Anyone else had the Zips fail on these or am I just unlucky ?

These Shorts are so comfy, but I’m now down to just one pocket that will zip.

Have we got a list of riders off here then ?

I’m on the route as the signs went up last weekend so, if anyone needs any topping up of bottles, some gels let me know

Here oop north we usually use Barms, sometimes called TeaCakes depending on where you are.

I’ve been really good on my Eating all Week so, just because its Friday, I’m off work and going out on the MTB in a bit, I’ve just had a Pastie Barm and a Chip Barm.

Now that’s gonna win any fighting contest :wink: :D

Get well soon Simon, and thanks to the lads who were there for quick thinking / cool heads don’t think I’d have been thinking straight in that situation.

Blackpool Vic is a fantastic Hospital IMO, they have saved 2 of my Mates in the past few years so Simon is in good hands.

That’s scary fast

I need them hubs. I find that the standard Hope Hubs get walkers out the way as they wonder what the noise is, turn, see me coming and move out the way imagine how fast they will move if they think a swarm of Bees are coming :lol:

+1 for the crate and taking them out just before bed.

I’ve a 18 month old Lab who was rescued and he’s never done anything in the house using that routine.

I’m still trying to get him to toilet in the yard as falling asleep on the settee and waking up at 2.45am and having to get dressed and walk the streets to toilet him is not good.

It always rains.

If its the same route as the previous years, it goes straight past my front door, about 1/3 way in so if you need anything let me know before the day :D

I’ve never done it as I struggle with my bodyclock as it is, but it is busy and looks a good laugh.

Not whilst I was out on the Bike but walking the Dog across the local Golf Links the Path goes across one of them small foot crossings of the Railway then through some Trees and back to the Road to the Golf Clubhouse.

A Kids Space Hopper, like one of them from the 70’s with the aggressive teeth. Took me ages to get it out the way as the Dog was going Bonkers and attacking it.

Just been off the Bikes for 10 Days due to work being busy, 2 mad Labs to look after and Nan being in Hospital.

I got out for a bit yesterday afternoon and I really felt it. Still managed my usual speeds, but just really tired legs.

Think its a combination of lack of sleep and just grabbing rubbish to eat whilst being busy, I’m off work now till Monday so gonna get the Road Bike out in a bit when all the Kids and School Run Mums have disappeared.

Just got back from watching, Wiggo obviously went fastest and looked fastest on the circuit.

I know what I mean 8) but, even 2 minutes in from the side of the Road, you could tell he was going for it.

I’ve been in Kendal, the Rain was annoying but the Town Hall had the Race on a big screen in a room that was like a theatre so just watched in there for a bit.

The final stretch upto the finish was a lot steeper than it looked on TV, I drove up it last night and didn’t realise it was the final stretch.

Like has been said, Quintana really is tiny, signing autographs, saw Cav, Sir Brad and Sir Dave. Bernie Eisel came out of the Deathstar and had photos took with the kids who were there, seems like a top guy.

A Cannondale car had a Orica Green Edge type moment when he got stuck pulling over onto a Grass Verge and tried reversing off only to get a Bike on his Roofrack hooked up on the mirror of the United Healthcare bus, and managed to pull the rear of the Bike off the rack 8O bet he doesn’t mention that over Dinner.

Felt sorry for some of the teams like Raleigh and the MTN thingy team who had Max and Paddy style caravanettes compared to the Buses of Sky, OPQS, Movistar etc.

Nip Home let the Dogs have a walk, go shopping for Bike Bits, nip into LBS for a chat, mates for a brew, sit on a hill and look at the view……

My Cars my Office, so should really do some Paperwork or Accounts or go and give some Flyers out, but I do enjoy being able to just do what I want.

Simmy – all the best for your nan…don’t know what I’d do without mine, and she bought me my first bike too.

Cheers.

Yeah it’s a bit heartbreaking seeing her like that. She’s on a massive Antibiotic drip so hopefully that will kick in and start fighting the infection.

My 1988 Raleigh Team MTB.

Nowt special, but Nan bought it me and she is in Hospital at the moment with Pnemonia so its touch and go as she is 91 so it means a lot to me.

PE11 RVY on a Nissan Juke.

I don’t believe this is a Private Plate as it appeared when the 11 plates came out.

Back in 2002 the DVLA gave out loads of Plates for the Preston area starting PO02

Vision 1 is good, I had one on the MTB for ages, but there is no Battery indicator so it literally just goes off, not just going dim then off, just off.

I discovered that descending down George’s Lane Rivington at a rate. Was ” interesting ” to say the least.

Glad my mates light could throw a bit of light till I’d stopped else I could have hit anything.

Get the same light as your mate and ride about 3ft apart when cars, walkers etc are coming towards you and feel like Moses parting the sea.

Everything moves as they thnk you are a Car or Van.

I’ve done loads at the beginning of the Year but hate being in the Dark alone, it does make you Paranoid.

Stick to trails that you or someone else know well and, like has been said, stuff can look bigger / deeper with the shadows.

Only things we met up with was Drug Dealers, who do get out of the way quickly, young people ” improving relationships ” in their Saxos and the odd sheep.

Actually, just remembered seeing some strange people hiding behind a wall in Rivington, and a Witch ( full on costume ) on a Cycle Path in Bolton, not scary just weird.

PDF race manual, much better than the website

http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/files/documents/ToB_2013_RaceManual.pdf

I’m going up but I am planning on just having a Day around the Borders and catching the Tour on route, probably in Rowanburn or simular.

Looking on the map, I reckon its possible to get from the start to finish, its just I can’t be bothered driving to Peebles.

I gave it up 2 years ago, I don’t miss the hangovers and I enjoy watching people spending £20 on a bottle of whiskey, drinking it, getting wasted, falling asleep and not remembering a thing.

My mates know I don’t drink but some people still treat you like a lepor when you tell them you don’t drink.

They are like ” what, not at all ” or ” what even at a Party ? ”

Top marks to the AA for taking this so seriously.

As explained, the instructor will work on a Francise and ” laying on file ” will mean he won’t get any loyalty discounts when he comes to renewing his annual Francise.

I’m interested to know whether they confirmed that the car in question was on a normal lesson or if it was on test at the time ? Is there a Test Centre close by or within 5 or so miles ?

Cheers

I went to one of my local routes which involves going straight through a Farm Yard, well I’d not seen the old Rottie for a while and thought he had either Died or been taken inside,

The Farmers wife was talking to a guy in a car and I went round with a cheery “morning” only to stop dead with the Rottie looking straight at me.

I love and have 3 Dogs but this lad scares me so I just looked at him and he looked at me then came up and rubbed against my shorts. All he wanted was a stroke but I never thought that just thought he was going to eat me.

Another Dog at one of the other farms is a right little ankle biter so I get speed up and do a impression of Cav and up me Strava :lol:

Not too bad when you are expecting a chase, but always a worry when it comes out of the blue.

I worked in a Saab dealership many years ago and one day a old couple wandered in, walked round and the Woman said ” oh look, they have a Saab here ” wandered a bit more ” oh look, there’s another one “

What did they expect nissans or something ?!?!?!?!?

I get loads of silly things said at work, best ones are ” remind me what the brake does ” 8O And one Girl said ” ain’t it funny how cars have different keys, you would think they would just make one that would fit em all ” :roll:

2 mad Labs

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image[/url] by S1mmy1[/url], on Flickr

The Boss. He’s about 13 and just loves chilling out but still enjoys playing with the Labs although they get a bit giddy and bowl him over. Still tells them off though…..

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image[/url] by S1mmy1[/url], on Flickr

Just remember 2 more.

My mates Dad had the rear spoiler nicked off his Astra.

A neighbour, not so much theft more vandalism, parked his Reliant Robin up on the outskirts of Wigan town centre whilst he went shopping, came back and someone had tipped it onto its boot.

Looked like a rocket taking off.

He had to get recovery to come and get it back on its wheels.

Some crackers in this thread and some reminders of stuff that’s happened to me or mates.

Had an exhaust back box nicked at college, had to drive home sounding like a tank.

My mate had his van broken into and they took his tube of Jaffa Cakes and nothing else.

I went on a day trip to Dorset, got back and someone had nicked the front indicator out of my companies Vivaro.

Someone tried stealing petrol out of my car, but all they acheived was pulling the filler neck through the 1/4 panel, 1980s Fords were rot boxes

On a different note, at my mates one night just watching TV and some kids posted a women’s magazine through his letterbox, when challenged they just said ” happy Xmas ” wasn’t even Xmas……

Our local Dominos pizza ask for your name if you go into the shop and order. I’ve only been in a few times, but they asked my name when I was in on my own one lunchtime.

They have now started getting their delivery drivers to put roof boxes in the cars with Dominos in big letters so we now have loads of kids bombing around it their Corsas lit up like Xmas trees.

Oh well at least they can’t deny what their journey is for if the Police pull them in and see if they have Business insurance.

Barclays now have free WiFi – how long do they think we want to spend in the branch that we have to have Internet access ?

Tescos ” love every mouthful ” campaign – annoying

CRC changing the website

Halfords trying to be a LBS when the kids in there don’t have a clue

I’d better stop else I’m going to have a nosebleed……….

I just can’t hack it anymore, I went through a phase of drinking Vodka, Jack Daniels, and other spirits, but always felt terrible the day after.

Hit it on the head a couple of years ago and just stick to Shandies.

I feel better now at 36 than I did in my twenties.

I think it all depends on your frame of mind.

I used to love cars, I am now a Driving Instructor and cars do my head in now, I can’t even be bothered to wash my car I take it to the car wash.

A elderly friend of mine got offered an old Micra, one owner from new only driven to church etc as the old guy who owned it had died.

Problem was his relatives couldn’t find the V5 so, via the garage he was getting it from, applied for a new one.

Took 8 weeks. In the meantime, he had sold his other car on the assumption his V5 would be back.

One of my mates got banned for a year due to getting in a police chase, fail to stop, in his own car :roll: they caught him when he ran off as he tripped over his laces………yeah he is one of ” them ” mates :lol:

Anyway his ban is now up and his new licence has come back with full motorbike entitlement, he’s never even took a CBT let alone a motorbike test.

I told him to get in touch with them but, last as I knew, he was looking at Motorbikes 8O

I find that about a quarter of students will take a Pass Plus or Motorway Lessons, the rest are simply not interested or simply think they know enough already.

The main problem is generations. I can now tell generally, what I will be up against with a student just by looking at the vehicles in the drive, or by speaking to the parents.

If they drive bad, the kids will no matter what.

I tried Orbiting a middle lane hogger and after doing it twice, got a hand signal off the passenger that’s not in the Highway Code.

Sums them up perfectly.

Like the “lady” who was travelling down the dual carriageway in lane 2 with the left indicator on for at least a mile. Despite flashing my lights, this character didn’t respond so, when we got level at some lights, I pointed over and shouted ” indicator ”

I got a response of ” alright, alright, it wasn’t done deliberately ” with that attitude, I pointed out to the “lady ” that if she payed more attention to her driving and put her phone away from her lap perhaps she wouldn’t leave an indicator on.

At this point I will not type the words I was called as I like to remain on STW………

Some people seem to think that Drivng is a seconderey thing they are doing.

I had an incident with one of them centre lane idiots.

I was doing 70 and this character overtook me doing about 75. A mile or 2 later a few HGVs were in lane 1 with a car and caravan overtaking in lane 2. This clown slowed to 60 so I moved over into lane 3 to overtake her and the car and caravan.

The car and caravan cleared the HGVs, moved back into lane 1 as I was just clearing the clown in lane 2 at which point she started to accelerate really hard leaving me stranded at the side of her in lane 3.

I ended up flooring it just to get clear of her. WTF are they thinking ?!?!?!?

Tell you what I’ve noticed a few times, being overtaken by about 3-4 cars then the first one indicates to turn right, slows and the others, ie the ones now right at the side, don’t know what to do so either stop dead or squeeze you out onto the kerb.

Bad enough on the MTB but at least you can bunnyhop onto the kerb, a skill I’ve yet to master on the road bike.

I’ve got City Jets on my hack bike and they have coped with rain and even slightly muddy tracks OK.

Obviously not designed for off roading but its possible to use cycle paths with care when muddy.

Last year my knee started hurting when I was out on the bike. The day after, I could hardly walk so nipped to minors.

The male nurse asked me to lie on the bed ( steady…..) and started moving my leg about then I let out a massive fart.

Felt like such an idiot.

To lose weight and get away from everything for a bit.

As a kid I had the standard issue 80’s BMX and still have the broken front teeth to remember it by. Wish I’d kept it as it was a Raleigh Mag Burner, but Nan offered to buy me a Mountain Bike for my Birthday, think I was 12 at the time and now we can’t remember at all if we threw the BMX, PX it, or gave it to someone.

Anyway rode the Mountain Bike every few days whilst at school but then got a car out of the scrap yard to drive on the fields so the bike was literally just transport to the car and back home. This carried on till I was 17 and passed my test and got a car that was road legal.

The Montain bike lived in Nans kitchen for 13 years ( yeah she is patient ) before I lent it to a mate in 2007 who commuted on it for a few weeks. I remember riding it 1/4 mile to the garage to pump the tyres up and it nearly killed me I was that out of shape not having exercised for years.

About 3 years ago, a mate who is only in his teens was getting heavily into Mountain Biking so my Best Mate decided to get a couple of old Bikes he had at his Dads out for a laugh and we went for a ride. It was winter, probably -3 and had just jeans, jacket, no gloves, no helmet or anything. Bloody freezing lying on the floor after slipping off on ice :oops:

Anyway I bought one of the old BSOs off my mate and started riding. I was really out of shape so started by taking the bike to Blackpool and going up and down the Prom as it is flat.

Slowly started going more miles and riding hills and got a decent MTB about 2 years ago. Now got a road bike as well and try to get out every day. Didn’t get out yesterday due to a 11 hour working day and 2 dogs to walk but got some good rides planned for the weekend.

” safe cycle routes ” according to a map from our local council which matches up with the Garmin map.

Yesterday morning quick blast on the road bike, back home for lunch then out on MTB – can’t beat it.

( the road bikes good but I will always be a mountain biker ) :wink:

I am waiting for the AA to respond to my email of complaint, sent two weeks ago, reminded them twice, no reply yet. I was in primary, in a bus lane, good visibility. AA driving school car, pupil driving, instructor in passenger seat. Turned left across my path, without looking, then stopped across my path to let pedestrians cross the side road. Not one single look.

It isn’t the first time I’ve had problems with driving school cars.

The AA should respond. All the instructors are self employed working on a franchise, but they will know who has which car and trace who was instructing at the time.

Even if the car was on test at the time, they will be able to trace the instructor and then explain whether it was a normal lesson or a test situation. If it was a test, the candidate will have failed for this.

As said before, all instructors pass a advanced test as part of the qualification process but I know of some instructors around here that I would not get into a car with they drive that bad.

How they can get students through tests when they drive so poor themselves is a wonder.