My mate left some builders to clear out all the crap in his cellar… including a Yeti Ultimate frame which was never seen again… makes me cry just thinking about it.

I mark the start of winter as the first day I crash on an icy road. I can announce that winter has begun in Greater Manchester 😐

35 dollars and a six-pack to my name! SIX PACK!!

Haterz gonna hate – now with all pink hoses and gear cable 8)

Mellor Cross on the way to work…

Top of Jacobs, correct way round.

Hit The North aftermath

Often ride this area – you’re very close to Reddish Vale which is the way out into the hills.

This was a recent ride to work from Whaley Bridge (home) to Manchester, via Roman Lakes/Mellor Cross:

https://www.strava.com/activities/967189618

You could copy the Reddish Vale bit in reverse. Add Woodbank Park for more fun.

Been there a few times.
I think the problem occurs when the commute becomes your maximum distance and effort. It just grinds you down. I found that if I actually did a longer and harder ride, and took it very easy on commuting rides, the problem was somewhat alleviated.

You say you don’t want it
You don’t want it
Say you don’t want it

Then you slip it on in

I’ve done 3685.5 miles on my carbon framed Rocky Mountain, in some utterly filthy conditions, through 4 Norwegian winters and one back in the UK. I’ve changed the press-fit bb bearings once. Outlived any other I’ve had.

My Supersix road bike with carbon pf bb has done 5183.7 miles with no bearing change…

Guess I was just lucky and/or ride like a fairy.

Always dreamed of having a Yo Eddy… but that new version is extortionate for what is a basic steel frame. That’s what common sense told me when I ordered one anyway… a couple of weeks to go 🙂

Well, firstly, doing it ‘cos you love it is a great start.

I did the same, and a BSc led to a PhD and a postdoc..

I worked for 5 years in the oil industry in Norway and have been a lecturer at Manchester for the last year (sedimentology).

Geophysics clearly has a wide range of applications in a wide range of industries. Our grads are having a hard time getting into O&G but it seems like there are a lot more jobs in environmental fields (remediation, building etc). That said, the best students, no matter what age, make it through. If your passion is transformed to grades then it can work.

Good luck!

I love it 99% of the time – only drawback is that if you’re in the larger sprockets and need to backpedal, for example, to ride a step on a climb, or if you put your foot down and need to get the crank level to set off again, the chain will jump down the cassette. I ride XT 1×11.

My current bike, a Rocky Mountain Vertex CF hardtail is the best bike I have ever owned, I absolutely love it.

But I just ordered a Fat Chance Yo Eddy steel frame which cost more than the entire Rocky bike together. I know it won’t be better, it’ll certainly be heavier, but I just really really REALLY like it and have wanted one for 25 years.

I used to live in Oslo and I use to love taking the tram (t-bane) up to the top of the Tryvann (for skiing/walking/or lazy mountain biking). Get off at Holmenkollen to see the big ski jump and enjoy great views over Oslo (night or day), and/or continue to the top at Frognerseteret and enjoy a walk in the woods with great views again.

https://ruter.no/en/

T-bane from the central station to Frognerseteren [T-bane] (Oslo).

Also, the centre is nice just to wander round. Lots of good bars etc.

IHN – Member
Two words; Whaley Bridge

I rented in Whaley to assess feasability of commute into Manchester (Uni). It takes:
55 mins – road bike not pushing it
1h30 mins – mtb halfway (canal/chadkirk woods/woodbank/Reddish Vale) then road
2h 30 mins – mtb all the way, as above but onto Mersey and canal into centre
1h 10 mins – train, door to door.
50 mins minimum by car, and more like double that in rush hour.

I just bought a house there though 🙂

I’d try anywhere on the Buxton train line, e.g., Hazel Grove, or as above Marple. Lots of great riding.

Pretty much 24/7 for me, but I’m an academic and (mostly) love my job. Obviously apart from the endless admin and moaning students.

A solid 5 for me.

I wasn’t interested in grammar at school. I’m still not!

After a few years working in bike shops I did manage to complete a PhD, a post-doc, work in a major international research lab, edit scientific journals, and now work as a uni lecturer 🙂

It’s all bollocks!

(waits to be shot-down for terrible grammar)

Anyone seen the latest OS Dark Peak map with the mtb’er on the front, riding towards Hollins Cross? That’s my dad, he didn’t know about it. He doesn’t mind but out of interest I read about using someone’s image and apparently it’s ok if they can’t be recognized. Of course, I recognized him straight away. Green on-one, alfine….

Used to live near to a nice takeaway called Roti Boti in Levenshulme…..

Used to suffer completely debilitating migraines until one day I got one after drinking Pepsi max. It was so bad I had to lie on the floor ( at work). Stopped drinking any diet coke or other diet drinks and went from 10 years of migraines to not a single migraine in 15 years…. Don’t know why it took me so long to make the link.

As a former post-doc in earth & environment at Leeds, I feel qualified to answer 😉

I lived in Otley. Probably one of the best places to live, ever. I could ride Singletrack straight from the uni and nearly all the way home although usually I took the fixed road bike in. Riding from the door, stainburnnearby, and proper riding out over Blubberhouses and Skipton way. Pubs and fish n chip shops galore. Market, butchers etc etc.

I miss it and would move back if I could. Now I’m in Norway and planning a move back to academia (Manchester….)

Good effort, always satisfying. Last time I was riding in the UK I took a last minute diversion as I just couldn’t face Winnats, but quite pleased with the Mam Tor KOM on a muddy cross bike 😯

https://www.strava.com/segments/1353976

I know, it’s not real racing.

I’m a geologist too, so I know you need a Rocky. Mountain Vertex 950 or 990. Amazing bike, I took mine to a race series victory here in Norway but also plenty of big mountain rides. Plenty of reviews on the web but I am unsure of uk availability.

Never ridden a Venge, but have a SuperSix and of all the bikes I’ve owned it has to be the one I’ve loved the most. Feels great on really long rides in the mountains on rough roads, stiff and light enough for hill climb races, lively but stable and confidence inspiring on big descents. I just love it. In fact, I’m about to leave work early for a quick 120 km ride around the fjords and hills of Bergen.

But the Venge could be better, I just don’t know 😉

Not willy waving, just answering the OP, did the loop opposite way, plus the Shooting Cabin section and ride to /from My parents house in Birch Vale in 2.22. The ride up Jacob’s is a lot tougher than it was, especially the lower section which I can no longer ride. I miss the Peak District 🙁

We have to use metric inches when working in the US…. Ten of those to a foot… Makes perfect sense 😐

RaceFake 👿

A round of golf involves visiting all of the holes on a golf course, this suggests that a round of toast involves visiting all of the holes in a toaster, which is generally 2, but may be more. Or it may mean that a round of toast = 18 slices of bread.

Yeti: turquoise

Here’s my tip, don’t think it’s been covered above:
If the commute is the maximum distance you are riding, things just won’t get a lot better. You’ll wear yourself out. Start with a few days a week but do some longer/ harder rides too, so that you’ll get stronger and filter on the bike and can take it easier on the commute. You could even add some intervals to your commute. That’s been my experience of similar length commutes over the last 17 years or so and it makes a big difference for me.

To descend on rough terrain with flats you need to lower your seat IMO, otherwise you end up bouncing around on your bits. I used to used flats all the time for bmx, slalom, jumping etc, but for Xc and ‘normal riding’ it’s spds every time.

I’ve clearly got mental issues because I’ve been laughing for hours about the “banana in case it’s windy” comment 😀

All this talk of calipers being fine in the wet is BS if you ride in real hills/mountains. They don’t work well at all on big descents in foul weather.

Sounds good Mikey – 100 days of fieldwork! That’s why I did geology, or one of the reasons anyway 😀

Cummingtonite – a metamorphic mineral beloved by geology students.

I cant tell if the people correcting thing’s dont get the joke or if their been serious???

I usually fill my jersey back pocket with dried apricots, and take two bottles of water with sugar and a little bit of salt… Mmmmm. Eat one or two apricots every 20 mins or so. There’s usually nowhere to buy stuff where I live (Norway) so I have to refill from streams/waterfalls. Not been ill yet 😀

I’ve lost all interest. Despite being a mountain bike mechanic for too many years and riding 24 years (wtf), this I is how far it’s gone: the other week bought a new cassette for my Stumpjumper, only to discover it was 10 spd not 9! I also told a mate that my Cannondale SuperX had an Ultegra groupset. it has SRAM… Still ride everyday and love it as much as ever, just don’t care about that stuff 🙂

At 13 cycling from Stockport to Chester, riding round some of the wall, then riding home. No lunch, no food on the way back, and when I got in, had to go out and do my paper-round, which was 6 miles in the afternoon.

And, no joke, my paper-round was 10 miles in the morning, before school and everyday. Explains my successful juvenile and junior cycling career 🙂

I use it to track progress and in competition with mates, for fun. In fact the most hotly contested segments are on the work commute… For fun.
What is very useful though is the explore function. I live in a place I don’t know so well, with pretty poor maps (for cycling) and little or no published routes (Bergen, Norway), so I use it to look for new routes and get time estimates for longer rides.
You could also check out who that fit girl is that you keep passing, if you’re a weirdo stalker 😉

Why not look at a site like Earthworks and see where the jobs are? Most office-based geoscience jobs will probably require an MSc at least. As above, Aberdeen is central to most production related geoscience jobs but there’s a lot of exploration jobs I down south (bg, bp, exxonmobil etc), Cairn in Edinburgh looks good, and various consultancy companies like the Robertson’s linked above, such as Getech in Leeds, Badley Ashton in Horncastle. Also plenty of British folk in Norway (like me!)