End of a long muddy January ride in the Surrey Hills – descending quickly on the rough concrete road in Denbies vineyard to the car – onto the grass verge to avoid a family – didn’t realise there was a large lip to get back onto the road (covered in grass) – over the bars onto the concrete at around 30mph. Think I landed on my head – helmet was in two pieces – and slid for ever. Ambulance and back brace, two large pieces of concrete in my hand (one of which came out 3 months later after an operation) and most of my left side shredded.

I felt like crap for weeks but on the upside ended up with some impressive scars (reference to the earlier “Chicks dig scars” thread).

Very nice (for a 29er anyway!) – enjoy. I love my Soul.

Supposed to be racing at Black Park but I got over-enthusiastic trying to get my fitness together and buggered my Achilles. So I’m instead reading your post enviously and confusing myself with IS / Post Mount brake brackets and square taper sizes.

Lesson: Don’t try and beat the fast ones.

Hmmm. I wrote”ring” but meant cranks – Middleburn 175mm cranks with a single ring.

Thanks

Have the opposite problem – just cannot get the PO / Parcelfarce or couriers to leave it on the porch depite having parcels marked up with an instruction. It then goes back to depot before I can trudge off the the depot which is open briefly at weekends. Almost had to give up with ordering via the internet for this reason. I think we should swap drivers!

SteveAgileIfGoppingRideGeometry?

mcmoonter, you do appear to live in Paradise…..

I’m on the lookout for some forks and was eyeing up some coil Sektors – I guess to get the weight below 2Kg I should be looking at air forks, then?

Good luck Paul and best wishes to him

Great pics – Happy Birthday!

Can I just point out that for at least 10 months of the year where I live that the mud is sufficient to allow a maximum speed of approx 4 mph only? If you’re that concerned, maybe move to a mudfest part of the country.

Oh and in answer to your question, I reckon when things do suddenly go pear-shaped at speed I can unclip and fall off in less than a nanosecond.

Does that help?

Generally ride on my own. Partly as I need my “own time”, partly due to generally grabbing some riding time when I can which tends to be unpredictable and spontaneous and with mates living a way away, makes group riding almost impossible.

I don’t ride with otters at all, though.

The wheel sizing of their bike is definitely odd.

Has he got a stottie?

It’s hard to offer advice or motivation as I’ve never suffered the lack of drive to ride or sheer excitement to just get on a bike. I really do love it and can’t put myself in your shoes – but each to their own of course. I really hope you get it back, but I suppose don’t force it.

On the other hand, the age thing has worried me hugely – mid-forties now and certainly did consider myself over the hill and have been worried about having to make myself stop soon (any fitness has gone and injuries pile up, my work colleagues think I’m waaay too old to be messing around giggling like a kid in mud on a bike), but the thread resurrected recently on the subject humbled me on that one. I now hope to just quietly keep going and hope no-one notices….!!

Excellent thread, thanks OP. Smashing bike too – well done.

Just a thought. If you need any help in the research, do please let me know.

Probably the hardest deciswion to make for a wedding day.

For the northern one my vote would go with Timothy Taylors (tried to get that for mine but failed), but the Kelham Island ones are good too. Not tried the Abbeydale stuff…..hmmmmm

Whatever you go for, remember to drink a lot of it.

SilentSparky – emailed you.

Cheers

If you go Land Rover, I have a Mark II with good gearbox / engine but chassis has had it in the South-East. Good for parts and I just haven’t quite been able to bring myself to scrap her.

I never seem to get enough sleep. I can usually just go straight off anywhere – I use my commute as a good opportunity, but on the days when some blasted gasbag sits next to me I do really feel tired for the rest of the day. 7.5-8 hours max is all I can usually squeeze in, but if left to my own devices will happily go on for up to 12 hours. If less than 7 hours, I am a confused stumbling bad-tempered automaton.

I also inherited from my grandfather a remarkable ability to wake up pretty much to the minute when I want without an alarm – and tell the time without looking at a watch pretty much to the minute as well. A great trick! Don’t know how all that fits in with the 90 minute cycle thing, though.

I have no other talents whatsoever.

That’s the one. The icy ruts were interesting, weren’t they?

Priceless. Thanks!

Double post

oooh there’s another one from the 1980’s I think that used to be played all the time; it was a duet between a bloke and a woman (possibly Janet Jackson) that just went on and on and on in a seemingly endless repeat and before the 10 millionth repeat of the chorus, he said “Let’s tell them one more time, Janet” …..aaaaghhhhh!

Just thinking of it now makes me want to throw something, in an admittedly somewhat irrational manner. It was just smug and saccharine and fake!

And breathe……

Mine is clevererer. A boiler that is kept boiling by electric elements that are powered by a steam turbine driven by the boiler.

I’m just thinking where to get an endless supply of water from and where magnets fit in to all this. But once I’ve worked out those details, my world-beating device is ready to go.

Do I win £5?

Thanks, TheArtistetc

That bloke a few years back who just kept saying “One Time” – can’t remember the song but it was deeply annoying.

All of “I just called to say…”

For me:

Hope – hubs and brakes
Mechs and shifters – SRAM
Forks – Rockshox

Sticking to the above (for me) keeps maintenance simple. I like the “feel” of them too.

Shimano cranks (usually) and SPDs

I like the Thomson stems and seatposts etc but that’s a case of what I can afford. Have been using Maxxis tyres recently and have been impressed.

GG – The boxers I bought from a well-known High Street department shop a short while ago aren’t very tough – they’ve got holes in already. And I’ve never taken them running. They’re turning soft.

Bus Pants??

Yes it does, not sure if I have properly worked out how to fit the “bra” yet as the first time I wore suggested that I was averaging 185bpm(!), whereas the second time which was a harder pace it was only 160.

I’ve always loved running but haven’t had the time for years plus ankle surgery in 2011 took me away from it (and my bike). I have just tried to force the issue though a bit by trying to find one lunchtime a week to run in; I love it and it not only makes a massive difference in the afternoon with concentration and work output, but makes me feel much happier and I am sure that I am stronger on the bike – more resilience on the long hard climbs, less collapsing in a wheezy heap.

I got carried away and bought a GPS watch thing. I do find the pressure to keep improving pace etc quite hard, esepcially when I’ve missed a week. I wore it at the weekend on my bike and was surprised to find that bike speed is not much more than running speed!

Not been running long (only a few weeks) and so am slow (especially compared to the bloke I run with, I’m sure he could do a sub-2 hour marathon and still chat to everyone!) and only doing short distances, but really enjoy it.

I’m with TJ on this with Leonard Cheshire

I am sliding down the slippery and somewhat expensive slope of trying more and more mature whiskies. Nothing like a good full-bodied 16 year-old.

I would love to try a Port Ellen one day……

“Do these “100 push-up” doo-dah’s actually work?”

It’s the only way that we chaps can get to actually speak to girls…. 😉

A truly brilliant thread – thanks guys. Much better than the dreary “My car is faster than yours” ones. Any more turbine (or compressor)-based gems to share?

Sue, if you call that a whinge, hats off to you. You’re clearly made of strong stuff what with all that happening in such a short space of time – and I’ve never met you but – as pointed out above – on here you’re always decency and kindness personified and you must be the same in real life.

Bad things do seem to have habit of knocking around with their mates and all coming together, that’s because they’re cowards really and you can beat them standing up to them.

Tails put it better than I can above so I won’t repeat it, but all the very best.

Good luck, Jedi. Schwable tyres have been good for sealing in my experience.

I spent yesterday trying to get a new-ish (but used) Advantage to seal – converting to tubeless. Would the beads go anywhere near the edge? Not a chance. So it looks like try a new tyre (expensive) or carry on with tubes (thorns!!).

Bunnyhop
“IME you never meet someone (mr/s right) while looking.”

Absolutely true, but I have never been able to work out how that works or why. IME all the time you are looking you tend to be treated with a big “avoid” sticker, almost the day that you give up you suddenly meet someone. Well it happened for me.

OP – you do come across as a bit patronising – leave her to her life.

The only one I can still come up with was getting herself booted out in 1990 (mind you, she got her revenge by wishing John Major on us).