stick them in a fancy wrap, don an apron & tell everyone to f*ck off?

Well it works for Godron Ramsey

ah yes the BMX track. been a*se over t*t there a few times in my youth. (I am so old I remember it being a skateboard ramp).

Was trying to convince the mrs to let me take our eldest (4) on the BMX track on Saturday. I was unsuccessful :(

You poor b*stard….
I was back there at the weekend.

I assume you mean the old V40 (Mitsubishi NedCar built model)?
the one that stopped being built in 2003?

Dull but functional is perhaps one way to describe it….

The successor (V50) was a much better car if you can stretch the budget

Was it also shown on Eurosport? (I hope so as I had it programmed to record)

It’s reported in the dutch media that there are 2 confirmed deaths & perhaps as many as 4.
The driver had apparently tried to breach security at another location but had been stopped….

To reach the bus he had to drive through some barriers & people at speed hence the damage to the car.

Just plain mental.

For our engagement, I surprised my missus with the diamond but then let her decide on the design of the ring.

Now that is a cool idea – my lady (who I would eventually like to marry even though we’re together for a long time & have kids) doesn’t wear rings and I would have no idea how to discreetly find out her finger size… Buying a ‘bare’ diamond would resolve that issue nicely…

I have a pair of RC31s also & expect it is likely everything else other than the forks rattling. :D

Joking apart I have never heard any rattle from mine as such – just a nice amount of flex…

Solid forks are great when it’s super muddy (I find) but jesus they’re hard work when you’re tired

I used to race motorcycle enduro when I was in the UK.
There are 2 main types of enduro (first type is most number of 5-10km laps in 3 hours approx is winner & the other type is with time ‘window’ limited cross country sections based on a average speed with some chrono sections to decide winner) but the common factor is that they are held over much longer distances or times than moto-x and you face the challenge of natural terrain rather than artifically prepared moto-x tracks..

Is this now cyclo-cross?
For sure cyclo-cross is great for spectators (at least it is here in Flanders) but is this MTB?

it is important to remember that your front tyre is free rolling whereas your rear is transmitting a force to the road.

T1000 – what model XTR’s are your DCs?

Shimano link shows the caps

There are numbers listed on the shimano page but probably cost a fortune on their own…..

my XT08 shifters came with blanks – I did the same as you’re proposing. Far more space for my ape like hands

Make sure you get up early enough on race day for a poo?
The downside of gorging on pasta the night before….

big trouble in little china

Don’t think it’s just a nasty carpet burn you get!
Once your through the fabric skin / muscle quickly becomes bone…..
I’m lucky it hasn’t happened to me but a mate was not so lucky.

Agree though – that it there are plenty of other parts of road furniture to hit. I was riding with a mate when his RS250 seized at speed and he slid down the road and went between the 2 stanchions of a road sign!

Leathers useless if not on a racetrack? My god!
Don’t underestimate the damage you’ll do sliding down the motorway once you’ve rubbed your way through the denim. The other issue is that in leathers you slide due to the lower friction that most fabrics. If you start rolling & tumbling at 60mph or more you will certainly break / dislocate something.

Re: summer gloves. My beautiful 150 quid Dainese gloves have finally worn out after 10 years! I love them. Kevlar lined & fantastic sensitivity. None of the ‘racer style’ studding or carbon shells on knuckles…

I thought this was going to be a thread about Amy Winehouses pasta generated burns (allegedly)….

I normally wear the same but one less jumper & a dark visor on my Arai :)
There are not so many days when you can be confident it won’t rain!

If it gets really hot I swap from my Dainese oversuit (with clothes underneath) to my leathers without…

FYI: My commute is 45 miles or so in each direction (all highway) with 20 miles of traffic jam. I think it makes a difference if you are riding in city centre because forward speed is lower and if you do fall it is impact damage rather than the drag / slide damage associated with higher speeds. (and higher speed is less hot)

Start with the ferry if you want better price.
Eurostar is horrible price (though my employer normally pays for me)…

If you took the ferry over to Ostend (rail station is integral to the ferry port) in Belgium then train (or cycle if you fancied!) to Brussels then you have an excellent range of train options.
Train never seems cheap though if you ask me…

I know what is meant by the guilty feeling…
My lady thinks my cycling is just plain retarded and I know when I’m out riding she’s thinking when is that a*se going to be back home.
It can really spoil the enjoyment of getting out in the fresh air away from all the annoying stuff in life.

On the plus side she says I am welcome to get up in the middle night to go cycling :(

Your airline food has probably given you some horrific flesh eating bug that is slowly consuming you?

Have I misunderstood this topic?

Braun diffuser

could be worse..
You could be sitting in an office looking out of the window at sunshine :(

find yourself a Pace fork?

wow – sunshine in Warwick!

Is that riding up the hill from the entrance to the racecourse?
Where did the tool pull out from?

Great weather yesterday too. You were lucky – today is back to being a Belgian summer :(

I am also very tempted by the carbon frame…
Also a damn good price.

Last year I rode the 140 cyclo and it had been raining in the days before the Ronde. The cobbles were damn slippy and when the MTB route shared the road with the cyclo participants you could see they were plastered in mud.
This year was bone dry hence able to get round the 100km well under 5 hours.

This year was the first time for the 100km MTB and the route was ok. To be honest it is not so special on the MTB part of the event. We’re just there to make some more profit for the organisers but there are no other MTB events on the Saturday.

If you enjoy your Belgian riding but fancy something on the MTB one of the very best events (without having to travel too far) to ride is the http://www.herdermarathon.be on May 23rd. This takes in many of the same hills as the RvV but uses off-road paths instead of the tarmac. Choice of distances up to 140km with >2700Hm climbing. It costs an amazing €6 to enter with 5 well supplied food stations along the route.

Did you know the RvV sportive will be also available on the Friday next year? There were 19.5k participants on the Sat this year plus up to another 4k on the Friday!

Last September I had some days riding in La Garde Freinet (a bit further up into the mountains from Cogolin). Some great tracks around there but everything started downhill hence it meant that at the end of a long ride you were always going to have to climb to get home. Also I was very happy to have my GPS with me as it was quite easy to get disoriented.

Some pretty dry rocky tracks around there as you’d imagine so don’t go for the skinny tyres…

In the morning you see all the ‘mature’ retired cyclists coming up the 10km climb on the lovely smooth main road from the valley around St Tropez.

The post works just fine.
Using Taxipost standard it should cost €6.40 for up to 350grams + €14 insurance if you want it (taking the insurance option means you have to also take registered delivery & priority sending).

Should take between 4-10 days…

(did you enjoy the ride? Which did you choose? I rode the 100km MTB)

Another vote for the Metro 6R4….

Revving a V6 out past the 10k. I remember rallying on Otterburn in the dark some years ago with a stage starting at the bottom of a hill. Hearing the 6R4 rev its way up the gearbox was just unforgettable.

I enjoy many of the aforementioned engines but only the 6R4 makes me shiver :)

Is this issue really to do with the ‘buyer’ being a foreigner though or just that they are a d*ck?

These types of issues are just as common with UK based bidders no?

Write a clear email to the auction winner describing what you intend to do, ask for a response within a set time frame. If they accept your original terms proceed – if not, refund and hope you can find a 2nd buyer…

what car & tyre size (size & Load index) is it Swoosh?

Thanks for the other forums advice but I was hoping for some suggestions from people that use their cameras in the same way I would…. ie out on the bike. I think being out on the trails is quite a challenging & potentially damaging environment for a camera and a huge difference to making a review from a desk…
Little things like button size when you are wearing gloves can be quite significant (I expect).

We saw a lot a pics on the mugshots thread so was thinking their must be some experiencs out there.

I have just got replaced my V50 after 3.5 years of driving. circa 120k miles and it was very very good.
Not hugely inspiring but functioned superbly. Considering the C30 / S40 / V50 are all the same car underneath (Ford Focus) I am sure either you will be pleased with either.
As they are the same car mechanically the decision should be just based on which you prefer the look of & which has the functionality you need.

I really liked the C30 when it was launched & even considered buying one but now my eye is on the new Scirocco…

The speed Cav found to bridge the gap Hassler pulled out over the last 250m was just out of this world.
It’s a long time since we saw repeated sprinting ability like this… Cipolini?

You can also negotiate with the dealer on top of 2k discount.

Therefore you should be able to get a new car for the price of a recent low miles 2nd hand.
Very good deal & in Germany / France where it has already been implemented it’s been a huge success.

The Falken recommendation is slightly amusing for me (sorry)

Tyre Test

If you look at this link (German tyre test) which is actually the corrrect size for your car the ONLY tire of the 18 tested to recieve the worst rating of ‘not recommendable’ is the Falken… (and the test includes some chinese trash too!)