I can’t manual or wheelie, but Jedi did a pretty good job at getting me to do jumps anyway!

I think they are skills that look great, and are given as a sort of entry criteria for being properly skilled!

I took a step from SLT to middle management in a school this last September, and I love it! I think it is about managing my expectations of myself. I have prioritised family life above everything else, so if a work job doesn’t get done because I don’t have time at the weekend, I have stopped worrying about it! If the stress levels go up again, I might move to classroom teacher, as a Science graduate it is not like there aren’t quite a few jobs out there despite what the govt would insist!

I was out tonight…it was a little bit slippy! Rocket Rons and wet chalk aren’t a great combo!

Bird Zero TR? I am seriously considering one for exactly the same reasons, I also want to do a bit of XC on it!

I was listening to a time trial podcast with Hutch and Xav, I think the equipment list went (in order of most important:

Tribars
Skinsuit
Helmet
Front wheel
Rear wheel
frame

But all of those were trumped by position! I have just realised i have owned up to listening to a TT podcast, but it is interesting, and the guys in my club have some super slippy positions sorted. Mine is more like a brick….towing a parachute……dragging a rhino!

We are part of the club so get email updates about courses etc. Not sure what is coming up next, they are usually based around petersfield QECP area. If you do a search for pedal2pedal you can get more info!

My lad started last year (aged5) and loves it!

That eBay one looks v similar but you get the guarantee with Argos!

Weird coincidence I bought one this week! Just an Argos one (think it was the cheapest one they had).

I got it for the same reason I bake my own bread and was going through loaves really quickly due to each slice being very thick! The big advantage is not that it cuts straight, but it cuts a lot thinner than a knife so I get more slices out of a loaf!

Do a search on Argos for meat slicer and you will find the one I got.

My wife would kill me, if I introduced him to the drug that is strava! It won’t be long till he is having to wait at the tops…….and bottoms of trails for his old man!

It was quite a sight seeing all the children happily out of the saddle climbing as I struggled to grind my way up in the saddle 🙂

Just NUTS!

I don’t think I could do even 1 rep of those exercises!

I have a couple of reasons, but none of them have a monetary value so you will probably just write them off

1) Most humans have an intrinsic need to explain why things happen (a result of pattern recognition tendencies I think), this is just explaining one more thing for those whose intellect is capable of asking the question
2) For years the answers were supplied by religions, who had a great benefit that they didn’t require anything as pesky as evidence. However there were a couple of issue with this approach, firstly it didn’t lead to any progress and secondly it gave them a a lot of power they could abuse
3) Science is all about disproving ideas and models. If we didn’t go out and prove that gravity waves either did or didn’t exist then we would essentially have another religion! One where we just have to believe that gravity waves exist because Einstein said so, we have found that this is really not a great way to make progress!
4) Looking for the financial gain from this is a short term capitalist viewpoint. Much better is to work on the idea that as a species we have all taken another proven step to understanding how the universe works.

I use 1*9 on my commuter bike, 13 mile commute each way and I never run out of gears or have an issue.

I am only cycling across the edges of the North Downs so not massively hilly, and as I am commuting speed is not that important 🙂

I run 34 chainring with 12-32 at the back, if I am going downhill and start to spin out (I can only manage a cadence of 110 at a supreme burst!!) then I stop peddling and enjoy the rest!

I was at a conference today with a lot of other school heads of department! The main discussion was the recruitment crisis! Almost every science department had open positions that simply could not be filled! Forget pay scales etc there are simply not enough staff for the jobs required and very few new teachers coming in to replace those who are leaving!

Academies are now so numerous the DfE can’t cope with centralised monitoring of them all. So they are setting up more regional teams that will monitor academies in local areas………..you know almost like what LAs were in place to do, but these are better because ermmmmmm

I have been teaching for 19 years (blimey that has flown by!) and recently went back to being a HOD in a secondary school after being in GFE for a couple of years!
Is it stressful, yes it can be.
Is any day the same, not a chance 😀
Would I want to do anything else, not on your life 😀
Workload expectations can be huge, but for some reason even though I only take home occasionaly and it is one set of work to mark at home max, and I have never worked until 10pm, all of my students do well and my departments do well! I think there are a few too many martyrs in teaching who love to tell the rest of the staffroom how long they are working to make themselves feel a bit better!

My working day tends to be at my desk by about 7:15am (I am an early riser and work better in the morning), I don’t take breaks or lunch by choice then I leave usually by about 4:30-5pm. However on Fridays I aim to be off by 3:10pm. I reckon that that working day means I don’t need to take much home, and I like to keep the two as separate as possible

Cheers, that sounds like a plan 😀

I have had a session with Jedi, so I can jump, but a couple of months being off the bike, trying to do run training etc and swapping to flats all conspired to make me forget everything 😀 I am sure a couple of hours sessioning will bring it back though, so I will sort out a time and message you!

It was those three tabletops! I haven’t been off road for about 2 months due to trying to train for London, and I was jumping well before Christmas (but using clipless).

The slightly obsessive part of me wants to learn in flats, just to know that I can………I will get there eventually 😀 Thanks for all the advice.

is that a bird AM?

Very nice looking bike!

I am hoping that my experience at QECP yesterday was due to the fact that everything was clogged with mud……..and I was trying flats for the first time! Got to the take off for the jump, i jumped and the bike…….didn’t! Back next weekend for more practice me thinks!

Many thanks for all the answers, such a font of knowledge this place!

Blimey!!!!! That is serious riding, it would be so lovely to have 1/10th of that talent 😀

The only subjects not getting squeezed for time are maths and English due to dbl weighting, and I wouldn’t want the horrific pressure that puts them under!

Personally do what you enjoy at GCSEs get the best grades/numbers you can and then think carefully about next steps when choosing level 3 courses! (A level/ Btec)

Be aware the govt has slashed the adult skills budget so lots of courses have been dropped due to financial viability! Distance learning is prob the best way to go! At my old college GCSEs evening courses in Biology were viable but there weren’t enough people to put on a physics evening course!

I would suggest open university, they have lots of short courses and pre degree courses in physics which may be just right for your interest! Unless you want to go through ucas and apply for uni the A level physics course may not be terribly interesting or useful to you! Not trying to put you off, I was an assistant principal running the science dept at a college and taught physics a level so I love the subject but as an adult learner I would go with the OU….,….personally I am v tempted by the astronomy courses they offer 🙂

I did a couple at uni, paid very well and was v interesting to be a part of! I did a research job after uni with glaxosmithkline and the drugs go through a lot of testing before human stage, and if there is a whiff of a problem in the animal stage they get dropped! I am interested to know what the complications were! Although terrible it will give a useful insight into animal/human model differences!

I was made fully aware of potential risks before I started the trials and had to give lots of medical info before they would let me take part.

Thanks, just ordered a pair!

I am signed up with a mate and my brother, should be a good day out! Happy to pay the organiser for putting this on! It appeals to me much more than many sportive a I have seen, even if it is a bit tongue in cheek character!

Looking at my bike stuff there is no pattern I can spot. I seem to get whatever brand supplies an item I need at a price I want to pay at the time.

I am not a very good rider though, and never seem to be able to tell the difference between items! I reckon I am lucky to have started Mtb recently as everything seems to work ok!

I didn’t see anything in the entry information saying you couldn’t!

80km on paved roads might be a bit hard going on wide tyres!

I stopped completely for a year (I was on medication that did not mix) but since then I seem to have lost my taste for it. I very very occasionally have a glass of wine or a small whiskey but have no real urge to drink beyond that. Not sure if it helps but my experience is that if you do stop for a while you lose the taste for it and it is easier to stay off!

I might have to see that, not a chance my wife will want to go with me though!

Liphook cycles, road focused but proper old school bike shop 🙂 loads of nice kit always ready for a chat and helps out a lot with the local race scene! No matter what the weather!

I tried it earlier and it didn’t work, also my BC voucher didn’t work when I tried that…..so I gave up and drank some more wine and saved the cash 😀

We will pop round to my in laws on Christmas afternoon to exchange presents, we had them over them over for the day last year, but my MIL insisted on arriving so early that I ended up having to cook lunch under her…..’critical’ eye! So this year we will go round once we have had a chilled day!

Boxing day we have a tradition that we don’t leave the house, everyone can stay in PJ’s and watch all the tv/play with toys that didn’t happen on the actual day. We have a buffet out all day so we can pick and choose when to eat and it is absolutely just us! TBH it is my favourite day of the year 😀

Then on the 27th……it is the in-laws family gathering…..I will be drinking!

I hate cooking on Christmas Day! By the time I have got everything ready I never feel hungry! So we now get oven ready everything and accept that we are slightly lazy! So this years menu (sponsored by Lidl) :

Smoked salmon blinis
5 bird roast
Roast potatoes, parsnips and Yorkshire puddings, pigs n in blankets of course 🙂
For pudding……… They had a special on vienettas so we have one of each flavour!

No faff and I will keep my appetite:-)

Yes I do bring the demographic slightly 🙂

Jedi, Jedi and JEDI!!!!

I went a couple of months ago and it transformed my riding! As everyone else has said, it is more the mind skills he enables you to develop that is key! I ride things and it is starting to become instinctive that I ask myself 4 questions!

On the whole question of some of his set up being tame……….trust me there is stuff there that my my ring twitch just looking at it!

I didn’t get onto any of the massive stuff it wasn’t where I wanted to get to) but I rode something that had me shaking with adrenaline afterwards and I would never have tried without his coaching!

Watched it last night at 12:01am!! Slightly tires today, but it was well worth it! Really great film, and am seeing it again on Sunday.

Captain Nemo

For the upcoming season I have decided to upgrade from my road bike: So far is will cost:

New TT bike: £255 (about 9 years old, but will get me low at the front and I am the biggest blocker of the wind)
New deep section wheels: Carbon 100mm deep = £270 with tubs fitted already
New helmet (I’ll wait for a sale) but about £80
Skinsuit: Last years version from my club £40

I am not in any sort of arms race, and the fast boys could take that kit and beat most comers! I like TT because it is about you fitness/power and the time you are willing to invest tweaking your position!

My aim for this season is to go sub 25min…..maybe working towards 24min for the 10. So I really am not a fast guy!

Suspiria, brilliantly weird horror film by Dario Argente, the other one is ‘delamorte delamore’ (I think) zombie romance that has a decidedly weird ending!

I have watched some utter shyte though! Shark in Venice is one of the worst!

After years of my wife persuading me to get a puppy we picked one up last week. 3/4 working lab 1/4 border collie. I have to admit I am slightly smitten already! If I know how to embed pics I would!

I never knew that an animal could be so unreservedly loving 😀

Potentially doing the 2hr vets race. Only slight issue my back went ping on Monday and I am currently laid up on my back taking lots of painkillers!

The last brass monkey I did was the one last year which absolutely peed with rain! It was a little miserable, if it is raining this year I will be staying in bed! If not I hope to see you there 😀

Exactly! My club …a3crg runs a weekly evening club 10 in the summer and it is a fab experience! Everyone is friendly and you realise that it is about personal performance and trying to beat your own Pb!

When I went under 30mins for the 10 for the first time I got some of the nicest praise from the really really fast guys!

I never enjoyed road racing, but the TT scene has always seemed more welcoming!