I quite like your garage door.

Who knows..but they must have done a good job of it. Was hoping 4×4’s & Dirt bikes plus a bit of weathering might have started to break up the new surface by now 👿

Bugger.

I’d go down the new boiler route as from the description it sounds like an older open flue type boiler. Around 40% of your heat generated is going up that flue. Chucking money at an older inefficient boiler might not be the best option.
Lots of regs around flue installations these days by the way.

All forestry commission carparks are expensive these days 🙁
And I think volunteers are doing the work on what used to be the rollers.

I didn’t and bitterly regret, So i’m 55 after Christmas and seen as how 55 is the new 50 (works for me :D) I’ll be dropping a bit of cash on something i really don’t need and really can’t justify…

Had the new format last night, opened Strava this morning to find its reverted back to the old format 😕

Years ago me and my friend came across a rider who i thought was just being ignorant when he didn’t respond when we said hello but when we saw him at the carpark later without his helmet on we could see his cochlear implant. Felt very guilty about remarks we had made about him.
Now I’m partially deaf myself and wonder how many people i’ve blanked while out riding. Don’t tend to ride with the hearing aid as it tends to **** it up.

Toasty, I think you’ve inadvertently hit the nail on the head there. True xc bikes now tend to be aluminium these days unless you want to spend big money.

If you’re riding the same type of trails we were riding twenty years ago i’m sure a twenty year old design would be great but things have moved on for most of us…

I’ve done it. Converted a Cube reaction hardtail. Put on drop bars, shimano tiagra shifters but only using r/h shifter for a 10×1 setup the other is just for braking. Fitted a pair of Carbon fibre On one forks that they no longer seem to sell…and some fast rolling specialised renagade tyres.
Its good on the road and dirt tracks. Happy to ride it on some of the smoother stuff on Cannock chase’s Monkey & Follow the dog trails.
Bikes like are compromised in lots of areas but if you like the idea of been able to carry reasonable speed on roads then dive off onto a bridlepath/trail/towpath then hit the road again they are a lot of fun 😀

I saw a documentary once about these blokes on a kayaking trip down a river in the deep south of America in the 70’s, if you’d seen that you wouldn’t ask why they needed a knife… 😀

Better than I expected but not as good as it was.

Good luck! looking forward to the updates 😀

They’re ok but you can end up with what feels like a yarning gap in the middle of your ratios. If my cassette was half way to the bin when thinking of doing this i’d go the whole hog and put a new cassette on with a wider gear range.

Saw one in the flesh at Swinnertons bike shop today, looks good. And I wouldn’t worry to much about the back end collecting mud, don’t think a lot of these bikes will see anything other than dry trails 😉

Yeah, the disused train line from Stafford to Newport is a bit dull but scenery is ok and on a sunny day its a nice place to be away from traffic and there is a pub near the start/finish and at the midway point (Gnossall) theres a couple of pubs near the route. Not much of a detour off the M6. No camp site close to the trail.
Lots of Blue routes on Cannock chase with a bit more interest to the trails and Follow the dog/ Monkey trails aren’t to demanding if you fancy it. Nice cafes and a camp site. Bit more a of a detour off the M6. The Horns pub is near to the Birches valley visitor centre/carpark does decent food from what I’ve heard, take your pick. 😀

If you’re happy throwing 40% of the fuel you burn straight up the chimney, happy days! 😀

Oh, I was expecting St.Bernards and such like 🙁

Use them on my hardtail and feel able to carry a bigger gear in any given situation. Not put them on full sus’ as I did wonder if it might mess with the the suspension action.

At the moment the Redbull coverage of downhill world cup is its saviour, if they started covering EWS, it would really hurt D/H as a discipline and I think there’s a good chance it’ll go the way of 4x, still be there but more of a niche.
Enduro events and trail bike development are killing dh.

Up to nearly 70k 😯 .Dave must be over moon

Excellent!

Just popping down to Greggs, back in a min…

Retired last year I believe.
Its not the same without him throwing people off the podium 🙁

Hopton woods.

Don’t do a lot of road cycling but i’ve noticed no difference. Cars, vans, buses in particular all still ignoring it.
Thinking about it though, lorry drivers do seem to be giving more room.

I would myself but my pubes always stick though the Lycra of my bib shorts. Not a good look stepping into a cafe 🙄

A moments thoughtless defensive move I’m sure, but look at the consequences. If all sprinters did this they’d be none off ’em left by Paris. So yes, he should be sent home.

Years ago I bumped into Mark Weber in the pits Mountain Mayhem, talked about trail conditions and stuff. I felt all F1 after. I didn’t go any quicker though 😀

Still here! Bit of a u turn on the old Nuke station. Got a bit of a bad back at the moment so diy is off the menu and no money for contractors. Plus a cat has had kittens under a neighbours shed….

Blue bin?

Flashinthepan.
1. I’ve got the space for another shed in the garden, so housing it int a problem.
2.My hose pipe won’t reach into any of the neighbours gardens and i believe i’ll need it for cooling.
3.Also I’d have to buy another extension lead to get the electric back home. Costs are mounting…

Thanks for the support Lads, I’m stoked. From what I can see this is gonna be a lot easier than I thought.
Mint.

Hope it does light up in the final week because its been a bit dull so far

Think they were right to challenge the police officer. I wish i’d challenged the police when they did nothing about the hit and run driver who knocked me off my bike.

Thanks for that James, doubt we could make the wendnesday meet but thanks for the offer 🙂

Thanks for all the replies, Haldon sounds interesting. Is the unmarked stuff easy to find jruk? we’re there (here?) now.

Yeah, it is nearly as commercialised as Christmas.
Do you think I could get away with a new bike for easter on that basis?

Well, to open another can of worms try this. Do a hilly road ride, then create the same route on strava and check out the difference on altitude measured between the two. Sometimes i get up to a 200 metre difference over a 60k ride. Created route always gives more altitude.