in 2012.

I was planning on doing the 150 but some fecker stole my road bike last week so might do the 100km mountain bike tour instead.
Either that or I’ll stick some slicks on my 29er and bother some roadies.

If you look at when Ford started making cars that handled well – the Ka and the Focus – it closely co-incides with the poaching of a load of Peugeot chassis engineers

Really? I’ve never heard that before! I work very closely with Ford on chassis related engineering….

I certainly support the comments that the 406 is generally a good handling car.
Has it done many km’s? Perhaps the current dampers are showing their age?
What size tyres are you running? This is also a relatively simple way to ‘tighten’ things up.

He actually had trace levels of Clenbuterol in his system for 4 consecutive days during the Tour including the tested level climbing again on the 4th day…

Linky to article in Dutch
Originally reported in Marca (Spanish paper) but reprinted in the press over here in Belgium including the quantities found.

He actually had trace levels of Clenbuterol in his system for 4 consecutive days during the Tour including the tested level climbing again on the 4th day…

It was indeed very small trace amounts but the issue is the rules need to be the same for all participants. He’s been let off by the Spanish Fed to avoid backlash from the Spanish public.
I cannot believe that the UCI will not appeal & subsequently award a ban of 2yrs. The initial 1yr proposal from the Spanish Fed was already a shorter ban than most.

Volvo XC60 is really quite excellent. (hopefully my next company car)
The XC90 is a great car too but perhaps a bit big considering your comments…

ps Congrats to your pa

It is a clear example of underinflated usage for me.
Not uncommon on modern scooters particularly the heavier / faster models.
The same issue that makes it difficult to see (packaging) makes it also difficult to inflate the tyre.
Does the wheel have a valve stem with a 90deg bend for accessibility?

I’ve managed once to arrive at my office in my motorcyle leathers & then realised I’ve brought no trousers with me.
After an hour of ‘funny’ comments of why I was wearing my leathers at my desk I went to a shop & bought some trousers…

My 1×9 has the same slight offset.

Thought about making the same change with the spacer (drive to non-drive) but then I assumed that I would be offsetting my pedals finally by the same amount.
Perhaps I would never feel it but didn’t like the idea of pedalling offset.

if you’re a graphic design type can you not pick up jobs on-line, like on Elance (sp?)…
Would have thought that nicely circumvents the visa issue (unofficially of course) :-)

Alternatively thought about a course from the Open University? Motivationally that can be quite a challenge from what I gather (my sis is doing something P-grad similar currently whilst living in Thailand)

I’m an expat btw & can well appreciate some of the things you write though I am fortunate to be employed…

575’s are the flip-flap ones right? Can go on either side…

I have one on my 1×9 winter bike & it gives great feel (easy to bleed) but not much power but maybe as mentioned here it’s the pad / disc interface that’s the issue. Haven’t tried fresh pads or cleaning the disc as yet…

Gutted over here in Belgium :(