Thanks all – just looking at the maps and trying to piece it all together with your advice. Is there a map available which has all the trails on together?

I upgraded from HTC Desire – camera is far superior on the Nexus 4. Haven’t used the fancy photosphere thing yet, but really like the way you can access the settings by dragging around the circle – quite different to any other interface i’ve seen and really intuitive and easy to use.

Generally speaking the phone is excellent – you’ll love the extra room for installing apps over the HTC desire – that was driving me insane!

Bit more info here: http://www.planetski.eu/news/4683

Warning: May not contain a viewpoint free from bias!

Lower Wokingham Road would be a very odd place for a business to operate from: I can’t recall ever seeing anything commercial down there at all, unless you count some bloke selling Christmas trees in his front garden?

At a guess that address may be where the owner lives, or prefers to receive correspondence, because I’m fairly certain there isn’t a caravan warehouse down there.

Weight loss isn’t linear though I suspect. On top of this, what time of day, how hydrated you are, etc. would all play a large part in what you would weigh on the scales.

I weigh myself every day, when I wake up after a pee, but don’t pay too much attention to daily variations – it’s more realistic to look at it on a weekly or average basis.

Molgrips, Scrap both my ideas then!

I’m sure the inside is nice, but the outside of the Hilton in Bath could well be in competition for the ugliest building in the city!

My suggestion for something a little different, would be to head to Bath Abbey to do their “Tower tour” (http://www.bathabbey.org/visiting-abbey/tower-tours), it’s £6 a head and gets you the best view of Bath from the top. Depending on your point of view, you may find the rest of the tour quite interesting too – but it’s worth it for the view alone.

You don’t say when you’re going, but if the weather is nice then a nice trip is to walk to the Boating Station (http://www.bathboating.co.uk/boats/) and take a punt/skiff/kayak out on the river. You can either head towards Pultney Bridge, or up towards the weir – the latter option is my preferred as you can take a leisurely lunch at the Bathampton Mill (http://www.thebathamptonmill.co.uk/) before letting the light current help you home again!

Same situation here as for michaelbowden.

Been using MFP for 4 weeks, and have dropped from 197 to 187lbs. I also find my normal diet is very healthy for the main part, and the things that bump it up are crisps and alcohol on the weekends. Although by very nature of logging what you eat, you tend to eat slightly less than you would normally!

Don’t have much problem meeting (but not exceeding) the daily target it sets, but I do halve the calorie estimates it gives for exercise as they seem quite high sometimes. eg: 130 calories for walking at 2.5mph for 30min..

86kg: managed a PB of 7:01 last night.

Aiming for sub 6:50, as would love to see an “Excellent” on the VO2max Calculator someone posted the link to above. Although I have my doubts as to the accuracy of this measure!

I’d recommend the Blackstorms too, I’ve had a couple of them. I’m hardly professional, but I play once a week and have never felt like the racket is holding me back.

Well actually I did for a while, but that was when my mate re-strung my racquet with tennis strings, which are a complete different gauge (thicker).

the helmets with visors generally seem to look less dorky!

Check that you can rest your goggles above the visor though – it would be annoying if you couldn’t.

Agree on both points whole-heartedly. But, the second point is the main reason i’ve stuck with a slightly older style helmet (I think it’s the RED hifi) – I couldn’t live without being able to stick my goggles on my helmet for cooling down on bubbles.

I’ve been trying myfitnesspal for the last week, I started by just trying to eat/drink what I normally would and seeing whether that was an unhealthy amount. Unfortunately I think just by recording what you’re consuming makes you limit what you have. You don’t need to record it that accurately, although myfitnesspal makes it incredibly easy with the a huge database of foods and the ability to scan barcodes etc.

I’ve lost 5lbs in 8 days, but I don’t imagine that trend will continue!

You can search online to see if its insured
MIDAS iirc

Close, I think you mean this: http://www.askmid.com – technically you’re only supposed to check your own vehicle.

The DVLA will already know it’s not taxed and be sending an automated letter to them to fine the registered owners for not SORNing it.

Reporting it to the DVLA won’t get it moved. If it’s actually obstructing the road (eg: Fire appliance couldn’t make it past) then report it to your local police.

EDIT: To say, if it is already SORNed and on the road (you have no way of knowing this) then the police might be interested.. but I feel it’s unlikely.

I placed an order for a cassette and chain and picked it up from my local store a few minutes walk from the office yesterday. Perfect really. I wasn’t in a massive rush for it, or I’d have asked the LBS if they had it in stock. It was a bargain as items were already in the sale, so massive thanks to the OP.

Evans default price might not be competitive, but they do price match a very large range of stores – normally as simple as just showing them on your phone whilst at the till.

http://www.evanscycles.com/help/price-match – includes what I regard as the Usual Suspects.

I can’t say I use them all the time, but if I have a free lunch time I’ll often wander down and see if they have it in stock before I attempt to mail order. Always been very friendly in my local Evans, They were even happy to give out advice that meant I wouldn’t spend money with them once! No grumbles with them here, and I’ll continue to use them where it’s convenient to do so.

Have you got a car, or are you reliant on train for transport? Any particular cuisine you’re after?

Bracknell centre has no restaurants worth recommending. Wokingham town centre is stuffed full of Italian chains and curry houses. Wokingham does have one nice Italian though: Ruchetta – http://www.ruchetta.com/a-la-carte-workingham/

You also win the prize for Least Used Spreadsheet of 2012.

I could try and claim that I use it for other things too.. but the other tabs haven’t been used much either. Definitely must try harder.. on the bike front that is. I can probably not worry so much about the spreadsheet.

11 miles each way. My spreadsheet tells me I managed it just 3 times in 2012. Must try harder.

Friends have been multiple times. These days tend to treat it as more of a tourist drive due to the liability/insurance issues. I’m going for the first time next year.

I used to hate it doing it on video games, as it stretched my ability to concentrate – don’t imagine that’s a problem in real life!

I can’t think of a single situation (apart from a lunch stop) where I’d prefer to wear glasses rather than goggles.

Oakley Crowbars with blue iridium lens were my favourite. Currently have black iridium which isn’t quite as good. Also have some Smith Fuse in my bag, which I’ve had to lend to friends…

Not sure Laphroaig is necessarily a starter malt.

I started on Glenmorangie, but wished I’d started on Aberlour.

Speyside whiskys in general are normally a lot softer on the palette.

And so it begins…We’re to be criminalized for riding around a wood on bicycles… Crown Estates…Doesn’t that ultimately belong to us?

No, it doesn’t. It belongs to the Crown. Since George III though, all the income from the land has been given to the government – £250m last year. They make a loss at Swinley Forest, which is the only part of the portfolio which does make a loss (They own about £7bn worth of assets across the UK).

As for identifying illegal riders, they have realised they will need to increase their resources in terms of wardens on patrol. Initially at least they plan to softly educate people about why the changes have been put in place, but ultimately they could get a lot tougher. John Deakin stated he was very much not in favour of this and would only use it as a last resort if he fails to get the buy-in he’s hoping for from the MTB community.

If it makes you feel any better it’s not just MTBers who will be strongly encouraged away from potential breeding areas, it’s all users of the forest.

It’s all in the video 🙂

John said in his talk that one of the main things they proposed in meetings were two way trails.

Given that the cycling in Swinley will now be funnelled into just two loops, and that the increased signage and more accessible trails will attract more riders to the forest, it is probably unsurprising that this proposal was rejected.

It was asked in the Q&A how they intended to police this and whether he’d consider use of steps in the trails to make pushing/riding back up trails harder work – he hadn’t given it a great deal of thought, but said he’d discuss how they’d manage it with Rowan – so it is on their agenda.

I don’t know of any trail centre that allows two way trails?

Link to video of presentation: http://vimeo.com/54847938

I swear by my Level gloves, very warm, waterproof and breathe-able enough.

The thing to watch for on ski gloves is that they have strong stitching on the inside of the index fingers next to the thumb – most skiers will pick their skis up by wrapping their hands around the sharp edges and gradually cut the inside of that index finger to shreds. You wouldn’t pick a knife up like that so it’s madness really, but lots of people do it!

In his press release from CE, John Deakin states that they have made a conservative estimate of 170,000 riders per year using Swinley.

Out of idle curiosity I did a few calcs, based on some assumptions:

80% of riding is done on the weekend: 136,000 riders @ weekends
50 weekends a year (100 days): 1360 riders per weekend
Riders set out between 9-2: 272 riders per hour

Which would mean that on AVERAGE, you’d have 4.5 riders per minute (or roughly one every 13 seconds) setting out from just the ONE blue trail by the lookout. That’s not even adjusted for seasons, where I would guess you could easily double it for Bank Holidays or summer holidays.

Considering 170,000 was a “conservative estimate”, is the biggest danger not just that the Blue run will become incredibly over-crowded as everyone uses it to either get to the Jump/Freeride section, or to DH section, or to the red route?

Back of a fag packet calculations, I know.

Picture posted on the Swinley FB group looks like the actual trail itself will be quite nice to ride.. but I don’t think that was ever in doubt with Rowan Sorrell involved.

I saw a physio a few years ago for a similar thing. She suggested the pain I was experiencing was probably due more to the inflexibility I had in all the muscles from the knee down to the ankle. She gave me a lot of exercises and stretches to do, and I haven’t suffered from shin splints for years.

I can’t remember all the exercises, but it might be worth seeing a physio (or just googling the exercises). Don’t give up, although do rest and ice if it currently hurts to run!

zigzag69’s tips are also worth bearing in mind, as I’ve heard heavy heel-striking suggested as a cause of many runners’ problems.

+1 for the lightweight dhb merino tops. They go in with my regular washing with no fuss too.

It will be easier to be positive once the plans have been fully revealed and the real motives behind them admitted.

I think I’m right in thinking that if they wanted to, the CE could have just said, “Right, that’s enough. No bikes, thank you please. If the FC want to run a trail centre in Crowthorne Woods then they can, but we’re not interested.”

They haven’t done that – but it’s not completely clear what they have done yet! I’ve never had a trail centre built near me, so I don’t know: but I have been given the impression that they often tolerate cheeky bits off to the side on the basis they aren’t ridden by many people so don’t cause a big problem. Happy to be corrected if someone knows of an example where that’s absolutely not the case?

It’s not as if there’s not an awful lot of other riding to be done in the area if Swinley doesn’t float your boat any more after the changes… but those areas do have their own quirks I guess!

My Mother told me that if you don’t believe in Father Christmas, he doesn’t visit you.

Last Christmas was my first year at home for a few years, but I still believe and I still get presents from him. My parents also get presents from him too. This works well for all of us.

We do “proper” gifts later on in the day. Everyone really enjoys Christmas this way, so we’ll probably always do it this way.

Crowthorne Woods is Foresty Commission owned land.

There are some trails there, mostly old race settings from Gorrick. There are none of the “yellow brick road” type trails you see in Swinley Forest though. As a result it can get very muddy and slow-going in places. Some people argue it’s better for that.

I believe you don’t need a permit to ride on that land.

There are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding this development. Not least, how much of the 24km trails that will be available will just be the routes that already exist, with some signposted links inbetween?

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Sorry to hear that Smudge, best wishes to all. Don’t worry about orders, all your many satisfied customers will understand.

Jef, perhaps he was French? 😉

Did 3 in Courchevel, 1 in Queenstown, NZ from 2006-2009.

I can’t imagine it’s changed an awful lot. If you’re hoping to get out there for this season you’ve probably missed the boat for starting in November/December. The good news is that loads of people fail to realise that there is actual work involved and get fired/homesick in the weeks leading up to and around Christmas, so there’s quite a demand for people to go out on short notice.

Chefs/Nannies always seem to be most in demand. I would get registered at a few places now to express your interest and get on the waiting list if you can.

http://www.natives.co.uk is a very useful website, with a forum full of people who can help. There is even a regular poster on there who does recruitment for SkiWorld, so play nicely 🙂

Zero Degrees has a happy hour 4-7, with pints of pilsner (and others) at £2.50 – does decent pizzas too.

I’m not convinced by Royal Tandoori personally, was very quiet when we were in there and was of average quality (food and service). Not had an amazing curry in Reading so not going to recommend anywhere on that front.

Very true, but it’s only 58 miles – which when you’ve travelled 600 odd miles to get to Aberdeen in the first place, doesn’t seem that much extra!

Is there any more info than on this link anywhere?
http://www.northern-scot.co.uk/News/Work-starts-on-Tomintoul-mountain-bike-trails-10082012.htm

The inlaws live just outside Aberdeen so this could be an excellent reason to visit more often!

EDIT: To say, found this excellent link: http://www.glenlivetestate.co.uk/Mountainbiketrails.htm

Looks good!

Considering how poorly the permit scheme is currently policed, I can’t see them trying to police any other changes to the rules this investment might have.

I’m curious as to where the money is going to come from to fund further maintenance and trail-building in the forest once this is tranche of work is done if not from the permit scheme.

I think I’m excited about this overall, as it could hopefully pave the way to have some sensible dialogue between actual users of the land, with the owners/managers. For far too long Gorrick have been the only voice who are far from transparent over their decisions.

Also, surely this is as good a time as any to bust out the Pareto rule, that would state 80% of riders use 20% of the trails? If we’re going to make up statistics at least do it pretending there’s a rationale behind it!

Private physios are worth every penny. Experts in their field, with reasonable incentives to get you fighting fit again – they know next time you tweak something you’ll be back into see them if they fix it up quickly and efficiently. Have been fixed up very promptly in the past for injuries that could be (shoulder/shin splints) with minimal amount of appointments and for longer term issues I’m extremely confident in the advice they have given me (although pending MRI confirmation!)

NHS physio and GP have been rubbish for me. GPs are particularly poor with anything non-life threatening. The NHS physio (and GP actually!) didn’t even examine one problem I had and just gave me a stock set of exercises to do which did not make any difference. I stopped going to they physio sessions for a while as they had no solutions and the consultations could have been done over the internet, with them just emailing me the same exercises to do again.