I like this thread as it feels like the one thread that everyone has contributed too and we’re all one big happy family 🙂

Well I ride because it’s fun and as the fitness side is excellent. I am well at ease with my not so great riding skills, and I am not so sure someone who is a good rider doing really difficult stuff has any more fun than me wobbling over not so hard stuff as it’s all relative really isn’t it 😀

Well I’ve not been married but I have a handful of pics of ex-es from some time back on my flickr site. I think it’s different when you look back over the years, and think well there were quite a lot of good times and even the really tough times were learning times too so it’s always good to be positive (even though I certainly haven’t been in the past). Maybe marriage is different though?

You have been watching the Jedi vid on the front page

Nah – he’s just talking about landing. I like to ride all the way around just on my front wheel 😯

Oh and i am more a front wheel on the ground, rear in the air kind of rider.

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IMG_0035[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

Well I didn’t skid as I wasn’t going fast enough down the descent to need brakes 😀 After saying that there’s one bit now that can catch you unawares if you are overcooking it a bit.

Well I had planned one for this weekend but I will be in London. I may look at doing a ride one either 16th or 17th of October, but then I’d probably need a lift if I have sold my car by then. You can really mix both natural and normal well to make a ride of around 4 hours or more depending on stops and photos etc.

The red is red and has quite a few obstacles such as large-ish roots, stone, drops, jumps, table tops and the scorpion tail climb which make it good fun.

I’m not too sure of the grade, but Mabie does have quite a variety of surfaces, and much of it feels fairly natural. Well I like it and people seem to be able to speed along quite happily.

Yep – and for those who have never been to Mabie, but are thinking about it, there is a lot of natural stuff too off-piste, which look something like this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157624841022240/

So if you return a few times, you can put together quite varied rides.

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IMG_0013[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

I am not a jumpy person, and Trekster’s hand was still healing, so there’s no jump photos here. If you have a full suss or just a happy hardtail you can still do all the stuff on the jump park, and even have a think about the Dark Side too. So what with the new descent at The Ridge, Mabie is really coming of age and still riding brilliantly.

As for my helmet strap, I think it is actually fitting quite well. Someone here said in words I don’t exactly remember that maybe I had a face for radio, so I think it is just my chin making it look long 😳

After that Barnes photo I felt I should restore the natural order of cool on here 8)

If there are any other cool people out there feel free to post too 😀

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Scanned In008[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

There is a very good bike book with routes in that area, it may be called Bikefax North Wales – I am sure someone here will remember what it is – lots of great riding where you are.

Ahhhhhh – What has been seen can not be unseen! 🙁

Of course what you REALLY should be doing is going to Kirroughtree, but that’s a whole different thread 🙂

I forgot to say if you are not going to do the black then yeah, Ht will be fine.

Mid travel full suss it has to be in in order to really enjoy deliverance on the way down. I went down on my HT and had motion blur all the way as it is quite rocky. I was both shaken and stirred 🙂

Really, honestly folks, given how quite ridiculous most people on here look in their bike gear, i don’t think anyone is in any position to comment on other people’s fashions. Apart from myself of course – i am the leading MTB fashionista of whom all others follow 8)

Finally finished my dissertation, went out for a pint to celebrate. I dont know what they are adding to the water in Dumfries, but even though it is Sunday, I have had a banging night out down the Hole in the Wall, there seemed to be a lot of female on female bumping and grinding on the dancefloor and I sang Black Eye Peas I got a Feeling on the karaoke 😀

In science our mathematic theorems are only found to be applicable over certain domains. When we move outside of those domains the theorems break down. I just wonder if you have reached the limit of the STW formula N+1 whereby satisfaction is to be found with the number of bikes, where n = the current number of bikes you own?

Man U vs Liverpool – you missed a great game!

Go to the webpage that your photo is on and click on "Share This"
You need to click on Grab the HTML/BB code
Click on the radio button for BB Code
What I then do is right click on all that gubbins in the box, then do a copy
Paste into here:

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IMG_0009[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

Easy!

I only read papers on-line, which are Guardian, Telegraph, Mail and Sun. None reflect what I am about though. Yes, something I wrote was in Kindred Spirit. It was an article about the hallucinogenic cactus San Pedro. Hopefully I will be in it again once my book is published 😀 To be honest though I am more a Shaman's Drum man myself, so yes, very close indeed!

Trekster

I would have gone with you today but I was in Livingston. I am meant to be with the South Devon crew in the Lakes this weekend, but will have to check that out some time this week, Tuesday or Wednesday!

Really glad you have had a bit of a ride – that's good news at least.

Also, I feel my photography must be coming on as this is the first time it has been referred to as simonralliesque 😀

Si

For all those who have dinner at lunchtime, does anything change on a Sunday? Do you have a Sunday lunch?

We have supper in our house 🙂

Well he has probably got better biking skills than me, is faster than me, and in addition i managed to get lost at Kirroughtree by missing a marker and I ended up in a weird farmers field with a hill and thick heather and I was thinking this can't be right as I could barely see the track 😳 The path ended up at a stone wall and on the other side were cows and then it twigged that something had gone awry as opposed to me thinking this must be the toughest black to ride in the uk. Oh and I have crashed at Ae and not been able to ride which was one heck of a long way back to the car!!

Emma

I was kind of thinking about this chap really who said this in the natural vs trail centre thread

In the end I don't consider people who only ride trail centres to be proper mountain bikers. They may have really good bike skills and be faster than me, but mountain biking involves finding your way and being self sufficient, looking after yourself for a day in the hills, not having the easy option of a walk back to the car if something goes wrong.

If you are used to the Stanes, it is not quite in that league, but I think it is a fantastic centre for what it is – great family orientated riding, plus great for beginners, and a few red level sections for those wanting to give it some. I would have thought you may want to try and make it say to Penmacho if possible. An excellent centre, but take it for what it is and if you ride it I am sure you will have fun so long as you are not one of the miserable buggers on here who declare people like me not proper mountain bikers 😀

And of course it's not like there are 100s of other tv channels out there to watch or heaven forbid, other hobbies, books or people to speak to 😀

I think for me I would prefer to whack on some ultraviolet underlighting to the bottom of my bike – now that would look boss 8)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics

Ironically, Dawkin's own theory could be seen as a very faulty "meme" since we now know that the information that is transmitted from one cell to another is not simple in the genes, but is more an emergent property from the interaction of the genes, plus many other elements within the cell. Dawkins though has doggedly stuck to his guns and failed to embrace the new scientific paradigm……….

Platform? As in there is one platform for Audis, VWs, Skodas etc?

generic?

In the end I don't consider people who only ride trail centres to be proper mountain bikers. They may have really good bike skills and be faster than me, but mountain biking involves finding your way and being self sufficient, looking after yourself for a day in the hills, not having the easy option of a walk back to the car if something goes wrong.

Heh – I only really consider if people on their bikes are having fun. 😀

Rohl Dahl – My Uncle Oswold – an adult book BTW – lovely!

Well I will be working in Brazil and be doing presentations in any number of locations. So do I need just two cables to cover most eventualities?

Am I OK to buy these two?:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-DisplayPort-adapter-cable-Neet®/dp/B002ERZGKQ/ref=sr_1_16?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1284556122&sr=1-16

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-DisplayPort-adapter-cable-Neet®/dp/B002ERZ5YI/ref=sr_1_15?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1284556122&sr=1-15

Mad! There is a photographer who is narrowly missed by a rally car but then he still has the presence of mind to take a photo immediately afterwards!

The very UN-natural Mabie

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IMG_0012[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

Hideously artificial!!!

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

Crumbs – has this really been discussed before? I must have missed it! Trail centres versus natural riding you say????

Sometimes being on a bike doesn't always have to be about the challenge. Remember fun when you were a kid? Were you always challenging yourself when 8 years old, or were you just mucking about having fun? 😀