Do you really think a brighter light would have helped? It sounds like he made no attempt to look, therefore anything short of a frikkin’ laser wouldn’t work.

zokes – a far better response than I was going to throw at TJ. I hope he stops and reads it rather than googling for more ‘research’ to support his own achingly class-warrior and urban stance.

I sometimes drive to work. Some chod commutes with what is obviously a rather good off-road light flashing on the front of his bike. It is so damned bright I actively don’t look at him because it is too bright and messes with my vision.

Unless you got hit head-on, what difference would a flashing light with no side visibility make?

The word is ‘wondering’, not ‘wandering’.

1. Road cycling is always ‘The Dark Side’.

2. TJ is always right, no matter how wrong he is.

3. There will always be at least 5 arguements running concurrently on STW.

4. The list of regular protagonists will change less than their user names.

5. ?

1. Get saddle to the right height (heel on pedal, leg nearly straight for starters).

2. Get saddle to the right place fore and aft (when your knees are at 90 deg you should be able to drop a plumb line from the side of your kneecap and it hit the pedal thru the axle).

3. Mess around with bar height and reach. Not sure whether you are too high or too low. Sounds too high. Wider bars might help if you don’t want to have a longer stem – but a slightly longer stem might be worth trying. If you are on risers, flatter bars might work for you.

Points 1 & 2 don’t work as a science for everyone, but it is a good neutral starting position to work from. Can you get the measurements of the borrowed bike and compare cockpit sizes?

Transportdirect.info

There you go – I have freed you from the shackles that bind you as a yokel. Best journey planner I’ve ever used, particularly for public transport in a new place.

Talk to someone – preferably someone outside the things that are getting to you. Then you can get an objective view and just the act of talking about it with someone not connected is cathartic and can help find solutions. Work out which ones you need to deal with and the ones that can wait as well. Always, always have time for yourself. I stopped doing that for a while and suffered for it.

If she is ‘well into you’ and happy being referred to as a ‘bird’, could I respectfully suggest a nice kebab and a bag of chips as a suitable gift to mark the occasion?

A few websites, a book or two, some spare fabric and a few hours to spare. If you can get the manual for the machine you’re away. Just learning to thread it is a start, then experiment.
Get a bag of offcuts from Point North fabrics and you will be making little bags for things and messing about for hours.

like these?

http://proporta.co.uk/F02/PPF02P05.php?t_id=839&t_mode=cat

A bit of scented disinfectant and hot water in a bucket. Let them soak and dry slowly. Even works with properly stinky wetsuit boots.

Taught myself to use a sewing machine and properly sorted some cut-down goretex trousers for riding. Regularly repair stuff as it is usually hard enough to get it in my size to start with!

TandemJeremy – Member

You think the super market fruit and veg tastes the same as non?

My palate tells me very different.

Less feelings, more facts. You have not come up with one iota of anything to back your claims – poor form even for you.

BTW – that cheese shop will have a great big fridge out the back. They keep it that way to sell the dream to aspiring middle class like yourself.

owever they are packed in a box at the growers, shipped in the same box to the fruit and veg market, sold to the retailer who displays them and sells them in the same box. They are ripe and flavourful
because they are not handled so much once picked they don’t have to be picked underripe to accept repackaging. Because the supply chain is quicker they are not picked underripe to last longer. thus they have flavour which you cannot get in a supermarket tomato. Its not a premium product as such and the price is comparable with the supermarket ones.

You really do have a misguided rosy view of the world. Still no evidence you know the first thing about supply chains, methods of agriculture, where your small shop veg comes from or anything else relating to international transport and commerce. Supermarkets will carry several types of tomato, varying from no flavour to lots. You want less intensive veg, you pay for it.

Independents with different supply chain and shorter times from producer to market don’t so the fruit is ripe and nice to eat

Tell me more. I’m interested to hear about this. Can you give me an example?

Where do you think they get out of season veg? It isn’t local. Where do they get tomatoes from in December? The Netherlands under glass or the Canary Islands under shade.

We can talk about supply chains all night. If you want to. I do it for a living. If you want to pay premium for premium, you can. However, you need to understand where your food comes from and how it is grown.

Its because of the way the supermarkets work that the fruit and veg is underripe and tasteless. the time from producer to purchase is longer hence they pick it underripe and refrigerate it. Independent greengrocers sell better flavoured fruit and veg.

No – you are wrong. The public no longer wants regional, seasonal food. The public wants all foods all of the time, so it moves further. However, it moves very quickly. If both shops are selling out of season green beans, they are coming from the same place. If both shops are selling tomatoes grown in the Canary Islands, they are probably both selling hydroponically grown tomatoes – the most common and efficient way of growing them. You might have an argument if you are talking regional, seasonal food. However, intensive agriculture and consumer demand are more to blame than big shop, little shop. Look at how those hothouse fruit and veg are grown before you talk about taste.

Try to buy a tomato with flavour

Hydroponics do that – not supermarkets. The need for more intensive farming means agriculture changed too. Your pseudo middle class angst is clouding your argument. You are harking back to a time that didn’t exist.

Come to Gloucester Road in Bristol – the dream shopping street. Almost all indie shops. Still there if people want them.

there are no virtually no independent food shops thus the small producer is also squeezed out. No cheese shops

Oh do be brief. Was Edinburgh awash with neighbourhood cheese shops before the incessant march of Tesco? No it wasn’t! Speciality shops are just that – speciality. The decline of herring fishing in Scotland I can cope with – the unavailability of local cheese shops might not be such a rich historical study.

Just to add – if the masses didn’t want supermarkets, they wouldn’t be in business.

TandemJeremy – Member

Having been on Holiday in the Netherlands recvently it was very interesting to see that the town centres were still vibrant places with independent shops. Why? No tescos. You cannot get planning permission to build a food store outside the town centre or over a certain size.

Teh main reason why our town centres are such dismal place with no variation in the shopping is the dominace of the huge supermarket chains – and they reduce emplacement as they kkill jobs in small independent shops

TJ – back to your nonsensical rambling top form there. Tesco hasn’t killed the town centre. Many other things have – including rates, lack of investment, poor town planning etc. You cannot simplify something so complex into a single retailer. The Netherlands also has a far better infrastructure given much of it was re-built after 1945! They have less of the historical legacy (roads too small for trucks to deliver etc) than we do. AS usual, you oversimplify to make your own point against something you don’t like.

http://www.tescofarming.com/v2/tsdp.asp
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2010/03/30/120577/Tesco-unveils-new-farmgate-milk-price.htm

Links seem pretty reasonable practice to me.

Shocking news – just because you work for a big company doesn’t stop you being a nice person and doing good things.

Whats the 29 inch wheel like for turning on twisty single track??

I’m shocked you even need to ask. Truly awful – like a massive cartwheel made of wood with an iron rim.

Sorry – truly? Like a wheel – just like a wheel.

Italian food is far more regional than you’d believe. In the UK I have been to 2 Italian restaurants in my life that measure up to the food I used to eat in Italy. Over here we tend to get that amalgam of the whole country rather than the region. Good Italian food can stand against the best of any other cuisine any time.

YES IT IS!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Then I thought it was because I was so helpful and someone might miss my insight into something which would make a world of difference to their biking.

But you DO, druidh. Your public is more rad to the gnar because of your wise words!

Been asked to have a go at Rollapaluza at the end of the month in bristol

when and where? No details on their website yet for Bristol.

Charlie – I bet you shave with a cut throat razor as well.

If you want the popular stuff everyone wants to see in a big city, then you pays the price. Loads of great theatre out there at a lot less.

never been before is this popular may pop over and have a nose

Have a look at the earlier threads for pictures – I’ve seen up to 20 or so sellers and 40 buyers mingling before. It ebbs and flows over the months but a really nice little gathering of every type of cyclists – retro bikers, mountain types, roadies, hip fixies, mentalists – just everyone. Coffee and cake available in Mud Dock. Bring some old bits to sell and buy some odds and sods.

Gore ones I have are better than my Pearl ones. Roubaix ones are the very best for those cold months.

Aeropress for work and a Gaggia Classic for home. Got the Classic on E Bay after looking for the lovely words ‘used it a few times, been on the shelf since’ in the advert. After a back-flush and de-scale it is as good as new. I can’t recommend it highly enough and well worth the £120 I paid for it. Anything from Krups is rubbish – all made in the far East now – used them, sent them back.

Last time I bought tyres for my commuter, Conti were doing tyres with free tubes and a 1 year no puncture warranty. There are also some puncture-resistant commute tyres out there, but the Conti ones are the best I’ve had.

Safety razors – the rigid SS of the razor world.

Give it up and stick to modern technology. Some evolution is good.

No Scots going to mention lorne sausage and dumpling?

Stotties are what I miss most being away from Newcastle. As for fish and chips in Leeds – fresh is when the chippy is on the fish quay, not an hour away!

Surf-Mat – Member

Cold onshore Porthtowan is MUCH more fun

Really disappointed with Porthtowan all last week. Only got really nice on Saturday morning when I was leaving. Just not impressed with it as a break really.

Take the bits you liked from what you tried. Discard the bits you didn’t like. Make up the in-between bits.

Halo wheels / rims. Great price and mine have proven to be lardcore resistant for over 3 years.

al – Lewins are the only OTP shirt I can get for my simian arms – nobody else does a 38″ sleeve without going bespoke. I do have to get the body tailored in as I’m not that fat, but the sleeves are a bigger issue.

I’ve had one for 18yrs

Older seem to be tougher. The advice I was given was to get a metal-bodied machine as they are stronger / heavier duty. I do want an old commercial machine, but no room to put it 🙁

Here you go – some hills, some singletrack and some interesting areas

From Wittering Village South

From Wittering Village North

Both fun in different ways, but the Old Sulehay has a great play area and singletrack on it. You might see the black roe deer as well!