+1 for the Peak District. Loads to do and see if/when they get bored of riding. Cheshire is not far away if they’d like to explore some quiet country lanes with no hills, some of which are marked as national cycle routes. There’s also some nice canals to ride along once you get into Staffordshire and Cheshire.

Good info everyone. Thanks. Definitely worthy of more exploration.

TAFKAS, if I’d had a bit more time I would have done what you suggest instead of dropping down the road to Beeley. I’ve climbed up that doubletrack as well as done some cheeky stuff in the woods and had hoped to have time to come through Chatsworth back to Haddon Hall instead of wearing out my tyres on the tarmac.

Fancy some local guiding Ben? 😉

I’ve been shown some cracking cheeky stuff around there, but on night rides. Whether I’d be able to find them again in daylight is another matter.

This is what I did Strava link

After slogging up Sydnope Hill the track eventually levelled off before joining tarmac. I wondered if I could turn into the woods before hitting the tarmac and go across the moor, thus avoiding the road.

Thanks

I don’t think Pook has your situation though

Having ridden with him a couple of times I’d say he has exactly my situation 🙂

…except my forks and clothes are newer

hora, whilst I suspect your questions were directed at the OP, I’ll answer from my perspective.

I was on a ride yesterday that had a couple of challenges that made me stop and think. One was a drop at the foot of a rooty descent. It was a little too high to roll and had neither a smooth approach or landing. I bottled it first time but second time it proved easy and rode away with a huge smile.

The other obstacle was a fallen tree diagonally across the trail. I looked at it and wimped out of attempting to bunny hop it. I’d like to be able to bunny hop obstacles on the trail so I can keep the flow.

“Jumping” is not just about learning how to ride doubles and table tops.

This one will give me nightmares 😯
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Ntx-EF3LzKY1nQ5rTUP2g

The more I explore this area the more gems I find. I drive past this area regularly. I think I will be taking my bike with me in future and stopping off for a cheeky blast on my way home from work.

It was a shorter version of the 5 Dales route in the VG White Peak guide, bypassing the Chatsworth section that I’ve done a few times. I can highly recommend it, but get in there quick because some of the trails will be slippy and muddy soon. I can imagine it being quite a grim ride when it gets boggy.

one of those bean counters

Did such a person oversee the decline of Walkers Salt n Vinegar to the wishy-washy abomination that is “Distinctly Salt & Vinegar?”

I didn’t see another mountain biker. Such a beautiful day in the Peak District and it was just me on the trails.

I even had to stop and look at a map from time to time 😀

*feels a little sad no one has joined this thread to share enthusiasm* 🙁

Been thinking about this for my *gulp* 40th in October. I’d like Jedi to teach me how to bunny hop logs at speed (I can bunny hop provided the log is purely hypothetical 😆 ), jump more confidently (and bigger) and go round corners with speed.

Thanks for reminding me to get onto this before the places fill up 😉

Like 650b wheels, it will never catch on

no issues in Scotland because of the different access rights up there

Neither British Waterways nor the Canal & River Trust were solely about access though. I realise this is slightly off-topic, but I was curious about who looks after Scottish waterways if British Waterways is no more. I realise I could ask Google 😆

The Canal & River Trust website says it is for England and Wales, yet presumably British Waterways also included Scotland. Who looks after the Scottish waterways?

set up the phone to auto-upload photos

Unless it’s iOS, in which case don’t bother. The whole implementation of Photostream is woeful. Time and time again I tear what little hair I have out as photos deleted on one device re-appear on another. It makes managing photos a ball ache of the highest order.

If you like ale then it’s the Strugglers

I remember my boss coming over from the US and taking him out in Lincoln for a pint (we have an office there). We went in the Strugglers and embarassingly I only had a fiver. Fortunately – and surprisingly – there was free beer on tap! 😀

Sunday afternoon, but undecided on where. I can’t decide if I want to just play in the woods and maybe take a trip to somewhere like Stile Cop, or have an “old school” XC ride in the Peaks.

😆

I did start a reply but came to the same conclusion you’ve arrived at 😀

I’ve been thinking about this too. It would appear our pen and paper calendar is the Gospel in our house. If it’s not on there it ain’t happening. That’s not really very helpful if I’m away with work and need to see what commitments I have at home so the idea of a shared and sync’d electronic calendar sounds ace. If it used e-ink it could be always on and batteries should last ages.

Let me know when you find something inexpensive that does this Molgrips

They’ve had to drive across the pavement…is that legal?

I hope so; I do that every time I park on my drive, or pull into a garage forecourt.

does anyone actually GAS?

Yes. I do. It happens on our street despite (a) people having perfectly good drives to park on and (b) the road being big and quiet enough to park on. I despise having to walk on the road with my kids and pushchair because someone has blocked the pavement.

That said, where on your link is anyone parked on the pavement??

fingers crossed.

Done. Toes too 🙂

Pub lunch this weekend for brother in law’s birthday. I always enjoy a pub lunch. October half term – and a week off work – can’t come quick enough.

Always makes me laugh when people say I only give to this or that as they are the things that effect me.

Why? None of us can afford to donate to every charity so we all use some rationale to determine which charities to support. This is as good a reason as any. A charity being thrust onto your Facebook feed is another valid reason.

I think money is still being raised!

That’s good.

To be honest I’m struggling to articulate in my own mind – never mind an internet forum – why I feel a little uncomfortable about this. Maybe it’s the fact that there are so many other worthy charities out there and the MNDa are raking in donations orders of magnitude greater than them. As a worldwide community we’re still clearly very happy to donate to charity, yet those charities still have to rely on highly paid executives to come up with successful fund-raising ideas.

What I’d like to see is a viral campaign where the participants can choose which charity to donate to as well as include an explanation of why. That way donations AND awareness are spread more evenly and effectively.

Maybe I should just get on with getting a soaking 😀

On the sponsor form in the office

What?! Like on a notice board or something? How quaint. It’s all about JustGiving pages in our workplace these days.

On Facebook you could quite easily give nothing and no one would know.

True. These viral campaigns have a life-cycle and I reckon this one has reached the stage where it’s all about participating in the challenge rather than raising money or awareness.

So as I jokingly suggested earlier is it any different to a sponsor form being passed round the office or the enforced hilarity of a corporate red nose day?

I think so yes. I don’t have dozens of friends and family waiting for me to say yes or no when someone asks me for sponsorship in the office.

At least put direct click to donate links in the text if it supports a cause, in a position where it’s visible on the feed, and not only if you click the video or whatever.

MNDA suggest that you post the video on their Facebook page. That way you are linking to the association for which you are raising money as well as keeping the viral element going.

My reticence about these viral “awareness raising” campaigns is the apparent lack of awareness being raised. What proportion of participants and observers have genuinely become more aware of MND since this started and what difference does it make? I know of people who have participated who thought it was all about Macmillan for example.

As for the bullying angle, it is a very public request for charitable support that many people will feel pressure to say yes to. If bullying is the wrong definition I’d need my thesaurus for a similar word. Take away the nomination angle and will the same number of people still participate?

We all get asked to donate to a variety of different charities and – speaking for myself – I like to use my own personal experiences to cherry pick who gets my money.

Call it what it is; it’s a fund-raising campaign. I might start a new campaign tagging people on Facebook to see what they know about MND that they didn’t know before.

I wondered what the traction was like in the dry. The only time I visited was wet and miserable, but the grip was amazing.

Get a MacBook Air (a newer one with a retina display)

They don’t exist. They might do soon, but for now only the MBP has a Retina display. To my eyes I can’t tell much difference anyway!

^I’ll have you know Leek is getting quite the cosmopolitan place. We even have a Premier Inn now! We only let the in-breds out on a Friday and Saturday night

leek

I’ll get the kettle on

There are no end of beautiful routes you could take through the Peak District that – as the crow flies – are probably shorter than going through Stoke. Look on a map and take your pick.

You need to face up to the fact that you’re either going through Stoke, or you’re going massively out of your way.

Nonsense.

^this

What I’d give to be there this weekend 🙁

Anyone know where Rat boy needs to finish to be guaranteed the overall title?

First? I’m sure there are all sorts of mathematical permutations of point scoring based on where others finish in relation to Ratboy, but until people start coming down the mountain tomorrow we won’t know. That said, someone said to me he could finish second and still win regardless of who finishes first. Bearing in mind what’s happened in qualis that sounds feasible.

needs to be easily reachable from Manchester.

The Lakes, the Peak District and the Dales are all within easy reach. What else are you after? Just a lay-by at the side of the road or somewhere off the road with a pub within staggering distance? You’re spoilt for choice really, but since it’s my local patch I’ll recommend the Staffordshire Moorlands, looking out over the Roaches. I never get tired of that view, but it can be bleak up there.

Where’s Brosnan in the quails? Did he crash?

Also, I thought Ratboy had the overall lead after Windham, whereas the UCI page suggests Brosnan has it.

Whatever, looking forward to this one immensely 😀

That VW is now seen a ‘value’ brand tells you how much ‘status inflation’ we’ve had since then…

That’s a very interesting viewpoint. My perception of VW is the complete opposite, with their status getting more and more premium all the time. I’d argue that VW are one of few brands who are almost “classless” and would be at home on the drive of a Premiership footballer or Russian Oligarch as they would be parked outside the working class terraces of any inner city.