Spooky, do you mean on the Vdub or the shed on wheels ?

Oh hang on, that could be either of them. lol.

Actually i hope the vw finds a talented owner. Like Dipsy in Campervan Crisis.

Is it not just typical that some people feel the need to lower the tone.

Trawling ? oh yes.

Anyway, i thought it was an excellent episode. Had me sniffing too,being a widower i thought it was just me but i can see many others found it moving.

The bit about their son sleeping soundly his first night in the house was particularly memorable.

Oh and never seen Kevin being talked over before. Guess he was being gentlemanly about the situation.

And finally, with you Sharkbait, on Ben Law’s house being one of the best ever.

The common belief in the rally fraternity is that a plumbed in AFFF system will just about give you time to get out the car and “Run Away !!”

Crap seems to be the opinion. I 2000 seems more effective but is lots more expensive.

I had a go at extinguishing a Peugeot 206 engine bay fire with a 1kg BCF extinguisher. The Fire was not very advanced so i very carefully lifed the bonnet. A passing lady screamed ” get away from it, it’s going to blow up !!” which i found most helpful. Anyway, fully discharged the extinguisher towards base of the fire and then sat back to wait for the fire brigade !.

Seems like a minimum of 2kg is really needed.

Oh and yes i know BCF is no longer legal for environmental reasons but really, can a whole cars worth of plastics cause less polLution/Ozone loss than a few kg of BCF ?

Count me in ! 5 of us going from Neilston which makes it a 61 mile trip.

Mind you, next door neighbour is leaving from here and coming back via forth and clyde canal path.

That will be errr, about 120 plus i guess. He does get out on the road bike a lot more than i do these days.

Everyone watch out for weaving numpties. Had to have a quiet word with one guy last year who nearly had a mate off twice ! We used to call them Gringos in my old road club !

Oh and a nice tail wind forecast. Enjoy.

Boobies, nonsense ?

How much ?

Do they come in pairs ?

The phrase "Tesco Special" springs to mind !

Saturday got a bargain 2 week old PG990 cassette and a neoguard. Changed some pads and bled the brakes.

Sunday, general faffing about and a local loop to check chain/cassette compatability.

And then came Monday. Three of us pushed, rode and pushed lots more to the top of Ben Lomond in utterly perfect weather. And then of course came the descent ! So technical, rough and brilliant. Only fell over once too which was a bonus.

I was working very hard. And my two mates were too.

Pushing the bike up Ben Lomond and then riding it back down in the lovely sunshine was such a drag.

And hi to the two lads from south of the border that did it too.

It's brilliant being off when most folk are stuck in the office.

Got a 206 SW.

Plenty room in back of course…..but…..

Just fitted a replacement back axle at 70k as the swing arm bearings are impossible to change. Oh and the lights sometimes come on when i start it, even with the switch off. And the electrics do strange things frequently. Make that very frequently.

I won't be having another Pug.

There was me expecting something with 4 merlins.

Ah well.

Was up the Ben today on foot for a sort of recon.

Taking the bike up on 30th. Probably at the bottom for 9:30am.

Now just to point out i am no racing snake ! But i will get to the top eventually.

Lots of hairy bits on the way down, the walking path obviously not designed to flow while on a bike. Some of the water bars look a right pain.

Trying to get pals to come but most are working. Hopefully this bodes well for it not being like Sauchiehall Street (as it was today !).

As said above its a reliable and also tunable engine. Lots of the Irish Tarmac rally boys still use them.

Realisically, if its fairly standard with Toyota drivetrain then it has plenty poke for a Dutton.

Wiring does spring to mind. Always a prime area for problems.

Go on….us it for a year then trade up to a Westie.

As a fully qualified house rebuilding expert ( in other words, have watched every episode of Grand Desgins) one thing springs immediatly to mind.

SUBSIDENCE !!

Why, being the very important or indeed expensive question.

Mine workings/poor subsoil/insufficient foundations/water penetration/drainage or high water table ?

Hope for insufficient foundations and budget for a full soil survey.

iDave, thanks for finally helping me figure out what the little heaps of something were on my local trails.

I have spent literally seconds over the last few weeks trying to think why anyone would sprinkle stuff at every junction.

I can finally sleep !!

Not convinced about the summer commuting by Spitfire. Very expensive machine to fly.

Learjets get 3000 to the gallon i hear.

Just shot myself down there.

I was up at Strathallan for the auction of all the Historic Aircraft back in 81. The auctioneer arrived by Spitfire.

Classy !!

Lightning, Lightning or Lightning ?

Typhoon or Typhoon ?

Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt ?

Any other plane names resurrected from the past?

Fantastic post Druidh.

You packed more into two days than most manage in a week.

Interesting that so many bikers were in the Guest House. Makes you wonder how many more would visit the area given a waymarked old A9 route.

I did the Drumochter climb years ago before the cycle path was built, not a pleasant experience !

As a slight aside, the Road from Kingussie to Spean bridge via Loch Laggan is an absolute gem. It could be worked in with a trip back up to Inverness via the south side of Loch Ness.

Oh i feel a plan formulating. lol.

Left my house in the hills to the south of Glasgow on Tuesday in torrential rain.

Arrived in Troon (on the coast about 20 miles away) to see people frolicing in the sea and slapping on the lotion.

I see this sort of thing all the time when i road bike towards the coast. Travel 10 miles and come out from under the cloud.

Dumfrieshire is much sunnier than Glasgow and has 5 of the 7 stanes. Keep wondering why i dont move there !

Or "Robin Williams on Golf"

As he says, those trousers would make a gay blind man say " oh dear christ their loud".

The standard set up on the teocali is very poor as far as the linkage is concerned.

I have now killed 3 sets of bearings due to the total lack of a seal to keep the moisture out. Once i get a new set of bolts i will be having the bush conversion done as it is bound to last much longer.

I do have the e mail address for a guy from the forum who will replace the bearings with a bush. He charges £35. This is about the same as a link kit from Hotwheels ( UK distributor).

If anyone need to order a kit or any or the parts here are the Stock and Alternative codes –

Stock/Alt Code/Description

WS00/WS00/Link Body(x1)
MTBMG11/1210/Bearing(x4)
MTBMG14/B341/Hollow Axle (x2)
MTBMG15/B366/Plastic washer (x4)
MTBMG16/B367/Alloy end caps (x4)
MTBMG23/????/Bolt assembly (x2)

The bearings are type HK1210.

Rockthreegozy, you can buy a Helicoil kit on tinterweb for about £20.

Pal just got one for a stripped brake mount.

We are to the south of glasgow and no doubt could help out apart from the fact he is flying to Jamaica for two weeks in the morning.

Maybe try Wheelcraft in Campsie Glen(01360312709) as big Alisdair has all kinds of stuff in his shop.

If you have decent jumps or compressions you should be bottoming out a good few times.

No point in having travel and not setting the forks up correctly to make use of it.

Somewhere like Ae i will use full travel 5 or more times not including the big drop offs at the end of Omega Man (130mm Revelations).

The loading on your arms will soon tell you if you are using all the travel.

Wire brush and dettol !

Or toothbrush and IPA ?

Hang on…..toothbrush and toothpaste….that could work.

Jamie, a wee glass of Scotch is lovely.

Meanwhile us Scots enjoyed the programme.

Lol.

Cold lasagne in a sandwich….BARFFFF !

Lovely hot Lasagne after stuffed mushrooms in La Fiorentina in Glasgow..YUMMMM !

Though to be honest i cant stand any cold pasta.

But Tesco shall prevail and have us all complying. ( soon to feature in the Dr Who xmas special no doubt).

Fair bit of info in this article…

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/cavity.html

Some very valid points there Stumpyjon.

Personally i stay in a mid terrace 480ft ASL. The properties either side of me had blown bead insulation installed in the Autumn, just in time for the coldest winter in 50 odd years.

Obviously they cant give an accurate comparison to previous years due to the radically colder winter we had but i am hanging off from having it installed till i see if they have any condensation problems.

Certainly i did upgrade my loft insulation (rockwool type) from the 3 inches (pathetic) installed by the builders (in 1976) to a minimum of a foot deep with a thin fleece membrane above (cuts airflow). This made a huge difference to the temprature upstairs. Oh and don't forget to insulate the access hatch too.

Another major benefit is obtained by getting some proper draughtproofing installed. I have quality double glazing, doors included, but it is surprising how many other places leak air. Pipe runs into rooms being a prime culprit in kitchens and bathrooms.

It is important though to remember you do need ventilation to prevent condensation issues.

Jahwomble, you forgot a hundred rounds of silver tipped solid slugs for werewolves ! I live in fear since Dog soldiers !

Fishing tackle a complete waste of time.

Pack a freeze dried Ray Mears instead.

Local trail south of glasgow, commonly see –

Roe Deer
Pair of Buzzards
Kestrel
Fox
Rabbits
Hare
Heron
and a pair of Lamas !( not going to get close enough to find out how wild they are !)

One overnight on the Knapdale coast –
Dolphin
Porpoise
Common Seal ( got to within 20 ft)
Pair of otters ( my fave bit)(10 ft away, brilliant moment)
Too may birds to remember.

I got some Thorntons choc bars for my birthday recently.

Chilli one was a bit nippy, i'm a woose !

Orange with Cardamom…mmmmmmm.

If i were you Fattatlasses I would find bikes with the tyres on them and get at calipers out.

A different size than you want, but my Nevegal 2.35 on the front of my bike is exactly (within a couple of mil) the same width as the Maxxis High Roller on the back and it's marked 2.5 !

I would say its stuffed.

The fact that the new ones are reinforced in that area points to a good case for a new replacement.

My 06 Teocali had a similar failure and the 07 frame had a far bigger tube in the same area. 07 frame still going strong.

Just home from GT now. I would say the grading of the red is correct.

There is no way its blue grade. My 11 year old will ride the blue no problem but would freak out and probably crash if she tried the red.

It is a bit variable though, but as pointed out, it does require maintenance which can result in sanitising some sections for a bit.

Was glad to see quite a few foreign johnnies and julies for that matter there today. Think its folk over for the world cup in Ft Bill doing a bit of exploring.

In no particular order …..

Portugese, drive too fast, poor lane discipline and cant cope with junctions.

Italians, the regulations are pretty much the same a here, by that would stop them being stylish so they just ignore them.

Asian women. Possibly a cultural thing. The men make all the decisions so when they are put in charge of a car watch out.

Anyone with a hat on !! ( Exception for professional drivers, sometimes). It's weird but true.

Any woman in a big 4×4. Especially on singletrack roads or snow. The idea of even putting a tyre on the verge is beyond them.

Americans. Generally ok but just can't process the idea of corners in their underdeveloped minds. Not that their cars can cope with corners anyway.

I stand by for the abuse.

So, that will have been, i guess at the Staircase ?

The new improved Staircase ?

The new improved safer Staircase ?

The new improved safer two chicken run Staircase ?

The spoiled Staircase ?

I could be wrong however !

Never mind what the driver deserves, the sheriff needs a serious poke up the bum with a sharpened spoke !

Scandalous decision making.

Is it any wonder that so many drivers treat cyclists as roadkill.

The VisitScotland website is good for getting an idea of places to visit.

My personal recommendation it Tayvalliach in Knapdale. Good wee campsite and one pub ! One shop and one church too. Simply superb scenery and there is a bike route too.

I see he is to meet the Queen in Holyrood Palace and also appear at Bellahouston park.

One small question…..When did Edinburgh and Glasgow move to England ?

Stands by to duck ! (Me, not the Pope)( Though you never can tell !)

Happens all the time i'm afraid.

You can splash out on a new cassette and that will usually cure it !

Changed my chain a month ago despite it still being within limits according to my Park chain gauge. The cassette was changed when i got that chain.

Lots of skipping with the new chain though it is settling down now.

Seems just to be a degree of incompatability, though i can't figure out why that should be the case if the rings are not badly worn.

Many moons ago, had toothache. So blagged two of the old dears Co-Codamols.

No clue what strength they were.

So off to the pub and had two whisky's.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee !!

Did realise something was not right and stopped drinking. The thought of what i would have been like after 6 or so drinks is a bit scary.

So best not try it really.