Thanks UrbanHiker (assuming I’m the S_W you’re referring to … otherwise I’m going to feel like a bit of a twonk!)

c_g: I’m heading off on an ‘relics and wildlife’ ride tomorrow up about Conwy mountain. When you’re better, we’ll have to arrange some kind of north – south ride exchange to take in the old and scenic stuff 🙂

Ahem … I was wearing sandals and sunnies all afternoon today. On the beach 😀

One of the things I love about STW is how sometimes a thread can morph into something interesting!

From personal experience, I’ve come to the conclusion that gender identity and sexuality can often be pretty fluid. Many people don’t even think about it – the majority associate with the gender they were born with, and the dominant heterosexual identity. So it can sometimes come as a surprise that not everyone else is the same, and that there are many, many people out there who have different gender identities and sexualities from the ‘norm’ (Rachel, emsz, Adam, myself to name just a few). Personally, I don’t seem to have a ‘gender distinction’ button – for me when it comes to who I am attracted to, whether someone is male or female has no greater of lesser significant than if they have brown or blonde hair. But on the subject of terminology, I hate the term ‘bi-sexual’ – urgh! (Might have to adopt Binners ‘half rice / half chips’ description instead 🙂 ). Which I guess just reinforces the point about respecting whatever term or description the person concerned prefers to use.

Going back to the OP, I think it’s a shame that your wife decided that this counted as ‘attention-seeking behaviour’ and therefore removed the justifiable right of the person she was speaking to, to speak out and be confident and proud of their identity.

Rachel – what are your thoughts about the ‘trans’ programme? I’ve found it pretty interesting, and so far it doesn’t seem to have descended into the pits of ‘reality tv’?

Ride (both road and mtb) either on my own or with one or two other people. Sometimes prefer that, but in some ways I find that a shame, as I really enjoy riding with others, but don’t ‘cos I don’t feel fast enough / knarly enough to join either the roadie or the mtb club round here. I’m more of a scenic / mountain xc rider or longer distance road rider, and that doesn’t fit easily with either road racing or hucking off the nearest big boulder 😉

Ha!

Actually, makes note to self to remember to link to this thread when CaptainFlashheart comes back and goes on about how lovely and warm Australia was …

Because it fulfils my love if being active, being outdoors, in the mountains or beside the sea, soaking up the scenery, going fast or pootling alone, hanging out with friends or being alone, watching the sun set, the buzzards fly, and hearing the call of a fox in the night …

Get the same from climbing, hiking, bouldering and road riding … just need more time to fit it all in!

Edit – plus it means I get to eat lots of lovely food without ever putting on weight 🙂

Kev – WTF?!?

Bunnyhop – I think the boys have been hitting the bottle! Think it’s time for me to head for a glass of wine, then I might understand what’s being said …

emsz – no sympathetic e-mails from creepy boys either. Oh, and I didn’t think that any of the guys who criticised what they considered to be sexism on the forum were being “creepy”.

singletrackmind – thanks! I’m still at times adjusting to a different life, and Christmas is one of those odd times where everyone seems to be with their family / OH etc. Will definately check out the ski chatrooms you mentioned – be good to turn it into a really positive experience. (And don’t have the slightest problem spending my holiday with a group of people I’ve never met before – did it in the summer for 2 weeks mountaineering in the alps and had loads of fun!)

Short road ride tomorrow up the Conwy valley.

Mountainbiking on the Carneddi on Sunday introducing a friend who’s new to biking to the wonderful world of getting wet and muddy. Will just be a day of playing around and taking in the views, but it’s really nice to be able to share what I love doing with someone else.

Welcome sparcsmcgruff! Good cake choice 🙂

Blimey – are you guys still at it? There’s bikes to be be ridden you know …

As an analogy, no-one’s suggesting that you can’t go to the pub and have a laugh with your mates; it’s more that once you’ve got there we’d rather you didn’t dip your knob in someone’s pint, grab the breasts of the lone blonde in the night club going “bloody hell lads, you don’t get many of them to the pound,” and then get arrested on your way home for glassing someone after they looked at you a bit funny.

Cougar +1 – sums it it perfectly, plus made me giggle at the same time 🙂

philc and TSY 😆

Ton – you’ve now got me thinking of carrot cake … yum, yum, yum

Kev – 3 more laps!!! Blimus! I’m going to call in the ‘too knackered cos I was climbing last night’ excuse …

Thanks ianpinder – it looks fab!

jimbobrighton – last year was my first Christmas as a ‘singleton’ after 16 years. Quite a difficult time, spent it with family which wasn’t great – lots of stress, rows etc (not implying that would be the case for you – your family are probably lovely!). Can’t face that again this year, would rather spend Christmas on my own (as my friends are all ‘family-orientated’), going for a ride or hiking in the mountains. But some of this thread has been quite inspiring, and shows that there are lots of fun things out there to do. So I’m now tempted to make it more of a positive experience by heading off somewhere 🙂

Contemplates replying … looks out the window … rain has stopped, sun’s coming out … getting changed and going for a ride instead.

Maybe that’s why not so many women post on the forum – girls ride while guys rant 🙂

I stick mine in a rear pannier – is that an option? Stable enough, especially once you’re rolling. Take care on turns though, and if you’re carrying it every day, swap sides with the pannier to avoid straining your back muscles in compensation for unequal weight distribution.

The ever so corny, classic one for the girls: Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I will survive’

(REM’s ‘everybody hurts’ is probably top of the list though …)

ianpinder – which company did you go with? (I headed off to the alps for a couple of weeks mountaineering in the summer with a group of people I’d never met before. Fantastic time!)

torminalis – that’s the best ‘fantasy’ day description so far (although maybe it’s your reality 😯 )

Whitefish, Montana looks amazing (wonders whether I can find a spurious work excuse to go there – got to be better than Edmonton huh?)

mmm … contemplates whether ianpinder’s ideal Christmas day might be preferable … maybe if I learnt to ski and the South African twins could be exchanged for a handsome chap?

Actually, some kind of trip would be ace, better than the usual ‘family Christmas’ of stress and rows.

munge-chick: many thanks for that. Just the information I needed! Will check out the Rudy Projects

Does anyone know if Rudy Project’s smaller than Oakley’s (women’s versions)?

flowerpower – unfortunately I can’t wear contacts, otherwise that would have been perfect.

Crikey – what have you guys been talking about for all those pages 😯

A mere 9 pages for me, can’t even make double figures …

Woah – you must be developing a plane seat shaped derrierre!

Ah, I can but dream of flying … try working for an agency that has a ban on flying in Europe (carbon footprint thing – TJ would be proud!).
All travel in Europe has to be by train (or ferry etc) – 32 hours to get to get to Vienna was a particularly bum-numbing experience!

But whether its flying or train, work travel is never much fun is it … sit on transport for hours, spend nights in yet another anonymous corporate hotel, go to meetings all day, return.

But there’s occassional highpoints – tracking wild wolves in forests of Northern Tuscany was fun 🙂

*Sorry, that was a total thread hijack. I know nothing about the best route from Sydney to Canberra …*

Australia 😯 No wonder you wanted to load up on some entertainment for the journey.

And I though I had a travel a lot for work …

Great pictures! It’s a beautiful time of year, and there’s something really special about being outside watching the sun rise.

Stunning morning here – am tempted to abandon work for an hour or two and head out for a ride.

Just finished working … Anyone fancy joining me in a nicely chilled glass of pinot grigo and some Tyrrells hand cooked crisps?

Chipps – you’ve even been known to come over and ride in Wales 😉

(BTW – I still have some of Clover’s biscuits. I might donate them to Pippa if that’s OK?)

Sorry, slight thread hi-jack …

ladies – not wanting to sound too personal, but how small are your heads? Mine’s quite tiny, so even with ‘women’s’ perscription glasses from the opticians, I have to chose the smallest ones.

I’m looking for some very small biking glasses with a prescription transition lens. Not going to be cheap, so want to get it right. Any pointers?

Binners – blimey 😯

(Although Yunki – 😆 Sorry, shouldn’t laugh, not funny …)

I guess what you’re saying is that there seems to be a lot of guys sticking girls on basic bikes on unsuitable terrain, which either puts them at risk of injury or is likely to leave them struggling to keep up.

Both of which probably puts them off biking altogether!

So why do some guys do it? (Obviously not you lot who are all either lovely or AWESOME!) And why do they ride off leaving someone who’s not as good as them struggling to keep up? Is it cos they don’t care? Only think of themselves? Or don’t think at all?

I think there needs to be more of a focus on appreciating girls on bling bikes and admiring from behind (Not that I’m feeling unappreciated or anything …)

Edit – c_g: yey!

Uh, don’t most families have joint bank accounts?

In which case the quality of a family member’s ride is a joint decision, no?

I guess I wasn’t trying to comment on how different couples should decide on expenditure (another often heated debate!), but to say that when I have wanted a bike (or camera, car etc etc) that I have thought about what I want myself. Part of that is listening to the opinions of others who know more, but in the end making the choice myself. In some ways that’s easy as we had a joint account for all shared costs, and then our ‘own’ money for spending on anything we liked. But I would no more tell him what bike to get than he would tell me.

Barsleymitch – ah yes, following a nice bottom! I think I might remain riding slower than most chaps … 🙂

Thanks for the route advice and tips (although am now unsure about whether to avoid or embrace Lowestoft!). Don’t know that part of the world at all, and would want to avoid the busy roads – would rather take a longer, wigglier route if its quiet and scenic.

Got a winter to plan, thinking of doing it when we have longer daylight hours. Anyone is welcome to join me for all or parts of it.

Class A cheeses FTW 🙂

Kev – I need another post-ride cheese, cracker, wine session!

fenred – only if you stay off the fags 😉

Actually, I love choosing bikes, and can happily spend hours in the local bike shop (… worries about lack of appropriate womanly behaviour …)

erm … I choose and paid for my bikes myself – consequently have a rather nice Titus Motolite, a ‘cross bike, and a mid-range road bike. Can’t imagine why anyone would want to have someone else decide what bike they need! Happy to listen to advice, but in the end it’s my bike and I’m paying for it, so it’s up to me what I want … but then I’m probably one of those ‘militant feminist’ types 😉 (Don’t have anything to do with your sister though!)

Oh, and my Titus was better than my ex OH’s full sus bike, but he chose the bike he wanted, plus he was a better rider than me (personally I felt I needed all the ‘skills-compensator’ help I could get!).

But having experienced it, it was pretty disheartening to always see your OH disppearing over the hill as you trail constantly behind trying desperately to keep up … and usually failing 😳

Kev

Does it involve riding bikes?
Does it involve biking for several days?

Am I interested? Duh, yes! Of course 🙂

PS – are you off work any time on Friday or Sat? If you are, give me a shout if you fancy going biking.

… prepares to face potential pisstaking 🙂 …

CFH – you’re right, but damn you for causing a bad case of dust in my eye. I’ve kept letters from a few people who I have cared deeply about, one of whom is sadly no longer alive. Letters evoke so much more than txt (urgh!), and always have a special resonance.

So, back home, chilled bottle of wine, and time to write …

Does anyone else get Mya boob enhancement and Bravissimo (DD+) ads at the same time? Is it trying to tell me mine are too big or too small???

Possibly a bit late for suggestions (and somewhat concerned that this will now mean I’m one of the “usual suspects”!)

Anyway – Recommend Stephen Fry’s Planet Word (BBC 2 series)

Wish I’d had the foresight to do similar, currently stuck on yet another interminable train journey with just a report on “Results based accountability in government” for entertainment 🙁

Hi kev – friend of mine did it a couple of years ago – 4 days, rode a rigid mtb with slicks, stayed in b&b’s. I’ll ask him for his route details if you want?

Climbing wall and spin classes – I know, not at home, but it’s indoors and a great way to spend winter evenings.

At home – Reading, cooking, catching up with friends (thinking of starting a regular winter ‘supper club’), away working and pestering forumites to meet up to save me from terminal hotel / crap tv boredom!