Just run them over they soon learn (best avoid the bigger ones with short legs unless you have a 160mm FS bike) :-)

Part of being a good rider is realising when you are having a bad day and to put it behind you and move on. Worst thing you can do is react to a bad day and start changing yourself and your bike(s)

And R&R is just as important as time on the bike. Chill, take it easy and The Flow™ will take care of itself.

Got a Turbo Escort back the day after it was nicked from a car park in Stoke. Mate at the time was a meter reader and knew all the pikey areas so we got a few more mates together and went on a ‘tour’. Actually saw the motah waiting to turn out of a junction but by the time we’d turned round it had gone. By this time we had made half-a-dozen calls to the local plod and there were a couple of police cars in the area so we left them to it.

Got a call the next morning to say the car had been found. Basically it had been stripped of all the cosmetic bits that made it a ‘Turbo’ (inc wheels/interior/bodykit etc) and it had a few dents but otherwise OK.

Insurers were genuinely surprised that I wanted it back but after a bit of a chat with the assessor bloke the local Ford garage got the green light to fix it. Think it took them like two months but when I got it back it felt like new. Kept it for several years afterwards and quite a few people commented that it was in good nick for its age :-)

There is no answer if it involves money and somebody having to do something

Unscrew the inner bolt until the collar is loose and can be easily compressed. Might need a bit of persuasion with a rubber mallet to insert it in the steerer. A chopstick up the steerer can be useful to press against the lower nut if it won’t tighten.

Technically you don’t really need the o-ring it’s only there to hold the bits together.

Technically you don’t even need a headset adjuster but that’s another story.

Have a 96 Proflex 856 with period XT/XTR it’s nice to take it out for a trip down memory lane but it is a complete dinosaur compared to a modern bike. Really.

Fix the Kona up as best you can and keep it for old time’s sake then off to the lbs

5 years in a dry, dark place away from electromagnetic radiation

Big cut-outs in the back of the Launch Pros and they are all-day comfortable. They are quite tight from new (don’t even think about the S/M size if you are a bloke) but there’s good adjustment and they do become slack after a while (months of riding 2/3 times/week).

Have ‘tested’ them many times they are most excellent.

We have an lbs that is owned by an ex Olympian and the smug factor is off the scale. I have a tenuous connection with the owner so it doesn’t really bother me but his staff try it on with anyone and everyone who goes in. The shop’s reputation is legendary but it still attracts well-heeled customers.

Was walking back from town the other day along the flat-as cycle/pedestrian path when I heard the familiar crunch of tyres from behind so I moved aside. Couple of lads came past one on a burly-ish trail bike the other on something downhill-tastic c/w Troy Lee lid, DH pyjamas, and a pressure suit with back protector and shin guards :-)

I guess they could’ve been biking to the Chase or maybe hitting up the gnarcore towpath just a little further along…

only trouble is I cant work out how I can track an order as I dont have a log in?

Login to CRC using your PayPal email address and select ‘forgot password’. CRC will send you an email with a random password which you can then use with your PayPal email to view your orders etc

Have had the misfortune to collide with several creatures while motorcycling. A little sparrow-type thing hit me on the head and made quite a mess and a blackbird once flapped lazily out of a hedgerow and caught me square on the shoulder it was like a good thump from an 11-year old. Various rabbits/squirrels have literally run between the wheels they are very nimble and/or have a death wish. Mate had a Mustang and we hit a pheasant you think American cars are tough the pheasant was toast but so was the Mustang’s grille and bumper.

Have also hit a cat it exploded like a wet paper bag not good, not good at all.

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thankful to be able to go out on my bike pretty much when I want to and be able to do it again the next day

what are these ‘bottle cages’ of which you speak?

Ardents are most excellent. High volume from tall, wobbly sidewalls but fairly average width – great if you’re looking for a floaty kind of tyre without the weight and width.

Cornering/braking/climbing traction is great but the tread is just a little bit too shallow for me to risk one on the front although I might chance it if I was riding super-buff trail centres all the time.

Most recently Ian Hislop, Gordon Ramsey’s stunt double, celeb chef Rick somethingorother and Fearne Cotton’s hubbie (?) all in the Rock area (but not at the same time)

The liquidator’s first job is to eliminate all outgoings and then determine the company’s assets so get in there quick. A…friend worked for a company that went into liquidation and he took everything he could

From nocturnaldogwalkers.com:
“I have been walking my dogs on Cannock Chase during the evening for many years but last night I was terrified to see some bright lights heading along the track straight towards me. There was a sound like heavy breathing and I was so frightened I couldn’t speak, then the lights turned and disappeared…”

Have a Dakine Session for the local loop. Reservoir is 2L overall footprint is less than a sheet of A3 plenty of room for the usual. Great harness the pack stays put at all times and makes a very comfortable cushion to fall on in the event of an off.

+1 for Deuter can be used for other activites apart from biking. Also have a Inov8 25 litre sack which takes a reservoir and is great for multisports.

Not really a ghost story but when I first started night riding on the Chase in the late 90s there were some ‘odd’ people around and I’m not talking about Stan Collymore. One was a middle-aged bloke who used to sit on the benches round Fairoaks Pool (now the green route) in total darkness. I said ‘alright?’ a couple of times but he never replied just used to sit there in the dark, no dog no fishing rod nothing.

More recently there used to be an extemely scary white-haired woman (all she needed was a broomstick) walking her dogs in total darkness around the top of Sherbrook/Abraham’s. She was silent, the dogs were silent I used to GTFO ASAP I can tell you :-)

Very harsh IMO but probably worth it get rid of Pedrosa for a race or two. Next target – Lorenzo. Simoncelli will be world champ by taking out the other riders.

As above the OE plastic ones are so bad they seem like an hallucination but having said that even the chilli 2.2s are pretty grim personally I wouldn’t put them on the side of a canal barge. 2.4s are good on tarmac and climbing/braking but will have you on your ear in the corners.

Why would you want anything other than Maxxis?

+1

It’s true the Stickman has a lot to answer for but more than once I have seen dogs dragging branches/logs/sticks and then they drop them.

The ones that have been deliberately placed need to be treated with the contempt they deserve – ride over the small ones and carelessly hop the bigger ones. It is quite satisfying to see the number of other riders who think the same way and in a few days the sticks are broken in two with a tyre track through the middle.

My only advice would be to make a monumental effort to keep whatever you buy completely stock. Replace like for like and resist the temptation to upgrade.

My big mistake was to buy a £250 Peugeot rb and then fit an old, but still tasty SDG saddle from my MTB ‘box of bits’. And so it became a saddle with a sh*t bike attached to it…

2.25 every time. The minimal tread works well on the generous carcass. Ardent F CrossMark R is a killer combo

You will have to pay P&P but bizzarely if you ring them up and ask nicely they will give you a promotional code 5-10% off

as above. great service too

the Tacks Blast bit of Follow The Dog is a good sampler for the Monkey. The Monkey is not that technical but the sections are longer so it’s more demanding. Personally I find the middle bit irritatingly slow and nadgery but the first part and the Upper/Lower Cliff descents are a blast.

there were more people round Cannock Chase than there were at the wedding

Starwars was a huge event when it came out

^^ this

up until Star Wars we’d had The Towering Inferno and then Jaws. Everyone in the cinema stood up and cheered when the shark got blown up and when Star Wars finished, the lights came on, everyone looked at everyone else and stayed where they were to watch it again. We hadn’t seen anything like it before it was a truly amazing experience.

What annoys me is motorcyclists sitting in ques of traffic and not filtering at all!!

not so much annoying as one of life’s great mysteries :)

esp when I’m in the car stuck on the mway and there’s a bike in front who starts/stops along with the rest of the traffic.

What annoys me more is motorbikers filtering like Aunty Doris

+1 this is insanely annoying esp when you are stuck behind them on a motorbike

as usual a lot depends on where you live but round our way ASLs are just different coloured patches of tarmac. Cycle lanes appear and disappear because they aren’t cycle lanes they are there to make the roads seem narrower and dissuade people from chancing an overtake.

Cycle commuters use the footpaths at junctions, go over the the pedestrian crossing and rejoin on the other side and I can’t say I blame them. As a motorcyclist, stopping at any junction is an epic fail so ASLs are moot; it’s all about filtering, keeping an eye on the adjacent lights as you approach and modulating your speed so you get to the front of the queue just as the lights go green.

A lot depends on where you are. Where I work many people are dyed-in-the-wool-salt-of-the-earth types who view outsiders with suspicion and distrust and you really have to work at it to get even the faintest flicker of recognition, never mind an audible acknowledgement.

Back home everyone kids themself they live in a quaint market town and it’s all after you, no you first, no i insist, oh thank you it’s a lovely day isn’t it? etc

have a ’96 Proflex that I have kept for sentimental reasons and it’s OK if you remember to ride it appropriately but realistically it is useless around modern techy trail centres except on any fireroad climbs which it absolutely murders.

Metal fatigue worries me

rolled mrs.rocket’s Ka while practicing handbrake turns but don’t say anything

Doesn’t look too bad *ahem*

Rah rah ah-ah-ah!
Ro mah ro-mah-mah
Gaga Ooh-la-la!
Want your bad romance

As long as you feel necessary, else walk away. Plenty of motors about

^^ this

IME it’s very inconsistent but if the sales bloke says “We usually go…” then for this reason, I’m out.

As an aside, apart from H*nda I’ve had exceptional experiences with motorbikes. Mostly ‘bring it back when your’re done’ and in some cases contacting me and asking me if I’d like to test ride a bike for the weekend. Oh go on then…