I’m in Chatel from 19th July until 29th if anyone’s about…

Leatt do one with decent flank protection.

Easterhouse anyone:

You know how things are, when you get to talking
About the state of the world, everyone’s got an opinion
I was talking to some boys who were friends of a friend
And we stopped to pass the time as we had nothing else to do
Someone made a chance remark, and then an argument got started
We were talking about Russia, the things they say go on
And something he saw on the TV, a TV documentary

On the lack of basic freedom, human liberty
I said now, now listen, you ought to save your sympathy
Wе need it more than they, as far as I can see
We all know thеy’re in chains, you only think that you are free
And it’s the Russian working man ,who knows exactly where he stands

They tell you, in England, we’re all entitled to a say
But nothing too extreme, that’s not the English way

Your political delusions, have bound you hand and foot
And anyone who questions is an agitator, infiltrator

Get back to Russia, I hear you say
Get back to Russia, but there ain’t no way
Still it would be nice
Leningrad in spring must be a pretty sight
Sit down by the Volga, all that cool blue water

I said now, now listen, nobody tells it like it is
Don’t believe that things were always just like this
There have been very different times
Before the Labour Party line
When those who sit upon our backs did not have such an easy ride

We were not satisfied
Our anger could not be denied
To soothe our discontent we got a voice in parliament
Representatives to tell you that the class who buy and sell

Expect that you should do your duty, die for King and Country

We’ve got the Labour Party, a patriotic party
Who led you off to war and told you “this is what you’re fighting for”
And noble, patriotic, foolishly believed them
And the flag is what they wrapped them in;
The ones who gave their lives

And after it was over and they counted up the spoils of war
They let you have a welfare state, a pension when you reach old age
Talked about equality, a stake in this society
They’ve sold you down the line, what’s more
They’ve sold you down the line

They tell you, in England, we’re all entitled to a say
But nothing too extreme, that’s not the English way

Get back to Russia, I hear you say
Get back to Russia, but there ain’t no way
England made me and here I’ll stay
England made me, let England deal with me

Leningrad in spring must be a pretty sight
Sit down by the Volga, all that cool blue water

You can’t get Levi jeans
Or pictures of James Dean
But these things I have seen
They don’t mean that much to me

They tell you, in England, we’re all entitled to a say
But nothing too extreme, that’s not the English way

Your political delusions, have bound you hand and foot
And anyone who questions is an agitator, infiltrator

Get back to Russia, I hear you say
Get back to Russia, but there ain’t no way
England made me and here I’ll stay
England made me, let England deal with me

Green and Grey always takes me back very clearly to when I lived on Anglesey. Impressive how a lyric can trigger a memory so clearly even though in this case it was over 30 years ago.

Crass-bloody revolutions:

You talk about your revolution, well, that’s fine
But what are you going to be doing come the time?
Are you going to be the big man with the tommy-gun?
Will you talk of freedom when the blood begins to run?
Well, freedom has no value if violence is the price
Don’t want your revolution, I want anarchy and peace

You talk of overthrowing power with violence as your tool
You speak of liberation and when the people rule
Well ain’t it people rule right now, what difference would there be?
Just another set of bigots with their rifle-sights on me

But what about those people who don’t want your new restrictions?
Those that disagree with you and have their own convictions?
You say they’ve got it wrong because they don’t agree with you
So when the revolution comes you’ll have to run them through
You say that revolution will bring freedom for us all
Well freedom just ain’t freedom when your back’s against the wall

Will you indoctrinate the masses to serve your new regime?
And simply do away with those whose views are too extreme?
Transportation details could be left to British rail
Where Zyklon B succeeded, North Sea Gas will fail
It’s just the same old story of man destroying man
We’ve got to look for other answers to the problems of this land

Vive la revolution, people of the world unite
Stand up men of courage, it’s your job to fight

It all seems very easy, this revolution game
But when you start to really play things won’t be quite the same
Your intellectual theories on how it’s going to be
Don’t seem to take into account the true reality
Cos the truth of what you’re saying, as you sit there sipping beer
Is pain and death and suffering, but of course you wouldn’t care

You’re far too much of a man for that, if Mao did it so can you
What’s the freedom of us all against the suffering of the few?
That’s the kind of self-deception that killed ten million jews
Just the same false logic that all power-mongers use
So don’t think you can fool me with your political tricks
Political right, political left, you can keep your politics
Government is government and all government is force
Left or right, right or left, it takes the same old course
Oppression and restriction, regulation, rule and law
The seizure of that power is all your revolution’s for
You romanticise your heroes, quote from Marx and Mao
Well their ideas of freedom are just oppression now

Nothing changed for all the death, that their ideas created
It’s just the same fascistic games, but the rules aren’t clearly stated
Nothing’s really different cos all government’s the same
They can call it freedom, but slavery is the game
There’s nothing that you offer but a dream of last years hero
The truth of revolution, brother………………. is year zero

Sounds good, don’t mind pushing!

That doesn’t sound good.

That might be a good call, thanks, I’ll be in a large vehicle but I’m sure i could reverse up there weekdays and not be in the way.

McVicar

The reds and 50 hits are all roll-able so no need to worry.

For dh, I started with a 661 jacket, but it never fit me that well, so changed to a Poc Vpd jacket which is good but offers no side protection and I’ve cracked ribs twice now, so recently got the Leatt 3df 6.5 suit, only ridden in it for the first time on Saturday, but it felt great, could be bit toasty on hot days though.

We’ve got a track day (motorbike) in Jerez at the end of May, which I think will be very touch and go and have re-booked last years trip to Chatel for the end of July, which I’m more optimistic about, time will tell…….

Done.

We’ve got a track day to Portugal (cancelled from this year) booked for the end of Feb, not going to be surprised if it doesn’t happen, and will also re-book Chatel (again cancelled from this year), probably in July, which I’m more optimistic about.

How far you can go with a given bike in technical terrain is a combination of the rider and the machine. The ratio will change as you progress your skills until you start wishing the bike had certain characteristics for what you want to do with it.

Until then, crack on!

I would agree with this, from my experience coming from road to mtb, I started with a 2nd hand HT, a year later I bought a new XC full suss bike and as I developed I realised the bike was limiting me, so changed to a really good FS trail bike after a couple of years (and a visit to Morzine) on that I also got myself a DH bike, which now gets used far more than the trail bike.
The first new mtb I bought (Scott Spark 910) I was totally swayed by the light weight, whereas by the time I bought the trail bike I’d realised weight isn’t everything……

B&B sir?
No thanks, got my motorhome.
How about a nice meal?
No thanks, got my cooker in my motorhome.
Ok, well you’ll be needing some nice food to cook then..
No thanks, got my huge fridge in my motorhome that I filled up at Waitrose before we left.
Ah well, cup of tea then….
Nope
But I’m sure you’ll be visiting Ch….
Nope got a telly.
Ah well, at least you’ll be paying for a campsite.

Ermmm

Whilst I’m sure that will sometimes happen, I was planning a trip away next days off, which would have involved buying tickets to Longleat safari park and lights show, an overnight stay at the caravan club site, followed by a day at Windhill.

Good enough for me, thanks.

They lie- we die, Flux of pink indians

Sounds like the police are putting more effort into not talking/dealing with these total wastes of skin, than just dealing with it.

I hate people – Anti-nowhere league.

…and there goes any hope of my trip to Morzine mid August, mind you these buffoons are changing their minds every other day, so could have changed again by then.

We’ve got a Morzine (well Chatel) trip booked for mid August, so hoping that can go ahead. Had a track day to Portimao booked for March, but there was no chance of that!

TheBrick
Member
Lawyers will do well out of this as always!

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Not all of them, my wife’s a solicitor for a firm of conveyancers, guess what’s happening there….

Off to Portimao at the end of the month, 4 days on track, plus an extra 2 days there, just gonna keep my fingers crossed everything goes ahead, if I have to have 2 weeks off when I come back, so be it…

Flux of Pink Indians. I love their early stuff but this … no
The F C treat us like P or the F P treat us like C

Just flicked through, as a long shot, to see if anyone had the same album in mind.
Two shouts! Three now.

Agreed, also Yes sir I will by Crass isn’t a lot of fun.

The curse of Zounds, by Zounds, oldie but class.

I will ring and check before this years trip, but under sports/activities covered it does mention cycling (wearing a helmet and no racing) up to 2500 M above sea level and later in the document it says mountain biking (no racing). Repatriation cover is included and covers emergency air transport but I can’t find any mention helicopter rescue either way, so definitely worth a call to check.
Premier account if that makes a difference?

I fitted the Hunt Aero wides to my winter bike couple of months ago, it’s transformed it and no issues tubeless (was a pig to get the tyre on the rim though). Great wheel for the money.

I discovered last year that my travel insurance provided through my Lloyds bank account covered me for Mtb worldwide up to a certain elevation (enough for Whistler last year and Morzine this year), not had to use it (hope I never do), but looks comparable cover to Dogtag etc.

I’ve just set the winter bike up tubeless, Hunt aero wide wheels and gp 5000 tl tyres with contis own sealant.
The tyres were a pig to get on the rim (took me nearly an hour to do both), but the front pumped up instantly with just a track pump, the rear required some soapy water and compressed air, but still only took a few minutes. First ride will be tomorrow afternoon.

Pretty shocking to me as I was friends years ago with his brother and met Dalian a few times when he was a successful footballer.

I just can’t fathom why someone would do this, absolute mongos. I’ve been 3 times in the last 12 months and it’s well worth the trip from Leicestershire.

I’ve got a 2017 c-works, great bike, only issues I’ve had are the rsc brake piston swelling, a common sram issue (easily resolved) and the front maxle, about welded itself in place.

I had no issue flying out of Manchester a few weeks ago (agree with the comments regarding the layout of the airport, its a terrible design), they did ask about co2, but I don’t use it, so no issue.

I use tie-wraps to seal the bike bag, with some side cutters and more tie wraps in the outside pocket of the bike bag, the only time they got me to open it and inspected thoroughly was coming back from Vancouver airport.

My first time too, but planning on just doing 5 days in the park….

I’m really pleased I bothered to ask the question as there’s been some great advice.
Discs are off, axle and caliper spacers in place.
As suggested I’ve placed the helmet between forks and dt and used a piece of polystyrene to prevent movement.
Also placed body armour strategically to provide protection.
As at least 3 of you have mentioned arriving early due to oversized luggage, I’m now planning to get there an hour earlier.
I have also thrown in a waterproof as Golfchick says the weather’s a bit moody currently, fingers crossed it improves!
My first attempt weighed in at 34kg, second one is bang on 32 but will double check at the airport as no doubt there scales will be more accurate than my bathroom ones…
Thanks all.

Just loaded the bike into the bag (need to weigh it properly as it’s close to the limit). I’ve found a slightly cut down renthal grip makes the perfect spacer for the forks, and found something ideal for the chainstays once cut to size, in the shed (probably get abused when the missus needs whatever it was, hey ho).
Got mech hanger and new tyres if they don’t last I’ll get more out there, it may be expensive but lets face it nothing about this trip is cheap!
Good point about inner tube, i do carry one in my kit bag in case of a tyre slash, so will throw in.
I’ve done the same with zip ties, enough to keep things closed but easy replaceable.

Flying from Manchester, pm sent.

Thanks all. Ive got an evoc bag and will definitely remove rear hanger and discs. The weight limit is 32kg which seems pretty generous but I’ll make sure i dont go over. I thought the air out of the tyres sounded far fetched.

I’m there (first time) fly out on 19th and back 1st August. Got a 5 day pass as I’ll spend every other day with the wife.