Voted, apparently I was the fourth cyclist in the polling station that day.  No bleeding heart remoaners to trip over so sucked on my lemon and voted for milkshake man (odious unpleasant toad that he is).

Flesh wound, I’ve hammered carbon frames with far more wear!

Workmate had one, used to use it to commute to the station or along the sea front to the pub and back.  One morning he came in looking like he’d been beaten up, turns out he’d left the pub at closing time, scootered along the sea front and then woke up sprawled on the floor.  Between getting to the pub and leaving, the sea had deposited a load of shingle on the concrete path which he couldn’t see in the dark (obvs rather than drunk) which he’d then hit at 25+!

Damn, beaten too it!

A Man with No Name is disappointed that he had no  part at the end.  But he is content that you are reading this in his accent.

😁

It’ll be fine so long as you don’t start sending pictures of Winnie the Poo.

Got harassed at Coed y Brenin cafe by some bolshie sparrows!

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It’ll be Failing Grayling……

Depressing times, this lack of leadership and no ability to negotiate is exactly the sought of environment that allows the extremists to increase in popularity and come to power.

I remember discussing with my old man years ago that would it be possible in this day and age for a “Hitler” to come to power again in a western democracy.  Trump is not quite there, Corbyn is a velvet Stalin in the making with the nasty momentum organisation quashing any serious dissent, is someone waiting patiently in the wings?

Where we go from the European Elections I don’t know but I think it’ll be a political version of Slim Pickens sitting on the Bomb at the end of Dr Strangelove.

Boris won’t get in (please) and Gove is only ever going to be a number 2 (pun intended).

Pit of sudocream of your side of the fence hole?

Took Mrs M out for her first night ride (halogen lamps were the cutting edge back then…..).  Rolling at walking pace down the Eastbourne Mile into Jevington at walking pace looked back over my shoulder to see how she was getting on and hit a large flint and stopped, failed to unclip, toppled over and as I was holding onto the bar ends at this point I landed still attached to the bike by four points, snapping my brand new Maxm carbon bars imported from America at exorbitant cost and landing on another large flint with my hip and bruising it badly.

I hadn’t ridden my PRST-1 for a few years and dragged it out the shed for a check over.  All seemed OK so took it for a quick spin down the road in flip flops and shorts.  Tapped the front brake forgetting the PRST-1 likes to nose dive, straight over the bars onto the road.  I bashed my head hard enough to see stars and badly scuffed myself.  PRST-1 stuck in the shed and only ever gets looked at now.

Some nicer looking new builds on the outskirts of Eastbourne BUT most are shocking box things, as others have stated with tiny windows, a drive barely capable of holding two small cars and a postage stamp garden, also very narrow roads as well.  No extra Doctor’s surgeries, schools or other infrastructure like parks/playgrounds.

There is a plan in progress for more homes near me and the developer scum repeatedly tries to erode the infrastructure I’ve mentioned above and increase the housing numbers on the plan.  I fear it is only a matter of time before the planning team get “incentivised” enough to pass it.

The proposed road junction improvements will just move the horrendous jams we already have at peak time slightly along the road a bit.

oh and Mrs M used to work in a school that was built as part of a plan to knock down an old school and redevelop into housing and a supermarket.  Whilst touring the “fantastic” new build school as it was being built she had the temerity to point out that one double power point per classroom was not really good enough.  “But that will cost more money………”

+1 for submarined scenario, tree stump, foot, pedal sandwich resulted with an invite to leave via the front balcony, not sure what hurt more, the crunched foot or the shoulder and back thumping into the floor.

We very nearly had our own Chernobly in 1957.  If it wasn’t for Cockcrofts Folly a large amount of unpleasant material would’ve blown across the country when the Windscale Reactor caught fire (as it was pushed beyond design limits due to the pressure to make a fusion nuclear weapon).  We had to prove we could build an H bomb to share nuclear secrets with the Americans (long story of American reticence, politics and promises/lies).

Got 5* from Will Kompertz.  I have read a lot on Chernobyl, it was happening whilst I was doing/failing  A level physics and got interested in it then.   So I’ll be watching it on catchup

Heal well.  It will be frustrating at times but you’ll get there.

On club rides, waiting quietly in the pack until a puddle appears on the trail and waiting till a suitable/serial victim is alongside it, then riding through it flat chat shouting “Puddle”.

Sorry Sally.

No , not at all, trespass, troubled people, train defects, staff in the wrong place, passenger kicking off issues as well as track defects, OHL or third rail issues (traction power), weather, animals on the line  can all cause delays, to name but a few.

But signalling tends to be a favourite catch all term, and a generate the most delays and whilst the signalling maybe playing up it could be due to defective track, a third rail or OHL short (caused by litter/vandalism) blowing up the delicate signalling circuits, failed aircon in an equipment room leading to kit overheating etc.

NR, ECRO here, similar to signaller but with moar power!  Signalling training is intense with lots of class work, learning of rules and scenarios on simulators.  Once you’ve passed out you go into a signalbox on your Route.  There are always lots of vacancies country wide but bear in mind the grand plan is for all the little lever/frame boxes and power boxes to close and go into Regional Operating Centres (ROC’s) which are VDU/ wall of screens, point and click mouse control (and whilst the future a little bit soulless IMO).

The NR website should have a list of sample interview questions to prepare with.  Demonstrate conflict resolution, dealing with a crisis/emergency/negotiating/changing your managers mind/resolving a technical issue etc. It also pays to know our “life saving rules”.

There are always plenty of engineering vacancies/project management and other operations jobs.  Once you’re in its a great career where if you are competent, diligent and can cope with “big organisation” you’ll have a job for life.

The local school to us, the parents park on the zig-zags, they actually park on the crossing and then let their kids out.  Despite complaining to the local police nothing is done, even though it would be an easy traffic figures boost.

I still laugh at the memory of the mum who went apoplectic at the Bus that got stuck at the top of the road so she couldn’t drive another 200 yards to her normal parking spot.  It was a lovely day, she could’ve parked up and walked but no this Bus had to move.  It couldn’t due to other stupidly parked parents cars on the corner.  She was incandescent!

Could Ferrari have managed LeClerc’s race any worse?

It was very blowy on the early doors Houndercise this morning, I’m not sure the Hedgehog Serial Killer enjoyed it.

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Wow, very pretty.  Think I’m adding those cranks to my build.

Manhole cover apparently.

When I was apprenticing at a firm that made power transformers, we had the Hawker Siddley Senior Test engineer visit.  It was a Friday afternoon and we’d all been down the pub for lunch (as you did back then) when he sobered everyone up with the tale of the apprentice who had somehow got into the area where they were testing the 400kV transformer and managed to provide an arc path for the electricity.  Once they’d worked out what was going on and got the electricity switched off, they put him out with fire extinguishers.  He managed to live a few days before succumbing to his burns.

That’s a nice looking motorcycle.

I normally rant “get off your effing phone” I’m sure I will be thumped at some point.

I’d say a 100mm full suss 29er would be ideal.  Just enough cushioning without too much of a weight penalty and without having to line pick too much on the descents (valuable when knackered at the end).

I don’t think my wrist with its Ti screw would like a rigid, even with a fat tyre up front.

Last time I did it was on a 26 race alu hard tail and I was rinsed at the end.

https://shop.vannicholas.com/en/products/titanium-accessories/Van-Nicholas-Bell-Titanium/11279

Must…….re…….sist

Last year our corporate guidance on ticks was to smear it with Vaseline to remove it………

They got a great many emails and this has now disappeared!

Had this the other day on the SDW, just about to cross the bridge over the A26 heading to Brighton when I spotted a chaos of walkers across the bridleway coming towards me, all chatting at each other or looking at their feet, so I slowed and said good morning.  Most of them jumped out of their skin and one haughtily said “dringg, dringg”.

I struggled to come up with a witty response at the time but 15 minutes later uttered “answer that bloody phone”, curse my knackered brain!😁

Many trails in Friston, most radiate from the top of the Fireroad or off the line of the top 3 bomb holes.  A local can link these up for you in the least climby way so may be worth posing a date closer to time to see if anybody is willing to act as guide.  Also Some good pubs on all sides of the forest.

Long and hilly commute to work via the South Downs Way today, lovely but jeez was it hot!

Working 12Hrs shifts yesterday and today, yesterday was quiet all day until 45 mins before the end of shift when it got VERY busy, not ideal.  Today had been busy but has now quietened down, hopefully tmrw I can ride to work over the South Downs.

Loose/wonky mech hanger?  Mech tight on hanger?

Stupid cold for last 4 weeks, just getting over it and now stuck in work trying not to break things (and failing) for 2 x 12 hr days and then lates.

Guess what, my 5 rest days after this it’s raining and the commissioning OT Sunday shift in a weeks time is now cancelled.

On the + side I’ve just been emailed a picture of my new Curtis being built!

Great place for a nuclear waste dump, oh wait someone thought of that few years ago and it didn’t end well……….

Apart from Maya.

North of £2500 I suspect, maybe a child’s kidney?

Short and sweet.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1226901557/

Longer

https://www.strava.com/activities/608074843

Nutcracker Route around Lustleigh