The best offroad biking in the SE of England here in the Surrey Hills. Great gastro pubs & restaurants. Beautiful countryside. Cultural life of a great city on tap nearby 24/7. Rail links to anywhere else that's good to go to – Wales just a short trek away for the best offroading (arguably) in the U.K. For what more could you possibly ask?

And if summers are now going to be like this? Wow.

^^^^
THIS

EDIT: but property ain't cheap!

Lost 2-3lbs by end of last week and all was well … but now I'm back to only 1lb down :( even though I did a 2hr 30 miler on Fri night and a 3hr 45 miler last night. Must have been the two BBQs, 3 bottles of wine and numerous beers inbetween (which wouldn't have happened if we didn't have family staying at the time – honest guv).

Will be out again tomorrow and then hopefully doing a 4hr stint on the SDW on Sat (from Devils Dyke if anyone cares to join).

Men-U range is the nuts:

Bloody hell, that's a lot of ideas there. Seems like nearly everyone has their own version.

Looks like I'm going to be doing some serious baking over the next couple of weeks.

TVM

I recently picked up a full set of replica carts for a Pixma MP800 off someone on Amazon – paid £11 instead of £40ish. Excellent reviews and they work perfectly. Do a search on the site.

MUCH more syrup and marg than looks healthy.

Yeah, that's what I'm concerned about …

soft brown sugar instead of Caster or granulated

I think I've used it in the past, but will give it a go next time for sure.

I find taking half the oats and bashing them with a rolling pin improves the consistency a lot

Rolling rolled oats – I'm up for that.

Do you use any flour?

No, but I'll try it.

TVM

XT and HG93 – great deals on the bay and Merlin

XT and HG93 – great deals on the bay and Merlin

When on the road.
When climbing anything I consider a challenge.

A properly built 317 on the front will last years with a bit of TLC. Could get 4-5 years or more out of the same on the rear, but as soon as you start hitting heavier stuff you might need to true it now and then.

719's should be the same if a little tougher – but perhaps not a necessity given your weight and riding style IMO.

Do you know if you're losing fat (the bad stuff) or just weight? There's a lot of talk about diets helping people lost the latter without really losing what they should be losing – fat. I'm certainly no expert but IMO some of this stuff does make sense.

I'm hoping to be there but family are visting – will try and wangle it though.

I'd cut out the middleman and get on Gaydar if I were you.

I'd imagine you're more likely to find a man that likes being in the middle if you go all Gaydar :D

I agree with the OP. We watched about 3 episodes a few months back and it didn't seem to be anything new. Dull characters and generally unengaging. Am hoping it gets better.

I know it's a different era, but IMO not a patch on the charisma of Generation Kill

I'd have though the longest combo would be:

Rollercoaster above Deliverance > into Waggledance > up onto Summer Lightning (especially before the end got chopped > straight into fast (fairly straight) woody singletrack > join Wolvens Lane all the way to the Rookery.

Like I say, the old SL was better IMO and made the link with the woody bit more natural.

The longest "complete bit of singletrack" in the area is on Boxhil

Are you talking about the trail that runs parallel with the descent down Juniper valley?

8-9 years go I rented out a room to one of my best mates (affectionately known as Wolfman). One Saturday afternoon, I returned home with my new gf only to find the front door locked, but could hear an industrial sounding noise coming from within. Hmm, that's weird I thought; the noise, the locked door and the fact Wolfman's car was out the front.

So I unlocked the door, stepped inside and realised the noise was coming from upstairs – it was kind of hoover-like. I ushered Sue into the living room and went to investigate. Sure enough, Wolfman's door was closed. Ok, I thought, he's just having a tidy up. So I went to open the door but the carpet on the other side had been pulled up to prevent it opening normally/quickly. So I pushed it open as far as I could and literally 2 feet in front of me was a vision that will haunt me forever … there was Wolfman standing virtually with his back to me – naked, glistening like he'd just come out of the shower, with poor old Henry Hoover's nozzle aimed at what can only be described as a black sock on his old man! Not what I expected (and certainly not what I needed). Needless to say I beat a haste retreat downstairs.

Ok, so are we talking 20-30% quicker with say 1.5's?

Thats a huge dfference so no. I think thats montain bike with offroad tyres to time trial bike stuff

I'm pretty sure my 2.0 Big Apples are about 15% quicker than my Fire XC 2.1's because of recorded lap times on a couple of road circuits I've done lately. Identical fitness, etc.

Hence wondering if 1.5's will make an additional few percentages …

Not sure if this applies to the Desire, but with the Hero you can download something like Home – and then customise all your icons and other stuff. Might also have to root the phone though – can't remember. CHeck out the Android forums.

No fruit? As Mr Bannatyne says "Im oot".

That's what I thought. But it's only for the initial weight loss period then it's back to Fruit Central.

Incidentally is anyone going full blow no carbs or just cutting down?

See my post above. Cutting right back on non-exercise days, and eating only minimal before a session, e.g. peanut butter sandwich, banana, energy bar.

All others carbs/starches are out: sugar, cerals, breads, cakes, biccies, pasta, rice, potatoes, crisps, chocolate, pizza, beer, white wine …

Hasn't been a problem so far (5 days in) because I don't miss any of them. Subsituted with more of the healthy stuff that I like eating anyway. I'm just curious to see if it works and how genuinely sustainable it is.

EDIT: oh yeah, and fruit's off the menu as well – substitute with vitamins. But the whole low-carb thing only applies in full while you're in the weight loss period, e.g. 4-6 weeks – you then introduce them on a balanced level thereafter. By then, your cravings, especially for the unhealthy carbs, should be either manageable or completely eradicated, hence enabling you to maintain size, shape and healthy diet.

So, in answer to your original question: yep, I'm in – will send email shortly.

Not sure if someone's mentioned this already, but you might like to consider this:

Seems capable of helping you lose fat as opposed to just weight/water, etc, and also enables you to change/understand your eating habits so as to keep it off.

I'm giving it a go for a month to see if I can lose a stone (and sustain it). Only difference is I'm carbing up a little before/during a ride. And I'll probably have the odd blow-out once a week or so. But I figure that because I vary my training enough (stamina, intervals, hills, etc) I'll make up the difference and generally lose/burn fat as well as improve definition and fitness.

Sorry to hear your sad news Matt – RIP Bert.

I'll be honest and say I've avoided reading this thread for a few days because I lost my own beloved Bert (16yr old big, chunky half Yorkshire Terrier, half Wookiee) back in March. Was totally devastated because she (yes, she – far more tomboy than lady) was my sidekick through everything, and such a colourful character. Everyone knew her.

All I can say is it does get "easier" as the days and weeks roll on. And remember the good times – there'll be plenty

One more thing (I only say this because it helped us a lot) – I opted to drop Bert off myself (to the crem) so as to say goodbye one-to-one. As unusual as it may sound, I even "attended" the chapel for a 10 minute service – it just felt like the right thing to do.

Bert has since returned home and is again part of the family.

RIP Bert and Bert

SM

Torq bars, monkey sticks and jelly babies : Baggies

Yeah, that's a weird piece of research TJ – like you say, it sounds counter-intuitive at best. I've always run something like 40psi off-road (in good, grippy, dry conditions) and lowered it for wet/slippery stuff. And never really been bothered. It's just that now I'm doing some road training I want to find ways to cover greater distances more easily. Currently running 2.0's at 70psi.

Ok, so are we talking 20-30% quicker with say 1.5's?

Yep, did mine on an 'off' a few years ago. Turning over in bed, brushing one's teeth, and generally doing anything that worked the rib area was **** agony. Can't remember how many weeks I had off, but it was a fair while.

If roaming is your bag, then Fall Out 3 is fantastic! You have to conserve your ammo too!

Great to start with, but IMO becomes way too repetitive too soon. Not sure if the expansion packs are available on PS3 – I had them on the PC but didn't bother with them in the end.

thought it was shite gave up after 30 mins.

Didn't even get this far. Couldn't be arsed (NPI).

Unfortunately chav scum like these feel they have little to lose whatever they do, hence their threshold for what they will do to manifest their twisted mindset is far beyond what a normal person would do. And the law in recent years has done little to prevent this. Not sure what I'd advice … put it this way, even if you can handle yourself, if you go round there and sort the father out, he's likely to get some mates together and come looking for you … and so it spirals. These people are scum and often their bullies, but they fear little in terms of retribution so will do what they want.

The only thing I would say is see if you can find this kind of topic on other forums and check out their advice …

Whatever you do, I hope you get it sorted without any trouble.

Shouldn't be a problem. I've run all sorts of tracker apps for 3-4 hours and have at leat 50% battery left. Have also run them on 2-3 hour runs with MP3 player – still have loads of battery left.

About 7-8 years ago I got a call at 4am from a mate doing a project in Singapore – he was in a bar and had just bumped into one of our mates from College (1988-90). Tis indeed a small world at times.

Was going to get the NVIS (2010?) but picked up a mint 2008 off the bay for about £20. The newer one does seem funkier but TBH my one does the trick for me. Still haven't worked out how to make it sit right – kind of digs in around the top a little. But other than that it's sound.

My approach in such situations is just to avoid drop offs, I'm happy to lead a more 'jey' group if there's enough folk

If I make it then I'll probably be in your group because I seem to be getting more and more jey … <<looks at geometry and blames it on seat post height :D>>

I had a nightmare with some tyres recently – did some asking around and picked up one of these: Crank Bros speed lever[/url].

Made the job a whole lot easier. Plus it even speeds up removal too.

Must be attending school in Crawley judging by their grammar.

If you're keen on an iPhone then definitely worth waiting til it goes live (June/July I believe).

I'm tempted myself, even though I stayed away from them and stuck with HTC/Android. Currently have a Hero which is great – but the Desire (with OS 2.0) is even better. May well turn to the dark Apple if the new one is worth it though.

317's are cheap, especially with Merlin. Alternatively check out eBay – you'll probably pick up a pair for £80-£120 depending on hubs, etc.