If you're liking this thread, go and see Milton Jones[/url], on tour now. Absolutely brilliant.

miketually – Member

All the best people get a 2:2 degree. Relaxed, but competent.

Brilliant! :-)))) Holding on to that for future amusement. I'm quite happy with my Desmond.

I've got the Hi-Viz Hump Reflective[/url] and feel pretty happy with it. The fit over my Camelback Cloudwalker isn't that great, but the material it is made from is super reflective as soon as any light hits it.

EDIT: this isn't the cheapest cover, but I decided for an extra £15 my life was worth it, after some close calls with drivers overtaking me at night.

Not quite the right season, but this is tasty: spring salmon with minty veg.

It's difficult for me to get my thoughts accross and heard.

Just write things down, and stay relaxed when you're talking. Easier said than done, but if you want it sorted, only you can do it. Good luck. :-)

Seconded for the Scotland Outdoors podcast. The Friday Night Comedy is normally very good too, but the current Fred MacAulay show is a bit poor, IMO.

Ride. Put some mental distance between work and home, you'll be ready to relax. Trains will be all wet, damp and smelly if it's raining, too.

Please can someone post the route taken? I only made it to Howwood. Cheers.

What was the route after going out from Howwood, please?

The ride was totally brilliant, almost surreal. I have to admit I'm not a huge Armstrong fan, but to not have gone would have been madness.

I took the car through from Edinburgh, for fear of the trains being packed with bikes … and the completely useless call centre I ended up at when I tried to call and book a ticket this morning.

There was a great atmosphere before he arrived, with everyone waiting in the road to the hotel for him to arrive. Lots of great chat with the locals. When his car finally arrived, he hopped out, seemed to be building his own bike, and did interviews at the same time. There was even a mini media scrum.

Lance seemed to spend quite a while talking with fans, shaking hands and doing the good media thing, then we all headed off, taking up the full width of the road. SUCH an awesome experience, as I pedaled along on my commuter.

I got dropped after about 30 mins or so, but still smiling about it. GPS track here and a few photos here.

This is a good recipe: Lamb with green chillies. Anjum's book is good, too.

@SammyC — can you try this with your old app: helloOX2[/url]? I don't know much about it, but it seemed it could let you bypass the security…

[list][*]Gravity[/url], the Twitter app, is absolutely brilliant.[/*]
[*]Mobbler is very good too (last.fm app)[/*]
[*]Fring for IM/Skype[/*]
[*]Google Maps for knowing where you are/where to go[/*]
[*]Pixelpipe for uploading pictures and stuff[/*]
[/list]

Mighty Muesli[/url] here, or else Alpen without sugar or the extra fruity one.

I'd recommend searching ebay for a second hand Nokia N95, and then buying a large capacity microSD card. Make sure you're using the latest firmware and have it unlocked, then you'll have a great phone to run Fring for Skype, play MP3s, great camera, GPS, wifi to save on data costs etc etc That setup worked well for my brother travelling around South America.

I quite liked Facing the Frozen Ocean: One Man's Dream to Lead a Team Across the Treacherous North Atlantic by Bear Grylls.

My girlfriend and I live without a car, with a work commute of about 2.5 miles. We are close to bus routes into Edinburgh though, and have plenty of small local shops plus a good supermarket about 10 minutes away.

We use the City Car Club[/url], which works superbly. There are several cars within a 5 minute walk. You could take a look at Whizzgo for something similar in Southampton, although I have absolutely no idea if it's any good.

You could get supermarket deliveries to save you needing to cart big loads of shopping, or even better, visit your local shops and buy local. Therefore not owning a car will make you lots of new friends, and not just on the bus. ;-)

Mick, just replied to you, then saw you also have the update error problem. Everything else is working fine, and I've not seen any updates on the version since 2.06, so I think that is the latest and greatest.

I'm running version 2.06 without any problems. I did need to do a wee bit of digging to find it though; drop me a mail and I can send it on.

You want to make sure you have the latest firmware too.

Or else the official one: http://www.letour.fr/us/homepage_courseTDF.html

BBC site is good: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/default.stm

@rolfharris — the number 62 bus goes from Edinburgh to Galashiels/Melrose (transport linky). If you had your bike in a bag, you should be able to get dropped at the door of Glentress, or very close to Innerleithen. Note: I have never done this, but the bus goes past the door, and has a luggage rack.

@glenh — you *should* be able to take a scenic bus from Carlisle (X95) [going past Newcastleton], and change at Galashiels (62), then get off at Innerleithen/Glentress. As before, I've never done the journey, but if your bike was in a bag, I can't see why the driver would object. The bus from Carlisle to Edinburgh was stupidly cheap — I think £8 return! — and a lovely journey. It's a normal bus, not a coach.

Alternatively, what jimmy said. There are always people going down there from Edinburgh.

I would second and even third First Coast. As stuartie_c said, no exclusively fish, but it meets your other criteria very well. I’ve never been that impressed by Fishers, despite being reassured by others…

surfer – Member

I do need to take care though, running is a great way to ruin knees

This is a myth.

To add a bit more to this, if you:

+ get fitted for appropriate running shoes
+ build distance/time gradually
+ warm up properly before a hard training session
+ stretch

… then you should have no problems with any part of your body, including your knees.

This is a good book, and a good price: Stretching by Bob Anderson.

If you’re in Scotland, you might want to check out the JogScotland groups, or else join a running club for coaching and encouragement.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinlittle/3601886428/

Anyone know if this is a ghost bike in Edinburgh (Marchmont), or some kind of art project?

Did you already try http://www.ernest-press.co.uk/mntnbiking.html#scot ? They seemed to allow me to add a copy to my basket and proceed for checkout…

I have a Maverick, with what looks like almost-original components. That Mustang was my first ever mountain bike, followed by a Montage and then a Ravine. Ahh, the good old day when Raleigh made real bikes.

If you want basic but functional, I quite like picnik.com[/url].

Yet another vote for Zen. Been with them since 2001, and put plenty of friends on to them too.

Farmer Giles — friend just arranged a raft building competition plus race in the Lake District, which I’m thinking about doing for my own stag in a few months.

I’d say there were very few stags where I’d had change out of £500 over the last ten years, but I think these days they’re slightly more budget-conscious.

Get some gels down — quick to metabolise, gives you carbs. Keep drinking plenty too.

dicky — I’m attending Ashtanga yoga classes recommended to me by a fellow runner. I can’t comment on Pilates, but Ashtanga has certainly strengthened my core and helped my legs. I’m moderately fit (run 3/4 times a week, cycle every day, mountainbike at weekends) and the yoga class is without doubt the hardest 90 minutes of my week. Be ready to sweat profusely and have that ‘I’ve exercised’ feeling the next day.

You might want to check out Stretching by Bob Anderson, too. I’ve only skimmed through it, but there are plenty of postures similar to yoga, for about the price of a class.

I’m running Sports Tracker on an N95, with latest firmware and the latest version of Sports Tracker, and reckon it’s pretty accurate. I’ve heard TrailGuru and the iPhone application can be a bit flaky (from true Apple fans). Go with the N79.

If you have a Canon camera, PhotoStitch that comes with that is pretty decent.

Just throwing this out as something to consider, but isn’t there a chance your girlfriend will feel there’s some history attached to the ring if your parents are divorced now? If that’s not an issue, then having it re-set, assuming it’s a quality stone as it sounds to be, is a great idea. Either way, all the best. :-D

Ah great, so the Water of Leith will be even more covered in horse cr@p than normal. They must make some attempt to clear it up, right?

Do horse owners/riders have a responsibility to clear up after their horses (in general)? I’m fed up running along the Water of Leith dodgy the horse excrement.

:x Sorry to hear.

JulianA — I’m a newbie to this, so no, I don’t know what the numbers mean. I’ve just read about binocular basics, but feel free to point out anything obvious I should take into consideration.

the hustler — those may well do, but I don’t see them online.

ton — I was waiting for that… You’re as bad as my girlfriend!

It looks like a great event. I’m sure you’ll be in pain by the end of it, but why else would you do it? ;-)

This looks great, but needing a team of three is a bit of a pain. Anyone fancy a STW team, entering the duathlon category?