Pyro. Moments like that make my day. Basically most people are alright, it’s just we tend to be more vocal when were feeling out of sorts.
I’ve been listening to the New York Times podcast ‘The Daily’ for about a year now. They are firmly Democrat despite claiming to be middle ground (I think, just how it appears to me). Recently they did a couple of pieces where they represented Republican and Democrat viewpoints on the election. Finally I got a realistic impression of the fears and desires of people that I’ve ridiculed. It’s made me want to improve the world in a tiny way by asking people to talk to each other, be kind, be understanding and actually listen. It suddenly seems so important to me.

Thanks bud. Your comment is like the bloke in the yellow shorts. A brief smile in amongst the scowls.😊

Maybe just a thread where people can talk about their day without being yelled at. Everyone has such different priorities and concerns. All I see is people arguing.

People are daft aren’t they. I just popped down to the supermarket to get something for lunch and it was heaving.
If we learnt something from last time it was that the shops didn’t run out of food.

Delay, dither, disappear.
Would we even be surprised if some photographer snapped him leaving by the back door in false glasses and moustache. 😂

Please remember that whoever wins there are going to be a lot of scared, angry and confused Americans out there. Huge swathes of the population seem to actively fear the opposition. There are a lot of hard working people that actually think Trump has done them some good and whilst it’s easy for us to mock them, they live in very different circumstances to you or I.
So when hopefully Trump gets dragged from power, we should spare a thought for his supporters. They won’t all be the idiots that we see on the TV, many will be quietly worried everyday folk
If ever the opportunity arises then a kind word would be better than humiliation. I’ve found that when you actually talk to someone, even if you have wildly different views, common values can usually be found and some kind of friendship can be struck up.
The internet is awash with hurtful messages, the dream of unifying the world is instead assisting in its fracturing. Maybe we should do something about it and reach out to those we don’t understand.

Yes it is wonderful to see how plant life envelops abandoned structures. It is heartening how some of the Chernobyl area has become a sanctuary for certain species for example.
It’s a real shame that species diversity is taking a pounding though. Many,many evolutionary lines have already become extinct through our actions.
As to the question of how much should we intervene on health, I agree it’s an impossible decision. I struggle to see keeping old people alive who are suffering with multiple ailments and dementia for example as anything other than some kind of slow torture, but where do you draw the line?

Frankconway. Thanks.
The way I see it, all species will multiply to the maximum extent they can. We’re not unique. Microbes are a nightmare for it: multiply like hell to exploit a food source then die in great numbers when it runs out.
Unfortunately humans are too bright. We’ll take every living thing out in our battle to survive, hence we’ve got to go!
There is hope in the way that wonderful individuals find solutions to so many complex problems, so I’m not totally sold on mass destruction, but watching the majority of the population of the world say **** you, me first, and sadly I’m equally part of the problem despite knowing the ramifications of my actions, leads me to the conclusion that we’d be best as a fossil layer.

Er hello.
You won’t have seen me post here, but I’ve read with interest.
You may have seen me rail against Ebikes, consumption, big polluting vehicles etc over the years.
I’m not completely ignorant, for my whole life I’ve been interested in the natural world. I did a degree in environmental sciences and have always worked outside in farming and now gardening. Of course I’m an avid mtber which is why I’m here.
So here’s the scary bit, I’ll tell you what I think. I’m pretty sure it’s how I genuinely feel, but it’s not conventional so do I question it:

For too long humans have defied nature. We’ve pushed the boundaries of survival far beyond natural limits. We’re living far beyond the age we should.
Nature abhors aborations and will seek to resume balance. Laws of natural selection and survival of the fittest keep populations of all species healthy and viable. Here we are presented with a classic example of a balancing act by nature that will select out the less healthy and older members of a society to maintain the health and ability to survive for the more viable specimens, I.e. the ones that will reproduce.

I watch with despair the rape and abuse of our planet and even more importantly the destruction of all the species we co habit the planet with and it really angers me.
I often find myself stating that I’d ideally see all humans wiped away in one (hopefully quick and painless way), but people just laugh and think I’m joking. I don’t think I am.

Please, please don’t attack the hell out of me, I’m a sensitive soul. I’ve held off commenting on this thread for about 5 months now.
Just wanted to put forward the point of view that this is a completely natural act and we could just take a deep breath and live with it. Life is full of pain but also full of joy. How many non covid things have we all had to endure? Life can be brutal but this is just one thing amongst many.

Sounds like a great reason to get an ebike and your mates can enjoy chasing you up the hill. I wish one of my mates would get one as our disparity in fitness means we haven’t ridden together for years.

I’ve got a real contender here: Mongolian Death Worms!
It’s on Amazon prime now. Watched it, well half of it with a kebab last night. Brilliantly terrible.

Regarding singlespeed, I know current thinking is that you shouldn’t mix up your training in one session, but I could argue that the body doesn’t care, races are mixed up and the fact that to get up a hill you have to go for it means the singlespeed is a potent tool. You don’t have to gurn up the hills, you can accelerate before it then sprint up at a high power and cadence. I think singlespeed comes into it’s own when you’re just slightly overgeared and have to put out steady seated power. I gear my bikes harder than most for this reason.
Best thing is that singlespeeding is fun, silent and a lovely way to enjoy the trails thus you enjoy doing it.

Twenty mins of sweetspot can feel like a pretty tough effort. I guess Kryton is saying that if you can do 90mins then it’s a lower power than sweetspot.
Personally I think it’s completely unessesary to drill down into the details like this. I’m a reformed character after spending past years training by the numbers. These days I just ride my bikes lots. I tear round the place in a completely unstructured manner when the mood takes me, and amble around enjoying the scenery the rest of the time. Essentially its polarized training but just done on mood.
Most of my miles were done bikepacking this summer with many days completely off in between. When the prospect of a cx race came up, I did 3 spirited cyclocross bike rides then raced. Was as fit as when I used to kill myself training and much more inclined to dig really deep.
By the way I really rate singlespeed as an effective training tool. Covers so many bases just going for a ride.

I’d assume if there’s balsam and knotweed then the ground will be properly wet so Willow is an excellent choice. It grows phenomenally fast on these conditions too.
Have a look around this winter, there are a bunch of different varieties with lovely bark colouration. As previously mentioned, just shove some sticks in the ground.

I’m really pleased to hear about your award TiRed. I’ve been quietly coming on here for months now to hear your opinion on the situation. You’re my ‘offical fact checker’.
Glad it’s recognised outside of our community.

I find it helps to remember that if you hadn’t come into his life then he might have had a totally different and maybe no so great existence. Because of you he’s felt loved. What greater gift can you give to an animal?
So through the grief, take time to smile and feel proud of yourself for improving someone’s life immeasurably.

Last weekend I was riding as the sun set. Bivied around 10pm then got up at first light and rode towards the first showing of the sun.
For me, dawn trumped dusk by a country mile.

Yes it’s fine. It’s a blessing when you want to change the bearings or freehub. Took me a few minutes and no special tools to refresh mine.

I really think it’s best not to worry too much about bike and tyre choice. I’ve ridden the SDW on 32mm cx tyres and whilst it was rattly on the fast descents it was nice at other times. My fastest bike for this is my racey ful sus but I’ll be using a rigid mtb as it’s a much loved friend. If you’re forced to slow down a bit it just gives you more time to enjoy the moment.

Next weekend I’m planning Greensand way from Sevenoaks to Oxted, NDW to Guildford (via Peaslake village stores of course), Downslink to Steyning, SDW to Eastbourne then home vis the Cuckoo trail and quiet country roads (evil hills mind you).
Should be around 2 x 8-10hr days. Fingers crossed it happens.

So many words I don’t understand!
😂

Please don’t feel you have to kill them. Just because they’ve found a way to thrive in our filthy, wasteful, planet destroying lifestyle, don’t condemn them for that.

Singletrackmind. Do you reckon leaving the North Downs way at Canterbury and joining the Viking Trail at Whitstable then following the coast all the way round to Eastbourne would work? Most of the coast from Broadstairs to Eastbourne would have a promenade wouldn’t it?

It’s nice to have some big routes being mapped in the South East isn’t it. Long drives to other parts of the country often render a trip impractical for me.

I’d love a Liquigas Cannondale Supersix.

An ex team bike can feel kinda wow! I’ve got a Ridley cx frame from the Telenet team 2013-14 season. It’s even got a half worn off Tom M sticker on it. It came with a fair few scratches and gouges but I raced it for two seasons and put a load more onto it. It’s fun to watch races from that year and see identical bikes under the the likes of Pauwels and Meuseen. Only cost £600!

My prettiest bike is a Genesis CDF in ‘copper’. Thin steel tubes and nice paint look so much more classy than carbon in my opinion. Rides beautify too.

Poopscoop.
I live in Tonbridge. Set of at 2.30am and rode towards Headcorn on the road. Stopped after an hour for a 2hr sleep behind a hedge as I wanted to try out my new sleeping bag and mat (they were brill). At 6am I continued down to Hythe where I had doughnuts freshly baked from a seaside van. Followed the coastal path through Folkestone until it ended near Samphire Hoe, then I carried all 22kg of my loaded bike straight up the white cliffs of Dover! There was a zigzag path up a wooded fissure in the cliff. Topped out at a little cafe.
Followed the superb, new by the looks of it NCR 2 cycle path along the cliff top before dropping down into Dover itself. Nipped up to the castle then selected the Cycling UK route on my Garmin which took me straight back down the hill!
Followed that through Canterbury then on to Wye where I split off and followed my own route from a previous trip through Charing then back to Headcorn. 2 more hours of flat, headwind riding saw me home.
220km, 1500m, 15hrs elapsed, 10.5hrs moving.
Legs nicely sore this morning!

Peekay. It was pure tourism/consumerism. Massive queues for bars and restaurants. The streets were packed, it took ages to get through.
I was too tired to re route before you say it. Had been riding for about 10hrs by then and didn’t want to leave the course.

I rode through Canterbury today. Didn’t intend to but was following the Cycling UK North downs route. The centre was heaving with people, absolutely chock full. I must admit I’ve been pretty chilled through lockdown, not overly concerned, but following advice because, well, that’s what you do right? Seeing the crowds in the city centre appalled me frankly. I put a mask on and battled my way out of there. I struck me how disappointingly stupid the mass population can be. It’s so depressing. Oh well. Sod them. I’m sure they’ll be bleating ‘why me?’ In due course.
Rest of the ride was smashing btw.

I’ve not read most of this thread, from what I have seen its the usual fairly sensible discussion punctuated by people being rude and offensive to each other.
For whatever reason I’ve felt the need to just say I’m so glad my 13 year old daughter will be going back to school next week. She’s coped fine with lockdown but it’s a dull life for a young person.
I accept there’s an increased risk to me, magnified by the fact my wife is a teacher, however I put that to the back of my mind (as does my wife) and focus on what’s best for my child. Isn’t that what parents do?

Yeah Colournoise, didn’t read my post back. Meant to say the teachers and head at her school were overwhelmingly in support of going back. Can’t speak for other schools as I don’t know their opinions.

Is it of any interest to this discussion that my wife who’s an assistant head gets annoyed with the headlines that teachers/heads are not happy with schools going back? She says the unions have not consulted their members and are making statements that don’t represent the staff of schools. She says there’s an overwhelming desire in her school to get the job done. Teachers and heads want their kids back, they know how vulnerable a lot of the children are and that matters more than the risks.

Friston forest has plenty of room to disappear in. Jevington tap is close by.

You’re the only guy who treats an ftp test as an A race. You are mad as a hatter!
However seeing as none of us are getting any racing then maybe you’re having the last laugh.

It was a lovely Saturday. 5hr ride in the morning then feet up watching racing in the afternoon. Proper weekend feeling.

I’d have a whacking great bowl of cereal, a cool bath and a quick nap if I was in your position. Then get up and enjoy a beer in the cool of the evening.
The work is done now, don’t cut back on the carbs just yet and mess it all up. There’ll be a lot of extra heat stress in this weather.

Jonnybike, try riding a touch easier from the off. Staying well inside your comfort zone can mean you never get close to cramping. The net effect of being able to ride for longer outweighs the loss of speed.

I had the wind taken out of my sails when after a winter of training in the rain my key event was cancelled. It was Alps Epic, a 6 day mtb stage race. It’s been a dream to compete in something like this for so many years, I was so excited.
I’ve rolled my entry over to next year but now my partner (it’s a pairs race) is going cold on the idea. All the uncertainty is doing my head in! I just want to knuckle down but without concrete goals it’s so hard to get out the door sometimes.
Cx may happen to some degree but I can’t imagine it’ll be any more than bubbles of say 30 riders in a TT format. Not really something that excites me.

Any ideas for alternative goals?
I’ve been looking at self supported ITTs which are certainly something I could imagine doing, but I’m not keen on sleep deprivation.

Strava, koms, power targets don’t do it for me, nor does riding TTs on the road.

I’ve been doing some bikepacking which has been great. Have ridden the South Downs, Quantocks and New Forest recently. What I miss is the reason to get out the door on weekday mornings or evenings. I’ve got some brilliant places to work on sweetspot or vo2 max repeats but what’s the point? Endurance is getting covered by my long bike trips and I’m doing some running and gentle weight training too. I dream up challenges like a fast SDW attempt but what I love is shoulder to shoulder cx and xc racing. My favourite moments have been scrappy cx battles followed by trying to balance 3 people on a box for a podium shot (EKCX, such a great league). Ten of us mobbing the vet podium a couple of years ago at Herne Hill (LCCA) was another golden memory.