Merak

If it was really really wet Dalbeattie has to be a good choice, but then if you are crazy for uber wet roots then obviously stick with Drumlanrig. After saying that, there is a cracking dirty (secret-ish) descent at Dalbeattie which in the wet has your bike going down sideways and had a few of us off our bikes, but in a good comedy way and not in a hard down on rock kind of way.

I don’t know if this says more about me or the poor taste of people coming to my flickr site as I have far better photos 😳

[/url]21st Feb[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

Julian

No – Castaneda was a plagiarist and fraud – my writings for real 🙂

I got a bit stuck for a photo for my One Photo Every Day collection and tried to make my Vauxhall Meriva look like a mean machine 😳

[/url]September 22nd[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

I have a very shamanic interpretation of Bohm which you can read about first here then here. But these essays are more about the ultimate ground of being, quantum physics and consciousness.

But in a nutshell on dialogue, he says you have to give equal energy to all points of view, not just battle for your own point of view, in order over a long time to arrive at an understand of the meaning that other people are trying to communicate. When you look at what Einstein said about being unable to solve problems at the same level of consciousness that created them, Bohm has an awful lot to say about creativity, and needing a new order of perception and thinking which can take us to these higher levels.

I think the problem is that these exercises are purely designed to make people feel as if they are being listened to. The policies have already been drawn up, but if people think they have had an input they are more likely to go with whatever is imposed on them.

I am a big fan of David Bohm, who wrote “On Dialogue” – this dialogue is something that is an alien concept to politicians. Sorry to be negative, but this is the political modus operandi that seems to have pervaded UK politics at all all levels and in all parties.

If you are on your own then probably Drumlanrig – do the black as well as the red – I rode the black and it wasn’t as difficult as I was expecting – just one or two very short sections of a few metres that I had to walk down.

It’s a shame you were not at Drumlanrig a couple of weeks ago as it was super dry and super fast. Different kettle of fish though in the wet.

If there are locals around (I have a sore throat right now and energy is v low) then Dalbeattie is awesome, especially when you add in the off-piste sections. I think people who do not rate Dalbeattie probably have not ridden half of it 🙂

I have to say I wasnt planning on doing Ae again but I shall certainly return one more time. I have a sore throat right now but may go later in the week to check it all out. I think the thing for me was getting too shaken up on various sections on my HT, but I will certainly enjoy at least checking out the revamp.

Well whoever publishes on Blurb for example could set a price and then receive a cut. How they spend that money is up to them.

I can’t help but think my life is a tad different to your life. Find a dream then chase it 😀

Well if anyone wants to read my dissertation on natural plant hallucinogens, you can download a free copy via my blog 🙂

Hello

I was rather thinking you may have advice for us, given your somewhat (dare I say in an introductory thread) confidently self-assured monicker.

Just about to finish this

And will probably tackle this next

A little restaurant in La Linea (which is the town on the boarder of Spain and Gibraltar). It is quite phenomenal, down a little side street and you would never find it unless you knew it was there and were shown it. Apparently it was in The Guardian’s top 100 steak restaurants in the world. Quite unbelievable and one of the few things I miss from living in Gib.

Simple, on the news page, next to one of his updates, roll the mouse over the top right hand corner and box pops up allowing you to stop updates from him, but you will still be friends.

I’m feeling very relaxed looking at all these amazing photos. Great thread 🙂

Can’t believe you could diss the most riveting hour’s tv in years! (And yes I mean that!!)

[/url]P1010026[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

I do it so as not to get my nice multicoloured 5 10s dirty. Do you have a problem with that? 😀

More a photo of achievement – three of us handed in our dissertations today after finishing our MSc. The other students are all in other countries. Not a great photo but a great personal photo.

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September 30th[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

Wow – some brilliant photos there – looks like an awesome ride.

I would say if this is all coming out now the powers that be may be thinking about faking an alien attack in order to bring about a one world government. I have been known to be wrong in the past, so don’t take this supposition as gospel 😀

I think what we can all gain from this thread is the knowledge that God clearly is not an Audi driver 🙂

I really enjoyed it and although I will miss it tomorrow I am probably going to watch the others.

That’s great that you had a good time. For me the black is all about the descending, not just Deliverance, but the descents before that too. It makes for an excellent day doing the black, then after Deliverance cutting back on to the red and then blue. Fabulous.

A good few days adding in Kirroughtree, Mabie, Ae and Dalbeattie, and maybe Drumlanrig too makes for one heck of a week or so riding if you have the time and the legs.

I am in the middle of my great tour of England, seeing various friends in various cities 😀

There’s only room for one shrine on my Flickr site 🙂

I don’t know her name but she was the lead singer in The Sundays if anyone remembers them.

I’ve been writing a dissertation and a book. Am currently looking for jobs and stuff like that really.

Heh -I was not wishing cancer on anyone – just pointing out that their own actions are likely to get them in the future. Obviously I was grossly generalising, so sorry for that, but there have been many times when I was wound up by smokers near me. Things are one heck of a lot better now at least.

And whatever I get up to in the rainforest is well away from any other inhabitation and also very organic 🙂

I feel for you but given that people who smoke have absolutely no regard for their own health, their own bodies, their own oxygen system, then it is no surprise that they have no ability to think of others ay? Cancer will be their karma my friend I feel.

I think she was a character in Alan Partridge but I could be wrong if that isn’t a quote from the show.

Well Brazil can be quite handy with the steaks so no need to go to Argentina really. But I am not a huge red meat eater these days. Lots of great local places to eat where we live!

Cheers Craig – watch this space. Yeah, you can pick up speed on the downhill ay??

My girlfriend and I both live in a hotel in Brazil – except that it’s a bit different there as you can rent them as serviced apartments and we have a little kitchen area. It’s good having a maid to clean each day and she even does our washing up from the night before. Nice friendly staff too. The only downside is that there isn’t a big lounge area and you don’t really have any permanent neighbours.

Those bigs ones are at descender bender. At the top there are now two alternative starts, but they merge at the first big berm. You also have the recently opened new ridgeway which is no longer a grassy ride but a cracking little bermy jumpy pumpy bit of fun.

While the thread is a tad on the silly side, you get sucked into them though don’t you, like that natural vs trail centre thread that you promise yourself not to get caught up in then you post and then you have to keep going back because someone on that there internet is WRONG!!

I think what would be best is a route that combined the second half of inners climb, the first inners descent, and then Glentress blue and red with maybe Britney Spears and that other descent that isn’t Deliverance!

Heh – I feel I have even improved on my crashes since that was taken and am now able to end up very far from my bike as opposed to still clinging on to the handlebars 😀

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Photos from Ed’s camera[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr