Sorry to read that ronnie.

This being STW, can we set up a collection for ronnie, maybe an offer of accommodation to get him out of the situation he’s in. With our support we should be able to rescue him back from 20 years of slavery and with counselling reintroduce him to mainstream life.

Yeah, but when you sleep on a park bench you don’t really get to control the grass cutting.

So, what did you wear?

Sparrow hawk.

Which part of the country? Goshawks are much less common and more of a woodland bird.

The thing is binners, despite your heart-felt political beliefs, do you really believe that things will be better for Scottish residents, especially those resident outside the southern belt, after a ‘yes’ vote?

Or will Edinburgh (or maybe Glasgow?) replace London and the southern belt replace the SE? I don’t personally think that Utopia is even what Salmond is offering but it is what some believe they are being offered.

My wife’s a QC. I asked her opinion and her reply was “give me £180 or ‘koff!”.
Seems like it would be cheaper to pay for the jumper than to take ‘real’ legal advice :?

However, my advice for what it’s worth is, as the jumper originally was, free. Email them back, confirm that they have indeed made a mistake and that you are under no obligation to enter into a new contract, that the item has had tags removed and has been worn and to ask what they may consider to be a reasonable offer of goodwill on their part to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of both parties.

A ‘yes’ vote will affect the rest of the UK massively for the next 15 years or so due to the existing infrastructure. Scotland won’t suddenly become independant and the rest of the UK taxpayers will continue to bail them out financially for years to come irrespective of oil revenue. Salmond knows this and it is the only way he could possibly afford his idyll of Brigadoon.

I find momentum is my friend and then keep the front low and maintain weight on the back wheel for traction. good tread on the tyres and mentally ready to maintain controlled power through the pedals when the rear wheel spins. HTH.

Time limit may not be quite as long as the OP suggests above judging by his/her posting history.
Assuming it is only one week and not the “several weeks” mentioned above and given that it has been a bank holiday week during the holiday season you may want to give just a little bit longer.
Having said that, if they are on holiday or whatever they could have let you know.

I’ve been using an Exposure Strada for the last couple of years for my approx. 10 mile each way unlit country roads / offroad commute. Flat-topped road beam and dip switch, plenty of light and doesn’t dazzle.

I use a silly expensive Light Motion rear light which flashes to the side and rear as well as giving a fixed rear beam; other road users see it from a long way back and give a good wide berth. Still going strong after about 3 winters (commuting 2 – 3 times a week on average).

Pretty standard policy to repatriate British Citizens in times of need I believe. No idea of the cost in this instance. Same principle as recovering an injured MTBer off a mountain in Wales really, except more expensive.

Why on earth would anyone need to be riding a bike anyway with such a good public transport system..? :wink:

Yes iain, I’m from FoD, riding with a mate from Ross-on-Wye :-)

I’m guessing you boys are young pups, relatively new to MTBing, or trolls. The term ‘enduro’ has been used in MTB events for a number of years to represent a longer distance cross-country event, whether rightly or wrongly.
Over the last couple of years or so it has been used for stage events as you suggest, similar to mx type events and this is probably a more accurate use of the name but doesn’t detract from the fact that it has been used in MTB parlance for longer to represent the type of event advertised. Which is why the newer events generally precede ‘enduro’ with ‘gravity’.

ps – it’s a pretty good ride and a great way to see more of the FoD trails. Oh, and pps, some of the earliest ‘gravity enduros’ in UK were held in the FoD some years ago albeit by invitation only.

Just got home after the event. Another excellent but tough route; same as last year but totally different feel being later in the year with the bracken and heather. I know it’s not a technical ride but the climbing certainly makes it a hard one for us mere mortals, especially with the headwinds yesterday.
iain65, chatted with your wife and lad along the way, he was doing well but finding the climbs a bit demoralising I think!! He was making excellent progress though (and eating well!).

1. Yes, but not always
2. Yes
3. Yes

(ps how old is older?)

Sorry, I’m another one intrigued as to why on earth you would need to remove the cassette (presumably on a fairly regular basis looking at your OP)?
Even touring in third world countries the chances are you’d find help to service a hub or whatever.

No. But women will find you more attractive.

James Garner has passed away aged 86.

Quite poignant, the closing scene given today’s sad news. Don’t know if the film was scheduled or a slot-in?

Need to brush up on my bow saw skills as it going through the logs at an angle.

Let the saw do the work. You move the saw backwards and forwards, the blade does the cutting. If you exert too much downwards pressure trying to rush the cut, the blade will twist at an angle. Same as cutting bread.

As others say, statistics are meaningless without context. For example, when a charitable body like Sustrans is seeking funding an emphasis will be put on the usage of their trails. Objectors will then use these figures to object to new trails which will be overun by thousands of cyclists. They won’t be of course, but Sustrans own statistics can be used against them to suggest they will.

I read somewhere that if you add up all the deaths in GB attributed statistically to one cause or another, about 4 1/2 times more people die than actually do.

Another consideration is people’s perception of risk. One person’s near-death-close-miss is another person’s that-was-a-bit-close is another person’s what’s-the-problem.
And I suspect that statistically people don’t give a damn about statistics when it is their loved one that is killed; a statistic of 1 is 1 too many :cry:

I’d suggest you discuss it with a local estate agents with Chartered Surveyor; they’ll know local property values and the worth of parking spaces in the area.
It will increase the value of a purchaser’s property and reduce the value of yours.
You may also want to take legal advice on restricting the use of the land after sale. As said above, maybe to restrict use to parking only a car; also to restrict any other type of future development of the land eg garage, workshop, pig sty, chicken coup, waste/scrap storage area, etc…

I have the large on the long bracket for touring/bikepacking. It carries a lot of kit without having to worry about squeezing chunkier bits of kit into narrower bikepacking saddle packs. It has a capacity of 5kg on the long bracket and I use an extra strap through the saddle rails for off-road trips to make it more stable. I like it and it performs well. The only inconvenience for me is that the bracket itself is a seat-tube out on/off procedure. The bag to bracket clip is however simplicity itself.
It’s well made and so far has stood up to a few knocks and scrapes without ill effects.
The roll top is easy to use and, once you’ve mastered the straps, can be opened/closed fairly quickly (though I wouldn’t use it for ‘quick access’ bits).

Just be aware, judging by the number of green arrow signs that have appeared here today you may be sharing the roads with a sportive tomorrow!
If you’re going up the Wye Valley and turning right just after Bigsweir Bridge up Stowe Hill, when you get to the top go straight over the (staggered) crossroads, turn left at the end and then take the first right through Sling. Follow that road to its end and turn right towards Parkend. It’s pretty much all downhill/level from Sling to PABA :D

Enjoy your ride.

A riding friend of mine has had heart surgery. We come back proudly wearing the congealed scratches of battle; he comes back with his arms covered in a film of thinned blood!

Better to turn RIGHT at St B X roads if you want to get to Bream, Matt… :roll: 8) :lol:

Are you on a road bike or mtb? The route you suggest via St.Briavels to Bream then Parkend – Cannop – Pedalabikeaway is probably the best route, it’s generally not too busy and the direct road from St.Briavels to Bream is fairly quiet.
The A48 to Lydney then Whitecroft – Parkend – Cannop – PABA is probably the quickest by road bike but is on busier roads.
The Wye Valley then up Stowe Hill is nice but not so easy to route-find if you don’t know the area too well (for example, thehillsofsomerset has uneccesarily added about two miles and two noticeable hill climbs between the top of Stowe Hill and PABA :wink: )

Perfectly rideable on a rigid SS* ! BTW, they’re doing a bit of maintenance on it tomorrow evening at 18.30 if you want to stick around… :lol:

*some ascents may require ‘3rd’ gear :wink:

Tollah, who posts on here, is married to a silversmith/jewellery maker who may be able to help. They live Evesham way so not that far from you. He may see this thread now that his name is in it! (though they’re up in Yorkshire at the moment).

I have trouble remembering too. These days it’s old friends who say “do you remember when we saw so & so at wherever” and I have no recollection! Or I’ll say something like “I really wish I’d seen such & such live” only to be told “Well we saw them at wherever in ’76”!!
I do remember the Stones and Skynyrd one year at Knebworth. I think…

Oh, and MTG, Glasto in ’84 had already moved on from ‘hippy’ – they even had lasers by then :wink:

Where are you camping? Coleford itself has no campsite but there are three or four close by which have a ‘Coleford’ address. If you’re wanting to ride from the site let us know which one.

It takes a real man to be comfortable in rubber of that size; if it does feel the right size, sometimes it just needs a bit of moisture in that little groove to make it come alive.

The shame is that people nowadays are so wrapped up in the use of motorised transport that they are no longer aware of the true purpose of the public highway. Pedestrians, horse riders, horses and carts, cyclists all historically and without licence can use the public highway and operaters of motorised transport should recognise and be aware of this fact. Drive accordingly: when you see a bus and children, expect the children to run out; when you drive along a rural road, expect the unexpected around each bend, maybe a group of schoolgirls; when driving through a town centre late on a Saturday night, expect pissheads to do the unexpected.
Get your heads around the fact that motor vehicles don’t have exclusive use of the roads (motorways excepted) and drive accordingly. Just because a poor driver in a tonne and half of metal trumps an over-excited child in the darwinism stakes doesn’t give you the moral high ground.

Other than the dedicated MTB area in Sallowvallets behind Pedalabikeaway, cycling is restricted by FC Bylaws to hard-surfaced tracks only :twisted:

Blancmongetastic!

…remembered an old speed camera halfway down a hill and pedalled like a man possessed, road clear ahead and keep hammering

So where exactly did MGMan appear from..? :?

News to me too mamadirt! Although the National Road Race TT is being hosted there this year I believe. You ever tempted to take a bmx through any of the bunkers/rough/fairways? I’m sure Sir Terry wouldn’t mind :lol:

It’s a reflection of the popularity of some of these events too; people sit over a computer at some unearthly hour to grab one of the 1000+ places before they’re all gone in the first 20 minutes only to then queue amongst 900 people (that’s right, at least a hundred of the must-get-an-entry-before-it-sells-out crew won’t make the event) to get off the start line and then queue for longer than it took to get an entry at the start of the first singletrack.
The craic at events like the Dyfi is what makes them worthwhile though; enjoy yourself and don’t have the negative vibes, it’s all beautiful and the bridges will still be there in the morning 8)

I wonder how many couples discuss all the philanthropic things they will do when they win the lottery – it’s a kind of mindset that makes you believe you’ll have a better chance of winning, a bit like saying prayers to get into heaven 8)