Thats a nasty bite you have there Sharki.

Anyway docs appointment was already booked(1st available next week of course)just asking general thoughts in the meantime.

pretty sure its not lymes, have seen a number of pictures of that, no "bulls eye" effect at all, or irritation/ swelling etc.

Not a song but a poem.

"The Tay, The Tay, The Silvery Tay. It runs by night and it runs by day".

The unofficial worst ever poet, William McGonagall frae Dundee.

Some folk do ask to much but then they dont sell the items..

I for one have bought a lot of stuff from the stw classifieds with a bit of patience and keeping an eye out I have recieved a lot of really good condition parts and cant complain.

I was planning on going, is it still on?

Cheers FCR.

I will drop them a line to air my comments.

My main concern if not expressly said was if they pile in lots of hard core and gravel and make a smooth featureless path.

If they use it wisely and keep the character and flow then they could have a nice wee bit of trail that would add a different character to the Mabie trails, its an opportunity is what I am really saying.

I know a fair amount of the "other" trails at Mabie which are my favourites. :-)

Have not had that model, the E36 chassis is good one (had an M3 E36), but I think you need to test drive it first the 318 diesel might be a bit under powered for a tourer?? I would also knock a bit of cash off for that age of car unless its in very good condition.

As for charging for any rescue when I was in MRT there massive resistance to any form of charging. It is a voluntary organisation and they were proud of it, plus changing to any fee system creates a professional organisation which then opens up a can of worms for example liability and providing a service for a fee payment.

Agreed it is pretty dumb thing to do but it doesnt say where they left him and for how long for does it. Typical media reporting.

If they left him for 10 minutes to nip up to the top and back down that is one thing vs abandoning him in the wilderness if that is what they did. Their biggest mistake was not stopping sooner before they were too knackered to extricate themselves.

As for paying for it MR is a volunteer organisation in the UK (having been a member).

Eeek, I am humbled…

Glad to hear it isn't just me then…

Trekster – could do anytime saturday or early Sunday

St – I sympathise with your comments fyi this trail has been mechanically scraped back only and work on the majority of it has yet to start. It seems to have been at a halt for a long time since it is starting to become overgrown now. The first part is down to rock and hence my comments.

Apologies if any offence caused. :oops:

:DActually it's very easy on a hardtail and you could do it on a fully rigid or even a cross bike, although there are sections where you could struggle on those types of bikes. Black and Red is easily doable in a day, and so is Blue if you really want to. Traildog you must be a riding god, once i have done the black I am only fit for a beer and a bath :)

Could it be your nutrition, sleep, are you drinking enough (liquids), are you drinking too much (alcohol), working patterns etc.? Interesting article in stw a few months back about keeping the water intake up to ensure metabolism of carbohydrate to energy/ perfomance.

bought my PI shoes from Wiggle a couple of months ago, I required a size up right enough and I have been very pleased with them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFUrHhONTz4

Talisker.

Different but try doublewood Balvenie.

Having dabbled in kart racing briefly the main thing you need not to do is crash. The time it takes to get untangled from the tyre wall, or get turned around or whatever means you have lost the race no matter how fast you are.

Try to find the balance between keeping speed up but not getting it sideways too much in the corners. Skidding, screeching, and getting the tail out feels really good, and fast, but its not.

Be fairly smooth, if its a sprint race dont be afraid to take the odd chance at overtaking.

If its a well run event punting the guy off in front of you is likely to earn you a black flag.

At the start be ready to nail it the split second the lights turn, lots of time can be made up at the start with dozy drivers not being ready.

If its an indoor event lightweight drivers have a massive advantage due to the number of hairpins.

Echo something with an engine in.

Stick me down please, will be an incentive to get some more power into the legs, and lard of me @rse

Mine (853 version) has an "ordinary" top pull XT front mech, sorry dont know the model number.

hi Eric, just read your post, meant to come up but had a lazy start today. Went out with the wee lad up to Heathhall ofest for a wee birl, then had a quick blast down the side of the nith and up over the crichton in the Sunshine tonight.

Which was nice ;)

Getting flashbacks to the Drumlanrig thread from last year where I got roasted.

No issue paying a car park fee such as llandegla, 7 stanes etc. which is between one and three quid, if you dont want to use the trail go elsewhere. Or buy a cheapo season ticket which I did when the nice lady ranger at Drumlanrig shamed me into doing.

Maxheadset – good article, not sure about the black and red not attracting volumes of folk though? Anytime I went round those trails they seemed to be in general a lot busier than the family trails (which were great for my kids btw when I lived down there).

Add my thanks to the list for a great day out, one of the classics for this year, plus fantastic photaes, the kids like the pics and video of daddy falling off! :D

That ride was fantastic, great trail, good company and great conditions!! :)

Spot on, as mick said tighten a little bit, turn it round a couple of times, tighten, turn, tighten, turn etc…

Poached smoked haddock, boiled tatties, and Becks Blue.

Not that I am dreading being dead slow tomorrow at the STW meet or anything…… :|

Tony, as said above a sturdy pipe cutter works a treat, perfectly square and the external edges are smooth.

Simon I am Saturday only, cannot make Sunday.

I am a "definite maybe" for the meal.

Electrogirl, if you read this in time and you want a lift I can give you a lift up, be at number 39 before 0915hrs pls. (ps note in your front door says the same).

Otherwise 'til tomorrow.. :D

Simon

Change of plan for me, I will come to the saturday event, even though I am out of shape, if push comes to shove I can peel off halfway and just do the red.

Message to Doonhamers
I will have room for one or two people and bikes if anyone needs a lift from Dumfries.

Cheers

S

Simon – I am keen to do one of the days (prob Sunday), will let you or Trekster know later in the week.

Cheers

S

That is a great video of some cracking trails, need to get the kona built up and buy some tickets!! :D

love em, hate trainers

Keep slides to a minimum and have the bottle to talk to very simple bullet points, keep to something that you know, dont BS, be relaxed, look them in the eye, better to be concise than waffle on, gauge how your audience is reacting, if lots of nodding and smiles expand that section, if they are falling asleep move on.

Use pictures and diagrams if appropriate – a picture is worth a thousand words as they say.

I wouldnt fancy a "Glesgae kiss" fae you Tony mate.

Funnily enough on Monday I was cycling along a busy road and I think i averaged a shout at a driver every two miles when they just missed by right elbow or drove 12 inches off my rear wheel, but I dont cycle on busy roads that often.

If you are using water then add something immiscible like:

Vegetable oil, engine oil, etc

Thanks for all the posts folks, some ideas I have gleaned from here which I think will work for me.

1. I am heartened by the news that high intensity excersize works for fat loss, I prefer to get some sweat up rather than doddling along.

2. I had been thinking about the gym once or twice a week heading into the autumn/ winter months too build up mucle, this was more due to the fact my upper body seems to be getting out of shape and needs built up. If muscle does help burn up fat that would be an added bonus.

3. I have already cleaned up my diet and drinking with more cooking and no booze midweek but reducing portion size will be the next "challenge".

4. I absolutely do need to excersize more, my work is now office based with no form of excersize at all, I know from experience that I need to increase activity so I do not buy into the idea that excersize isn't the best way to lose weight, for me it is a necessity.

5. Exercise before brekkies isnt an option but the occasional walk to work is, I need to make sure this happens rain or shine one or twice a week.

6. I do like my carbs and it would do no harm to up on the protein by a moderate amount. I did do a high carb diet a few years ago and it really shifted the pounds but it wasnt a healthy diet.

Cheers

S

Not sure if it works for caterpillars but I know soapy water works for aphids???

Bike racing as a whole has always been better to watch, even more so if you are a motorcyclist. Plus what always gets me is the race finish, the single seater guys unless they are on the top of the podium generally have a face on. At the end of bike racig a lot of the guys are congratulating each other, popping wheelies, doing burnouts for the crowd, they just seem to enjoy the racing a whole lot more and get a real buzz out of competing. In contrast a lot of the car racers seem like spoilt kids.