hora – have you read the Ashenden interview in it’s entirety?

I’d be interested in your honest opinions – not whether LA doped or not, but of Ashenden’s piece, how it comes across to a fan of LA.

To me it did not come across as vindictive or pursueing any kind of personal vendetta – just came across as an open discussion of the available evidence

Well, apologies for the late thread resurrection, it has taken a few sittings to thoroughly read through the Ashenden interview linked above ^^^

I must say that is probably the best piece I have read about doping / anti doping in sport. Totally measured, very balanced and based on the man’s considered interpretation of the available facts.

I started out as someone who admired Lance Armstrong’s achievements, but was not a fan (that period of road racing didn’t capture my imagination in the way the early 90s did). However, my opinion now is that the man is not only very likely a cheat, but also a fraud, bully and thoroughly unpleasant example of what is wrong, not only in sport, but in many walks of life where successful “look at me” types squash the ambition of others who also have the ability, dedication and desire to be successful.

The only area I disagree with Ashenden is the one about criminalisation of drug cheats. If there is no money involved, ie just sporting prestige, then I’d be inclined to agree. However, with the multi million sponsorship, media, and reputational industry riding on the back of sporting succes, anyone who gets chemical support to reach the top must surely be regarded as a fraudster and common criminal?

Oh for gods sake when will you lot wake up? The people that post on here haven’t changed. Your sensibilities have altered, perhaps for commercial reasons, perhaps others or maybe everyone’s just got a little older. This kind of clumsy attempt to filter people will kill this site quicker than any ‘rogue’ user group.

My point exactly

Accuracy a bit dodgy

No. We’re trying to make it a friendly community that it once was.

That’s very laudable, and I hope achievable. But a very delicate balancing act to perform…

Really? Are the mods / site owners trying their damnest to shut this place down?

If this seems like a harsh reaction, see my previous posts re the withering of mtb-wales…

Is it the same approach as removing big hitters from threads…

IGMC 😉

Cycling, walking, skiing, camping…

Genrally “exploring” – from up in the hills to lazily wandering around new areas

Beach holiday means walking along the shoreline for a few klicks. Lazing on a towel tends to occupy a max half a day before itchy feet sets in

Anyone got a timescale for this to play out over?

For what is worth I think they should drop it the whole thing. Even if he did they never caught him at it so they were too slow; same goes for Contador’s ban really.

I genuinely think that if he hasn’t been caught they should drop it. Its embarrassing. I also think the same with Contador caught red handed fair enough, caught retrospectively who gives a proverbial.

No, because…

Surley the issue is whether they have cheated not whether they avoided tests.

No, this is not the (only) issue here.

If LA has cheated / failed tests, then there is a whole other, non-sporting world of criminal investigation that should be opened up to scrutiny.

This extends to a whole bigger arena than competition and sporting excellence…

… funding, sponsorship, reputation, charitable foundation, paying off officials – if such a thing happened

You gotta dance like Lance man, spinners are winners.

love the irony – I presume you are not talking about “spin”

That Telegraph piece gives an indication of what sort of storm is brewing for LA…

I cannot see any way he comes out of this “clean”. Even if no personal use allegations stick, there is still the public money / use of drugs for the wider team that he led.

If accepted, I hope he goes to jail TBH. The drug tests / failures / use / denial is one thing. Some of the other aspects start to look very much like simple criminal corruption…

Still mourn for mine, over 2 years on.

iPlayer tonight, then…

… although I do worry about the implied “entertainment” / infotainment of these programmes. This sort of stuff should be in extended news broadcasts

Pretty much feel the same way at the mo 🙁

Busy, responsible job.
Always putting stuff on expenses for work
Mortgage keeps going up – cause the mortgage companys say “because we can” 👿
Family relationships (parents & inlaws) getting strained – not seeing enough of the grandchildren
Seem to work hard, earn a reasonable amount, but constantly chasing our own tail.

For sure a first world problem, but
Getting a bit wearing

Spent a lot of time working on the family mixed farm in Cornwall during the 80s. Mix of Friesian / Hereford crosses, Charolais crosses and S Devons.

Beef cattle were generally brought in during the winter months and fed on a mix of silage and cereals. Let out on grass during the spring, summer and autumn months. Not involved these days, but I dont think much has changed…

… except the economics. The farming side is a loss making / break even way of keeping the property together. Profits have to be found elsewhere

Perhaps if the US and Sweden promised extra extra hard (no crossed fingers) that he wouldn’t be immediately extradited to face the death penalty in a US court then he might?

Which is wht I included “(of the rape case)”.

re Ecuador – Not sure I’d sleep too easy in my bed. Haven’t US special forces regarded Central America and northern S America as their own little playground for decades?

One of these…?

An odd state of affairs…

Was looking for some of the reporting from the time – some of what (I think) I remember seems to be no longer on-line.

The most generous assesment would be that the Swedes had made a bit of a hash of this case…

Mr Assange is questioned by police for about an hour in Stockholm and formally told of the allegations against him, according to his lawyer at the time, Leif Silbersky. The activist denies the charges.

So, they had him “down the station”…

I’m surprised that even Galloway has pitched in on this – any MP likely to get a pasting expressing anything other than the “standarised” approved view.

Whatever the truth of the rape allegations, Assange must be seriously freaked out to have bolted to the Ecuadorian embassy to seek assylum. Given the gradations of seriousness of rape offences that the Beeb refer to under Swedish law, you’d think he’d just go back and try and clear his name. The worst outcome (of the rape case) would be a few years in jail and lost reputation.

Strange choice, Ecuador… Has he looked at an atlas. Given what he has published on wikileaks, you’d think he’d choose somewhere a long way from the reach of the US…

Not sure I understand the “boring” comments…. My ht is boring on a fire road slog, but comes alive on twisty singletrack. Likewise with the road bike, get on a stretch where you can wind it up to speed, throw in some bends and it becomes a pucker / grin inducing ride

I’ve no probs with the look… Just curious. From an engineering perspective looks like putting weight high and outboard.

Just watched a programme we recorded months ago “the great game”-covered a lot of the geo- political background and the Soviet “invasion”. Quite an eye opener…

Why do MG stick their block the wrong way round?

Oh, and don’t bother with that overrated Aberdeen Angus. Very little to compete with Welsh Black, for flavour and tenderness….

Yep, hot griddle… Sear fat side first then a minute or two per side.

Not normally a man to advocate steak + sauce / marinade, but some of my best efforts have sat in a bowl of teriyaki for an hour or two.

Only thing to beat the hot, hot griddle is a proper charcoal BBQ. Not briquettes or , heaven forbid, gas. Something about steak, lightly teased by glowing orange charcoal embers….

Perhaps the owners pulled it because they were sick of a minority spoiling it for everyone else…

[my partisan view*] That forum was very succesfully moderated for a number of years by a small number of volunteer forum members. Very informative site, good debates, healthy level of banter (to me “banter” is one of the most important but indefinable characteristics of a good forum).

The mods, IMHO, did a very good job, but again IMHO, were not properly appreciated – and when some posters started to over-step the mark the mods questioned what it was all about. Forum owner steps in, heavy handed moderation, site starts to loose its appeal and members drift away. After a hack and half hearted re-build I hardly went back. Seems it’s now gone completely.

Loosing the characters risks loosing the character

* – partisan view – very much from my perspective. I know others on here have come from the same place, and respect that they may / will have a different view or recollection… 😉

ETA

I think MTB-Wales was mostly run by one guy (Phil Lee) and when he stepped back from it, it waned

Have to disagree strongly with this. The site flourished for 4-5 (?) years after Phil was drawn away by “other interests”. The mods over that period were never properly credited.

I have to say – alarm bells are ringing…

Moved over to STW after my previous forum of choice dwindled away to nothing as a result of increasingly abusive posts / threads and increasingly heavy handed moderation.

It really isn’t the individuals who step over the line that kill a forum. A forum is killed when it no longer allows the debate that the users want. Mods need to exercise caution and discretion.

I just tried to google mtb-wales and drew a complete blank. That was a very, very good forum. Would hate to see STW go the same way 🙁

Good thread – last year’s was great…!

More than a little depressed about skiing this year 😥

Kids and mrsrkk01 do not share the same school hols 😐

Mortgage Co keeps putting up their standard variable rate, in their words, “because they can” 👿

So, skiing – on the highly desired list, but right at the top of the what can we cut back list

I do hope you are trolling 😯

Was there this w/e… there is a post with “Llanberis” marked on it. More of a marker post than sign post IIRC.

Again, IIRC, you go through a gate / style, followed by a little dip down to a culverted stream crossing. A few 100m on there is another fenceline, and the path to Maesgwm goes off after that fenceline…

Tinned sardines – high protein / low cost lunch of choice 😀

I think you’ll find that riding without a licence invalidates any insurance, and claiming to be the licence holding mate is asking for a few weeks free b&b courtesy of HM.

It’s a stupid idea for sure, but this is horseshit.

Struggling to see why this is horseshit?? – the custodial bit, perhaps???

try the same logic for four wheels – does it work?

Or is it still driving whilst uninsured / unlicensed???

Since riding is permitted before 10am and after 5pm at any time, a descent on a summers evening is not out of the question and there is nothing to stop you walking up earlier with your bikes to reach the summit before 5pm so long as you are not riding up.

but, as posted above ^, the mountain will still be busy with walkers descending the mountain.

We returned (on foot) via Snowdon Ranger and Bwlch Maesgwm on Saturday, and it was lovely and quiet, but if you plan to come back down the Llanberis path it is likely to be pretty busy. from Bwlch Maesgwm the LP looked like an ant trail of walkers 🙁

Not all of the route comes under the ban do time it right and you’ll be on the “free” bit before 10am.

Only useful if returning via Snowdon Ranger path??

Radical idea I know, but do you eat fish?

Would need to be oily fish though… Cod and chips isn’t going to do the trick

Do people still bother with duty free?

Isn’t it all now just another rip off “retail experience”?

Most CLO is also filtered to try and remove the PCBs from it.

Please corroborate…?

Not the same thing, surely…?

Cod liver oil isn’t a brand, it is a specific product, which contains omega 3 fatty acids.

Presumably, any oil from an oily type fish could be bottled and sold as omega 3 oil – need not be from a specific fish species or be a liver derived oil. IIRC mackerel, sardines etc all high in omega 3, irrespective of whether you eat the liver or not…

it is genuine

err, no, because we haven’t booked anywhere….