I don’t think its anything particularly new or English, haven’t parents always been liable for fines for truancy?

A lot off schools are oversubscribed. Unathorised absences make the attendance stats look crap and can screw up pupil attainment targets.

I know of one instance where a kid went off for two plus weeks on an “unathorised absence”. On returning to the UK he found he had lost his place.

Can some one explain Kaffenback?

Mondays aren’t much fun either. When you come back to all the problems you thought you would leave till next week.

After that it starts to go downhill.

Lovell appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court charged with one count of indecent exposure and another count of outraging public decency.

I can’t work out if this is for having sex with the sheep, or being neat Tottenham’s training ground….

Sometimes its much easier for both if the slower rider works out the overtake.

Faster rider should always be on the look out for a flick of the elbow and come through accordingly.

I quite like BBC4

Also I would gladly pay £150 a year to remove adverts from ITV etc. Do my bloody nut in adverts do.

Amen

Last time I tried to watch anything at peak time it was 5 minutes of adverts in every 15.

Try joggists running up Deer Stalker

First time I found Deerstalker I rode up it. Good thing it was mid week and no one was about!

(pre trail centre days, off course)

Eddy Merckx was pretty cool

And only man ever to look good in flares?

There was a review of three mainstream tourers in the last CTC rag. (Dawes Galaxy, Ridgeback and something I’ve forgotten). I don’t think the reviewers were particularly impressed with any of them. Thay have reviewed the Hewitt and Spa Cycles tourers in the past and seemed to like them beter.

One thought about disks – They might make the bike look a bit bling, especially to the un-initiated. If you are going to be leaving it locked and unattended in strange places, do you really want it to look that desirable?

Lol.. sweets made by Inuit?

No, they were on the Eskimo aisle.

I like the silly science graphic on the BBC website. Apparently if I climbed into my car and drove at a steady 60mph, it would take me 22,000 years to get to where Voyager is now.

Or ASDA had this really weird way of organising some things by region but other things by food type.

So fig rolls weren’t in the biscuits or cakes but in the “irish” section (they don’t seem particularly Irish, but they were manufactured there). Some fruit juices, bread, biscuits etc were in the Polish section (again, not particularly Polish – just with polish labels). Marshmallow and Haribou were in the Halaal isle (no gelatin). A particular source or seasoning could be found under any one of – Chinese/Indian/West Indian or in the pasta isle (which, strangely, wasn’t labelled “Italian”)

But there ware also aisles labelled Biscuits/confectionary/fruit juices etc. with similar but slightly different products.

I could only conclude the shop manager was on drugs.

Merida Bikes were giving away normal sized brollies at the Torq 12hour. I don’t know if you can buy them though.

I’ve got one of those Gerber multitools. I think its a “diesel”. I find awkward to use and quite poorly made. I don’t carry it on the bike as its quite heavy and if I found myself in a situation where I really needed a sturdy pair of pliers, metal file, wood saw etc. it would probably break!

I’ve got a cheap and tiny (smaller than a couple of tyre levers)lookalike with reasonable pliers and a small blade that has occasionally been useful for bodging repairs.

I’ve always quite admired people who do TT’s on them;

I know a guy that used to build them, and a few people that have tried them in TT’s. Apprently they are suprisingly difficult to ride at speed. They’re not that stable and the cornering is counter-intuitive.

the cost of developing the bikes.

Now that does sound like marketing BS

Strip mud guards and rack off a Dawes galaxy (Or similar). Fit suitable tyres. Enter race.

CX bikes BB’s are too high anyway.

You sure? They seem about the same height as on road bikes to me (although I’ve never ridden a “real” CX bike.)

a helmet got broken

Try explaining THAT to your GP :lol:

This has happened to my running tops, but not my cycling ones. Do you wear an undershirt? Might make a difference.

Try a hotter wash?

Do I need a Strava Specific saddle? And where can i buy one?

Could it be used as a sort of general excuse to get away with anything?

“I need to sleep with your wife, I’m on a Strava run!”

“Oh yes, fair play old boy, please do!”

Height = Nelson’s Column (NCL)

Ask him “WTF is a Strava run?”

I’ve only heard of it because people on here witter on about it all the time.

Are hydraulic discs supposed to give better modulation than calipers?

I’d never noticed.

But then I have Avid Elixirs. :-(

Seems to me to be a better idea to pay off existing debt that attracts interest, than accrue the measly gains our pensions appear to be making.

Anyone else thinking along similar lines?

That’s my view as well. The interest you pay on debts will (always?) be more than the interest you earn on savings and invetments.

Sort of steampunky.

Only with Swedes in flares and anoraks rather than young Victorian ladies in revealing corsets.

A while ago, my place got a financial adviser in to talk about topping up pensions.

His advice was, unless you have tons of cash you don’t need and provided you have the discipline not to touch it, just stick everything into the best ISA you could find and keep moving it to chase the best rates.

This was 10/15 years ago though, when they were giving quite a good return. Wouldn’t work now I suppose.

we would normally expect better from the BBC given their heritage

No, most of them went to Cambridge. It’s an absolute dump.

As he was semi naked and out of his head on ecstasy, is “megaphone” a euphemism, or does it mean something completely different in German?

Doesn’t it mean they were trying to persuade him to take his megaphone with him?

You can’t read a kindle in the bath

Or throw it at amorous cats

all a TT is is a set, timed route.

A TT is a set route timed by somebody else. There will be somebody a minute in front who you are trying to catch, and somebody a minute behind who you are trying to avoid being caught by.

You will ride a lot faster than if you do the same route on your own. (Although maybe Strava might compensate in someway, I wouldn’t know)

Avid brakes

Amen to that

Hillingdon Crits in the early 2000s. (1 hour + 5 laps). 4th cat race would average around 24mph. The E/1/2/3 would be around 27mph(for the bunch, not the break).

These were big bunches on one of the fastest crit circuits in the country.

At the time my club mates would consider 16/17mph on a solo road ride pretty good going, despite the fact most of us would be hovering at about an hour for a 25mile TT.

I use Schwalbe Smart Sams in 700×32. They’re quite knobbly but don’t seem to be too draggy on tarmac. (Or not so draggy that I can be arsed to chnge tyres for tarmac only rides).

52 mph on 50×12 would be about 160rpm! But then on 53×11 you would still have to be doing about 140rpm

I would imagine that speeds over 50mph on downhills are more about good aerodynamics and smooth cornering rather than high gearing. Trying to pedal at that speed might just slow you down because of the increased turbulence.

Maybe time to work on that nice aero tuck?

How fast do you pedal?

50×12 at 95 rpm is 31mph
50×11 at 95 rpm is almost 34mph
50×12 at 105 rpm is over 34mph

If you pedal slower than 90, it migh be worth practicing to spin a gear rather than mash along.

still not a fan of road spds though

Are you using the one sided SPD pedals? I found they were a right faff to clip in. If you use double sided MTB style SPDs its much easier.

Oh and to the bloke who suggested you sweat less when you get fitter I call bollocks

I always understood you sweated MORE as you got fitter – your body gets more efficent at cooling itself. That might be bollocks though.

You could post up the average speeds for the three disiplines for all club memebers – in a “well done all” sort of way.

If his bike leg really is unfeasonably fast people can draw there own conclusions without making any overt accusations.

Might be worth doing this BEFORE he splashes out on an iron man tattoo :D