I think this is the only most positive thing that’s ever come out of this forum.

Trouble is, when we allow the market to sort it out we end up with this:

Yes – ridiculous.

Instead, spend the day working out how you can move house, find a new job and live somewhere where you can ride from your doorstep.

Or, if you can’t face that – take a train. From N London you can have a nice day out in the Chilterns without wasting too much time traveling. You could get a train to somewhere like Wendover, do a big southerly loop and end up somewhere like Great Missenden and catch the train back. Lot of nice pubs for lunch in places like Monk’s Risborough, Fingest, Christmas Common, Bryant’s Bottom etc. Go buy yourself an OS map of the area today and you can spend a happy hour or two planning a route between now and the weekend.

OK, I’ve read Walden now. The philosophy is great but the natural history is a bit dull.

In the meantime I’ve also come across a few other things that I would have added to the conversation if I’d known about them at the time.

Stoner, here’s one for you: The Crash Course

And molgrips here’s one for you: Amish and technology

Also Stoner, with reference to your example of a a perfect market for fish, maybe you should go see: The End of the Line

So Simon, do you actually think I was genuinely offering Juan genuine advice on grooming techniques ????!!!!!!

simonfbarnes,

“I had one on Sunday after a 2hr ride and felt surprisingly pukka for the rest of the day.”
it sounded like grooming or at the very least highly suspect manipulation

Who/what are you quoting?

Blimey, I just got “{modded}”

Sense of humour failure?

I didn’t swear, I didn’t use any offensively sexist slang (unlike the very first response on the subject) – I simply used irony in the form of some very bad advice to Juan on how to win kids and their single mums round to make what I thought was actually a very serious point. Would it have helped to make that more obvious if I’d put the word “not” at the end a la Wayne’s World?

Frankly, if you thought my comment was worth modding then perhaps you should have taken down the whole thread.

Oh dear what have I done

LOL (no really, I am actually laughing out loud)

Benjag,

And I’d love to sell them to you for £2 too, but unfortunately at that price I would lose money by covering events. I have fiddled around with pricing over the years and I think I charge a fair price. I’m definitely less expensive than many other event photographers.

Soz.

But how should I behave with the kids?

{modded}

Photos now available here[/url]

Pics now available at http://www.rightplacerighttime.co.uk[/url%5D

Pics available tomorrow – still uploading and tagging with your numbers.

You’ll be pleased to hear I got some nice pictures! But I’m afraid they won’t be online until Wednesday – Sorry.

Entry on the day still available if you’ve nothing else planned this weekend.

OK – last bump from me, just to make sure anyone interested has seen it.

But if someone else would like to come on in a day or so and point out what good value these events are, that they are a lot of fun and that the whole family can do them, that actually there is some nice riding in Wareham Forest etc, then that would be good.

We have a bit of a Friday night problem with pi$$ed kids around where we live. I had one lot knocking on the door then acting up. First time my wife answered and told them to go away. Second time, I answered and went out to talk to them – they just got leary so we called the cops and they left. Third time I went out with a camera with a very big flash gun and started taking their pictures – they all ran off so I followed them and called the cops on the mobile as I chased them (which they saw/heard me doing). One came back and explained that he was “just with them” and didn’t want any trouble – he also told me his name and the name of the (girl!) ringleader. Armed with my pics the cops followed up my problem and the reports of some others who had had similar trouble and touch wood it hasn’t happened since. Admittedly, our standard of youth isn’t particularly hard, but I think these kids rely on anonymity and as soon as you take that away from them, they suddenly become a bit less scary and a bit better behaved. I make a point of saying “hello Tom” whenever I see the one I know around town – not to be sociable, but to remind him that I will be on his case if I see him out of line.

Also, anything by Hardy

bump

What more stuff do you need for comfort other than the mandatory list plus a balloon bed?

A pack weight should be around or slightly over 5kg with no fancy kit. Mine is nearer the 4kg but I am minimal

I think you just answered your own question.

I too am a minimalist, but when I’ve competed with a slower partner I’ve allowed myself the luxury of an extra top and a bit more food.

zempy,

I don’t think you’ll find many competitive types at least carrying any water. Personally I carry an empty half ltr soft drink bottle fixed on the strap of my rucksack with elastic loops, and fill it up when I need it, but some people just carry a cup and dip and drink as they go. On the D course the nav will be straightforward, probably without a lot of route choice either, though in the past on the LAMM the D course has been to some of the highest CPs – they like to get you feeling you’ve had some exposure! Mudclaws will be fine if that’s what you’re used to.

Melmoth the Wanderer by Maturin is quite heavy going.

Depends what course you are doing and whether you aim to be competitive? If you’re doing a short course and/or not competitive take more stuff for comfort. If long/competitive take less stuff. But in either case, look at the weather and adjust accordingly on Friday night. Would second the use of an Altimeter.

See you there – I’ll be taking pictures out on the course and doing the online reporting.

Please don’t anybody vote BNP, even to put the wind up the other parties.

UKIP are similar to BNP in one way, which is that they don’t have any view of the bigger picture. I got a bit of blurb from them the other day with bullet points to tell us why we would be better out of Europe. Number 3 or 4 was that fish would be cheaper once we had taken back our territorial waters. Didn’t see any mention in their literature of global warming, peak oil, debt reduction, population growth or changing demographics – obviously not important issues compared to the price of fish.

Likewise we have a Tory up for County Council election and her main priority is to get our general rubbish collection back up to weekly instead of fortnightly, alternating with the recycling collection. Barmy.

Prison is also there to keep the rest of us safe from fellons.

That’s a good start.

If you want to know how much you/we’ve really got to do read this book:

Carbon Detox

Junkyard, you might be interested in this. Have a look at the whole site. This is a link to the bit on nappies.

Bloom

Now you’re disembling.

Don’t get me wrong – I am impressed by people that feel they can cope (r have proved that they can) with re-usable nappies and hats off to them. I just think it would be too much trouble in our circumstances.

That was what you said in a post after you said this

I say stuff the implications, we are doing disposable.

And after I’d already had a go at you for saying it.

And more to the point you said that in the first place, apropos of nothing, when the original question was

Anybody used any and can report back on what i think are the critical areas – washing, drying, life span, fit & ease of use.

NOT

“Anybody care to tell me that they can’t be arsed with these?”

Anyway, I’m now point-scoring, for which I apologise. Good luck with the twins – you’ll need it. I’m off to do something useful.

I did read it in context, and that’s what I thought.

Obviously you can choose to do what you want, but stop trying to belittle the efforts of others to do something, however small, for the environment. Disposables are not a “perfectly good alternative” they are a major problem.

I totally understand your reasons for not wanting to take on reusables (congratulations BTW) but there is no need to either be offhand about environmental concerns, or to pretend (to yourself) that what you are choosing to do has no impact.

What do I have to be embarrassed about?

Well you did say this:

I say stuff the implications, we are doing disposable.

And actually I’m not criticising you for making the decision to use disposables. I’m criticising you for glorifying ignorance and macho posturing.

We are about to have twins, so I say stuff the implications, we are doing disposable. Waaaay too many other more important things to concentrate on!

Why is it that some people are not only happy to ignore important issues, but also need to wear their opinions on their sleeve? Are you not embarrassed about that? – you should be. Why don’t you print this forum thread out and you can show it to your kids in 10 years and ask them if they agree?

If you look at some of the comparisions done between carbon footprint of reusables and disposables you will find they are about the same.

But these are figures provided (or funded) by the baby industry – they make ludicrous assumptions like – you will buy all new and far more than you need, you will boil wash them and tumble dry them.

If you use them for more than one child, wash at 40 degrees and air dry them then they are far better environmentally (not even counting landfill/disposal issues) and they are a lot cheaper in the end

Ah, at last my specialist subject…

We used them for 2 kids. We bought a lot second hand. ebay (possibly for pathetic reasons of squeamishness) don’t let you sell them there now but there are other second hand nappy sites available – Google them. My wife bought a few different ones to try and eventually we ended up with mostly Motherease ones with popper, rather than velcro fastenings as she thought they fitted better (ah yes it’s all flooding back… as Kurtz said “the horror, the horror”) We used to get the liners from Waitrose and bought in bulk as they weren’t easy to come by everywhere. You also need a nappy bin (with tight fitting lid!) to keep them in until you have enough to wash – the online advice seems to be to leave them to soak in that with a drop of tea tree oil, but we didn’t bother and just left them dry in there and washed a load every other day I suppose.

We also managed to sell some second hand when we’d finished with them (although in fact I think we still have a few knocking around somewhere – mail me and if we’ve still got some I’ll send you a couple to try). You may find too that your local council runs a disposable nappy scheme and will give you a rebate on any you buy new. I seem to remember getting about £40 back.

BTW they are only environmentally friendly if you don’t wash 2 at once then shove them in the tumble dryer.

Also we weren’t totally obsessive about using them (unlike some of our friends) and did carry on using disposables when we went on trips etc.

Do something socially useful – volunteer for an arts or environmental project or a youth group – it will make you feel much better about yourself and you’ll meet some interesting people and mostly be too involved to be drinking except maybe as part of the group socially.

Step machine – similar to climbing out of the saddle. Plus as you said, core stability work – which you can work on on a mat doing pilates type stuff.

SB, I’m still not sure quite what you’re advocating.

Are you saying that it is pointless for us to do anything because no one else is doing anything.

Or are you saying that we should all do our bit?

I think it’s a move in the right direction that the US will have a target where previously it didn’t have one, whatever that target is.

OTOH I recently came across this very simple statement/calculation provided by George Marshall in his book Carbon Detox which, if you take it on board is a pretty good guide to how you/we/I should be living.

He says that the biosphere is capable of removing about 10 billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.

As there are about 6.7 billion of us, that means we can liberate about 1.5 tonnes each without changing the status quo.

In the UK we liberate about 12 tonnes each per year.

If you think about it, you can work out where to go from there really.

I love the sound of the Frenchman(maybe?) shouting Non… non… non… in the background.

Pics now posted here

We’ve got kids of 5 and 4. I’m at home looking after them most of the time and my wife works pretty long hours as a teacher. It’s getting easier now as the kids are at school and nursery simultaneously 3 days a week. I maintain what fitness I can mainly by towing the kids everywhere, whatever the weather in a bike trailer. My wife is up and out of the house by 8 to do a run on Sat mornings and often in the summer I’m out earlier than that on Sunday for a run or bike ride – that way we can get at least one longish exercise session each per week without too much impact on family life. We also get our competitive urges satisfied by going orienteering, which is a brilliant sport for families – the parents can get “split starts” which means that one doesn’t have to start their run until the other finishes, there is a “string course” following a bit of string through the woods for toddlers/kids, which ours started doing before they were 3, and there are also lots of other kids about who our kids muck about in the woods with, making childcare pretty easy for a few hours. Also we occasionally go to a climbing wall or running of an evening (just not often at the same time). Then a few times a year we each do some events like adventure races/mountain marathons and last week, even a bike race! (Dorset Rough Riders fantastic event at Wareham Woods, about 2 miles from home).

I think one way to keep going in sport when you’ve got kids is to be prepared to try different sports/events that are easy to get to – not get set on having to go and do things miles away that involve loads of wasted traveling time.

And your friends are breaking the law.

Actually I was just being polite when I said I think you are wrong. You are wrong.