AlpineQuest will display the older MemoryMap maps (.QCT) and comes in a free version.

If you have licensed maps, MM now do their own Android application.

Never noticed a peak do anything except get in the way of forward vision.

For sun/rain protection I find a traditional cycling cap more effective. You can pull the peak right down when needed and flip it up out of the way when not.

Downside is you like like a 90’s roadie.

list of uk recessions
one every 10 years, more or less, reckon we’ll see another in a couple of years

Interesting that they have split 2008/9 and 2011/12 into two seperate recessions. I must have been asleep during the good times of 2010.

Not cycling journalism specific, but “ticks all the boxes”

UCL

usual cycle length

Does Mumsnet have 26er v 29er debates?

The only bike reviews I read nowadays are in the CTC rag. They seem relativly sensible, if occasonally over fixated on mud guard clearance and rack mounts.

Now, St George may well not be English but St Andrew was hardly Scotiish, was he!

And St. Patrick wasn’t Irish!

Now, of for a rousing chorus of “Jerusalem”

I think you mean the year before. Last year was sunny.

They’ve changed the route this year to make it “more cycle friendly”. Presumably this means they’ve taken out that god-awful climb after the first feed.

It’s moorland tracks and hilly. There was only one small section on the old route that you might call “technical”. Some people ride fully rigid with panniers. Although if the ground’s baked hard a little bit of rear suspension might make it more comfortable.

Be sure to watch the wheelbarrow race if its on this year.

Funny thing is, the issue about the antiquated term structure does seem to come up every few years and I get the impression that many teachers would quite welcome a reform in this area.

The trouble is teachers also have a boss that always seems to be telling them and the public in general that teachers are doing a bad job and that they need to work harder. Add to this the erosion of their terms and conditions of employment (along with other public sector workers) and the lack of esteem everyone seems to hold them in. It’s no wonder they don’t like him very much.

It’s easier to improve things through consensus rather than confrontation. I get the impression Gove is more interested in showing everyone how tough he is rather than actually reforming anything. He always comes across a bit of a bully. Perhaps he wants to go down in history as the man who smashed the teachers rather than the man who saved education.

Ok, other people must also be at fault (the leaders of the NUT might be spoiling for a 1970s style fight perhaps?), but its Gove’s job to lead and he doesn’t seem to be doing it very well.

I don’t know much about Gove, was he ever a teacher (or had any proper job) or is he a career politician?

National main payscale is, i belive, 25k-32k. A decent salary at first glance.

But, bearing in mind the skillset required, the pressure to achieve results, and the low regard they are held in by the rest of society, I think that’s actually pretty rubbish.(Along with other professions that are seen as “vocations”).

You could be a middle manager in a large organization, sitting on your arse all day playing with spreadsheets and powerpoint and get paid more than that.

The government has to advertize teaching as a career all the time (I don’t think they do it in the same way for any other professions?). In my locality there is never a shortage of teaching vacancies and it seems a lot of schools (primary and middle) find it very hard to recruit and retain good teachers.

It seems that unless you see it as a real vocation, the remuneration isn’t worth the aggro.

I reckon if Gove keeps acting the got he’ll just make the situation worse, with more teachers leaving the profession and fewer entering.

I used to drink Strongbow as a kid. But now it tastes a bit watered down. I wonder if they changed it to be a bit more like Magners.

Bulmers Original tastes like I remeber Strongbow tasting when i was little. (and its very cheap in Asda)

Is it true that the vats at Westons were bought secondhand when the company started up and have actually been in use since the Napoleonic wars? (I heard that on radio 4 once).

I like klumpy’s idea of a “follow the evidence party”. I suspect that a lot of that actually does go on behind the scenes. It just gets lost in all that stupid shouty stuff they need to do to get elected in the first place.

Musings that may be relevant. They are from memory so may not be entirely accurate:

The profit in manufacturing doesn’t come from making widgets. It comes from having the idea and licensing someone else to make the widgets. This is the model that a lot of UK businesses try to follow.

Dyson employs more people in the UK now its manufacturing is abroad than it did when the stuff was made here.

Some in the automotive industry believe the world only needs about 5 car manufacturing plants. The UK automotive industry is extremely competitive. It now exports cars to Japan.

One of the major costs in manufactured goods now is transport of the finished item. Although significant, wage differences are becoming less so. If transport costs continue to rise there may be a shift back to making more stuff locally. (This is what the brewing industry has always done, as their product is mainly water).

I’m told that British trained mining engineers are recognised as among the best in the world. They just don’t do much mining in the UK any more.

Officially I think its w9y, stickler, tank traps and the labyrinth area.

Thanks. That lot added to some of the fire roads and Crowthorne should give us plenty of riding. Is it obvious which way round they have to be ridden or are we still going both ways?

Which bits are open now, and are they signposted?

I’m taking a group of kids there on Sunday and I haven’t been for about a month. Last time most of it seemed to be shut.

I’ve ridden at Coed Y Brenin a few times but didn’t really enjoy it. Most of the stuff was OK but I hated the start of all the trails, where they’ve put in all that deliberately hard rocky pavement right near the car park (just when you won’t be warmed up).

I quite like riding slowly. And I quite like deep mud, it’s just another trail obstacle. I enjoy the challenge of clearing a churned up section of muddy bridleway. I also much prefer riding uphill to down.

I suppose I’ve never been a real mountain biker, I doubt I would be welcome at most trail centres.

I’ve seen places in Mortimer and Woolhampton for sale in your price range, although they may have been a bit small if you have a growing family.

What sort of price range/housing are you after? I spent about six months looking in the same areas and affordable (for me) stuff did crop up between the all overpriced stuff. It just tended to sell very quickly!

Bramley? – seems a bit cheaper than Mortimer and is on the same rail line if you want to use the train.

Or Woolhampton or Aldermaston Wharf on the A4 between Reading and Thatcham – also on a rail line or you could cycle to Reading along the canal.

Anyone remeber the Not the Nine O’clock news sketch, with Rowan Atkison wanting to “pool the Kendle Mint Cake with one trustworthy person”?

I think T-shirts started out as under wear (so in effect a vest). In the 1950s it became trendy to wear them as an outer garment.

I don’t know if “illegal” was the word used at the meeting. I just assumed it was shorthand for “people riding in areas that the landowners didn’t want people riding in”.

I got a bit depressed about the insurance liability claims by people who have had accidents on the unregulated trails. Rumour has it that there are 5 outstanding claims, one of which will cost 50k to settle. I imagine this is probably the main reason that crown estates are putting their foot down.

I didn’t go, but here is a useful summary of the meeting, ripped off another website:

Swinley is a commercial forest run owned and by the crown estate. Mountain Biking was originally permitted on Fireroads and in the area defined as the Expert Mountain Biking area. However the trails have expanded outside of the original area to cover the forest.

Swinley Forest is home to 3 types of rare ground nesting birds, Natural England has designated Swinley a Special Protection Area and requested that clear felling take places to provide an environment for these birds, they’ve also requested that access is restricted to these area to avoid disturbing the birds.
CE has been subject to multiple liability insurance claims by individuals who have had accident on features on the unregulated trails.

Because of these 2 reasons (erosion is not an issue) CE have had to develop a plan to provide a sustainable method of permitting Mountain Biking, and have been in discussion with Rowan Sorrel for the past 18 Months who has devised the strategy for Swinley. Although members of BOB and Gorrick have been consulted, the plans suggested by BOB and Gorrick we not workble so the original plan has been actioned.

There will be 3 routes:

A green run for beginners and children, this is being developed with input from 2 local schools.

A blue run which will wider than singletrack, fast and flowy.

A red run which will be mainly technical singletrack with potentially some black features.

The Blue and Red routes will include some existing trails plus a lot of new tracks, where existing trails are used some work will be done to improve the surfces and flow.

There will also be a Downhill area by deerstalker/labrynth, and a free ride area in the Gully area.

Riding on all fireroads is still permitted

Apart from the above marked trails/areas, the rest of the forest is off limits. Wardens will use a soft approach to illegal riders, reminding them the only permitted trails/areas are permitted, however if this doesn’t work thet may need to take further action.

Crowthorne Woods (bomb holes, corkscrew) are not included in the Changes to Swinley as it is Forestry Commission land, however FC are watching the development in Swinley to see how to proceed.

The permit scheme finishes in March, replaced with the carparking charge which applies to all vistors not just MTBers. The new trails will open in March 2013.
It is envisioned that the new Swinley Access Group (SAG) will help provide voluntery assistance to help perserve,maintain & develop the new trails. It is also stated that the current plans are not the end of trial development.
There is still a question mark over XC/Enduro racing at Swinley, as all events will be limited to having to use the new trails.

It should be noted that all users of the forest will be subject to control restrictions over the next few years, with new walking trails developed.

Thanks,

I know a couple of people who I think will be going to that meeting.

No direct contact for John Deakin, so I’ve e-mailed the crown estates press office, hoping they will pass a message on.

Sorry to resurrect this post again, but does anyone know if there is a contact name/ e-mail address for the person in charge of these alterations?

I’ve been asked by a local childrens cycling club to pass on some concerns, but there doesn’t seem to be anybody to pass those concerns on to.

I’m guessing Rowan Sorrell is just the contractor doing the work. I’d like to contact the shady “Mr. Big” who must be in charge. Presumably its someone at Crown Estates?

Current policy on permits (at least as of two weeks ago) is that if you need to buy a day permit, you get your car park charge refunded. No discount if you bought a yearly permit though!

I suppose a lot of the negativity stems from realising how lucky we have been with Swinley until now.

For the past 10-15 years we’ve been able to go there and just ride where we like without any bother from anyone. The network of trails was always evolving I found it still possible to come across new bits or re-discover areas I hadn’t ridden for years. Every ride can be different and despite the crowds and trashed trails it can still feel like you are just exploring some woods on a bike.

And sometimes you meet the nicest people at the bottom of a bog, or tangled up in some bushes, or hopelessly lost.

I suppose something was bound to happen, it is just too popular to stay as it is (a big kids playground). For me the writing was on the wall when BOB started building Sticklers rather than just repairing the trails that were suffering from overuse. I’m sure the whole “trail centre experience” will be fun, for at least a while, but I’ll miss the mud, the roots, the odd little out of the way bits, and not being able to ride seagull in both directions.

I use 700×35 Smart Sam’s on my cross bike. Happy to ride 60+ miles on tarmac and they are excellent in mud and loose stuff. They feel a bit unsure on wet rock and are horrible on wet chalk, but that maybe because I run them at 70psi. The wider profiles might not be as good though.

I really hope they don’t restrict us to the three new trails, although I suppose they probably will.

I take a group of kids and newbies to Swinley about once a month. At the moment there are enough trails to enable us to vary the route to suit the kids’ abilities. They can get plenty of practice at all the fun stuff – roots, drop-offs, berms, mud, climbs.

As most of Swinley is empty, even on Sundays, we can avoid any areas that are a bit crowded and also ride a different route every month.

If we are all forced into using three short routes I worry that some weekend warriors could get pretty shitty because there is a ten year old on a rigid Islabike in front of them on “their” red route.

I would also be pretty difficult to stop and do a bit of training over obstacles if all the routes are now armoured motorways.

I suppose we all will all still be able to ride in Crowthorne and the bit behind the top of Deerstalker?