Last week there was a car going round Upminster almost completely covered in St George flags and Essex Conservatives banners. Still didn't hide the fact that…
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it was a Renault.

what a bunch of pound shop patriots. If you're really that patriotic at least buy a British car [ok, so some firms are foreign owned but you can still buy plenty made in this country]

It's not so bad round here because I've offset your curse.

Put mud tyres back on and, hey presto, the trails have dried out, the bluebells are coming out in the woods round St Albans and the little piggies at Willow Farm are fattening up nicely. Think I'll leave them on, I'd rather ride dry trials on mud tyres than skid / push / carry the bike. London clay makes the most evil mud there is, turns most tyres into massive fat brown slicks that jam in the stays.

About 10 miles S of Luton here, very quiet, just a couple of helicopters and a little low flying private plane, probably someone's toy out of Elstree

BTW Elstree's possibly the only airfield with a bridleway across the runway. Helpful signs tells you to watch out for planes.

Please tell me that's an April fool

+1 Mr Nutt, Ridgeway has been a joke for a long time.

BTW were you Mad Mac McNutty in a former life?

Story has just been Daily Mashed

Green Campaign Urges Drivers To Get Wedged Under Lorry

Out round N of Watford / St Albans / Bricket wood way today. Much better than it has been but still need to be a bit selective where you go.

Can be expensive, depends on the value of the goods. The supplier the other end might be prepared to describe it as a gift or trade sample on the customs declaration? Probably illegal but some firms are happy to do that.

just imagine how bored an insect will get in a tank…

I don't know, if there's two they can take turns to drive and work the gun

Quote: "Think about it, sniff a bum, move up a place, sniff the next one, move up, etc until you are at the front, allow the following rider a good sniff, then peel off to the back and start again – that's got to be sus, eh? "

Sounds a bit like being in a pack of Huskies.

Most cheap ones are made of monkey metal and fall to bits the first time out, complete waste of money. Ex military ones should be OK but there are a lot of imitations. The British army ones with a wooden handle, pick and spade are good but are heavy. Usually come with a leather belt attachment.

I had the same dilemma, sawed through the pins holding the old cassette together and used one of the plastic spacers from between the cogs behind the new cassette. Works a treat.

Bump

I'm interested though might not be able to get out that often, PM sent.

Chris. Thanks just tried but in LT there's no object option, all it can do is create rectangular ones, it can't convert objects. It will work with other shapes if they are in a drawing created in another version. Bit of a shame but for what I do its not enough to warrant shelling out for full ACAD.

Sounds like its been done in another package, I often get sent drawings that don't work right in AutoCAD for that reason. Often have to do the metres to millimetres rescale. The one I really hate is when they arrive with the scale set in inches.

On a slight tangent is there a way to make viewports any shape other than rectangular in LT2008?

When my two were younger I convinced them that the short street lights on the A40 at the end of the RAF Northolt runway were baby ones that had just been planted and that they would grow to full size in a couple of years.

Also caught one with "Go up to the end of the garden and see if I'm there"

I hope they've forgiven me

It was interesting, but I think it started with a point of view and then set out to prove it. That's what TV does. There are plenty of Brits who want to work but I've met loads of wasters as well, its why I've stayed as a one man band. The eastern bloc people we see are the ones with the get up and go to travel for work. OK so they don't have the social security safety net we do, but there are lazy ones. We had one working at our house, he got stuck back on the bus home pretty soon.

BTW is it just me or was it presented by a meerkat?

550 on one, including the width of the bar end clamps, 520 on the other, which doesn't have them. Lot narrower than most people on here, but it seems plenty wide enough to me [5'11, arm span about the same]. Get through those width restricters nicely and I don't notice any lack of control. Easier through the trees as well. The second bike came with a full width pair, about three miles into the first ride I slid the grips and levers in and cut the surplus off as soon as I got back.

According to the article it wandered into the rescue centre of its own volition – spooky.

Asking where eggs come from might get you a literal answer.

I'd avoid cafe scrambled eggs but I also avoid big chain places like the plague. Down here in That London there are loads of little independent places doing good quick food at reasonable prices if you look round a bit. Turkish and Portugese run ones are usually pretty good.

I'm sure the An*us steak houses round Leicester Square are only kept going by people from out of town coming in to see shows, though they are a reminder of how cr@p eating out used to be in the 70s.

Way back when I was an estate forester we used to find all sorts of cr*p in the woods. One time I found an old radiator that a plumber had taken from my house the day before. Seeing as I knew where his next job was I took it along and gave it back.

Once other time what looked from a distance like a shop window dummy on the grass next to a byway near Stonehenge turned out to be a nice looking young woman nude sunbathing. Brightened up the day no end.

I never quite saw the reason for facing the frame for external BBs. By the time the BB gets up to the face of the frame there is 30mm or so already screwed into a close fitting tube. I can't see how the frame face being uneven would throw it out of line, even if its massively over tightened. Seems to me its far more important that the threads each side are in line, like someone above said.

Main bike is a Raleigh Dyna tech – Titanium main tubes, rest is Cr Mo. Most of the rest has been changed over the years, saddle, bars, bar ends and cranks are still original. Red / black colour scheme clashes nicely with the yellow Rock shox as I trundle around frightening horses. Unfashionable but suits me well enough.

Its old enough to vote this year but there are enough bikes on the local electoral register already.

Got my lad a Raleigh when he was little, heavy little 5 speed job, think it was called a Scorpio.

I have a choice of Scooter or Crustius Maximus. Kind of like the second one.

Its easier to get the SFN started accurately if you put the bolt [or a longer one] into the star thing a few turns, clamp the bolt head in a vice or workmate so the whole thing is held firmly, then hold the forks and push them on to it. Its much easier to guide it accurately and its less inclined to slip sideways. Once both star bits are in the tube it will stay true and you can drive it as far in as it needs to go. Bit of a bodge but it works for me.

I've never known one slip once they are in, once everything else is tightened down there's no load on them.

Back when FAT16 was the standard there was an application called Partition Magic, which did the job pretty well. I partitioned a 2.5GB Seagate monster into 5 to keep the cluster size down.

Just done a quick Google, You can get it from Norton or there are free alternatives here;

http://tinyurl.com/yejbwgc

Fond memories of being a tree surgeon.

You'd be amazed what you can see from a high vantage point where no one expects anyone to be, hidden by the foliage. Starting a chainsaw usually blows your cover, but the reaction can be entertaining.

A few years ago I read a book by a German who headed off shortly after WW2 and took 28 years, getting married on the way. Can't recall the author or the title, but he stopped and worked for quite a while in places along the way, so it was a readable travel / adventure book, not just a list of distances and times.

Started one of the Josie Dew ones and wasn't grabbed by it, gave up after a couple of chapters.

http://www.thomashiggins.com/

Not had to use them so far but colleagues say they are effective. Their first threatening letter is cheap and often does the job

I was on a stick for a couple of months back when I was about 22. Got used to it after a bit, first thing I learnt was to watch I didn't put it down drains when crossing the road, nearly pulled my knee out first time I did that. Went to the Bob Dylan concert at Blackbushe Aerodrome and hitched back home without too much bother, though by then the foot was pretty much healed, it depends how confident you feel.

Hope it all goes well.

Andy, I know that cheeky bit round the wood, came at it from the lower end in the past but haven't been there lately. Those steep-ish bits of Oakridge Lane and down to Munden are nice but it's a shame they "repaired" the bit down towards the junction with the river. It is starting to erode away again.

Might be out later on, should be good with the full moon and a light dusting of snow.

Its the usual weaselly excuse – "in case it offends our other customers"

Wonder if they actually asked any of them. Probably got someone like my ex badgering the manager about it.

Andy_B,

It doesn't seem that bad to me, but then I do live up to the name sometimes. Doing the whole thing without dabbing can be entertaining, especially if the old tarmac is wet.

One I mean to try sometimes is the one below. Footpath is in the field, but there's also an ORPA that follows the stream bed under a tunnel of vegetation. Been in a few yards from each end and it looks rideable. Most of the time there is a few inches of water in it so it is one for the summer.

http://tinyurl.com/yjgg59v

Busy for the next few weeks but would be good to meet some local people some time.

Andy B – that's one of my favourites too – haven't yet worked up the bottle to jump off the end of the footbridge.

This bit is good too, best done SE – NW. Old line of the B556 running from the side of the white farm house at Ridge Hill parallel with the new road.

http://tinyurl.com/y9hwydo

A department store salesman is trying to sell Mrs Doyle an automatic tea maker.

Salesman – "But madam, just think there will be no more suffering making the tea"

Mrs D – "But I LIKE the suffering"

Or get a petrol one – the LEZ only applies to diesels.

If you are anywhere near London or likely to be going there its worth bearing in mind that some Defenders will be non compliant with the Low Emission Zone [LEZ] by October. Could cost you £250 per day. The LEZ covers all the London boroughs. If you have a reg no. you can check on the tfl web site. IIRC pre 1973 ones and TD5 onwards should be OK, most TDi Defenders won't, although TDi Discoveries will. Like someone has already said early Discos are better all rounders and have a bit more space but don't have the character. Its also getting hard to get a good one.

I think you'll need to prove that they have been neutered and had all their jabs.

They aren't native to Switzerland, but they are mountain beasties and could mess up the local ecology if they escape and start breeding.

If its that good how about getting the inventor to do a proper "blind" demo. That ought to win the doubters over. 😈

I'm in Radlett – there are some reasonable rides out from here, mainly loops northwards round London Colney, N Mimms or right round the top of St Albans. Tuesdays evenings aren't good for me, weekends would be with a bit of notice.

Bricket Wood common is quite fun, gets a bit muddy when its wet but its main peaty stuff, not the thick clay you get in some places. If you're feeling cheeky there's also an old disused gravel pit to the north towards Chiswell Green. Worth wearing eye protection, there are a lot of holly bushes in the woods.