Loads probably as there was a serious RTC on the diversion route involving a Bus and Car

It’s still photos refreshed every 5 mins or so.

Not exactly a live feed so bit of a lie there 😉

I’ve only just seen this thread but it is Lancaster for the wetsuits, I remember thinking ” who buys wetsuits in a service area ” now I know 😉

Regarding Tebay, the farm shop is brilliant but, if you are only after a meal, go to the Truck Stop at J 38, it’s run by the same people and the food is just as good but cheaper.

Think I paid £16 for chilli con carne, half rice / chips, peas, veg and and drink for two of us. Not bad for services.

My local is closing down to be converted into an Indian Resturant. I’m teetotal, but I think the heart of what’s left of our community around here is being ripped out.

It’s only last year another pub was demolished with planning permission for flats to be built and now it’s never gone through and is just wasteground.

Had a decent ride out this afternoon as I finished work at 1pm, the rain came along and I chickened out on the way home as my light was running low on battery so jumped on the train and no one asked me for any payment…….

I’m self employed and it’s not always easy. In my line of work, it’s either really busy or quiet.

Think long term if you are establishing a business as you can’t just up and leave for a year or move areas if you have a good customer base locally.

If you are just freelancing or contracting that shouldn’t be an issue but I often think about moving or taking a year out but I’d have no customers to come back to and I’d have to start all over again getting established.

Kwik Fit managed to set fire to my neighbours car when it went for a free MOT that he had got through his insurance.

I can’t remember the exact circumstances, but it involved a burned out wiring loom.

I’ve a long sleeved Sky top I wear on the Mountain Bike, I won’t wear it on the Road bike as I think it looks silly riding a Triban 3 with a Sky top on wereas on the Mountain bike, I could have a Dogma at home as far as anyone knows 😉

It was half price and the cheapest jersey I could find at the time.

I’ve never been one for trying to look something you are not, like back in the 90’s when people put a set of alloys on a Escort then stuck a RS turbo badge on it.

Think the problem with the Sky kit is Sky’s popularity, most new cyclists have only heard of them and no other teams so its a bit common.

If I was going to wear team kit on the road I’d probably go for Quickstep or Orica Greenedge just to be a bit different.

The new shape Fiesta, 58 plate onwards is defiantly not slow in 1.4 tdci guise.

I’ve had 3 and the latest one I’ve got is a 62 plate that feels the fastest I’ve ever had. Its on 53k now and I intend to keep this one for a while.

I’m not selling this really well saying I’ve had 3 cars in 5 years but I don’t keep them long as I lease but I do put big miles of 30k + a year on them and they have been great despite being driven by learners who don’t have any mechanical sympathy.

The train is either from Southport or Kirkby as I’m coming from Wigan so think it will get to Sandhills before Lime St

Cheers guys

I was going to get the train to Sandhills then ride the canal back home to Blackrod.

Just seems weird going through a doorway !!!!

i pad app working fine for me

I went once for the day 7 years ago.

Got there about 10 am left about 7 pm.

Went on a open top bus tour, into a London souvenir shop, walk past Buckingham palace, Trafalgar Square, mall, etc.

Got back to the car and had to get the bank card out as it cost £27 to park.

Got stuck for an hour on the M6 on the way home.

Small one person trolley.

I always use a trolley token so don’t accept £1 off anyone else as the trolley tokens cost £1 anyway so there’s no profit to be made.

I make a list of what I need and get out of there ASAP as I’ve an habit of dropping extra stuff in peoples trolleys and rearranging the herbs and spices into rude names.

I never really warmed to the guy when he won Tour of Britain in 2012, there just seemed something about him but I’d like to think he innocent.

Sky posted a pic the other day and his name was still on the side of the Deathstar so they had better get the hair dryer out.

Being a bit nieve to all these UCI regs, is this basically the end of JTL’s professional career ?

My mates Passat blew up 2 years ago with the oil pump spline failure and, at the time, all the parts to repair it were on back order.

His is a 55 plate 2.0 tdi he managed to find an engineering firm who deals with VW engines in everything from Fork Lifts to Boats and they modified it to fit an early oil pump.

Still cost a couple of grand. Apparently, it’s just certain engine codes and years which CAN suffer.

All the best mate.

If you are coming near Wigan / Bolton / westhoughton give me a shout, E Mail in profile.

There was an old joke back in the days of Bernard Manning and the Wheel Tappers and shunters club back in the 70’s that the coaches going through Blackpool Illuminations were stopping off at Morecambe to watch the Traffic Lights change.

I was there a couple of weeks ago helping my mate with a job he had there and, from my time as a teenager, it’s gone downhill big style.

Over twice the limit on a Monday afternoon, going dark and decides to get in a car.

Who gets that drunk at that time in the week ?!?!?

She will be at least 66 before she can take her test again so, hopefully, she won’t bother and everyone around her locality will keep an eye out for her driving illegally.

Like has been said, its rubbish here. I never get chance to nip out for an hour and be in the fields within 3 mins of leaving home.

There is no natural riding and nowhere is acessable.

All the above is lies and it’s the complete opposite. I live just outside Bolton and its great but busy.

Access to motorways, trains, airports is great, in half an hours drive, I can be at the sea, in the city, in the middle of the country or at the airport.

Think Horwich, Blackrod, top end of Bolton.

O P Just out of interest, can you remember if you stopped at the traffic signals under the flyover ?

I’ve come down there and been on a green and sailed through with buses etc and it could be easy to miss the signs. Just thinking that sitting there on a red would give time to look across into the new road.

The signs are perfectly legal and the roundals on the floor don’t even have to be there as a speed limit sign has to have a red circle on it and be specific sizes etc. They are there to make drivers more aware.

Everyone is human and I think we can all take some advice from this thread and prevent us going too fast.

Yeah these are the ones at the end of the motorway

Then under the flyover are the 30’s in my earlier post.

I agree that they are possible to miss in traffic. The reason I’m so interested is I used to use this road daily and couldn’t place where you meant.

I’m assuming the location is this

Heading in from the M62, the 30 signs are just after the flyover

Correct me if I’m wrong

I was at the top of cragg vale and got a good spot before the Police started diverting everyone over onto the grass.

Atmosphere was brilliant, sure I saw Mark there but didn’t want to say hello in case it wasn’t him 😆

Took 3 hours to get back to Bolton after that as they decided to close half of Littleborough off. The PCSO on traffic duty wasn’t half getting some stick.

Like has been said, street lights always treat it as a 30 unless you defiantly see other signs be it 20, 40 etc.

Only 30 mph doesn’t have to be signed when there are street lights spaced correctly, 20 mph HAS to have repeaters no matter what along with 40 and upwards.

20 zones are different as they get treated as ” self managed ” by use of speed bumps.

Good tip off Neal regarding looking into side roads to their limits.

It also works the other way with repeater signs, there is a 40 mph zone near me where all the repeaters have been nicked and if you miss the single 40 sign, you can go for 3/4 mile before seeing another 40 sign.

Not a massive problem but the students who go out on test will fail for going too slow if they miss it.

Buttertubs

Part of Caravan

Jens out on his own

Fantastic day. despite the gradient they were gone in no time, best part was the support vehicles stopping on the hill and the drivers not having a clue how to do a hill start. Entertainment all day long that. The smell of burning clutch was constant 😯

Stage 1 – buttertubs

Stage 2 – rochdale end of cragg vale

Stage 3 – Nans funeral that day 🙁 so watching later on TV

Ironman UK passes within 1/2 mile of me and it’s always a pantomime with motorists kicking off about not being able to get through and being delayed.

They don’t see the massive yellow signs that are up for weeks before warning them.

One old girl I was trying to help with directions a couple of years ago asked me ” who’s going to pay for the extra petrol I use going all that way round ” and honestly sat there thinking I was going to hand her some money.

One guy kicked off on me when I was giving him directions. I was only trying to help and it was obvious I was nothing to do with the event, so I’m not speaking to anyone this year 😀

Taken from the official Tour de France roadbook.

Is there a link to this road book ?

Defiantly inside for me but I’ve just bought a van so its well easy.

I’ve a 591 on my mums polo which stays on there permently. I used to use it before I got the van but I’d started putting the bike in the car with wheels off anyway.

Its a good roof rack, it’s just I feel better security wise better with the bikes inside, like I said its on mums car just in case I get a problem with the bike she can come and get me.

I’m having 28 Days this year, the most I’ve done ever but, being Self Employed, its a case of saving up for them.

I’m using the excuse of working 3 x 12 hour Days and 6 x 8 hour days on average a week for having 28 days.

When I first got back into Cycling a few years back, I ordered something off them.

I hadn’t heard of them previous so just googled the item I wanted and they came back at the best price so I ordered.

Can’t remember exactly what it was I wanted, but it was something I needed rather than ” oh well it gets here when it gets here ” type scenario.

After a few days I got the, which I now know is standard, we haven’t got in stock E Mail so I rang them and they refunded more or less straight away to be fair.

What annoyed me was they left it a few days before letting me know, CRC, Wiggle etc have been out of stock and I’ve had the E Mail same or next day so I could arrange to get the item elsewhere.

I’m both a ADI and Fleet Instructor and no one has ever asked my Grade or asked to see my badges ever. ( grade 5 last check test 2011 )

All they want round here is cheap lessons.

You will get good instructors and bad instructors no matter who they work for or what grade they have. There are many an instructor who, in the past system, would get a grade 6 by prepping the student previous and the entire check test is an act.

The DVSA have seen through this now and the standards check should eliminate this.

Best advice is recommendation. This could be an instructor who is independent or on a franchise but that’s the best way of choosing.

I’m independent and most of my work is recommendations so I must be doing something right 😉

Escort Van £225 a year.

Expensive compared to newer vehicles, but a gave a grand for the van and that will buy a lot of excise duty and diesel.

It will smell like ammonia if its a un neutered male.

Any collar / disc or recognise if its local ? Could be missing.

Seriously, are those T Shirts available if you don’t ride ?

Also, is it available to enter on the day ?

Had a family issue this week and have no timeframe for it to be sorted yet so I can’t commit to booking.

Thanks

This is nothing compared to what the others have done, but I’ve rescued a couple of dogs that have escaped gardens by stopping and alerting the owners.

Also it’s amazing how many people leave keys in car doors and even car doors wide open. I always stop and knock on the nearest house.

The joys of driving round housing estates with learner drivers !!

DPD + 2

But I ordered a Ramp for the Dog to get into the Car easier as he has arthuritus and there was just one hour of the Day when no one would be home and, inevitably, that’s when they said they were coming on their text.

I decided it would be easier to collect from the depot but that turned into a right pantomime. They couldn’t find the Ramp and, when they did realise it was in the Depot, said it wasn’t in the cage.

They eventually found it on the other side of the office door where they had been walking past it all Day and it was in a box with ” Dog Ramp ” in massive letters and a picture of a Dog on it 🙄

Like has been said, there’s loads around here.

Give one of us a shout when you get here. Don’t forget the Monday Night Pub Rides as well.

I did 40 mile today and, apart from one plantpot who didn’t see me till the last minute when I was going round a roundabout, everyone has been great.

It’s not normally like that. Don’t know if its the Tour effect, the weather being nice or what but I tend to choose carefully where I Road Ride.

There’s a few towns nearby where I’ve had loads of near misses so I tend to just head out it the lanes.

Merlin have extended the showroom from what they had but it’s still pretty much a see it online then pick it up system.

Having said that they had some clothing in a while ago that wasn’t online so its worth popping off the M6 to have a mooch over. Wouldn’t go specially from miles away unless you are defiantly after getting something.