On the subject of being 11, most Wednesdays we’re riding till nearly 10pm, then we shout at each other in the pub for another hour after that. Now, when I was 11 that wouldn’t have been a problem – it’d have been a nice early night and a break from the glue-sniffing & car-stealing, but times have changed (apparently)

Oi, it’s a *quality product* you little turd 8)

Looking for another bike you say… Hmmm…. (rubs hands). I may be able to assist there if you’re 5 foot 10 or under

Mentors? Whilst we’re all quite grown up and sensible (some of us even have proper jobs / raised children / marriages, with varying degrees of success) I’m not sure if we’d make good “mentoring material” – the conversation rarely rises above gutter-level and we’re horrible to each other. I guess it’ll depend on how old he is and what your / his expectations are

Yeah, I’m coming. Bob – you up for it? If not we’ll have to arrange some other time for me to have a look at this Cotic

Of course, as long as you don’t mind hanging out with Danny

So who’s up for a mudbath tomorrow? I’m in

If it’s not too much trouble Bob, chuck it in the van for Wednesday and if we can arrive 10 minutes early it’ll give me the chance to kick the tyres, suck air through my teeth and find lots of non-existent faults to complain about

I am paying attention. Honest.

Er, what fork’s on it? And where are you so I can look at it?

Aye, so fun riding, some not-so-fun milling about waiting for repairs, but it’s all good and a even the most disappointing evening on the bike kicks the crap out of an evening on the sofa.

Bob – remind me what that CX bike was (I was listening, honest…)

Crikey, it’ll be quite a gang.

Helpful suggestions for them’s that haven’t ridden with us before (apart from boring stuff like “bring lights & pub money, be on time” etc)… everyone has to be nice to me. I’m allowed to be obnoxious to everyone, especially Scandal for turning up 10 minutes late

Looks like it’ll be a good turn out. Wonder who’s round it is (hides…)

And to add insult to injury they refused to print the other t-shirt with a crude drawing of a space ship that looked a bit like the Enterprise. Man, how will I ever impress the laydeez now 🙁

No no, we *are* riding in Swithland, up and down the 2 designated cycle tracks, stopping to say “sorry” to every walker we meet.

On a related note I tried to get a t-shirt made with a line-drawing of a well known local landmark and the text “I rides where I likes”. Bastards refused to print it because it breached the ‘not causing offence’ section of the company’s terms and conditions. The world’s gone **** mad

Yeah, front light is more important – you can do the road sections in the bunch

Probably not, on the Woodhouse Eaves nights we tend to stay over this side. Danny’s usually in charge of “going”, it’ll be a magical mystery tour for you

You got your cardy yet, grandad?

Amen to the freedom from corporate politics. Being able to chuckle smugly as the permie drones are forced to endure another mandatory “training course” (glorified 2 hour YouTube video explaining how not to leave your laptop on a train) is one of the best bits of being a contractor

I swapped from perm to contract as a software developer. I didn’t bother with an umbrella company – just set up my own limited company. Having an accountant who specialise in this sort of thing helped a lot – I use SDJ and they did some useful hand-holding at the start as there’s a fair bit of paper work and stuff.

No idea how much you’d lose being in an umbrella company – given how easy it is to go without one, I’d suggest you consider setting up you own.

I’m in too, still weighing up the relative merits of fat / thin / bouncy (!). Bring lights this time, eh Nathan? Fool 🙂

My old mk3 2.0 petrol mondy certainly ticks the reliability box, but fuel consumption is in the low 30s or less pootling around town. Nice simple car tho with very little to go wrong

I’ve done the climb up to Edale Cross from Coldwell Clough (a couple of years back), and it’s an absolute stinker. It’s all ridable, which makes it all the more irritating when you have to stop before you vomit

HAHA, Jim *has* see this comment Danny. You like the blue duck-egg cardies because you’re a pre-vert

Furry muff. Might ride it anyway as I’m getting bit fed up with hoofing the fatty over all the gates and stuff

Scandal – is it worth me riding this spare bike on Weds? Is your mate potentially interested? You’ve not told him that I dun bilt it wiv an ‘ammer, have you?

I should be playin’ out on Wednesday

For some odd reason riding is *really* hurting my legs at the moment – proper can’t-climb-the-stairs aching. No idea why, probably terminal 🙁

Still, I’m **** *awesome* and *rock* so I’ll be there

Sax – definitely lessons. They’re quite loud and sound horrible till you get the hang of it.

Harmonica? I got a book, and it wasn’t too hard. I used to practice while sitting in the car in traffic jams because I’m weird and cool. At least, I think that’s right

Arrghh ffs, I can’t make it tomorrow now. The missus has pissed all over my plans 🙁

I can feel a tantrum coming on

no, this is not “genuine confusion”, I do realise that tomorrow’s local ride and the 30th’s peak ride are not the same thing. I’d already established that tomorrow was 8am in WE, I was merely enquiring as to when and from where you expected the big ride on the 30th to start.

Fool

I found the same thing. They’re not just higher, but I wasn’t able to get them as far back as I had the SPD cleats. The combination of the two means the saddle has be about 1cm higher.

Thinking of switching back TBH 🙁

Seems quite cheap when you include the time taken to bleed brakes and true wheels.

If the bike has wonky wheels, a threaded steerer, cup-n-cone hubs and old fashioned BB, that’s a lot of farting about for not much money

Sounds smashin. So when you say “early”, what time in Castleton? And which carpark?

Stick it in a blob and bung it up your arse, maybe?

Or, if it’s work’s, put it in whatever pocket and say sorry when you sit on it

Looks like a nice route that, should be a laugh 🙂

Might be able to make a ride tomorrow too, depending on ‘er indoors. Usual start point at 8am?

Can’t say I’d be sad to skip it. I’ve already ridden it all 3 possible ways (on my wheels, on my feet, and on my arse)

Wot no Cave Dale? Surely no ride around Castleton is complete without a trip down cave dale with a massive comedy OTB landing at some narky red-sock’s feet

Ooo, got a provisional pass out for this, as long as granny can look after Boy while Girl goes to a birthday party

How many miles is that Danny? Would like to join you – I’ll see if I’m likely to be allowed

It broke because your fork is too short. Search your feelings. You know it to be true

1979 Claud Butler Panache. It’s a lovely steel deathtrap with hopeless brakes and friction down tube shifters. Do I win a prize?

(I also ride other newer bikes from time to time)