Well – the Land’s End 100 went very well.

Weather was kind to us, and the bike was going well 😉

So well, in fact, that thoughts of a new carbon flyer have been shelved. The old steel road bike was on fine form

Favoritist

which is actually mrs rkk01’s

Or perhaps this…

Not mine (but was the same – red 5 door 309 GTi) – pic ripped off the interweb

Interestingly, the Abarth is probably the closest recent car that I have driven, to the original 80s / 90s hatches. Very similar feel to the 205 / 309 GTis. Weight and power are almost identical. Good pull from low revs. Handling is very direct.

A refreshing move away from the more power / more weight formula of the last 20 years 😛

Hmmm – Have been looking at a Trek Madone…

The proliferation of LaLa photos in their marketing material was a little unsettling 🙁

Not sure that WW1 fits the “just war” case…

WW2, yes, undoubtedly

Time McQuaid and / or Verbruggen came clean on all this…

As I said above, Nike haven’t denied payement to Verbruggen – they have just denied that it was to cover up a doping fail.

I’m pretty sure that their lawyers would have said everything under the sun to make plain that NO PAYMENT HAD BEEN MADE, had no payment been made…

I can understand why a sporting goods company would contribute to the UCI, but to a private individual, and then not deny it… 😯

Nike must have been feeling some serious heat…

Reading between the lines on the separate Livestrong / Nike news feeds – reckon they’ve cut a deal???

You stand down from Livestrong and we’ll sever links with you, but continue to support the foundation?

Whats a tin foil hat wearer?

Conspiracy theorist

I think that they denied that they did it, but not necessarily the other person that was named has possibly having made the payment. Always interesting to see what isn’t said

Nike statement, as reported by the Indie…

Nike would not engage in discussion on the claim last night – instead issuing a 42-word statement. “In response to the offensive allegations in today’s New York Daily News, Nike vehemently denies that it paid former UCI president Hein Verbruggen $500,000 to cover up a positive drug test,” the statement read. “Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs.”

NOTE – the “to cover up a positive drug test” caveat…

To me, that says that the payment was made, otherwise the full stop would most emphatically be after $500,000. Don’t forget, the Corporate lawyers would have scrutinised these words very precisely

I struggle with long sentences ^^^

Radio 4 reckoned it was part of a great Tory “Unionist” campaign to counter the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, anniversary of Bannockburn and Scottish Referendum…

… and I thought I was cynical 🙄

What’s surprising is that people felt comfortable putting that sort of accusation in the public domain

Well it wasn’t, was it – at least directly… This was originally a sworn deposition to the SCA case.

And, lets face it, the way I read Nike’s statement, they haven’t exactly denied the payment….

… just the reason

Pretty sure there have been a (small) number of comments to that effect on here… and elsewhere.

So many interesting angles to this….

Just been reading comments about LA’s cancer, and the reported views that anti-doping controls from the Fleche Wallone ought to have flagged his as then undetected cancer from the blood samples – which then remained undetected until the lump was the size of an orange…? 😯

The mind boggles – I’m pretty sure I’d notice, especially if my job involved sitting on a race bike saddle every day.

I can see why the tinfoil hat wearers have questioned the whole cancer scenario

The Tory Malaise Anthem…

Thanks for the offer !

South Wales, though – so will pester the various Trek dealing LBS’s

Thanks – 6’3″ here, so will have a good look around at sizes !

Thekingisdead – how tall are you?

Two separate LBS have suggested 58, even though I stated that my current 59 is a tad small compared to its 60 forebear…

Head says go fo the 4 Series…. But that 5 Series looks soooo quick!

£800 between them though, and the wheel and group set are the same 😯

Has anyone ridden the Madone with the rear brake by the bottom bracket?

We’ve got 2. One is a normal cocker – show type, the other is part show / part working. Both are lovely, but the half an half is great. Very energetic, bright, loving

And today – it was fine…..?

Got up to 67kph – no wobble / shake

Different roads and better surfaces, but same speed ranges

PUZZLED ???

No probs here iPad 2 and billion ipac7800n

Some good suff there – ta!

Oversize steel frame, with a fairly steep head angle. Wheels are Mavic alloy rims. Shake doesn’t happen under power, only on freewheel – so very dependent on gradient. The road mentioned above ^^^ is steep enough to get over 70kph, but not so steep that you have to use the brakes…

However, it’s quite twisty, so not easy to keep the power on without drifting wide. Come off the power, and the bike starts to shake – side to side wobble, tankslapper style. In the dry, confidence is there to go faster, and it’s no problem. Wet and / or traffic, and I’m on the brakes, doing about 45 and clenching buttock….

Will have to play with the back wheel…

They were right.

Quite possibly – but I had no interest in learning to play acoustic.

Wasn’t much point in buying an instrument I had no interest in picking up

Hopefully the good karma will be out to play for the rise home 😀

Today was an OFF day…

Woke up early – thought I’d change to winter tyres…

Still faffing 20 mins later, with rest of family trying to get in kitchen for brekkie

Multi task fail – putting wheels on, making coffee, putting toast on

3, 3 sets of burnt toast – was there extra frikking leccy in the wires this am???? 2 mins, same as normal – each lot burnt.

Air blue with smoke

Air blue with curses

Family hacked off with my singlemindedness to get the bike together and ride to work

Glassess fall off try to pump tyres up, pump head continually detaching from valve.

Stress levels rising

Everything I touch falls over / breaks

Stair gate falls off stairs

30 mins late leaving house

Blue skies replaced by intense 20min shower

Rear brake not working – forgot to readjust cam after re-fitting rear wheel

Wheels feel out of balance – normal 60-70 kph descent is wet, slippy, busy with traffic due to being later and very scary

So yes, a very off day

I bought my first guitar last year – and in the end it was a simple punt on ebay.

The bit I found REALLY difficult was the standard “get advice” and “try before you buy” guff that we always spout about bikes…

Guitar shops all said start with acoustic – I had no interest in acoustic 😡

Try before you but just makes you feel like a xxxx when you can’t actually play 👿

So, as above ^ neck straight, frets all there etc. I picked up an Epiphone Les Paul for cheap as chips money. It’s one of their base models, so pick ups sound quite dark unless the tone is turned up, but sustain is really good.

If I were buying again I’d perhaps be a bit bothered about the fret wear on the common open A, C, D, E, G chords – at first I found it difficult to fret these out. Partly being a newby, partly worn frets, partly fairly high strings / action. Used to it now though.

Billion BiPAC 7800n

or update..?

Not funny – depressing

Same court that will hear the Kimmage case

Wiggo effect denier here…

… and that’s from someone who has “rediscocered” the road bike this year.

A lot of my regular mtbing is on my commute, but the trails have been an utter bog fest since April-May. One section I’ve been having to regularly push / granny ring on the flat and even downhill. Wheels just wouldn’t go around in the clag.

No-one has mentioned the mechanical cost of riding in the mud. As much fun as it is coming home / arriving at work caked in mud 😆 it does get a bit wearing on the wallet keeping up with the extra wear and tear 🙁

I quite like Hartnolls[/url]

They are based in Plymouth / Torquay, but trade over the web as well.

I can see the Verbruggan McQuaid vs Kimmage case getting quietly dropped… self defamation?

My road bike is a lugged steel frame – Columbus ELO tubing.

Obsolete by today’s standards – certainly in terms of weight anyway. Handling is nervous, skittish and fast – needs confidence to drive it properly… certainly not “dead” feeling.

Doing a 100 miler on it in a few weeks, a first, and will be riding with folks on more modern exotica. Will be interested to see how it goes – almost certainly likely to cement whether I “regress” to do more of a mix of road / mtb, and whether I convince myself to buy a new road bike

I have to say, I am very much liking the look of this…

Trek Madone 4.7

Full Ultegra, and IMO, the best colourscheme of the current Trek lineup

But, extending the budget (somewhat…) the new 2013 framests look very, very quick

5.2 stealth flavour

5.2 mint / Kwak flavour

Not entirely sure about the rear brake positioning on the 5 series….

That white 5.5 looks very, very quick… Nice

How do folks manage with the compact chainsets?
Do you not run out of cogs?

Precautions were taken

Protective eyewear

medical gloves

😯

Holy Smoke

No

HOLEY SMOKE

Those things are HOT

Made a chilli last night – as is normal, was banned by the rest of the family from putting the chillis directly into the mix. Normally make a separate chilli sauce, using the chopped chillis, some tomato puree, the bean tin juice and some lime juice.

So, last night was Super Naga Sauce – have a jam jar full. Might take a while to use

Super hot, but very nice though 😈

Why bother?

I push myself, against my own times, mtb or roadie….

7 x 50

That’s what I wa always told 😉

Well he did crush the best in the world in the biggest race seven times in a row. Whatever was going on at the time, and whatever means were being used, there’s no doubting he (and his team) was better at it by far than anyone else.

Chuffin nonsense. Utter tosh. What it means is…

“best bankrolled, most determined, cheat”

ETA – have a read around, plenty in the public domain. Hamilton / Coyle’s book paints a particular picture of Armstrong…..

Well he did crush the best in the world in the biggest race seven times in a row. Whatever was going on at the time, and whatever means were being used, there’s no doubting he (and his team) was better at it by far than anyone else.

THAT’S IT….!

EUREKA – Why couldn’t I see it, his success, denials, popularity…

… his future political masterplan…

GOD DID IT

If he “converts” from aetheism and says that God won those Tours for him – he’ll be in the WH quicker than you can say “stupid white men”!!!