If you want a day out with the kids Parc Paradisio is really good. Live bird of prey display and a real live bat cave. Plu it's round the corner from my in-laws.

Karinofnine – you would have a reasonable excuse!!! Honestly people it's not that difficult ;)

Talkemada I know you weren't having a dig at the police in that instance. I just think people often mistake media hysteria for reality, as evidenced by some of the comments in this post. The legislation hasn't changed at all, the only thing that might have changed are the sentencing recommendations and that is a matter entirely for the courts.

Burls72 I'm not entirely sure what stats you are talking about. As they are statistics I would be inherently wary of taking any notice of them whatsoever. All criminal cases are heard at the magistrates court in the first instance. It's just that if the sentencing options open to the Magistrates are insufficient it then get's heard at the trial stage at Crown court.

Conviction rates depend on a huge number of things and has very little to do with which particular court it's heard at. I would suggest that the most frequent cases heard at a Magistrates court relate to road traffic offences, most of which aren't criminal convictions and aren't exactly comparable. So in short … no idea what you are on about. Sorry.

Burls72 you can only get a caution if it meets fairly strict criteria such as sufficient evidence, admitting the offence in question in interview, having no relevant previous convictions and if it's authorised by a senior officer. Most minor offences still require CPS charging authority to go to any court and this only happens if there is sufficient evidence to give a realistic prospect of conviction.

And Talkemada which new bit of knee jerk legislation are you talking about? The Criminal Justice Act is over 22 years old?

Talkemada you really have a massive downer on authority figures don't you!? Police officers are encouraged to use discretion when dealing with people. Not all of them do it as well as they should I agree, but that's life unfortunately.

The law around points & blades or offensive weapons is getting a little mixed up here and does sound confusing. But it really isn't that bad. You can't really get a proper understanding of the law by reading it without case law as it all depends on the courts interpretation of the legislation.

The only bit you really need to worry about is the without good reason. If you have a multi-tool with you when you are riding, in your car, in the garden or whatever then you have a good reason to have it. If you are going to the pub and getting pissed you might struggle to explain it.

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. A proper war story.

If that was three foot high I should go for a career in adult entertainment.

Just out of interest what do you classify as a technical feature? I'm guessing drop-offs, rock gardens and a huge slab of rock don't count?

Not comparable in any way whatsoever. There is nothing on the black route that is even vaguely tricksy. When I did the black it was just cut up, repetetive and dull. The red is more flowing, but all the best stuff I've done there has been natural and found accidentally.

The chute is a lot easier than you think. The rest of McMoab is much more difficult technique wise. You should give it a go.

Safe now?

Yes, she's lovely.

The NHS hates dealing with these situations. Unfortunately if someone is so drunk they can't stand then there is every opportunity they will choke to death on their own vomi.t The police would call an ambulance in that scenario.

As an aside it's very easy to mistake someone who is on the verge of lapsing in to a diabetic coma as being drunk. It's happened to me before, woman tried to slap me in the face, mumbled some obscenities then fell over and couldn't get up. Luckily I recognised she wasn't pissed and got her a can of fizzy pop. Poor lady was so upset when she started coming round.

I went last summer wiv da missus. I was on a 120mm Marin and she was riding a 100mm travel Santa Cruz. All the XC stuff was easily done and I did most of the DH runs as well. As has been said already it's only tyres and brakes you need to worry about.

The only poblem we had was that the weather was awful and all the mountains were ugly.

Did this happen in Scotland or England/Wales? If it's the latter then he's committed a public order offence. As previously stated you're unlikely to be able to prosecute for any driving offences based on your word alone without any independent evidence.

Now will that be all melty by next weekend? Where is Michael Fish when you need him?

If you are going to a half decent site they will have anti-fog lenses, they should also be on compressed air and not CO2 as it freezes up in the colder months.

As above make sure you have some full finger gloves and a beanie hat helps take the sting out. Other than that just wear some thick trousers and a thick top. You will get hot running around in too much clobber. Any body armour just means every ball that hits you will break and you'll spend more time sitting and watching.

Try the people's elbow.

I've ridden both. Zesty was much nicer in my opinion. Plus it'll handle something a bit tougher if you decided to venture to the Alps for example.

Uplink – yeah that's exactly what I'm suggesting. From now on, no individual is allowed to post about anything they haven't directly witnessed with their own eyes. If you do I'm going to hunt you down and whack you on the thigh with a big baton.

Amazing how many people on this thread are talking about stuff they have very little experience of and based on a very limited understanding of the circumstances involved. Some of the people commenting here weren't present. Some of you who are talking authoritatively on the behaviour of the British police don't even live in the U.K! anagallis_arvensis you honestly believe that protestors turning up armed with the intention of hurting officers is irrelevant in this case? Just crazy.

I was at G20 and it is not as simple as big nasty man hits small innocent girl. It is true that certain officers go over the top and use excessive force on occassion and it's deplorable. In my experience the majority of the times this has happened the individual officers have been disciplined or charged with an offence. On the flip side I personally know a female officer who is 5ft2 who was throttled round the neck so hard by a lovely cuddly protestor at G20 that she almost passed out, had to have hospital treatment and take weeks off work. That never gets reported though does it? I would be interested to see if the perspective of some of the more vocal anti-police posters here would change if they were placed in the position of some of the officers that day.

Re Kettling – I agree with some of the comments on here around Kettling. I don't think the tactic is particularly conducive to maintaining good relations between police and protestors. At G20 I think this tactic was used too quickly and this contributed to some of the violence seen on both sides of the fence.

Ahem … you were the one that specifically mentioned that police recruits should have an A level in Law!!! You clearly suggested that all police recruits should have acheived some kind of academic qulaification. Training is education, of course it is. But it happens after selection, not before. It's not as simple as linking recruitment to educational acheivement. That's all I'm saying.

Just to throw my 2 pence worth in. That woman had previously thrown items at police officers and spat on them as well. In addition she was part of a larger crowd conveniently situated behind the camera. I've been hit with an asp and I came out in a much bigger bruise than she did. The other thing I would add is that numerous protestors at G20 came with masks and weapons specifically for the purpose of fighting officers and trying to injure them, including rocks, spark plugs and glass bottles full of piss. Violent protest is never nice and unpleasant things happen on both sides of the fence. Suggesting that all the police do is go around whacking perfectly innocent little ladies is ignorance of the highest order.

Think this thread is straying off the point slightly. But anyhow …

Talkemada – I don't think you are quite getting it. There is no need for police officers to have any significant educational qualifications. I would suggest that your understanding of criminal Law, including the various ins and outs of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act might not be up to the standards you suggest. I can name plenty of occassions where I have dealt with solicitors/lawyers who have suggested my knowledge of the law is wrong. On each occassion they demonstrated a quite staggeringly poor understanding of the area of Law in question. I would suggest that this is a phenomena whereby most people who have done something silly believe that they are always right, or change their interpretation of events to suit their own needs. Some might call it cognitive dissonance. The most fundamental skills you need as an officer are common sense, an ability to make sound decisions under sometimes extreme pressure, and a thick skin. If anything needs to be improved it is the quality of initial training, although this is still a period of 32 weeks with a 2 year probation. However money and willing volunteers to train new staff are not terribly forthcoming. This is coming from someone with a good degree from a good university.

Getting back to the original point. Onzadog – I've worked for the police for a number of years and have done quite a few different things. I've worked in specialist units in uniform and as a detective dealing with everything from murder, terrorism and gunrunners through to shoplifters and pickpockets. I've enjoyed almost every second of it. The variety of jobs you can turn your hand to are mind boggling. Don't listen to the whinging. Lot's of officers moan about the job and how managers and the public are horrible, yet they still manage to do 30 years!!!

If the frame is no good for you then sell it and buy one that is suitable! No point trying to bodge it and end up spending even more cash on it. I'm over 14 stone with all my kit but I'm 6ft1 which makes it much easier in terms of bike choice.

I'd like to know too. Look like really nice bikes. Can't see anywhere to get hold of one here though?

Way back when in the dark and distant past I used to work for Field & Trek at a few of their stores, as well as a technical advisor for the Buying Dept and customer enquiries at Head Office (when it was still in Brentwood). I went in to one of the stores a little while back and it was really nasty. Loads of crap clothing mixed in with some average stuff from bigger brands like Berghaus. The only plus side was that they were selling off loads of quality old stock at stupid prices. I got a couple of pairs of smart wool riding socks for £3 a pair! The best place to go is Snow & Rock but they are pricey.

I think those people are more commonly known as idiots.

Right this is getting right on my boobies. Why is it people insist on quoting stuff they heard in the pub as law. The police do NOT need a warrant to search someone in a public place prior to arrest. They need reasonable grounds to suspect you may be carrying something illegal depending on the legislation in question. For example S.1 Police & Criminal Evidence Act gives police the power to search for stolen items, items used for going equipped to steal or cheat (fraud related stuff like blank phone cards or lebanese loops), items used to commit criminal damage or for offensive weapons including knives. There is also legislation conveying powers of search for firearms, drugs and terrorist materials. There is NO such thing as a voluntary police search of an individual.

In my direct experience the CPS are INCREDIBLY unlikely to prosecute a mountain biker who has a leatherman in his pack as long as they give a valid reason for having it. For example cutting down inner tubes etc. Any totally innocent campers or tradesmen who have taken a police caution for posession of a lockable blade are likely to have been doing something they shouldnt have with it, recieved very poor legal advice, or said something silly during the interview. The courts, police and caselaw tends to take a farily sensible view of the law in my experience. Whatever the Daily Mail or Internet might have you believe.

Good lord the legal debates on this site worry me. Any knife which doesn't have a folding blade less than 3 inches in length is prohibited. The legislation in terms of a made, intended or used offensive weapon is irrelevant as a leatherman would be prohibited under the points and blades legislation quoted above. If you have a reasonable excuse for posession of the knife you are VERY unlikely to get arrested and even less likely to be charged with any offence. A reasonable excuse would include fixing your bike. However you might be better off buying a pen knife if you are that worried about it.

Hate to burst the price inflation bubble but the F120 R QR15's are going for £289 new at JE James and £299 at CRC. Not sure a lockout justifies £300 second hand. I sold a set of F120 RL QR's for about £250 last year.

I've had loads of problems with the 2.1s I had on the rear. Sidewalls are made out of tissue paper. I'm running 2.25s front and rear now and they are great.

Oh and if you are deemed 'incapable' it is actually illegal to be drunk in a public place. But you're only likely to get taken to hospital not the nick.

Evidence of the officer and/or FME that a person is drunk is sufficient to prove the offence so all this pap about refusing breath tests and urine samples is a waste of time. If you are pissed on the back of a tandem you are still riding the bike so it would be no different to the person at the front. I doubt very much that most officers would do anything other than tell you to walk unless you had done something very dangerous and/or stupid.

Actually it was these I had put on I think – Falken FK452

I've just put a set of lesser known brand tyres on my Seat Leon, same engine and chassis etc as your car. Had a set of Continental Sportcontacts and Pirelli P7's (I think) before that. I have to say it hasn't really a huge difference, certainly not enough to justify the price hike from big brand names. I don't tend to throw my car around too much as I get to do that at work. The lesser known brand were recommended to me by a mechanic/weekend racer friend but I can't remember the name I'm afraid. Try and check some of the reviews or get a recommendation from someone as there are some truly shocking cheap brand tyres.

One of the most common point of compromise is at an ATM machine as it's the easiest place to capture the pin and card details. These can be copied to a phone top up card for example and used to withdraw cash as ATMs still rely on the magnetic strip. In this instance it's much more likely to be an employee or compromised hardware at the store or from somewhere else entirely at some point in the past. If the card has been compromised the banks will refund the money 99.9% of the time wether it's a debit or credit card. This is the reason the crime reporting rules changed, as it's their money they are the aggrieved party.

From memory I think Specialized are quite narrow. I've always had Giro but I've got a Uvex which is really nice and a bit narrower.

At the risk of actually providing some useful information – I've been to the Alps (not Ventoux) by car loads of times. The best way to do the crossing is on the Eurotunnel at Folkestone as it's MUCH quicker and less hassle. Payage roads are much quicker and easier but will cost you about 100 Euro each way at least.

Why not a set of Pro 2's? If only for Hope customer service.