I suspect it was just Froome’s inexperience. He got carried away with the fistfight with Nibali and forgot that his job was to stick with Brad.

I suspect he got a right rollicking over the radio which was probably why he seemed a little bit miffed in the post race interview.

Anyway has froome inadvertintly or otherwise exposed a potential wiggins weakness, ie he doesn’t have quick accelerations in him?

Anyone with any knowledge of cycling has known this for the past 5 years…

Sorry I couldn’t join the Preston ride last night but I had prior arrangements. Hopefully there will be another one soon…

Kevdav, you can pretty much forget getting a decent deal on a second hand roadbike at the moment – the TdF is in full swing, the olympics is round the corner and the world and his wife want roadbikes.

Best bet is to work out a budget and start researching all the models available. Experienced road bikers don’t generally keep abreast of entry level bikes, we drool over £10-grand dream machines!

If you narrow it down to a few models, there are plenty of people on here that will point out the pros and cons, and perhaps be able to suggest better value or more suitable options.

A bit of sick just came up.

I wish I’d had a tenner on that! 😉

Grimmy is far more entertaining and affable than Greg James. I can see no other reason that they’d have left him on a late night show whilst James and Cotton get plum daytime slots unless they are saving him for the breakfast show…

As for Mills, he’s on a downward curve, I doubt they’d have moved him from drive time to the early afternoon graveyard shift if they had big plans for him. They’ve always been battling to get younger DJs with enough experience to front the big shows.

My money is on Nick Grimshaw. They’re announcing his replacement at 10.30am…

slapped her once in the face, and then squirted her with this bottle of sauce.

Isn’t that a line out of 50 Shades of Grey?

I presume you’re talking about heat-shrink vinyl? It’s not very robust, scuffs very easily. Then you’d get water ingress behind the wrap and it’d make a right old mess of your paint, plus potential corrosion issues.

Stop faffing, ride the bloody thing and get it mucky and scuffed! That’s what they’re made for! 😀

My advice is warm up for 40 mins before the race.

The women are better at Fulwood Leisure Centre. But the water is wetter at West View.

I have a couple of team jerseys – they’re 30-35 quid compared to the £70 or so they charge for an identical Castelli top with no team branding.

I just bought a Stihl FS-55, cost about £180 when I factor in the 20% George Osbourne Discount.

The Honda looked good, but the aftersales from the local Stihl dealer is far better than I could ever expect from anyone selling Honda.

When I went to pick it up, I took my dad (a tree surgeon) who had 2 chainsaws needing attention. We left half an hour later with both saws serviced, one of which needed a new carb. And that was a mid-1970s saw!

I’m confident that if anything ever goes wrong with the strimmer, they’ll sort it there and then.

I can only compare it to a Ryobi that I’ve used before, but it’s plenty powerful enough for getting through anything up to, and including, brambles; it starts first pull every time; it’s nice and light, and feels far more robust than the Ryobi.

I got mine from Dick Leigh near Clitheroe, Lancs. The only downside with Stihl is you’ll not get one mail order.

I service the bikes wife services my pen which is why I am currently running a Lamy on purple ink

If your wife is such a fan of the written word, perhaps you could ask her to introduce you to the wonderful art of punctuation.

Tattoos are frickin amaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyzingggggg!!

Go on Ton, take some blood-thinning drugs and get some clip-art! 😀

Seriously, if you have to ask if it’s a bad idea taking Warfarin and then getting someone to repeatedly inject ink into your skin, you’ve probably got an appropriate IQ for becoming a member of the inked community. Fill yer boots! :o)

I once happened upon a dyke with a gaping hole. I stuck my finger in it until it started leaking… Sommat like that anyway.

Awesome idea Seven! 5p to shift 10 tons of gravel? Yesss! 😀

I’m going to be doing a lot of cutting back – there are some straggly-looking aspen and horse chestnut that are robbing a lot of light, plus some hazel that needs coppicing back.

But there was a lot of grass growing down there before I started drainage work, so I’m confident that a shade-tolerant grass would have no problems.

I’m just after a safe level area for my nephews to play, build wigwams etc 🙂

This is what it looked like before digging began… I’m hoping to achieve a similar look but without the squelch!

I’m liking BigJohn’s suggestion best!!

OK, here’s the glade I’m draining…

Here’s a shot in which you can see the distance/height from the house which has a small level lawn at the back…

Here’s a view down the slope from the lawn… The Rhododendron bush is about halfway down the slope)

And he’s a side-view showing the average gradient of the slope…

I’ll take a few piccies shortly and load them up…

Cheers Loum, that sounds like good advice… 🙂

Wwaswas, there’s already enough of that, I was hoping not to have to build any more!

Thanks for the advice, and that’s a good point. But Jebus, it’ll cost a fortune to hire 30 metres at 15 quid per 1.2m section!!!

Might be better to bite the bullet, cut a path and hire a power barrow…

These things are never simple!!!

It does sound rather like a school lunchtime band club having a go at a Queen parody…

simonfbarnes – Member

owning land allows you to exploit some of its resources, not say who can pass over it

You’re actually rather ignorant, aren’t you. Open Access allows access to people on foot. It specifically prohibits cycling.

The land owner has every right to grant permission for individuals in exactly the same way that they can do as they please on their own land.

Just because I invite someone into my home for a beer, doesn’t automatically give you the right to enter with 29 of your mates uninvited.

I have to say, I’m not a fan of the Bogtrotters’ attitude as I’ve been at the brunt of it myself. I regularly ride a local fell that is “Open Access”. It’s signposted “No Cycling”. The landowner is known to one of my regular riding buddies, and has said that the No Cycling rule mainly for insurance purposes, and if it discourages irresponsible cyclists, that’s a bonus.

I regularly get challenged by walkers, and I politely point out that I have permission, and that’s usually the end of it.

A year or two ago, I overtook around 30 Bogtrotters as they started the ascent of this fell. When I was around 500yds in front, I was challenged by a walker, practically foaming at the mouth with anger at the state of the footpaths where bikes had cut them up.

My argument didn’t really hold much sway when I was – for all intents and purposes – sharing a path with 30-odd other bikers.

They certainly didn’t have the direct consent of the landowner to ride the fell, so I couldn’t really use that argument on their behalf.

So yes, I think they are irresponsible in their choice of rides, and antagonising other users of these areas is only going to deepen the rift between us.

Show a bit of common sense in future, there are plenty of places to ride where you won’t cause that sort of bad blood, even on a bank holiday.

Longridge ride would have to start/end from Corporation arms and go up the fell, mess about, down to Hurst green, down to the river and along through Marles wood and back up from Ribchester, that a regular of mine.

We do that ride but we follow the Ribble from Rib to Hothersall and then back up Hothersall Lane to the Corpy Arms. Or, you can extend it further on Bridleways and end up down Alston Lane, come back up through the Alston/Longridge ressies and up Chapel Brow.

Yep, the fells round the Trough are like a sponge when it’s been raining, and there’s a lot of hike-a-bike if you do Dunsop Fell. But the descent down Beatrix Fell is one of the best “wild” descents in the area.

My first choice would be a wild ride round the Trough, perhaps the Dunsop Death Ride (Ouster Rake) or Whitendale, Dunsop Fell and Beatrix Fell.

No Chorley Chavs in trackies and trainies cluttering up the place… 😉

And there’s a good bouldering wall at Longridge – at the back of Dilworth Reservoir next to the holiday park…

crispo – Member

I’m just round the corner on the main road a couple of doors down from the Plough!

Ah, the landlord is my next-door-but-one neighbour! It’s a small world… 🙂

Yep, facebooker here, but there’s better riding than Rivington… 😉

crispo – Member

Are you out on roadie of mountain bike from chipping tonight?

Mountain bikes tonight Crispo, though I do ride roadbikes.

Only moved back to Grimsargh last month (I lived there for 6 years but have spent the last 3 in Longridge), on Lindale now, whereabouts are you?

Another Prestonian here, again, living just to the north in Grimsargh.

I have to say, in it’s defense, whilst the City centre has really suffered in recent years, in terms of quality of life, I can’t think of a better place to live and work than its surrounds.

My business is based in Longridge, the gateway to the Ribble Valley, Forrest of Bowland, and some of the best road and mountain biking around without going to the Lakes.

I’ll be out tonight, riding from the picture-postcard village of Chipping – where we meet every Tuesday – for a scenic ride over the fells into the Trough of Bowland.

I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

I have a pair of Ultegra Clinchers and they’re fantastic for the money…

I’d go for a Dolan Prefissio and a 105 group from Ribble or Merlin, some Ultegra wheels and EA30 finishing kit. And a pair of SKS Cromoplastic mudguards, they’re brilliant.

I have the Dolan with an old Ultegra groupset/Open Pro rims and it’s lovely.

Edit: Or get the 105 kitted version Trailofdestruction posted above… Bargain.

Here we go again… 🙄

wasting contless hours speaking to idiots…

Isn’t that the very definition of STW?

Scu98rkr, I’m sure very few people would be offended by links to those campaigns. I’m also confident that none would be offended if you posted pictures of forestry commission land.

And I doubt people would be too offended if the OP’s “friend” had posted a link to an anti-abortion site. If it doesn’t interest you, you don’t need to click it.

It’s the use of a completely abhorrent image that can’t be “unseen” that’s the problem. I think we all know it’s unacceptable, but you’ll always get some pillock that wants to argue the toss thinking he’s a clever dick.

The idea of someone aborting a baby upsets and distresses me.

The picture is just that, a picture. And if it helps someone to rationalise a decision that they may regret, then I’m happy for it to be displayed.

The idea that you defecate once or twice a day doesn’t distress me in the slightest. It’s perfectly normal.

But do I want to see pictures of you doing it or the end result? No, I most certainly don’t.

I don’t want to see pictures like that, and social convention dictates that you don’t post pictures of that kind of thing on Facebook because people would be offended.

It’s not rocket science, and no matter how many times you try and dress it up as “self expression” or “the right to protest”, it’s distasteful and unacceptable. End of.

nealglover – Member
I don’t find the image distressing or offensive.

Maybe I find the events that led up to the image distressing or offensive, but not the image itself.

How do you sit down with balls that big? 🙄

gonefishin – Member

The thing is that many of us would and do tolerate the sort of thing that the OP is talking about.

Really?? It’s one thing expressing a view, but inflicting offensive or distressing images on others isn’t acceptable.

loum – Member
Facebook’s the same. You choose to be there knowing that other people may have different views and a different agenda to yourself.
You also, and more importantly, choose which accounts link to your own. You don’t need to be linked to anyone you don’t want to be. It’s not a community of strangers.

Rubbish. Facebook is like a pub, or any other social gathering. Society has a happy way of filtering out such offensive behaviour, people who behave like that are ostracised. And people that use facebook in that way should also be.

I felt compelled to message a “friend” who drunkenly posted very offensive views about Cheryl Coal’s penchant for men of differing ethnicity. I made it clear that if it wasn’t removed, I’d report him.

If you wouldn’t tolerate certain behaviour in the real world, you shouldn’t tolerate it on Facebook.

nealglover – Member

Your friend sadly lost his babies at 5 months. And the picture posted on Facebook (I would imagine) is an aborted 24 week old foetus (slightly older than your friends twins)

My friend and his wife chose to induce birth as the identical twins were both Down’s Syndrome. So they were effectively aborted, and later than would have been legally allowed had they not been found to be Down’s.

Joao3v16, society has unwritten, self-imposed boundaries for decency and good taste. Pictures of dead babies would generally fall on the far side of those boundaries.

And I pray that those boundaries stay in place and that crap like that passage you’ve just posted doesn’t dissuade people from maintaining a sense of good taste and compassion for others for fear of being labelled a politically correct censor.

I’m none of those things, but I don’t want to see things like that.

Some people may remember that I posted about a request made by a good friend to “improve” some photos of his twins that were stillborn at 5 months. This was because he’d been advised by the grief counsellors at the hospital to show pictures to his other daughter to help her with the grieving process.

It was the most harrowing thing I’ve ever been asked to do, and as the OP said, some things just can’t be “unseen”. But I agreed because they thought it would help them.

As a compassionate human being (yes, really), there’s no way I could put those pictures in the public domain for everyone to see. Why should everyone else have that memory when they don’t need it?