though strangely reminiscent of your first post :o)

Stalker alert! How the heck did you recall that??

Surf Matt – that is Liz McClarnon who I think went on to do some reality shows 🙂

And no, I have not just eaten Kerry Katona’s brain, for the record I have just had chicken and leek pie!

Almost – it was a party I was hosting at the top of the BT Tower from when I was head of music and games at Genie/BT Cellnet 😀

Actually I went to see their first tour as a 4 piece just after Robbie left. It was really very good. I think you should go to one of their concerts before rushing to be so rude!!!

C’mon boys – who’s next? We need an image to concentrate on in order to recover our sensibilities

Heh – from my days as a pop mogul – and when I really was a hit with the ladies!! 8)

[/url]
Atomic Kitten[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

Personally I can’t get enough of Singletrackworld’s love god number 1! 😯

[/url]
100_1392[/url] by Vegan Graham[/url], on Flickr

I’ve got an add for making a mug with a photo on it so I guess they must know I used Flickr a lot?

Hi guys

I really don’t want this to be seen as a grand criticism, but I am struggling to read the blue text on a white background. I don’t know if it is just me getting old, but the colour scheme really isn’t working for me.

Ae downhill is a proper downhill course (well there are 2 courses there) which are designed for proper DH racing with DH bikes and have some monster gap jumps. I don’t think you can really compare these with Innerleithen’s XC tracks. You would need to compare Ae and Innerleithen’s DH tracks and their XC tracks really. And I am sure neither can really compare to Fort William, not from what I have seen on the telly, but actual DH riders here may want to provide some somewhat more informed opinions.

Hey – there’s nothing wrong with 25 year old mountain bikes even if they aren’t classics – you can still ride off into the oblivion that is Ae Forest’s “The Shredder” DH tracks on them as this chap did 😀

[/url]
IMG_0031[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

11, 12, 1… Probably down all night long. Don’t panic. Go to bed instead.

Sage advice for many on here for those evenings even when the site isn’t down…..

Better value than £2.5m ish for James Bond’s Aston Martin?

Personally I think Blair was spot on calling in the army – more tanks at airports I say 😀

Thing is, the Bran Burn Bash really still does look like that, I know what you mean. For me though that is all part of the “out there” character of the place. Also, I was a bit upset when the trees came down on the Edge descent, and when I first rode them after the felling I was totally lost as I didn’t recognise it at all.

There are still some good twisty pieces of singletrack that wind around trees, and a surprising amount of lush wooded areas too that you tend to forget. I just love the really deep green mosses on the forest floor.

Oh and that lad came off after the next two berms, over the northshore and on that really rocky tight U turn and steep downhill corner that I walked down!

Ae is just off the road that goes from Dumfries to Moffat – it’s about 5 miles north of Dumfries, and is about 10m from the motorway.

As for the berms, they are not that steep, but as I said, you roll out of one and into the next immediately – and the angle is such that you can quite easily pick up speed. But I go back to another point I made, in that Ae is now becoming a bit more beginner friendly. There are still plenty of rocky and steep berms that even get me a bit spooked – and don’t forget you have now not just the Omega man but other descents too with plenty of jumps and drops as well as berms – and I think this is definitely the right way to go.

I’m glad I had a go at the Shredder, as the berms are really steep there and I made it down in one piece 🙂

Northwind – yeah – Caddon Bank at Innerleithen may have been what you were expecting – but given that Omega Man officially starts at the Head stane, you have to admit is is a pretty long descent with plenty of berms drops table tops and jumps and the like. I think for me though I would have more fun on a slightly more hardcore bike, but that is not going to happen any time soon. Oh well.

The Shredder is just excellent, I just wish I had a somewhat more hardcore HT with slacker angles and more suspension to make me feel a bit more secure! 🙂

No – they certainly haven’t flattened out the downhills – after Granny Green Luv, Bran Nurn Bash, after the Edge, and obviously the Omega Man. It is more a case of improving the other sections of singletrack to make them much more speedy. It’s still a happy hardcore loop 😀

Thing is, I guess I should have said that maybe the Shredder should be avoided at weekends and any other times when you are likely to actually meet proper DHers, as there could be some unhappy riders unhappy at being held up after having walked all the way to the top of the hill!

Yeah – what I would like to do is maybe start at Glentrool, then ride to Heartbreak Hill, and then you have all that singletrack back to Kirroughtree. I don’t though have a suitable partner of any persuasion to collect me. I’d never make it all the way around.

Well Glentrool I feel is the forgotten Stane, and the route I describe makes for an excellent day out 😀 The Blue downhill is just brilliant for someone like me, and I think many others too.

Nope – I am off to Ae in a bit to do some awesome riding and to check out the refurbishments 😀

I have 3 but I do not often have the front one on. One on the frame and one on the back mostly.

To be honest, if someone was to ride around in a wet suit well that’s fine by me. It’s all fun 😀

Absolutely loving this. In an age of over hyped sports on tv where there are 1000s of channels of nothing, this simple programme quite literally …. rocks…. scuse the pun.

Respect is due to the climbers!

Maybe you should change your company name from Totton Trail Bikes to Totty Trail Bikes?

I took up mountainbiking at the age of 35 and have no skillz at all. I am just happy to get round routes in one piece and given that I have a few back and knee problems am just happy pootling around as my fitness increases anyway just having fun.

If I had the budget I would though love to do something like a Jedi skills course as you get the feeling he would never take the pee – I have been known to ride Mabie’s bike park when empty, but if there is just one other person there I wouldn’t ride it as I am now 40 and would feel a right tw@ trying to improve skillz that even 12 years olds have mastered.

* cough * this is of course competing with Grand Designs right now 😳

I have just switched over – did I miss it or is it on later? I find the whole area of genetics and epigenetics fascinating. Mind blowing really.

Cool – which bit?

Maybe he is after those of us with time machines so we can go back in time and give advice some time ago?

Just slice together the interesting bits so as to save people like me with no kids who have to sit through endless videos of nothingness a little bit happier? 😀 It really is a simple concept I feel.

You probably need to supplement Michel Thomas with something along the lines of Hugo Spanish in 3 Months to help increase your vocabulary and reading and writing skills, but as a first course it is excellent.

I don’t know if you are really set on computer systems, but Michel Thomas is excellent for getting your basics sorted.

I used it for Spanish, and also for Portuguese, but it is not so good for me as I am trying to learn Brazilian Portuguese and it also lacks the vocabulary units.

Brilliant video – really enjoyed it.

Someone on the internet is WRONG I tell thee 😀

Glentrool – had loads of fun on the blue berms 😀

Vanilla Daiquiri – as served in the now closed Che in London. It was made with fresh vanilla pods – gorgeous.

Blimey – so you’re not even going to wait for someone to make the case for the Peaks before deciding!? 😀

Of course the first lot of leaks a few weeks ago proved very useful to the US Government in justifying its war efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and in maintaining the myth that Bin Laden is alive, and now these leaks support the view that Iran has been aiding Iraq. I would not be surprised if the financial backers of Wikileaks turn out to be those who actually benefit ultimately from these limited hang outs.

Definitely nothing to be embarrassed about – puts most members here to shame fashion wise. I am having to completely rethink tomorrow’s ride on the basis of this.

Been helping my folks today and saving my ride for tomorrow when it looks like it will be sunny (fingers crossed). But then I am riding in the week as well and never feel guilty for not riding 🙂