I have never watched a women’s road race before. I was happy to ignore the commentary, as I thought it was an incredibly interesting race.

Brilliant that Lizzie won a medal, but the star of the race for me was Emma Pooley, wow can she ride.

This is the Fat Lad.

Not exactly a pet, but without a doubt a member of the family.

Oh Dear!

Mansell promoting his interests, GF promoting TREK, terrible setting, the only saving grace was Obree, who just makes me laugh.

I lasted just under 20 minutes.

Fingers crossed for next week, if it’s the same again, then I’m out.

I’m glad I’m not the only one to think that the honours system for athletes is bizarre. We have some top medal winners in other sports, archery and shooting to name two, and they never get a mention.

I have concluded that in order to get honours, you need to win gold medals AND get the press on your side.

Always heart lifting to see a little cynicism added to a positive thread. Were you one of the press pack the first day Bradley took the yellow jersey? I think his comments said it all really.

Stage winner, each jersey winner and random sample of riders are dope tested every day…nuff sed.

I don’t think W-s-M is any more a mecca for drug addicts than anywhere else. Go to the wrong part of anywhere and you will find drunks and druggies.

I’m loving the hate post about Weston.

I have been here for over 30 years and Weston certainly has it’s less ‘attractive’ areas, but given all the newer housing in Worle, Locking, Wick St Lawrence, you could quite happily live here as long as I have, and never even see those areas.

As for the town centre… never go there myself, nor the sea front in the middle of the summer. Yes the town fills up with visitors in the summer, it is bound to happen as Weston is a sea side town!

I like Weston, as much as I ‘like’ any town. It is very convenient for the M5, there is an active club or two, riding in Worlebury and Hutton is on the doorstep and Bristol, or the Mendips are within half an hour, with the Blackdown Hills, Quantocks and Exmoor just a little further. The FoD is within striking distance too.

There has, without a doubt, been a change in attitude from many drivers towards other road users over the last few years. There have always been bad, arrogant and downright dangerous drivers, but more recently I have noticed an increase in the competitive nature of many drivers. Just try overtaking a car (on the motorway) on cruise control, and see how many speed up as you are passing them.

As has been said, too many drivers feel far too safe in their tin boxes, add to that the fact they see cyclists, motorbikers, horse riders, walkers as somehow not human, but just an object. I have had people actively try to knock me off my motorbike, drive straight at me on my horse (a bad idea, as we are both too big to frighten that easily), try to block me on my bike, or worse charge straight at me in an attempt to get to a junction before I do.

These days I just shrug it off, and ride with a tiny video camera on my helmet at all times.

I have a slightly different take on the original question. I think what they are saying is not ‘should cyclists be on the road?’ But ‘is it safe for cyclists on the road?’ which, quite often it is not.

I agree that the comments under the thread are pretty shocking and moronic, but as someone who covers over 35,000 business miles a year (which I have done for over 20 years), rides bikes and rides horses, they are nothing more than I would expect from people who seem to think they are hermetically sealed into some form assault vehicle when they use the roads. It’s not just cyclists who they hate, it’s everyone. The most worrying drivers I come across are not young, but old, some of the closest scrapes I have had on both bike and horse have been with impatient old men and older folk who’s sight has deteriorated to the point where they cannot see you until they are within five yards of a collision.

Oh and my pet hate comment “you don’t pay road tax, so you shouldn’t be on the road”.

Another watcher.

My dad worked with Anthony (Tony) De’ath, and I used to have a guy called Des Lillycrap and a client, used to know John (Johnny) Fiddler and an old work colleague was adamant he went to school with Nesta Crows.

Not seeing a bike on the trail does not really mean that much, given the diversity of the sport. I was in the Forest of Dean the other day and almost every bike I saw was a Specialized. Does that mean they are the greatest MTB’s out there? No, it means we have a huge number of Specialized dealers around here.

I think I will have to take a trip over to Cardiff, as there is a Corrtec dealer over there, so at least I’ll get the chance to have a good look.

Hmmm, not a fan then alpin!

It’s the look that attracts me, I guess that makes me ‘speshul’, but having spent more years than I care to remember with conventional bikes, I thought something like the Bow might just be a bit of fun.

I have only just bumped into the Bow, after a false start with the Gary Fisher Sawyer, which is way too heavy for my taste.

Like many others, I know nothing about Corratec or the Bow series bikes. What are they like to ride? How well do they last? Are there any particular weaknesses?

I rode in the Forest quite recently on a retro ride. We started at the cycle centre at Peddleabikeaway and headed onto the Verderers trail for a short while, and then went off exploring.

We had a really excellent couple of hours and only saw one other bike and two dog walkers the whole time.

I can put you in touch with our guide for the day and I’m sure dan has a few contact too.

Great place to ride and very hard to get completely lost, as there are trails and road all over.