bump….

lol whytetrash.. personally I don't know why FCC would think anyone from that nice club from Wirral Subburbia needed checking… now if it was Liverpool Century running the event…..

depends how far you have to travel, what your localility is like. It's as flat as Holland, grid network of wide road well used by walkers and old people with loose dogs, If you like hills or seek hills it might be a let down, however the woodland is well manicured and there are plenty of bits of waymarked and find for yourself singletrack that is often quite tight, because of the races some of the informal stuff is well defined once you find it. It's not the Peaks and it is not the kind of place trail gods 'pine' for. If I was ever passing the front gate or lived in Peterborough I'd probably pop in for a ride

Did somebody call …. I was asleep until the snow melted

Yep it became a bit of a management headache when everyone wanted a ride and get the wedges of cake and mugs of tea rather than help out by hanging around dull forest road crossings keeping the cars and mx bikes at bay.

The Flintshire ( Delyn) died a death when Flintshire CC required Birkenhead North End CC to ensure all marshals were CRB checked. Merida is bumbling along quite nicely but yeah we want the Cyffylliog back.

We are meeting Forestry Commission and Welsh Water this week to hopefully encourage an outbreak of handshakes to get consent to run the ride again this August.. more details to be posted on the blog at http://www.nwmba.org.uk as soon as we have them.

Anyone who would like to help with setting the route or marshalling on the day please drop a note

I actually visited that forest block back in the 80's looking for a course for an Enduro ( motorbike) but alas can remember nothing about what was there as we found little for our use. However from the map it is clear that this wood is Forestry Commission Estate and Forestry Commission Wales (FCW) like it's English counter part has a policy of allowing cycling on all forest roads unless they are closed to facilitate Forestry operations or sporting events. I would say that map indicates the track to be a forest road.

You would therefore not be cheeky were you to try to use it unless you passed through felling operations. You might want to check with the FCW offices at Dolgellau to see if there is any likelihood a burly forester is likely to need to turn you back.

Good luck with your ride sounds an epic.

Unusual forum post for STW, the OP admits to being clueless about brakes, consumer rights and only wants to go riding with his mates,

but hang on he clearly is getting the hang of the forum by laying straight into the moral fortitude of a bike shop… I can see him going places here one day ;)

Solution to that is always let air out of tyres when the valve is at 8 or 4, I had slime in off road motorbike tubes before they invented mousses. Blocked valves that did not let air either way were common unless you stuck to above suggestion

RipperDipper, Check out the Alwen Trail at Llyn Brenig / Alwyn, it circuits the lake nothing likely to cause tears, good views the Denbigh Moors is a bit of a high plateau and undulating it has no hills. Unfortunately the cafe at LLyn Brenig closed this winter but it is only about a 20 minute drive from Betws

Geoff made me a Cove headbadge before the misers at North Cove slapped his wrist. .can't fault the badge either on quality or value. The man is a genius

I discovered the joys of slimed tubes by accident after much scepticism. I bought a s/h bike for winter and rode the whole of the first winter without a puncture which, given the amount of gorse hawthorn and blackthorn around here, I thought was a miracle. I only discovered the previous owner had fitted slimed tubes when changing the tyres for the spring. I have two Cove Stiffee hardtails, one being a lighter build with UST tyres, the winterbike being a heavier build and riding both the extra weight of the tubes with both bikes on fat tyres is not especially noticeable most of the time.

The only mistake I ever made was not understanding that as they work, they will loose small amounts of air so when you start detecting those odd rocks through your rim that you did not feel earlier in the ride, you need stop soon to pump them up, I failed to and got a snake bite on a not particularly large rock which I am putting down to the low pressure resulting from the continual air loss each time a puncture was sealed.

Like all good things that come to the end when the tube started puncturing a lot, indicating the goo had dried or been used up. Given that I now have a bike that when ever I walk up to it the tyres are not flat, I put in new lightweight tubes and then filled anti puncture sealant. If they require any extra work to ride I would rather get fitter / put up with it than have to endure the fag of changing tubes on a wet winter ride.

If you have 1 bike and it's been on the full course at Weight Watchers for XC racing I'd think twice about doing it unless you have a spare general abuse wheel set, if you have a bike and are prone to adding lights mudguards bags and not fussed about the weight of your tyres or rims and hate punctures I would suggest you might want to consider it every winter at least it if your rims will take car valves. Am interested in Turnerfan's suggestion about presta tubes.

Depends on how they are trained.. I have a pair of sheep dogs originally trained to run with motorbikes they are as stupid as any other dog when out on a walky ride, sniffing and not always noticing if you get too close however as a basic courtesy they respond to being shouted at very well. 'Get Lost' causes them to get out of the way of anyone approaching them, '**** off' and they will run away off and away from any track to a point they cant be seen or far enough a way a stick or stone wont reach them. I would think that sufficient , I have ridden where riders are accompanied by kids on bikes with no spatial awareness, liable to stray in about any direction without warning whilst the parent rides ahead willing them to keep up without watching them that have been far more dangerous than many dogs I have seen

Plenty of Hail here and in the Vale but not enough to spoil the fun but makes the place look white.. good luck

The plain design of the Remedy as well as the fit and venting is what sold it to me. Specialized also to subtle well. I would avoid tear offs they are for racing, look pretentious elsewhere and create litter. However riding in slop and rain a lot lenses that support smith's Roll Off system can be worthwhile however buy off mx suppliers they sell enough units and the market is competitive so prices are lower than in mtb world

Preference for helmets is personal , when racing motorbikes off road i always went open face i hated the heat build up, inferior downward vision and reduction of hearing, Troy Lee do make an open face helmet for MTB riding although there is little demand for them as for DH racing they cannot be used, I have seen some free riders wearing them, many who ride all mountain stylee rigs also ride DH events will have to have full face helmets which is why you see so many wearing them.

Although MX helmets may be stronger cheaper, because of the forces when decking a motorbike they have to be a lot stronger to deal with abrasion and impact, this is not as critical with mtb helmets so they can make helmets with better venting keeping you cooler, they tend to be less bulky and more trimmed which means they do not feel quite as much the dumbell strapped to your head a mx fullface does. Troy Lee and The are popular, I have a Remedy which is good well vented and I believe is the std issue helmet at most Whistler Bike Hire Centres (which is why many riders over there choose not to buy them). Specialized are popular I have always been surprised at how good the pricepoint is for Bell Helmets given their Motorbike Helmets used to be about the most expensive you could get. The Bell designs were not that stylish and you rarely see them but with the Athertons and CG wearing them they should not be ignored. I do however agree with Curly68 about helmet locks D rings are better , buckles are ok but you have to make double sure they are clipped up before you pedal off.

Goggles there are 2 problems with ski goggles. Traditionally they are made to wear on a bare head, because of the way the strap connects to the frame if you wore them with a helmet they would not rest on the face but would sit stretched across the opening of the helmet creating all kinds of comfort, vision, and misting problems. If you have a pair of ski goggles built for a helmet, the lenses are usually high grade for sun management, only have to contend with snow flakes and drops of water hitting them. MX goggles have to deal with roost from wheels which contains mud rock and grit which can both damage the lens and your face. A mx goggle with a few pairs of clear lenses is the better option unless you can afford to toss away scratched ski lenses like tissue paper.

Would I wear an MX helmet on a MTB .. no way, without spending a fortune, they are hot and heavy and beside Elbry Sandland wears one which is sufficient of an un-endorsement for me

My 89 Scott Boulder with Ritchey Megabites …. often with blackburn rack in use as bike for the train when I go to meetings in London Bristol or Cardiff.

I've bought a number of snow boots from this lot mostly ordering late summer to get the best prices and better selection of sizes, even though they are imported,the prices can be so cheap I can buy 2 or 3 pairs of unobtanium ( ie higher spec than you will find in most uk specialist shops) winter boots which even with carriage across the pond will cost less than a pair of reliable branded boots at somewhere like Cotswold might cost you. Some of the more obscure brands here like Baffin make boots that are so hot they are like having feet in a microwave if the air temp is over 4 or 5.
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/d/8572_Mens-Winter-and-Snow-Boots.html

Clearly you associate with some people of good sense then Hora…

see you started ranting at the average man in the street and the snow is coming down again.. do you never want to get back into your wooden box this year..

What's all the fuss about weight loss, as long as you are getting enough exercise your weight will be right for you. If you cant catch up with young whippets or the racing snakes out there would it not be better for the forum work out a campaign to fatten them up to slow them down.. the Belgian style of diet always helped me with little effort to gain weight :) happy new year

It's gonna be a whole lot worse, snow just stopped after a solid 15 hour dump across central North Wales, although a bit wet and starting to melt now the forecast is for more and a freeze tonight…

Get to bed Mr C….

what has not vanished here 6 miles away has turned to slush, you'll be overrun with holiday takers again shortly I imagine

Send an email to your local council who is Highway Authority ( usually County or Unitary unless you live in one of those weird metropolitan areas) and send it to their central customer complaint system marking it for the attention of their Council Rights of Way department with the grid ref of the farm where you were stopped and the start end points for the bridleway, your contact details and willingness to give evidence about the incident were it to go to court. If the bridleway is not currently signed from the road at either end suggest they note that they signs are legally required and may go a long way to help raise users confidence of their rights when challenged and of course they could offer the landowner the chance to have the way through the farm waymarked to avoid the risk / chance of any users wondering off the legal line.

Finally you could report the incident to the Police as it is verging on an act of wilful obstruction that makes it a criminal offence. In the past when one council were reluctant to deal with a particularly well known arsehole farming family who offered violence in Glyn Ceriog to a group of us passing on an old road near their farmyard, I reported the matter to Plod who were not only quite willing to go see the farmer to ask he stop only to receive a charade of abuse themselves from the family. The Police having been rubbed up the wrong way made it personal and they were only too happy to take the case and passed it to the CPS who took it all the way even calling the reluctant council to give evidence to confirm the way was a public highway. That unless the wrongdoer suddenly chooses to change their stance means they end up in court and can pick up a criminal record which tends to focus the minds of any of their neighbours or family who fancy doing a bit of the same.

fresh snow being dumped right now.. if you have a 4×4 u may get to the car park, badly parked / abandoned mtbers cars blocking the roads up in snowy weather are one of the local gripes with those who dont want the trail there…

It will be a classic in years to come, you mark my words.

yeah like I know blokes go on about their grandads C15T and Gold Star Scramblers as though they are the progeny of god himself… as much as they are worth you can keep em if it comes to stopping polishing and riding….

Specialised are not dumb, they know the fear of the unknown will send some larger riders looking for a bike that they expect will meet the desperate dan spec bite to handle their own weight (Kona Clydesdale marketing) and so buy a bike that is in reality strengthened to satisfy those needing reassurance that on re-entry from Mars. Specialized of course would never deprive you the right to be overbiked nor would suggest that such riders spend less and consider the trusty old workhorse the Stumpjumper which for more years than i can count on fingers as being a pro grade bike that has withstood substantial abuse, you would not ride it full on downhill but could certainly cross third world continents and I know of tall heavy giants who have trekked places like Nepal on them on tracks to make Glentress look like the local family green route.

You mention

most of my local trails are about 3 inches deep in mud which seems to cling to the anodized finish on the enduro and make it even heavier!

Being both big whilst riding on such soft ground I do not think you will ever compromise the structural limits of a Stumpjumper, indeed the best two things you could do is get a Stumpy with sub 2" skinnier tyres to deal with this in the winter then go to as wide a tyre as the stumpy could handle in the summer of the tread type of your preference.

All the Enduro appears to do right now is to give you a more dead weight to slug around through the gloop requiring considerably greater physical effort than should be required with a stumpy. A stumpy will reduce fatigue or make you quicker without any structural compromise.

That is unless you forgot to tell us every bank holiday you go ride the Scottish Extreme Black and Downhill courses at not far off race speed.

Be careful buying Sandisk on ebay a lot of it is fake, I moved to buying Silicon Memory from amazon market place

Agree with even SFB on this one, in today's litigatious crocodile swamp if you encourage someone to do something if it goes wrong almost anyone connected with that person could sue you even if they choose not to. Crazy Legs' answer is good and I recommend you not only cover the officials but you encourage the members to take silver membership if they do not already have 3rd party cover

I recall one situation where a guy in our club died on an organised cycling thing, at the funeral his wife told me she was at least comforted he died doing something he loved and she blamed no one. Later his parents sued the ass of everyone in sight, not because they blamed anyone, but they were astute and wanted what ever money they could find to be invested for his children in later life after they were no longer around, He had a very good company death cover and nobody could say they were not all covered well by that.

I know one local biker who was riding off-piste / in cheeky and hit a horse, he was not insured and the vet bills were substantial and he is still paying it off, So i also have BC silver insurance to give me 3rd party cover

I would say you could easily do both Llandegla and Penmachno, they are only half an hour apart and offer a great double act. Llandegla is usually the better call in the winter when wet ( but not snowy or windy) than white water biking at Penmachno. The visitor centre like the trails at Llandegla is getting a bit of a refurb revamp at the moment so hang in with them.

Papa Wheelie I know a Canadian Music Radio guy with a thing for Radio Caroline… do I know you?

One computer, one itunes, one library of music = you can run as many ipods of that one machine as you want. As suggested if you set the ipod to only play specific playlists you can listen to your Sonic Youth playlist avoiding her playlist containing Boy Band Greatest Hits collections. I sync 5 ipods 1 iphone off mine al lwith different playlists from 1 main library

I would sadly find I I must disagree with AvalancheQueen. But I have a good friend who is Swiss and now living in Birmingham because of the attitude of a significant number of especially elderly Swiss people to her. Although a Swiss native with a few degrees and many Swiss friends, most of her extended family were Romany Gypsies murdered by the Nazis in that war with the survivors finding their way to re-establish their lives in Switzerland unable to return to the east because of the Russians. She constantly found doors deliberately closed in her face, often to hurt her and shops closing just as she was going to use them, Edelweiss is white and that's the way a nasty number of Swiss people want it to stay.

I read somewhere recently ( OK CFH it probably was the Grauniad) most minarets would not have got through existing planning controls in force in most Cantons and the fact there are only 4 proves that all this was was racist bigots having a pop at the muslims in a manner that mail and express only dream about getting such an opportunity

Downhilling on tv is a niche slot on eurosports along with bmx, it would never become popular as skiing because there are more than enough sloanes and well healed middle class executive family types who go skiing and lap up the atmosphere on tv whilst they dream of their winter week in Tignes or Gstaad.

Bez is quite right about being poor tv coverage. The freecaster coverage was good if you knew what was going on because Warner was not going to tell you and the few cameras on the hill, the gaps between cameras meant anything could and did happen making the next time you saw the rider rather irrelevant as he could have lost 30 or more places whilst out of sight.

Still wrong though the the Yorkshire Post did not put him forward especially as he stuffed the rest of yorkshire's greatest at their own local gong show, He clearly means something substantial to a lot more people than downhillers east of the Pennines.

problem with f1 car racing being a sport is that a poor kid can nick a bike or pair of running shoes and get racing and make the way to world champion if they have the desire, drive and ability and are not caught by the police. Yer average kid who steals a fiesta will never probably even get into Silverstone without ram raiding the fence. Motorsport is as much reliant on privilege through access to money as it is to a skill ability to roll a steering wheel one way or the other whilst knowing which foot to press down hard on.

I am sure Button's a fine chap but I know from Moto x and trials these days the next generation of world great riders are more likely to be sons or nephews of the last generation of champions than any new blood on the block. Take young Tomes or the Lampkins as an example

n e more por favor ipodista at gmail d()t c()m

Maybe there would be a market to set up shop selling tram track freindly bikes?

Having experienced the NFU had you crashed a Tractor or your cow broke a leg probably have got the cheque by return of Post… that's probably the only Apple the NFU ensure that does not grow in a tree.. they probably are trying to work out what variety it is.

I always bought my books from Fopp when in Manchester, who usually had exactly the books i wanted when i wanted them at a price that made you buy two, you could pick up a handful of CD's on the way out to make the trip a result. Sadly it too suffered the credit crunch flu but appears to have been bailed out by HMV which might be frying pan into the fire I cant see why they want to save the competition in face of their own war against the internet.
Borders was always good for a browse but other than a coffee never bought much other than mags. It's a shame now i have the new iPhone Book bar scanner app I could have used it more to decide which books to buy from Amazon

Dont miss this
South Yorkshire Sports Awards 2009 Winner

Hardly unexpected I've been leading a lobby of the news papers and journos to get Peats name at least listed to little joy.

Because the show is in Sheffield the Beeb have indicated they are likely to have him on the show for the year review and at the recent South Yorkshire Sports Awards he won the top award whilst pitched against 4 other podium contending local world champions including the bobsleigh woman and the Heptathlete who is on for the vote for SPOTY. Yorkshire Post sports journos who were one of the regional selectors were hardly patriotic missing him of their list so I will not be wasting the opportunity to pee on one of their issues next time i am in Yorkshire

Not sure how good all of these work with an iPhone as it does not allow the user access to the file system to deter hackers from getting at the system. On the hard drive ipods the music files are merely hidden. If you can enable an ipod as a memory storage device then there are many solutions to get music off them.

Having had no problems with my ipod touch and iphone yet I have had no reason to find something that works but as i cant get to see the iphone as a drive any longer i cant make the hidden files visible.

Hopefully there is a software solution but if not and you only deleted the music files there is a significant risk iTunes will not treat your iphone as a strange device and ask if you want to sync but will just get on and sync it. You might be better if you can get the software to take the music files off to do it on another computer to which your iphone does not sync.

What cycling shoes for Epping Forest??

Well Ton at least I got it part right… Green Hardtail with plenty of room for fat tyres but not quite Dan's SS 96er Pugsly as posted