Nice and sunny in North Devon today.

I'm 24-masters with Julian Wilson, 2 newbie racers and our Ironman ringer (who was admitted to hospital for 24hour IV antibiotics yesterday 😯 )

I'm gonna come down on Thursday night and make a weekend of it. Anyone else about?

I once had a Summer job cutting the grass in Saltash and stuck my strimmer in a wasps' nest. That hurt a bit.

I don't expect Wiggle have quite the same advertising budget as Coca Cola.

Truvativ World Cup singlespeed. 700mm wide and 10degree sweep.

I prefer Saunton/ Putsborough / Woolacombe of the N Devon beaches but would stay in Croyde

School holidays are equally as mental here.

I stopped using the MSW after certain brothers from Plymouth bullied the shit out of Mat on it. Didn't seem like a fun place to be anymore.

Club Vass. Windsurfing centre in Greece that has a load of decent Marins and a guide to show you about. Sail in the morning, ride in the afternoon, innit.

Rather than going around the World, why not just learn on the beach down the road?

Jules, after Millie's effort on the Tox, was hoping we could swap you out of our team for her instead, 😀

English is 4th language

I thought it was Romansh?

I spent some time living in Schweitz and found the experience a positive one overall. The fact that it was at 1600m and at the foot of the Matterhorn may have influenced this though.

I'm from Devon but prefer mine Cornish as I like to spread my jam evenly across the surface. Perhaps I should Devon up and spread the jam across the top half?

Phone your physio dept and ask to speak to someone who actually knows about your case.

My mate finished the Lanza in 11 hours this year. Pretty good as he was just a regular bloke who got into mtb a couple of years ago (being the physio at Club La Santa may have been useful for him though).

Perhaps if we dropped the saddle a little?

I lived near there for a few months and rode a spot called chute woods just outside Axminster. It was okay but the local riding is generally poor. Woodbury and the Quantocks aren't too far away.

Specialized were very apologetic and gave me a £200 voucher.

Precedent set, Vings. Take the cash, get the shock changed (again), flog the frame and start over with something more reliable.

My understanding with the Epic shock problems is that it all started to go wrong when they employed X-Fusion to make them, rather than Fox. I only read that on the intermenet though.

Neil, here's a couple of words to consider: Giant Anthem

My choice would be Woodbury although you do need to know your way around. There are good trails to be had at Haldon but the waymarked stuff is deadly dull/super sanitised.

As I said to you at the time, small-claims court. Considering the problems you (and two of our mates) have had with it, you could probably argue that it's not fit for purpose. How're you supposed to complete a 12hour race when it dies after 30mins?

If you're looking to replace the frame, I'd insist on a 2010 Epic frame replacement, rather than a cheaper hardtail, especially considering the money you've spent on services and time wasted while it's being repeatedly fixed. Then you could sell it and buy something tasty (Yeti arc?) or ride it and hope Specialized have sorted their shit out.

Get your "cross bike" over to the Quantocks and see how much fun that is, mine scares the sh1t out of me.

I managed to scare myself a few times on my full-suss up there today.

Giant Defy 2? Full Tiagra (equivalent to Deore) with reasonable wheels and decent frame and fork. £800 so leaves plenty for decent shorts, pedals, shoes, etc.

Really? I'd have thought it'd be the other way around.

summer rules apply and its dog eat dog…

Party wave!

Nonsense. Cornwall is much easier to get to. Everyone knows that North Devon never gets surf anyway. Don't bother coming here. 😉

DaveyBoyWonder, are you also gonna be bringing a bike on your Barnstaple trip? I'll be off to Exmoor one evening this week if you fancy it?

Whitsand Bay, SE Cornwall.

Beautiful and relatively quiet due to the hike down the cliffs (although you also need a decent level of personal mobility). Gets a decent wave and has mega snorkelling at the East end around Polhawn. Also has free parking on the cliff-top (very rare in the Westcountry).

Fancy some riding too? The coast path is quite fun and Plymouth/Dartmoor isn't far away (~20-30mins).

http://www.whitsandbayvisitor.co.uk/

EDIT: Forgot the SCUBA: http://www.bestofsecornwall.co.uk//activities/dive-scylla/dive-scylla.htm

Nice Sponging Machine! That should be posted up at every beach!

There are four posters highlighting this at Saunton, yet it's tourist slalom every Summer. 🙄

Ridley normally release their new cross bikes in July/August in time for the new season. Crossbow is a nice bike.

I love my jake the snake, but it's a grand.

Having a look HERE[/url] before you go will be appreciated by the locals at whatever beach you decide upon.

Have fun.

There are also some of us that work in hospitals but don't have a uniform.

My physio wife once trod on a full catheter bag with hilarious consequences (for anyone not standing within 3m of her).

Lots of NHS staff do that in lots of places. There's also no quality evidence (that I'm aware of) to suggest this may increase infection rates in hospitals.

I really like that. Just looked at the Ventana website and they do them in a super-monster 24". Bonkers!

Bollocks! £200million is a lot of heart bypasses paid for.

Perhaps you should contact your local MP.

Is that the 25th? That should present no problem. I've got some lieu hours saved up for a day of riding and the Quantocks are always a good choice. Email me on rdscoleman-taylorAThotmailDOTcom and let me know your plans.

Haven't been up the Quantocks for ages. I'll show you about on Friday if you like?

Hot Rod – my all-time favourite film (although it was on telly last night)

I once read that you can fix them with a rub of WD40

You can't just buy a frame as it has to be a complete bike to qualify (although some bike shops may choose to ignore this).

I'd go for the Focus as the Giant has a poorer spec. They're also the same compact shape as Giant road bikes, which may make shouldering tricky when you're in a hurry.

Just my opinion, mind.