Fantastic!

Great adventure, stunning scenery and wildlife – all really well filmed.

Definately one of the best ‘biking’ films I’ve seen.

Yey – this is great! Has brightened up my lunchtime no end (well, along with the chocolate truffle that someone put on my desk as a thank you …) Thanks all of you – you’re are my favouritist happy riding people!

Everything from rides with your kids, commuting to work, local rides, far away rides, trail centres and natural uplands, flat places and hilly, good karma and lucky escapes, road riding and mountain biking … just wanted to say that it goes to show …

Ain’t riding bikes brilliant :D

Kevj – to give Elfin his due he did say above that he considered both architects and planners to be jointly responsible, which is pretty much the case.

I’ve worked in a LA planning department for a few years (not as a planner before I get crucified!), and they are responsible not just for the ‘planning’ but also the development of generic design guidance for their area. And as you say, those who write the project brief carry a degree of responsibility, as dothe architects who then interpret that direction into the specific design.

Thanks peeps! Keep ’em coming …

Rachel – I did a few days touring round the mountains of Norfolk on my bike the other week – loved it! Absolute maze of minor back lanes to get lost in.

Ton – biking must be the only activity where you can wet your pants and still smile :)

No idea what the rant’s about, but whatever it is, dont let it get on top of you.

Plus, you’re coming to Wales soon – the land of sheep, rain, and a lack of cashpoints – so what more could a guy want in life :)

(Plus, I’ve already offered to lend you one of my bikes … and if you promise not to throw it in the ditch in a strop, or make rude comments about how FS bikes are unneccessary, you could borrow my Titus if I’m working … not that you’d need any kind of ‘skills compensator’ being a trail riding god or something)

Kev – if you’d let her drive off she might have squished me on my bike as I rode through town, and then what would you do for post-ride cheese and crackers? (Plus having survived cycling in the big city of London there’s no way I’m going to get flattened by an OAP in Llandudno!)

In the end, drink-driving is just not ok, no matter how sad the circumstances.

(oh, and cheese and onion crisps are yellow if you’re eating posh Red Sky version …)

Have now got disturbing image of boiling pee in my mind … 8O

Sunday evening so far:

– Short but fast road ride round the great Orme
– lovely pasta dinner
– Countryfile on the TV cos it’s on the Llyn Penisula which is one of my favouristist local places to ride

Contemplating whether or not to have a glass of wine … have probably drunk too much this weekend after having boozing friends to stay, but am tempted …

Kev – no, not the MBNW ride, out with some other friends – not exactly sure where we’re going, but they said about 5-6 hrs across the hills so I’m packing extra jelly babies :)

Oh, and are you job applying? (or just CV fiddling for the sheer joy of it ..)

Got friends staying so off for dinner at a very nice French restuarant tonight (hot evening here so summer dress will be required!) Then mountainbiking on the Berwyns all day tomorrow :) (must remember to not drink too much French wine tonight …)

A nice end to a pretty sh*tty couple of days.

yosarrian – that’s great! Sounds as though you’ve had a tough time and now have a well-earned break.

The future … and not knowing what it will be!

A year ago this uncertainty terrified me – lost my relationship / home / half of my belongings / some friends and for most of the time my dog.

But now I’m exited about not knowing what the future holds – meeting new people, making new friends, discovering new places, breaking down my pre-conceptions, going off doing new activities (mountaineering in the alps in a couple of weeks), and looking for a new home just for me.

Have discovered that massive life changes can be exciting, challenging, and fun :)

Yup – quite a lot of publc money – cost of the Olympics £9.3bn … interesting that it was protected in the Comprehensive Spending Review when the DCMS budget (which covers grassroots participation in sports and the arts) was cut by 25%. It was claimed that this was because the Games budget was already committed to contracts, but somehow this doesn’t seemed to have stopped the rest of the public sector having to pull out of existing contracts due to government cuts, plus apparently the huge ‘contingency’ budget of the games also needed to be protected despite the fact that it wasn’t committed expenditure. But hey, apparently ‘the eyes of the world will be on us’ for the Olympics, let’s just hope they don’t look in the wrong places …

Maybe I’m just feeling a bit frustrated about the impact of cuts on community sports, recreation and physical activity having spent the day going through the evidence on the substantial benefits from participation – everything from reducing obesity, improving mental health, providing opportunities (and even careers) for some of the sectors of society that face the greatest challenges. And then discussing how we will have to reduce support for delivery due to governments cuts … What ‘legacy’ was it we were talking about?

Elfin – maybe the ‘legacy’ will include Waitrose … preferably one selling avocados :wink:

I have an aversion to shopping!

100 miles is betwen little village in bedforshire and even smaller village in Norfolk – never ridden that far in one day before – does it count if it’s somewhere that flat???

anyway, packed, ready to go, and it’s pissing it down :(

Thanks for the tips guys

TJ – if had the sense to think in advance I would have done that, but I’m leaving in an hour!

Getting ruthless now, so yup, dinner with mum and work meeting are the same, brothers wife is as titchy as me so can borrow her climbing stuff and just have to pack my climbing shoes, and am going to avail myself of my family’s washing machines …

I know … think I might just let the wild foul have it :)

Alpin – I tried! To me it is a much more interesting discussion to consider whether, or not, all relationships should automatically be monogomous. This is completely different to talking about whether or not you should lie to your partner. There are many cultures which do have a tradition of non-monogamy, albeit most of those are in relation to men having multiple partners, which is probably a result of the dominance of patriarchal culture, but it does raise the question as to whether relationships can only be monogomous.

This does not mean that I prefer non-monogomous relationships, but is rather a reflection that I think ‘social norms’ are often worth discussing, and should not necessarily be automatically accepted (after all, not so long ago it was socially unacceptable to be in an open same-sex relationship)

Marsdenman:

Quite possibly the most sensible and balanced post i’ve ever seen on here Sue (i’m being serious) – on STW for goodness sake, and before 8.30 am!

Thanks :) I was just trying to say that not being monogomous is not necessarily synonymous with lying to your partner, and that, like many social norms, it is always interesting to question and debate what are supposedly ‘accepted’ ways of behaving.

TimC – I think these topics are always worthy of debate, but some of your comments to Karinofnine are rather unnecessarily personal and critical.

Interesting that everyone just takes monogomy as a given and therefore considers anything else to be ‘cheating’ or an affair.

I think monogomy is a social norm, and probably one of the strongest ones in our society. However, that doesn’t mean it is the only option. I have had two very long term relationships over my life – one was monogomous and one was non-monogomous. Both required discussion, honesty and sometimes compromise. Neither were ‘right’ and neither were ‘wrong’.

Maybe it would be better if as a society we at least were more accepting of ways of life that step outside our standard concepts of what is acceptable? From what I can gather, it is the ‘lying’ that can cause the greatest sense of betrayal if someone has a fling with another person outside of their main relationship. Would that be alleviated if we were prepared to question and discuss whether monogomy is always the right type of relationship for everyone?

Me … leer? Never :) It’s aesthetic appreciation of form surely? And you’re one of the biggest proponents of that ..

Damned fine pizza though!

Oh, and the Senedd was as stunning as ever. Quite like the government buildings up in Cathays Park as well (even if they are over zealous in their scanning and x-raying – frankly who on earth is going to be interested in blowing up the Welsh civil service? Although, mind you, I have often been tempted …)

Ah, WCA I’ve been down in Cardiff for the last couple of days so could have joined you last night but back home again now.

Can recommend Gio’s Italian near the central train station … but not sure if you’d appreciate the rather charming waiter as much as I did :)

Just watched the highlights, so a bit late to the discussion …

Good to have a rather less ‘eventful’ day today – seeing so many riders get so badly hurt has been pretty awful.

Phillipe Gilbert is really impressive this year, and (not wanting to upset the Cav fans as he is a great sprinter) it was great to have a proper challenging sprint at the end and for it not always to be a foregone conclusion.

Oh, and massive respect to Johnny Hoogerland – he comes across not only as proper hardcore, but also as a genuinely lovely guy

I think the diversity on the forums (both ‘bike’ and ‘chat’) is great – usually just click on ‘overview’ and read whichever random threads catch my eye. Although at the moment, it’s making me chuckle at inappropriate times during a ministerial meeting, but it sure is keeping the boredom at bay!

It makes me laugh, has some pretty good debates, taught me more about bikes (of all sorts!), any bike-related technical question will always get answered (although no-one will ever agree what the answer is!), and I have learnt more than I probably ever wished to about the inner workings of the male mind :)

long may it continue … pretty much as it is!

Am wary about posting on here cos compared to the rest of you I know very little about art, but I don’t think that leaves me being merely a passive observer. There is much that amazes and engages me, that leaves me asking questions, considering new ways of looking at the world, or inspires me with the sheer beauty or talent in particular work.

There have been exhibitions where I have just got lost for hours – Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s Museum / Gallery in Vienna captured me completely – his painting, architecture, philosophy and concepts all interacted as a whole: http://www.kunsthauswien.com/

Or the Jaume Plensa exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park – loved the relationship between sculpture, language and the environment – could have spent days there.

Wish I did know / understand more about art, as I do think it adds a lot, but in the meantime I’ll continue to be fascinated by things I see whether or not I fully understand it all

Kev – will let you know re Thursday after I get back from Cardiff. If not, if you fancy an evening ride, I’ve found the steepest climb in the ‘hood near ByC …

Elfin – would you ever speak to me again if I told you I could name the breed of sheep you’re pointing at :oops:

Kev – unfair posting that! I’m going to be stuck on the train to Cardiff and the weather looks great tomorrow! Have fun (just don’t tell me about it …)

For a non-local, softy southern shandy drinking city type, Elfinsafety is rather spot on.

Penmachno is (IMHO) the best trail centre round here (at least you get to see some of the mountains), but the best riding is in the surrounding hills. Pick up a copy of the Bike Fax book to Snowdonia and an OS map, and take you pick. But from the ‘locals recommended’ list:

– Conwy mtn / the eastern Carneddi / Drum
– Telegraph Valley
– Snowdon (if you want the iconic epic)

Alternatively take a road bike – the Llyn Penisula is a lovely spot for road riding.

That picture … OMG 8O

Poor guy! And I can’t believe how he got bandaged up whilst riding his bike by a dr on a motorbike …

Blimey, what carnage 8O

Mind you, the scenery / roads / chateau etc makes me want to ride in France even more!

Well I called her, and on balance think that was the right thing to do as she said she’d been missing me and had wanted a chance to catch up. And yes, we even found other things talk about – including the weather! A brief sketchy moment when the conversation steered into selling the house, skated on some thin ice when she wanted to talk about how he’d phoned her to say he was having a great time racing bikes in the sun in the alps (didn’t like to point out that whilst he was doing that I was spending the week sorting out thd house sale!). But it also made me realise that I have actually moved on, and prefer my life now to what it was a few years ago. I’m happier, have met some great people, and certainly ride more!

MuddyDwarf / Karinofnine – you’re right, stopping it now would be more straightforward for me, but at the same time she seems to want to stay in touch so I guess I just need to be able to deal with some of the emotions it throws up (and in time honoured STW way, going for a ride does help!)

Karin – thanks for the offer of meeting up for a ride – definately be up for that if I’m down your way.

mmm … not really thought about it from her perspective before. Yes, I think she does genuinely like me (foolish woman!), and I know that she didn’t think her son should end things (I think she told him that several times). Hadn’t really thought that she would maybe be sad about losing contact with me, I just thought she was staying in touch cos she’s a genuinely caring person. She’s been there for me for years, and has always accepted me for who I am (even when being a shaven headed, pierced, dungaree wearing feminist might have been a bit much for a very respectable primary school teacher from the southern counties!)

Think I’ll give her a call, after all we could always talk about the weather :)

Woody – very cute picture and very funny caption :lol:

I’ve grown up with dogs, had them all my adult life, and worked with them when I was younger. Personally I think dogs can be the bee’s knees (and mine are obviously the best!), but I also treat any dog I don’t know with a fair bit of respect. If challenged by an aggressive dog then I would repond, but quite often the best way to deal with that type of situation is to back away, give the dog space or a clear escape route.

But most domestic dogs aren’t aggressive and don’t need to trained by using things like choke chains. And I guess it depends on whether the OP is referring to a ‘kick’ or a ‘tap’ (although hands are better than feet for that). Should someone decide to kick my dog in a situation that I considered unnecessary (and I can’t imagine any time when that would be required), then I would give then a right earful! (couldn’t possibly try and hit anyone – I’m far to titchy :) )

Trekster – OMG 8O

Mind you, what an excellent wine / beer cooler just outside your tent door

DD – turning 40 rocks – I bummed off on a 3 week road trip mountain biking round Colorado and Utah in an RV. Figured that if being 40 was that much fun then I wished it had come sooner :)

You’ve still got time to pack your bike and hop on a plane before Tuesday …

MrO – last weekend? Ah yes, you’re right – much hotter! I adopted a European lifestyle – road ride in the morning, long lunch and leisurely siesta in the afternoon, mountain biking in the evening.

Should have done the same today … if I carry on melting at this rate there will be nothing left of me soon 8O

Obsessing would require a level of mental energy which I am currently lacking post ride, but gently ticking over in the nether reaches of my mind is:

– whether to have yogurt or ice cream on my pineapple
– how long I’ll get to flake out on the sofa before the dog pesters me into going to the beach
– some guy I met recently who I wasn’t expecting to even like that much but who seems to make me smile quietly to myself now and again

sc-xc – definately not ‘selfish’. It’s really hard to be in your position, you need the strength to support your wife and children at a time when you’re emotionally devastated. Make sure you also get the support you need from friends etc.

Really hope your wife makes a full recovery

8O

(oops, I think I might have asked for that :oops: )

Actually shags are one of my favourite birds, but I’m going to get into even more bother if I say that!

Elfin – I think he’d gone down to only 69kg. Actually, in which case, what a porker in comparison – I am a mere 45kg!

*sigh* Ok, I accept that he is a towering 6’2 of sinewy muscle, and I a titchy 5′ of insufficient fitness (and fueled by wine, cheese and crackers – diet of champions)