Bu££er – that Carrera has dropped £100 since I looked at it last week.

I've just bought a S1ngle and like it – forks are HHAARRSSHH!!

Went into the local Halfrauds to try the Carreras for size and they're quite short on the top-tub.

I've just bought a Edinburgh Bike Co-op S1ngle.
£270.
Does the job.

When their feet comfortably reach the ground.

Thump is 3 and a bit. He can ride a balance bike with nae worries and a massive grin. Also has a Isla Cnoc 14 with stabilisers so he can race the big kids in the street. I need him to grow a bit more before we try removing the stabilisers though.

A friend's upstairs neighbour was bleeding a radiator and unscrewed the bleed bit so hot water was jetting everywhere.
Used the spoke key on my multitool to turn the radiator off, and then went for a ride!

Snap off the nail file bit and you'll get them through fine.

Fast riders should have the arrows in the direction of travel – because they pedal harder.

Slower riders should reverse this – they use the brakes more.

Brilliant bits of kit!

Carra and Camper Longflap on the approach to Glen Artney. I'm just using the bag loops on my Brooks B17 saddle here, but have a SQR on my commuting bike.

On the way into the Gaick while on a four-day tour. Saddlebag secured here with toe-straps round the saddlerails, supported underneath by a seatpost rack and secured with a bungee cord.

I'd say the Tour of the Cairngorms (which is done by most people over 3 days).

But for a day ride you can't go wrong with any of the suggestions above (although not done Carn Ban Mor)

Get yourself to a sports massage therapist.
They’ll punch you repeatedly in the stomach – stretching your inner stomach muscles in the process. These tighten from bike riding and cause the hamstrings to tighten and then the tendons are strained. Or something.

Take a pillow to bite – it hurts!

My commuting bike earlier this week.

That would explain the creak then!

Build your own from bamboo!
http://www.carryfreedom.com/bamboo.html

I have a Carry Freedom City trailer. Business for bopping round town but would be absolutely no use off-road. I used to own a Wildebeest Koolstop (a generic take on a Yak) but sold it as with anything more than a minimal load it wagged the bike.

Mine’s OK, but I’ve ridden far comfier saddles.
If I was buying a saddle today I’d pick up a SDG saddle from Merlin for £20. They are very comfy!

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/bicycle-saddles-fizik-wtb-selle-italia-sdg-brooks-bike-saddles/sdg-bike-saddles/

I was back on the bike commuting in two weeks (more comfortable than the bus), albeit with the sling round my neck, and riding Beinn A’ghlo at 8 weeks.

Make sure you get physio afterwards to build up local muscle control, which will be non-existent, and only then start to build up strength.

Velovision did an issue dedicated to special needs cycling. Might have some useful info for you

http://www.velovision.co.uk/cgi-bin/show_comments.pl?storynum=559

Cheers everyone.

The surgeon chap just said I was brave to ride a mtb and left it that. The surgeon’s assistant agreed that two weeks before the gentle bimble to work on the bike was reasonable as long as I stopped if it hurt – it’s only two miles on a very quiet road. I thought the Brompton would work as it has a low step-over. I don’t have a car (wifey uses hers for work) and so it’s a bike or Hobson’s choice.

IHN – my hernia was diagnosed in seconds. I just dropped my kecks in front of my GP. That was January. Then I went to the hospital and it was prodded by someone who confirmed the diagnosis and said I needed surgery. Then I went to another hospital for pre-op checks. That was April. I asked not to be operated on until the end of June as I had a cycle tour in mid-May. The surgeon checked them on the morning of the op, and just said they need to be fixed. I’d had them for years but weren’t causing any problems until very recently when they ached if I coughed.

Have you caught it yet?

I recently had mouse “issues” in the loft and garage.
They were immune to the mouse bait I laid down – it takes 10d to work but some survived. Genetic freaks.

Tried some humane traps baited with peanut butter. Caught two but they were then getting triggered with no capture.

Ended up buying the pre-baited traps from B&Q. The plastic ones that look light very large pegs. That finished the blighters off.

Also have some battery-operated traps in the garage – they electocute them – and have also invested in a ultrasonic deterent. The last resort is glue paper.

Good luck!

There’s also some second-hand copies kicking about on Abebooks.co.uk

My local mail-order shop.

I’ve used them for years: us old timers still pay on receipt of the goods!

Also have a friend who’s recently bought a Dawes Galaxy from them and is as pleased as punch.

Parts will be fine on a road bike.

The climb from Killin – use the road.
Glen Ogle to Lochearnhead – use the Sustrans route. Make sure you stop at the burger van for a venison burger.
Lochearnhead – up to you. It’s a fine whinseal surface. I’ve done it many times on 28c tyres with overnight luggage etc.
Balquhidder – Sustrans route follows minor roads. Stop at the Old Library tearoom in Balquhidder if it is open.
Strathyre down – rougher than fine whinseal but again fine on 28c tyres
Laid Inn – stop to sample some fine beers.

And if you’re going to use a MTB go via Glen Lednock and Glen Ample at the very least ;-)
Enjoy!

Autostitch

A thread last week is also worth reading:
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/photo-stich-software

CB

Today’s Guardian has a nice article explaining why:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/may/07/cycling-safety-york-calderdale

“Struck by the Dutch success, a group of British MPs has just returned from a fact-finding trip to the country. There, along with reams of information about bike lanes and secure parking, they were let in to a less well-known secret for spurring a national cycling culture: throw out the Lycra and the helmets.”

Brompton.
Folds up nice and small, is really useful, and is a chick magnet.

Everyone should have a Brompton :-)

Another balance bike fan!

Thump (three) has a Adams/Norco and loves it.
The bike is light with solid tyres (many thorns pulled out of the tyres already) and no brakes. Thump hammers up and down the street with a massive grin on his face, although we’ve scuffed through one pair of wellies already.

In in doubt, put the saddle down.

You should be able to convert it with: http://handbrake.fr/

Forn viewing use: VLC

Another vote for Carradice Camper Longflap with SQR system – on and off the bike in seconds.

And in a Friday night you fill fill it with overnight stuff and head off touring for the weekend….

And Spa Cycles are the place to buy from.

They’re called Terry here too.

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/id12600.html

A fried had this:

The Owl and The Pussycat.
By Edward Lear

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
‘O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!’

Pussy said to the Owl, ‘You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?’
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

‘Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

I couldn’t believe she didn’t stop at the burger van at the top of Glen Ogle.

The venison burgers are yummy!

Park Tools Pro Tyre Lever.
Is a 2ft long metal bar with a plastic hook on the end. It’s a beefed up version of the more affordable and excellent Crank Bros Speedlever.

Not really roadkill as such, but while cycling in the US I spotted a snake lying on the road.

It looked dead and I was so tempted to prod it with my bicycle pump to check, but decided to leave that bit of excitement for later.

When I got back the snake had gone and so had just been basking.
Turns out it was a water moccasin , an aggressive venomous snake.
Yikes!

I could do with one or two bits so we could always club together and share postage. Still a big hit though.

Smithy must need a new barmount too!

I have a PhD in biochemistry.
Then did a 2-yr postdoc in the states, spent a year out of work, and then got a job as a scientific PA for a chief-exec for a pharma company. I’ve done fun stuff – working on cures for fatal diseases, regularly chewing the fat with the guy that invented prozac, travelling to conferences in far-off places, but have also been bored out of my skull more often than I care to admit. Today I am writing SOPs, yawn.

Do it because you love the subject. Who knows where you may end up. I earn an OK salary but could earn more doing something else; could also earn less.

A PhD opens doors but you may not necessarily want to go through them?.

(And the more exciting the title, the less exiting the work!)

The popularity of names for Scotland are given here:
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/popular-names/index.html

Gives you rank and also the number of children registered every year. The most common names are very common and then it drops off considerably. Some of the unusual names are very unusual!
A bit of jiggery-pokery in Excel allows you to calculate the frequency of each name.

With Thud we thought we had a fairly unique name (Hayden), although every other Scottish kid is called hud, and then we met another Thud in the park. For Wifey and Me there is only the one.

I had a Dura Ace bar-end lever fail once. The disc that controlled the indexing fractured.

I’d only done 50,000 miles or so on it….

If you’re in Carron Valley you should definitely wander up Meikle Bin.

clicky

Photos and map

Tout terrain.

This is from Velovision: clicky

Square taper (UN54)

We have a Mothercare double buggy.

Urban Detour Odyssey Twin 3-Wheeler Pushchair – Sunshine

It is enormous (fills the back of an Almera with wheels off) but rolls really easily even when loaded with a 3yr-old, a 9-month old, buckets and spades, like-a-bike and bits of shopping.

Depends what you use it for – Wifey covers several miles a day and Thump can get a lift when tired from cycling or have a sleep etc.

Thump (not quite 3yrs old) has a Norco bike and loves it.

No brakes but the bike is lighter as a result (unlike the Ridgeback, but his wee hands would be too small for brakes anyway). Thump just controls his speed by dragging his feet.

I helped the CTC with some literature searches on this subject.

I used to wear a helmet all the time but after reading all the research papers I now no longer wear one when when commuting.

I do wear one when riding a mountain bike.

Risk compensation, increased risk of rotational brain injury, attitude of motorists, convenience, relative risk of various activities were all reasons that contributed to this decision.