Out of 10 I would give myself

English 9.5
Plants 5
Portuguese 4

🙂

[/url]
13th January Edinburgh Castle[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

Here’s the whole set of the sunset[/url]

I have just started this today. My week 1 set 1 was 6 – 6 – 4 – 4- 11.

Am feeling good!

In january I started to do a little yoga and sit ups each day (I am up to 80) so let’s see how I improve. I can really notice the improvement as I could just about do 10 good sit ups to begin with!

I am a huge fan of trackball mouses as I had the same problem.

I currently use this one

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-910-000808-Marble-Mouse/dp/B001DQY9AW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329740951&sr=8-1

Glentrool would be great for a beginner. I am not too sure that people know it is basically two routes. One is a 7 hour loop on fireroad, and the other is a fab bit of blue singletrack. The climb is not too bad, and the downhill is great fun, some big berms but no jumps.

Another option is to do a “there and back” on part of the big loop to the actual stane. i cam back the other side of the loch, but I would say it is not too suitable for a beginner (the other side).

Here are some pics. I was having too much fun descending the blue for photos but there is one photo at the top.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157625106190883/with/5111107588/

I suppose you just ask people here for recommendations.

I have to say though, you don’t really sell yourself so well on your “About Me” section, if you are looking to gain a readership.

Maybe instead of putting yourself down, you could go down the line of mystique and intrigue, the lone cyclist who out in nature changes gear to a higher state of consciousness in which the deepest secrets of the universe are revealed and which you are about to reveal to us in your blog? That kind of thing.

The odd photo would be nice too. Doesn’t have to be of you though, of trees, cake, that kind of thing.

simonralli.wordpress.com
transitionconsciousness.wordpress.com

🙂

You’d get more views if you told us what your blog is called so we can take a look 🙂

Short? I takes me quite a long time to cycle the red and black combined! Great trail though, lovely woods, chilled vibe and hardly any cyclists go there at this time so you are likely to feel that you have it all to yourself.

My album was no 23 in Amazon’s world music album download chart today 🙂

Currently 25 and will probably be much lower by the time any of you read this!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/dmusic/195335011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_dmusic_1_4_last#2

The Creation Station?

Bespoke crafts? (A little bike reference sneaked in that one)

Hobbycraft (play on hovercraft!)

I have actually been using Twitter to help me improve my Portuguese. I am following quite a few Brazilian bike groups, mainly urban bikers, and it is great to see a lot of the projects which they are involved in trying to improve facilities for bikers in Brazil, across many cities.

São Paulo has just had a few extra km of its cycle lanes opened. The only problem is that they run down the “river” and for me the smell is so bad I can never see myself using these lanes, on top of all the pollution issues. Good luck to them though.

Here you go 🙂

SimonRalli2

A new little video by me – soundtrack is Les Fleurs : )

Happy valentines everyone 🙂

Great report, great pictures, even though I will be waiting to hear about the XC stuff.

A thank you Maccruiskeen – that is just what I wanted and now my text is just how it should be 🙂

Maybe a film isn’t the best way. Maybe take them to meet actual drug addicts? Would that not be more effective if it is in any way practical?

There has been some minor hill snow around Dumfries, but as for snow at ground level, we have totally missed out this winter. We just had one day with a dusting and that was it, so I wouldn’t worry about snow.

In fact Ae has been getting quite busy recently, maybe because Glentress and Innerleithen have been bad, who knows?

That’s so funny that guide as I can now say I have a socially acceptable rebellious tattoo 🙂

I must be doing something wrong when out biking as I have never met anyone who has cared about me, my lack of pace, bike, pay-as-you-go Nokia or bad dress sense.

It’s just fun fun fun up in this little corner of SW Scotland with simply everyone I come into contact with 😀

How’s married life treating you? Sorry I didn’t have much time to blether when you were up last time..

Well Maria is back in Brazil and I can’t return until May, so I am just here writing a book until then. 😥

But things are OK. Life is by no means normal, a bit tough but the bigger picture is that everything is good 🙂

I’ll try and nab my Mum’s car one day or bag a lift with John and come up for a ride. And I have been doing some fitness riding so I’ll try and make it up the final climb this time.

It does annoy me irrationally when people put “off topic” when posting in the chat forum. It’s a chat forum, so if its not about bikes there is no such thing as off topic.

It’s one of those little things that shouldn’t bug me but just thought I would get that out of my system on this thread. Feel much better now : )

So iwas wasn’t wwaswas?

Blimey – I didn’t think people would get worked up about this tour!

Look on the brightside – now you can look out for it and not miss it!

Blimey – tough audience tonight. If it gets any worse I’ll have to do a Connelly! 😀

I think what is needed is a derivatives market for these, where you own the object long before you actually pay for it!

I have to admit the final climb at Drumlanrig is a killer and I sometimes miss it out, as I do the final chute which scares me silly.

You have a few options at Drum, and I have ridden most, so plenty of options there.

Heh – that cost me all of £4. I have no car so I do have some country-road riding to get to the woods!

I also wear it when going for short walks “around the block” and I really feel that drivers appreciate it and seem to give you a lot of space on country lanes. It’s amazing how many walkers and cyclists I have seen in dark grey clothes walking in duck or dark conditions!

I lived in Gibraltar for a couple of years. There are rides west of Estepona, but to be honest, north and east may well be your best bets. There are some great chilled rides, but that probably isnt what you are after.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157615257901782/

Montes de Los Barrios – Nov 08 & Mar 09

Getares – Straights of Gibraltar May 08

Hugh

Absolutely no one has ever worried about holding me up 🙂

My style is relaxed/cautious/hop off hop on around tricky bits. But what I lack in skill and speed I make up in good conversation and general shouts of great joy at just whizzing around really 🙂

Well eco in terms of if you build it they will come! You have to make something attractive for people to make a switch. I bet this would be more busy in the UK.

Hugh

That is hard to say. Mabie still has a few nice berms and stuff, with some tricky tight natural off-piste singletrack. I do like Dalbeattie, and it does have some really nice rocky features if that is your bag, it’s not just about the Slab and Terrible Twins. There are a few other still quite scary chutes, and a few thin log sections and other rock challenges too.

If it was me I would be riding Kirroughtree, Drumlanrig (ok weather)/ Ae if it is wet (but then that is just me) and Mabie (with off piste sections). It’s hard to say really – see what others say. Both are great fun but just from a subjective point of view I like Mabie as I can flow a bit more on it whereas I am not such as good technical rider.

If I can get a lift from Trekster, we could show you say Mabie or Dalbeattie – I am sure he’ll be a long in a bit!

Assuming your wife comes along, if you ride Mabie she can enjoy New Abbey as a bit of sight seeing, and you also have the cafe there after a walk.

Sorry Hugh I don’t have gpx.

I would come along but have no car so am not really free to travel around.

Kirroughtree you’ll love, Drumlanrig is fantastic. And Dalbieattie is a great blast too, even without some of the local bits.

The other place to ask advice on is the 7 Stanes facebook page – loads of locals are on that.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/7stanes/

Glentrool isn’t shocking – it is maybe a 5 – 7 hour ride in the wilderness on fireroads. Also, I had an absolute blast on the small blue route. It is a blue route which really has kids in mind, and is great if you were say taking a 10 year old down some bermy route the first time. But it is also great for big kids too,

After saying that, it is probably not what you are after hence you should not prioritise it above the others.

Drumlanrig is a bit slippery in the wet, but these are very short sections that you can take as per your skill levels : )

Dalbeattie also has some cracking off-piste secrets that locals ride!!

If you have only 3 rides, and like XC, then Kirroughtree definitely, red and black. I don’t know how fit you are, but there are a few ways of doing the red and half the black if you are slightly short on time. I would do the first part of red, short cut to Heartbreak hill, then second half of black and rejoin red to end. You may be superfit though and can do the lot in 3 hours.
Drumlanring isn’t a stane, but a fantastic place to ride and your good wife may well enjoy a few hours in Thornhill looking at the shops and relaxing in the cafe Thomas Tosh.
As you only have 4 days in total, you may want to do Dalbeattie. If you are going to Mabie, it has diversions, but there are a few locals who can show you all the very cool more natural hidden stuff.

I have to say I have just seen the mag. And yes, those Iceland photos are amazing. Who would have thought it ay? Some amazing singletrack and scenery. Well done chaps.

Oh and the other thing is that you can get distribution on Amazon for free. You never know, you may have a massive hit on your hands!

Hi

I have just had a look. 100,650 words over 308 pages.

Page size is set to 14.78 x 20.99, and then the margins are around 2cm more or less.

Font Times New Roman, 11, normal line spacing (not 1.5 for example).

Obviously there are some blank pages, or pages with section titles etc.

Hi David

It is publisher grade, and perfect bound.

Have you purchased any books on Lulu to see their quality? I was really pleased with mine. As well as a couple of on-line reviews from websites, Resurgence Magazine also published a review (albeit on their website and not in the actual magazine.) I do feel that self-publishing is now of a very high standard (although people may debate the quality of writing 🙂 )

In fact, I ran a workshop this last weekend and sold 5 physical copies which was great.

I am self-published on Lulu and have found their quality excellent. In fact, I am working on a new book and put some black and white photos in. These were a lot better than other properly published books from other publishers, whose black and white photos were terrible.

Lulu sometimes do special offers with a free first order of your book so you can check quality.

My book