43 miles in, 4 miles back (train assisted) when I do go in to our London office, which I’m planning to do tomorrow

I had some quite “unusual” meniscus damage. Walked out of hospital same day, signed off for 3 weeks. First week was mostly feet up (while the TdF was in the mountains, so that was okay). After two weeks I felt pretty much fine. Cycled again after about a month, just towpaths.

Knee was never 100% the same again, mind, but it’s doing really good now. A bit of singlespeeding and road riding seems to do it good – the former builds supporting muscles, the latter improved my pedalling no end.

The Chilterns

Just get one. They’re great.

I went into Product Management from a similar role to yours. Didn’t fancy sales at all.

Orange are making alloy “Clockworks”? Blimey. That’s as bad as when Airborne started making a Ti Black Widow. It’s no coincidence* that the company didn’t last much beyond that.

*It’s entirely a coincidence

Loads and loads of Giordana stuff is half price. Absolute bargain, just got some overshoes.

I’d be wary of the battery in a second hand iPhone. They’re not easily replaced, and if it’s pretty toasted, that’ll be a pain

R: Tape Loading Error

Isn’t this just basically gambling on a zero sum game?

There’s a lot in common between the advertising and branding of energy drinks, and the equivalent for tobacco a decade or two ago

Works really good in Chiltern clag

I miss IRC Mud Mads

Really good takedown on the documentary is here:

http://aseasyasridingabike.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/that-war-on-britains-roads-the-statistics/

It’s basically up there with the very best in the world, and it’s a few hundred quid. That doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.

Best hotels in the world = £1000s per night
Hire the best car in the world for a day? Circa £20k to hire a Veyron.
Even the best tickets for the biggest sporting events, thousands of pounds.

By contrast, eat at one of the very best restaurants in the world… £200 plus service. Bit of a bargain in comparison.

Swings and roundabouts

(The beginning of Do Nothing sounds rough as arseholes)

Laiseka riding solo up Luz Ardiden with about a million screaming Basques on the mountain. Real emotion.

But cyclocross isn’t road biking

That three peaks article is ace. And it’s about proper nails off road cycling for seriously tough people, including some like Nick Craig who is pretty damn handy at both MTB and CX.

My mountain bike is a cyclocross bike. I’m confused, should I be angry or pleased?

Edit: (or what the Doctor said seconds beforehand)

My father was in a shelter at school which suffered a direct hit from a bomb. He’d been machine-gunned at by the plane running to the shelter too (again a single plane raid). You weren’t supposed to survive a direct hit but he managed to get out. He still does talks to kids at local schools on it.

Was that Reading?

Mazda Bongo?

I always wonder why they don’t get so GARRRRRRGH angry every time they have to stop to go round a parked car.

(but that’s different to broad-brush banning of riders from parts of forests all year round)

As mountain bikers (and hence presumably lovers of the outdoors) we shouldn’t be complaining about seasonal restrictions for stuff like ground-nesting birds. It’s not like there isn’t plenty of other riding to be had around the Thames Valley.

He’s a troll, just not a very good one

You’re talking about him here, therefore he’s doing okay

I have a massive head (when I was a kid we even had to get my bloody sea scout hat specially ordered) but I can fit comfortably into Giro Hex lids and still dial in the adjuster a bit

Not sure I like that. I’d like the lines to be wider in case drivers use them as a nearside wheel alignment marker. Too close.

Stand up, your voice projects better when you are standing

I’ve heard that one but I don’t like it. I think you’re better off comfy

The comments are hilarious!

You reading the article = Daily Mail’s business model.

Those air ambulance folks are awesome pilots. Saw the Thames Valley Ambulance land between two of the full rows of parked cars in one of the office car parks out at Green Park in Reading.

The paramedic muttered “bastard” as he walked away from the helicopter, looking at the van roofs not too far from the rotors.

We also know what determines average wages in a country: average productivity of labour.

Haha, that’s a beautiful leap of logic

I’m guessing it was one of the US carriers? United?

Information sign and road markings plus a TRO for pedal cycles on the bypass.

You sort of had me until this bit

but he makes a basic error here. If you indicate, it doesn’t give you right of way to move out. He keeps saying he indicated then moved out.

Not agreeing with you on this one. When he started the manouvre the van was behind the car behind!

I’d suggest that this audience of mountain bikers will be a pretty self-selecting audience of competent trail fixers/bodgers. Whether you’d have the same answers from a more casual, commute-only cyclist, I don’t know. Doubt it though… most bike shops seem to do a good trade in fixing basic punctures.

Another vote for XTR here, with (very) occasional maintenance. I run them full length to my Avid disks.

Ah, but you can on STW

Indeed. How many of the people so wise about multicultural communities actually live in one?

You can’t take one demographic map from one town and say that it proves multiculturalism results in polarised/”ghettoised” communities (that second word is an awful one to be using in a discussion like this anyway, by the way).

My bit of Reading is thoroughly multicultural and it works just fine, thanks.

This thread prompted me to write a blog about Strava, from my Singletrack-IT-Middle-Manager point of view, in case you’re interested:

The Phenomenal Success of Strava[/url]