Of course you have to account for the fact that the average temp includes 4am when the temparature is much lower than early afternoon.

I for one tend to drive morning and evening during the week and that certainly means temp of 7c or less from now onwards more often than not which makes “winters” the best option.

If however, another day like three years ago in December comes along in the west of scotland, then you are still stuck in a four or more hour jam with everyone else. Unless you use the back roads with your grippy winter tyres !

Fitted 4 X Dunlop 4D’s to the car two weekends ago in anticipation of it getting a bit chilly/white etc.

So far have had one night when i thought “i’m glad they are on”. Black ice at a non gritted junction. Things went a bit light but i got round the corner having arrived quicker than was sensible.

I stay outside Glasgow about 400ft ASL and it’s frequently snowy here when Glasgow is clear. Now my car is a quattro so i would no doubt get up most hills on summer tyres but stopping going down them ?

You would not run Maxxis Aspens in mud would you ? Makes total sense to me to run winter tyres if you can afford them (£125 each for 225/50/17’s from Camskill).

The Docs must love you Thisisnotaspoon.

None of that boring simple fracture rubbish.

Something to get their teeth into !

Specalized All Condition Armadillos for me. I don’t get punctures. At all. Grip is excellent in the wet once you wear of the casting flash off (100 miles ?).
Not as light as some but totally reliable on all winter surfaces. No problems with cornering grip or braking. I’m on my 5th set.

To the West of Stirling there are some brilliant place names.

Pendicles of Collymoon.

Over Easter Offerance.

Backside of Garden.

Barbadoes.

Wards of Goodie.

Baad Spring.

and Faraway.

All in a four mile radius of the Flats of Kippen.

Plenty of trails around Carbeth for starters. Right next to Mugdock and the WHW.

Two birds and all that.

Nasty stuff and a pain to get shot of. A job for the council if a risk to kids etc.

Metcheck tend to be accurate as to the type/time of weather but in the Glasgow area they always forecast 2-3 degrees below the actual temp.

They are best for spectacular data errors though. Winter days when i head out on the bike with every item of clothing i own on, as the forecast is for -237 degrees c !

That has happened a few times (The day before tomorrow obviously influenced them).

One very windy morning as i was just surfacing, a crow flew past my window sidey-ways and i was positive he said FAARK !

Mind you, i once passed a sheep who said MOO ! I was a bit bonked at the time.

The rear door skin has peeled right off. Plastic perhaps ?

Years ago at an off road trial near Callander were two Land Rovers. They passed me on the road a short time later as i rode towards the Dukes Pass.

Reg numbers…. LAN 1 E and MUD 1 E.

The Man’s an arse ! And that’s nothing to do with the politics.

Would anyone care to speculate as to what the sentence would have been if he had knocked Lady Risk off a bike and she had died ?

You shorten the footprint because the wider tyre deforms less for a given load/pressure.

The rolling resistance at the same pressure/load is less on the 25c than the 23c as the main cause of rolling resistance (on the same tyre type and compound) is tyre deformation.

There have been several magazine articles about this recently.

For all us mere mortals, 25c is the way to go (if your frame takes it).

Majorca ?

Water front Cafe with bike memorabilia and Classics DVD’s on a loop.

A Pinarello Dogma in the bike rack outside would help too !.

I get about 2000 miles out of my Specalized All Condition Armadillos.

They grip very well and i have NEVER had a puncture in 4 pairs of them. And that’s with 15st of me on them.

I ride on some fairly crappy Scottish roads with no fear of being let down (pardon the pun).

I did kill a front one clattering a pothole, it developed a “snake” in the carcass straight afterwards but that’s not really a critisism of the tyre.

You can get bubbles under the tread when they are getting worn. This is due to water de-laminating the tread away from the anti-puncture belt. You only notice this on visual inspection, you can’t feel it when riding (maybe on Majorca you could but not around Glasgow !)

My new road bike will be having them fitted from the word go. An excellent tough tyre.

Or spacers put in on the wrong side during a hub rebuild ?

There is no way that has been hacksawed.

The top of the tube would have witness marks where the blade would have slipped trying to start the cut.

Also, even though the tube is thin, it is made of titanium. That’s a slightly tough metal you know !

Not a good bit at all to OTB.

Apparently i had eyes like saucers the first time i did it.

Healing vibes.

Did a cracking 70 miler on the road bike down to Portencross on the Clyde coast. Sunny, mild and windy. Thankfully a tail wind back.

Tomorrow, wait for the rain to bog off and then hit my local trails.

Home made Pizza with chicken/bacon/sweetcorn and chorizo.

Putting the calories back in after a windy 70 miles on the road bike earlier.

Train to Crianlarich then ride to Ft bill in two easy days.

You must do the Ciaran (sp ?) circuit once your over the Devil’s Staircase.

Did Pedal for Scotland a few years back with two pals.

50 Miles, Glasgow-Edinburgh. Me on my sensible road bike, them on bmx’s.

They were gubbed at the end but got a huge cheer at the finish.

Got a Pug 206 and it does weird self fixing electrical faults from time to time.

One very wet day it went on to two cylinders and the STOP sign illuminated. Was only a mile from my local garage so limped there.

Guy in the garage suggests cycling the ignition on and off three times, with key removed each time. Key in the forth time and it starts and runs perfectly.

Some weird french electronics reset thing apparently.

I’m not having another french car.

Just was reading the other day of a possible shortage of carbon.

It’s used in wind turbine blades and many other industrial uses, never mind F1 and Aerospace.

There is no way there is enough available, not to mention the cost, to replace alloy on bikes.

Aluminium is very plentiful and it’s does not get borked if you clamp it too tight in your bike rack !

ELVIS LIVES !!

+1 for Grosse Pointe Blank.

+ 1 for Local hero, “Going Home” on its own is enough.

Ferris Bueller’s day off.

My current car, which i have had a fair few years, is an idiot magnet.

Two new front wings and been rear ended (lightly) 4 times (towbars are great for spoiling their day/grill/number plate).

And on every single occasion, i have been stationary or parked !

I think the only reason i have had no moving accidents is because i drive like i’m on the bike. Assume that all other road users are numpties and you won’t go far wrong.

Being a clydesdale i think this is a brilliant idea.

Let’s see, off to Morzine with a 100kg limit.

Oh damn, i will be forced to buy a Uber Bling, top end, ultra light, carbon/titanuim/unobtanium 160mm travel all mountain machine.

Silver linings !

That Saracen would be ideal for me.

Because i would sit in the railway access sliproad at junction 1 of the M77.

And anyone, anyone at all, that used the hard shoulder to skip the rush hour queue, had better get out of their car very very quickly !

The ones that use it all the way from J2 (about a mile and a half) had best be advised to have the window already wound down !

Got a Record No 23 that was my dad’s and is at least 40 years old. Works perfectly of course.

Did have a falling out with a Pals wife when i happened to say that he had positioned his incorrectly. “He is an engineer, he knows better than you” she says. I had pointed out that it was bolted too far back on the bench. But apparently i was wrong.

I wondered what happened the first time he tried to clamp say a foot long pipe vertically in it !

Oh look, it hits the bench. Engineer my arse.

Eyebrows !!

I wondered where my indelible marker had gone.

Trying too hard petal.

Cathkin will be snow free because i am not going there on Sunday.

3 Trips there in the last month, snow and/or blizzard conditions every time.

Perhaps in July i will get to ride on the actual gravel.

The tunnel is in and ongoing trailbuilding towards the wind turbine.

Very pleased to hear that.

Myself and my wife had policies sitting waiting to be signed but had just not got round to it.

£12 pcm with £100,000.00 payout.

Unfortunately, she found a lump before we signed them. Would have been a great help to me and our daughter.

So, i would strongly advise all on STW to get a policy just in case. It does not take away the anguish but not having to worry about money would have helped at a horrible time.

Middle names of South and East i presume ? Celebrity, not cerebral !

Not the longest but by far the worst.

42 miles, Abbey St Bathans to Melrose.

Woke up in the morning in the most grim hostel i have ever seen (Abbey St Bathans). And thought “it’s a tad windy oot”.

Headed out with a tail wind for the first couple of miles.

Then we turned into it.

Had to pedal down just about every hill.

Got peed on by a cow at one point ( it was about 30 yards away in a field, wind just carried it horizontally. The Pee, not the cow !)

Threw up on reaching Melrose.

Average speed 7 mph.

My wife called it the TARDIS.

Because she knew that when i was “popping out there for five mins”, she would see me the next morning !

A bash ring may have helped !

Cyclocross specific ?

Been round it several times on the road bike. Great ride with lovely scenery and quiet roads.

You can also do the 5 ferries ride based there.

MBR had a route a few months back from the Loch Ranza Distillery, over the hills to the north of it and back round to Sannox. Looked a cracking route.

Remember when you get out to the eaves, leave a gap for airflow between the insulation and the roof.

Blocking up the ventilation holes (assuming you have them) is a recipe for damp.

Oh and use rigid foam/kingspan etc on the top of the hatch with foam seals on its underside to prevent draughts.