10, go me! 😀

I used to be able to only eek out about 2… 😳

serious question though, if I follow this program would it make my biceps noticeably bigger? (like, too big?)

Do you intend to go walking about in the neighbourhood? Are there other people (kids?) in your household?

I gotta say if it was me I’d probably leave it. I’ve never had the frustrating experience of looking for a house but I don’t think I could feel safe living there. (I might be overreacting a bit but I’m a bit cautious with stuff like that; I’m forever looking over my shoulder to make sure no strange men are following me!)

a bit off topic but reading about recent bike thefts made me think of this (taken from another forum):

Topic: Violent bike theft

Article taken from Saturdays S Wales Argus.
THUGS left this Gwent teenager needing facial surgery after they robbed him and his friends of their mountain bikes.

James Storey, 18, from Cwmbran, now needs an operation to reconstruct his broken cheekbone after the attack at Tredegar’s Bryn Bach Park.
A gang confronted Mr Storey and two friends, Adam Page, 18, and a 14-year-old boy, at the park at 7.50pm on Thursday.

The trio, keen mountain bikers, had been riding their bikes and were putting them back into their car when the incident happened.

The group asked if they could have a ride, but became violent when they were told no.

One attacked Mr Page, who was holding his bike, pushing it into his ribs and breaking one of them.
Mr Storey was punched in the face and fell to the floor. The 14-year-old boy ran to get help.

All three bikes, worth around £3,500, were stolen and the mountain bikers gave chase in their car, but couldn’t find the attackers.

Mr Storey’s mother, Beverley, 42, said he now has bone floating in his cheek and one side of his face is flat.

Mr Storey, a bike mechanic, is having surgery in the Royal Gwent Hospital next week to pull his cheek out.

If this doesn’t work, he will need a metal plate inserting in his face.

He said: “For the next few weeks or even months, if I go out I’ll have someone with me and I wouldn’t go back up to Bryn Bach, I’m worried they could come back at any time.”

The keen downhill rider will now miss the rest of the season as he can no longer wear his helmet as there is a danger it could force part of his cheekbone into his eye and blind him.

His mother said: “Riding’s a major part of his life, that’s all he does, for him it’s devastating, it’s like the end of the world.”

Since the attack, Mrs Storey said her son has been really quiet and can’t eat solid food or speak properly.

He was also left with with blurred vision in one eye, severe bruising to his face and one of his eyes has closed up.

Mr Page, from Newbridge, said: “I’m angry about what happened – it could happen to anybody up there because a lot of people use the park.”

A Gwent Police spokeswoman said one bike was recovered and five men and teenagers from Rhymney have been arrested.

A 31-year-old man was bailed, but four other men, including a 16, 18 and 19-year-old, were still being questioned on Friday.

Anyone with information relating to the thefts can contact Gwent Police on 101.

–
A friend of mine was attacked by two guys who wanted his DH bike. Thankfully he managed to stay on the bike but got a black eye and swollen lip for his troubles. Just as well really, because he couldn’t have afforded to replace it.

oh well, it’s still cheaper (and more reliable) than our old BT connection

I’ve never climbed a tree (though I suspect that’s fairly common nowadays)

Thanks for all the advice guys,

Colande, I’m actually half chinese (have been given many a redpacket myself)

Just buy what you can afford and that’s that if they make judgement on what you bought then hit them over the head with it.

That’ll be us buying the wok then 🙂

In all fairness, the garden chair looks mighty comfy:

And this sounds terrible, but almost everything on the list is really boring (It’s all plain white crockery or birch photo frames!) Nothing as interesting as a TV. I think I might buy them the wall clock and a basting brush…

Alpinestars Stella Bionic jacket. Not bling and makes me look silly but was expensive!

Just guys in their cars..
I recently came across a car waiting at a small T junction. He was just sitting there fiddling with something like the radio, so I thought it would be safe to cross the road in front of him, after all, he could see me perfectly clearly.

My mistake: as soon as I walk in front of the car, he revs his engine and drives towards me to get me out of the way. I don’t take too kindly to such a threatening manner, and I deliberately slow down.

I make it onto the other side of the pavement, and he comes up alongside me, we exchange a few words – he spits in my face!
I was just in shock, didn’t bother getting his licence plate, etc. but I just couldn’t believe that people act like that.

Oh, and yes, I’ve noticed being a woman in a woman’s car does seem to invite more drivers to cut me off, pull out in front of me, take advantage of the fact that I’ve left a safe distance between myself and the car in front etc.

Having said that, it was even worse when I had P-plates on!

I don’t think it’s ever too early to start talking, in however many languages. I remember being at school with children who could speak 4 or 5 languages at a very early age.

As someone who is mixed race, but not bilingual, I very much wish I could speak two languages.

My mother is british and my father is HK chinese. My mother only speaks english and my dad speaks both english and cantonese.
I was only ever spoken to in English, and though I lived in Hong Kong for 7 years, I never picked up Cantonese. I feel somewhat ashamed that I can’t speak the language, and it is embarrassing when a chinese person approaches me, assuming I can speak cantonese.

I am now making the effort to learn the language (at the grand old age of 21) – As I don’t live in HK anymore I’m guessing it’ll take a while, and I really wish I’d been exposed to it more as a child.

eh? tbh, I’m fairly sure poly is male, as most females tend to give themselves a girly forum name.
I just used s/he because someone else had used the same courtesy.

..or are you just trying to get a rise out of me? 😛

yes, I have chilled down a bit now 🙂
but being a hot-headed female with PMS, the littlest things can make me want to throttle someone (how lucky there’s no one else about right now)

my god I don’t think I’ve ever been so annoyed after reading a thread

Re. the way some people have jumped down poly’s throat because s/he dared to attempt to work out the criminal’s motivation (never justifying or condoning) to take such despicable actions.

I would say quite clearly playing devil’s advocate – (after all, discussions tend to be a bit boring if everyone reiterates the same point and agrees every time) – and is basically told to shut up because.. well, I don’t know why really.

argh, I’ve also never been quite so inarticulate as I am now – I can’t think straight, It’s my fault, I should never have read the bloody thread – others might not be upset by it, but I’m certainly worked up..

anyway, trying to calm down *breathe*, has taught me a valuable lesson and I’ll stick to less ’emotive’ topics from now on..

I don’t wash my bike (or my car for that matter), but I do lube the chain and clean the forks.
My bike was built up from a load of parts the OH didn’t want, so they were all manky to begin with. That’s how I justify it anyway..

I know this is completely not what you had in mind budget-wise.. but if I were a bit shorter I’d want this:
pretty!
🙂

CaptFlash – aye, I’d go with that too. It’s always nice to be able to have a nickname.
Just don’t do what my parents did – they let me think my name was Katy for the first 10 years or so of my life, and only then decided to tell me my name is actually Kathryn, but they’d just thought Katy was a nicer name for a wee girl.

My mum went around telling everybody I was changing my name because I wanted to be more ‘grown-up’ – was all very embarrassing..

hmmm. I like the name Dexter, but I’m not a huge fan of alliteration myself… would you consider naming your son Felix? (I’ve always liked that name 🙂 )

As for girl names, I like Evie. Other suggestions:

Erin Masie Danford,
or Elinor (Ellie Danford) ?

Apart from trying to get regular exercise and keeping a good diet, get yourself a good counsellor. CBT on the NHS unfortunately didn’t help me at all. And because it didn’t work for me the NHS basically said they wouldn’t help me any further.

So I went private – went through about 6 or 7 people til I found someone who was able to both listen to what I had to say and challenge my thought processes.

Of course depends how much depression/lack of confidence is affecting your life. In my case I had to leave University, I couldn’t get out of bed on bad days, I didn’t want to see anyone etc. I’d say every penny well worth it – seeing as it’s allowed me to continue with my studies (and more importantly, my life)

It might be not that bad for you at the moment, but please don’t let it spiral down too far before doing something about it, as it could take a long time to dig yourself out

Hi, cheers mrseight for putting the link up. I hadn’t known about it but I’ve now booked a place on the last guided session of the red route.
Never been to Kirroughtree before so hoping it’s fun!

Recently watched an RS4 estate dishing out much hassle towards a BMW, which amused me – but still feel a larger percentage of beamers are driven by the aggressive types. (Just as you always get one mercedes being driven at about 51mph whenever on the motorway)

Having said that, the worst recent cock was an angry man in a red Mazda 6, who obviously felt that the rest of us (me, old corsa in front, and cyclist in front of that) shouldn’t be on the road, judging by his hand gestures..

I once rode with a guy (Glentress, black route) who gets good results at the SDAs.
Perfectly nice chap, but he couldn’t help racing people if he thought they’d ‘snubbed’ him by starting out on a trail, assuming we’d be slower than them. (I was always slower than them)
He always tanked them as well. But it just meant he had to wait ages at the end for me to catch up!

Anyway, as I ride with people who are much better than myself, I’m always at the back. Suits me fine. And if I happen to pass other trail users (on the descents) I actually feel a bit embarrassed! Like I’m a bit of a show-off or something and taking it all too seriously…

now I’m a girl no longer at Glentress. of course 😉

the people who work in the office are obviously not feeling the effects of recession. In the past few months they have thrown away:
half a tescos cooked chicken,
an unopened M&S pasta salad
apples, plums, melon salads, blueberries
countless half-loaves of bread
countless 6 packs of rolls (some unopened)
a full 2ltr bottle of Tesco value water
various beers and alcopops
and many many half drunk starbucks/costa coffees

The worst thing is, sometimes these things (fruit mainly) haven’t even gone off!

yus, I was a girl at Glentress! Saw quite a few other females too. Me thinks it’s the nice weather

haven’t seen enough of the work to really make comment, but that blog has some great stuff in it – my faves are urban camouflage and the polite umbrella!

I’d say if it’s your head that needs sorted out, then go sort it out – if you can’t do it yourself, get help (be it sports psychologist, CBT, NLP, etc.)
I guess it depends how much of a problem it is for you. If it gets to be crippling, then I’d say money well spent – changing your mindset positively in one area of your life can have a knock-on effect in others.
This comes from someone who has been undergoing counselling for a wee while now. I know it’s not quite the same, but it’s helped me address my fears (in a number of aspects in my life) – and I think made me much more confident on the bike as well.

Lord of the Rings and another vote for Shaun of the Dead.
Brokeback Mountain wasn’t as great as I was expecting, but at least it was mildly entertaining.

I don’t jump or do anything steep because I’m scared of flying over the handlebars… I wish I could grow some balls (not literally, that would be eeew, gross) and just man-up!

I too am 9 stone and tbh, the only time I ever notice the weight of my bike is when I have to push it!

well, at the beginning I was quite happy falling off the bike, but then I went a period of months where I didn’t and now I’ve developed the fear…

and I live in Dundee, though my main riding spot is Glentress

yup, I’d say lack of numbers is one of the biggest problems, (for me anyway)

As a girl who has been riding bikes for 6 months, I have ridden with one other female once. Maybe it’s where I live or just bad luck, but I can’t seem to find anyone to ride with!
Which is a shame, because I personally find riding alone gets a bit boring after a few hours.

I think it is more about ability rather than gender though. I’ve never felt intimidated by a group of men, but I am very much aware that the guys I ride with have been riding for many years more than me, and I end up feeling frustrated with my lack of fitness and skills.

I think you get less females out riding simply because less females are willing to get wet, cold, muddy, brusied (I myself am terrified of falling off my bike) and out of breath.

Before biking I had never done anything remotely like exercise in my life. I think it’s such a steep learning curve that it’s very discouraging for those women who haven’t ever done something like mtb’ing before.

I remember my BF taking me round Laggan many months ago. I told him I didn’t think I was ready and he just said I wasn’t confident enough. I found myself walking the entire section of the wide-plank-north-shore bit because I was sure I was going to fall off. I felt humiliated and ended up sulking for about half an hour…

I think many women (not all) just don’t have the balls, and perhaps progress is a little bit slower. But I’m happy to say I persevered (with help from my very patient BF) and I now enjoy it a lot more. I now have the confidence to tackle things I wouldn’t have dreamt of doing just a few months ago.

So yes, I personally wouldn’t need ‘women only’ rides, but just rides that have more women in them, might be a good starting point. I think they are more likely to adjust their pace so that others don’t feel like they’re getting left behind. That or I need to find a cycle club where they cater for all abilities 🙂