Alpha1653 – Member

<snip> I am a bit a stickler for grammar

Well dig that one out then…

L2P again but target riding it in less than 24 hours?

Or London to Hook of Holland via Dover, Dunkirk, Belgium. Overnight ferry from the Hook of Holland back to Harwich then Harwich to London is a good loop, 550 km’s in 3 days is possible. Rode it earlier this year.

As well as that & L2P I’ve also ridden the M25 loop on road. There’s an official off-road ride next year you could look into.

A good mate has ridden London to Italy twice in the last five years, totally doable unsupported.

Another riding buddy did Norwich to Fishguard. He also rode Wales South to North on a gravel/adventure bike one Bank Holiday weekend.

Me and my main riding buddy are planning London to Nice next year; L2P and then carry onto Nice.

There’s London -> Edinburgh – London also available.

Depends what turns you on really in terms of locations, weather, loop or point to point, it’s all out there…

me personally, no. I find the house alarm is defence enough but Danny, the captain of my old Croydon Sunday league football team keeps a ‘commemorative Celtic FC baseball bat’ that he occasionally gets to use[/url] as the landlord of a pub in Croydon (ff the you tube vid to 1:40).

I was right back and he was centre back for about 4 seasons. His defending was a bit heavy handed too, just like this video.

as I’m brassic at the moment

it’s ‘boracic’ as in boracic lint.

Aldi does a nice, varied line as mentioned above.

deepen your voice, talk slower, grow a bit taller, have grey hair.

As John Butler once wrote:

Over population say we gotta face
You’re gonna send us all away out to outerspace
Singing yippie hurray for the human race
I don’t wanna live my life in no outer space

Name that (MTB) movie?

Well I wouldn’t call it amazing but it’s not your normal shaken to bits chesty cam action.

TdF 2017 from the Croix de Fer

7h du Matin[/url]

Choonz borrowed from ITV4 who used this to close one of their highlights shows during the tour and I noted for future use and a 1970’s wash applied via GoPro studio to add a bit of a cine film feel to it.

The bits where the screen is blurred are due to the camera being in my rear pocket on a 27km climb in France during July, sweaty was not the word for it.

Session 4, small, light, neat and waterproof without the need for a bulky plastic overcoat. one button functionality. £150.

I don’t have a massive view on pillows other than the take @instachaz has on them on Twitter

Generally anything that Nouvelle Vague cover but this Soft Cell cover is a favourite

And on the subject of remix’s I stumbled over this beauty about a year ago which is so wrong but oh so right

From Strava:

Rides: 174
Time: 329h 51m
Distance: 7,225 km
Elevation Gain:73,404m

The number of rides is somewhat inflated by recording my commute. That’s two rides, totalling a minimum of 56km per day

IMHO turbo trainers, Zwift etc. don’t count.

EDIT: double post

sounds great, take pics

Across Westminster bridge and then head East along the South Bank. Loads to do and see there on a nice evening.

Alternatively head to The Angel Islington for loads of cool places to go and eat and drink and then walk along the canal there for even more even cooler places.

you got old; it happens.

you are undoubtedly getting more right wing too. you may not think so but all those youngsters wanting what took you a lifetime of hard graft to accrue

it was ever so.

perhaps…

oh and of course ya gotta go to Toga Bikes[/url]

We flew to Niagra and drove back. The falls are amazing. The town on the Canadian side is like Margate.

Depending on your musical tastes/history you can also visit The Chelsea Hotel where Sid and Nancy did their thing or go to see The Dakota Mansions where John Lennon was shot or Greenwich Village where Bob Dylan learned his trade.

Depends what your idea of fun is but i went five years ago and loved it.

Here’s a copy and paste from a colleague whose husband worked there for a few years:

The Stone Rose bar is an old favourite of ours – they have great cocktails and lovely views over Central Park. Nice place to take the missus for a sun-downer.

Rudies is a typical American dive bar but very cheap, really near Times square and you get free hot dogs (it’s a sticky floor type of place though!)

Near Times Square is a deli called The Stage – they do ridiculous sized sandwiches. you can ask them to wrap up what you can’t finish and take it with you. Their NY cheese cake is great too – but again on the very big side!

Hoboken has great views back of Manhattan and have some very cheap bars and restaurants

Walking over Brooklyn bridge is great

One of our most fun afternoons was roller skating in Central Park

For the ferry to the statue of Liberty – get up really early to queue for tickets at battery park. It’s a really good trip and you can stop off at Ellis island as well

You should definitely check out Chelsea and Greenwich – loads of restaurants and bars and if its hot they all have Mediterranean style al fresco dinning.

There are loads of cheaper more authentic bars in the East Village and Lower East side – Alphabet City has some nice ones too (‘Sunburnt Cow to name one).

Meatpacking district is one of the best areas to go out late and is ‘downtown’.

Bars & Restaurants

• Stone Rose – Columbus Circle on SW edge of central park (go into shopping centre and take the lift to 4th floor). The Mandarin bar is also here up the hotels tower – need a jacket to get into the nicer bit with the view.
• White bar is in the W Hotel half way down Times Square on the West side (towards 8th ave) – take the lift up to reception and its on your right
• There is a revolving bar at the top of the Marriot in Times Square which has now reopened following renovation – defo worth a look! (best to book)

• Katz’s delicatessen[/url] is the one featured in ‘that’ scene in ‘When Harry Met Sally’. great food at good prices there too and you can sit in the seat if it’s free, it’s signposted

• Hudson Hotel – bar with outside courtyard – near Stone Rose but back near 9th Ave – very trendy bar & great cocktails!
• Rudi’s bar & grill – genuine dive bar – is on 8th down around the low 40’s in streets – $6 for a pitcher of beer and free hot dogs! Zanzibar nearby is nice.
• In the meatpacking district their is a hotel overlooking Soho House called the Ganzevoot which has a nice balcony – and opposite is Pastis restaurant – one of best in NY but have to book!
• All the good clubs are in the Meatpacking district – Crowbar is a good one.
• And of course Hogs and Heifers is round the corner – the original Coyote Ugly bar complete with loud-mouthed barmaids dancing on the bar, bikers and a wall full of bras donated over the years! Don’t even think about ordering a beer in here without also getting a shot or the barmaid will tell the whole bar what a weakling you are… over her megaphone! A definite N.Y. experience!
• There is also a bar down here with a huge fish tank behind the bar and female dancers put on mermaids tails and swim through it!

There is a Brazilian restaurant between 8th and 9th (nearer 8th) on 49th street called the Churrascaria Plataforma which is great unless you are a veggie – they bring around huge cuts of meat on spits and slice you off a bit. The meat is fantastic and you get to try all the different cuts. Note it is NOT the restaurant with the Brazilian flag outside on 8th Ave – it is the one round the corner towards 9th with the doorman.

I’d also recommend the dinner cruise on the World Yacht – its a buffet style affair but a great cruise around the city with some spectacular views – and it goes up past the Statue of Liberty too.

http://www.worldyacht.com/
For something different take the Path train to Hoboken in New Jersey – you get good views back of Manhattan and you can get great steaks at cheap prices plus student priced beers.

Attractions
• The helicopter trip is well worth it and either goes from near the Aircraft Carrier (bit further South) or down on the southern tip – company is called Liberty Helicopters. At the minimum do the trip that goes down Manhattan and round the statue of liberty.
• If you want to go into the statue of liberty (you can only go into the feet – not the head since 9/11 – similarly you can’t go into the stock exchange anymore either) you need to get a ticket early in the morning from the office in Battery Park.
• If the weather is good there’s Coney Island (NY’s Blackpool complete with a lot of freaks and the world’s oldest roller coaster – the Cyclone – definitely worth a ride as it feels like it is going to fall apart!). You can get there on the tube in about an hour. This is also the home of the Hot Dog – it was invented here at Nathan’s which is just outside the tube stop. For a better beach you can catch a NJ transit train to Jones beach – about an hour away.
• You can book tickets to go up Empire State online and print them out – saves part of the queue if it is busy (best to do this on a weekday if poss as the queues at the weekend are huge! ).
• Central park is great for a walk – or hire Rollerblades from the hire shop on the West side – around 72nd-75th street (check guidebook) – check out Strawberry Fields and the ball parks. There is an open air swimming pool right at the top if its hot. Don’t forget your Frisbee!
• Down the south end you have the WTC site – the scale of which is unbelievable. Its also a nice walk over the Brooklyn Bridge (above the traffic) and you get good views of the city.
• Take a tour of the UN headquarters located at First Ave at 46th Street. You get to go into the general assembly and security council which is very interesting.
• N.Y. has all the major US sports teams if the season is right – drink some beer at the Baseball or go for the action of Ice Hockey or Basketball. American Football may stop and start allot but its a great spectacle and you have the Jets and Giants to choose from.
• Or take in a show on Broadway – there is a ticket booth in Times Square but be warned – the queues are long!
• The Chrysler Building is worth a look – but you can’t go up. And the N.Y. Public Library is as seen in Ghostbusters and more recently the Day After Tomorrow. Grand Central Station is also worth a look while you are down there and Bryant Park is a great place to stop for an Ice Cream or a cwafffeee.

Shopping
Clothes are much cheaper in N.Y. – bargains galore can be found at Century 21 opposite the WTC – but its a TK Maxx effort – everything jumbled up! Much better to head to Macys in the Fashion District or Bloomindales further North – both are good. Saks near the Rockerfeller Centre is really good – but pricey – especially for women’s clothes. And of course you have to have a wander down 5th Ave to check out the boutiques.

😀

It’s the road equivalent of trail centres isn’t it (and yes I use trail centres but don’t ride sportives).

Can’t be bothered/lack the skills or knowledge to put together a decent route?

Want feed stops cos you don’t know what/how much to carry?

Don’t have any friends?

Want to get into the scene but find that every other rider you come across is a scowling, Strava hunting freak?

Ride a sportive to tick all the boxes

I heard a tourist in Windsor ask her husband (possibly the OP?) why they built the castle under the flight path

fair enough

probably the right verdict but is wanton and furious driving correct when he was riding not driving? (Yes, I know that’s what it says on BBC site)

tomhoward – Member

I say heads should roll….

I say sausages should roll…

Mmmmm…sausages…

out of the fire and into the frying pan?

EDIT: Damn! Beaten by 37 seconds. (GSOH Zokes)

Can’t help you on the bike but you have to want to cycle commute again otherwise you will still be sitting in the car, office, car, sofa again but with an expensive clothes horse sitting in the corner.

spending money IMHO is not a good way of motivating yourself.

Why not set yourself an annual mileage target or enter an event that you need to train for or something like that.

Depends what gets you motivated but I ISTR you are old enough to understand what gets you going and what doesn’t.

Hey, it might even be c0ke and h00kers; promise yourself that if you cycle commute 2,000 miles by the year end (easily achievable) you will treat yourself to some Columbian marching powder and a couple of brazzers…

Do you think you got charged too much?

Maybe they could limit the amount that they charge for speeding.

Perhaps it could be known as the Dutch Cap

You Got Nothing Coming

As a permanent fix? Not advisable.

As a temporary fix*, set the hi and lo screws and you will mainly be okay

Legal Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any issues you may have…

*I had mech issues in Morzine this year and did just this as someone had a spare 10 speed. It got me through the rest of the week

a. define raining

STW in a nutshell, right there.

The rest of you can have the week off…

Well apparently when it’s raining the limit drops to 110kph

It’s like literally on every signpost dude

If you knew the limit was 130 you should also have known it was 110 when its raining

just go to Brighton instead

Home

Great win for the ‘club in crisis’ versus the self-appointed best team in the league

C’mon the Chels

Goodwill is down to things like brand and other intangibles – quite tricky for a small business.

yup, and usually drops to zero for a small business. Instant loss of goodwill if it’s a one man band and that man changes.

road trip for me. Three of my riding buddies are riding from SW London to Milan. 1,000 miles or 1,700 km over ten or twelve days.

I’m accompanying them on the first leg to Folkstone early tomorrow for the Chunnel crossing then will head on to Whitstable to complete a circa 180km ride and get the train home.

I was invited on the Milan trip and would have loved to go but I’ve had three weeks holiday already since June (including two weeks away cycling) and have another two booked in Italy in September so couldn’t really justify it to myself, my wife or my line manager.

Next year…

can’t answer your second question up there but we have Virginmedia broadband hub with:

– wireless connection to desktop downstairs
– wireless connection to 2 ipads and four phones (2 x iphone and 2 x Huawei) dotted around the house wherever we may be using them
– 2 x TP Link powerline wired adaptors to 2 x desktops upstairs (kids rooms)
– a wireless powerline adaptor that tends to be plugged in on the landing to cover the wireless dead spot in the upstairs bog and youngest son’s room (can’t recall the brand but it was about twelve quid from Costco and works perfectly)

IMHO they work all work perfectly and do what they say on the tin.

In fact I made a sale at Maplin in Canary Wharf recently. I was browsing and a woman was looking at them and the salesman was making a right hash of selling them; spouting technical jargon at her when she clearly didn’t understand.

I said ‘I’ve got those, they work’ and she said to the salesman ‘right, I will have them then, but only because he says so’.

Good evening I’m from Essex
In case you couldn’t tell
My given name is Dickie, I come from Billericay
And I’m doing very well

What size was it?

– 26″ you can’t even give these away now so I’m pretty sure it will still be there
– 650B, makes the car parks come alive
– 29″, the perfect wheel for riding around car parks, it will have gone…

EDIT: I’m not helping am I?

When I was a young boy My mama said to me
“There’s only one girl in the world for you And she probably lives in Tahiti.”