al – the shorts were low – I had loads of standover – perhaps this pic shows it in a different light – with me actually on the beast – with the required sag ater applying 250 lbs:

Amazing how hard it is to get on a bike with 10 sec of self timer to go!

I miss many peeps too al – but can’t be dealing with some of the pap – so just concentrating on moving and riding a bit and using my new mountain bike coach qualification :-) – and selling stuff and buying the Sultan.

They were Mavic wheels – I’ll have a look at the full size pics later and tell you. C29 SSMax I think.

You mean you’ve never been to the CC website? Like pr0n for bikers:

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCM?PAGE=BUY_FRAME&PRODUCT.ID=5189

Just build it up to what you want! It would work out at just over £3k for a complete bike. About £1800 over here for the frame alone.

midnight hour – good stuff there – well off the mark for this man – but good stuff – for a rambling semi rant.

shooter – it depends what your motivation would be for joining and what you think you’d get out of it. There certainly are some fascinating legal aspects to the Armed Forces, if you like the international laws of armed conflict etc – and plenty of travel to unpleasant places for extended periods of time. Or doing what you are doing – advising young squaddies – but in a slightly different office wearing a uniform.

Think hard about what you want out of it – many guys in the Armed Forces are desiring a bit of stability by the time they are approaching your age – or their family are. That is a hard place to be.

Stamford is a short drive from Bourne – a few places there.

shooterman – are you a vicar, doctor, dentist, nurse or lawyer? Hard to see many other areas with such a short route to being an officer.

If the M1 is a problem, head South, over the M1 at J13, Bedford bypass, Black Cat roundabout, A1 North.

If you bring her in under an ‘intended spouse’ visa, she can’t legally work for the 1st 6 months. You also have to get married within that 6 months. That visa costs.
Once married, you can apply for indefinite stay – which costs – but means she can work. If she sends her passport back to the USA for a married name in there, that needs to be done before the visa renewal – so you’d need to be married well within the 6 months to risk sending the passport back to the USA for a name change before sending it to UK officials for the visa renewal. Or accept the maiden name in the passport and carry a copy of the marriage certificate every time she travels.
TBH, the NI number is a breeze these days.
Also remember she would only have a years grace on her driving license before having to get a Brit one – I’d advise paying for proper lessons the minute she arrives (provisional license fairly easy to get)and avioding teaching her / having to do it later after learning more bad habits.
Due to us having to let Europeans into the UK, Americans are quite high on the ‘least wanted’ immigrant list – and that is from the Home Office. Just get reading the Borders Agency website and learn to embrace red tape and petty rules.

Is soobalias back from his dump yet? 23 minutes is quite the motherlode – or a really good book.

*is concerned*

The Specialized bikes do have a lot of potential, but the Turner is there and lovely and I can justify (to myself at least) that I’m worth it. I don’t have too many other vices and Mrs TT even agrees with my plan. The Spec bikes do seem to be obsessed with making them for shorter people and work on having the low head tube height and flatter bars – Turner seem to be up for making a more freeride bike and after all, it is lovely, so am I and I deserve it!
The 66cm road frame would be a dream – one day I’ll go and see Mr Dave Yates and build it with him. It makes sense to me.

Do you think the internet goes that far? Someone could probably do some sort of research if it did. That would be awesome!

I’m 6’7″ with a 40″ standover height and arms like a simian (38″ sleeve shirts – the longest you can buy).
I’m pretty sure this is the moster truck bike I’ve always wanted – my old 24.5″ Gary Fisher Marlin and my 21″ ScandAL 29er tell me I’m heading into the right size here. There will be photos – smug, sweet photos.
Luke – I guess you’ve peaked – he is a fit bugg3r tho. Well done.

Lucozade plus a Mars Bar?

Canada – not exactly the 3rd world – I bet they do something there you know.

Ah yes – but in XXL – a dream, full sus farmyard gate with a saddle. 23″ frame should look just about right I’m thinking.

I hope tall martin has learned his lesson and now buys his own clothes – that is waaay too small.

Don’t buy suit without trying it on – go to a shop and wear a proper shirt, the shos you’ll wear with it and GET SOMEONE ELSE to look at it on you for their view. Go classic, not fashion.

If you are taller, you have the bike set up with a higher mass than the little people, just to get a proper leg position. I found a slightly shorter stem coupled with my risr bars makes a good difference – even on my 29er (which is the obvious choice for non-BMX riders over 6’2″).

jedi – I got qualified a couple of months back with the Association of British Cycle Coaches – good in that they cover all disciplines and there is a good progression up through – including the whole physiology and nutrition side of things. They have liability insurance and a good networking side as well. I could recommend them as worth a look.

Breathe ‘on the other foot’. Seriously – the revelation for stitches when running was to literally breathe on the other foot. The theory I was told is that you interrupt the rhythm – it works every time for me, regardless of the reason.

Is there a ‘small-man-exacerbated-by-the-internet’ syndrome? I think we may have made a medical discovery.

Get other neighbours involved in a coordinated diary-keeping / complaint-making to the council. It isn’t difficult and doesn’t harm the dog – unlike some of the idiot schemes proposed here.

Also a prominent indentation on a coastline.

Google does a great job of such questions – I love it. :?

FSA. 440mm IIRC

Get the right sized frame – it is easier in the long run.

Thanks for that Dr Death – I worked the opening night at Shindig – I feel reet old now.

Thanks guys. There are provided houses in each location so I don’t exactly get a choice but I’m trying to be educated if I get an offer at each location.

Evidently you don’t understand the system at all – that a Med Centre takes out an enabling contract with a local opticians to provide the required service at zero cost to the customer. All that happens is the documentation is completed, signed and the opticians bill the med centre direct. Thats the system. You have made me laugh tho. I bet you’re a technical trade too. All the best.

Not being picky here but I can’t not mention it

The suit is full bespoke, if you go in to get measured up (or you can do your own measurements).

The suit is tailor made for you, not bespoke. The measurements were sent to a workshop in Nepal where the suit was made to those measurements and sent back to the UK.
Bespoke is fully hand cut and made on the premises and would also require several fittings before the finished atricle was fit to wear.
I just don’t want you thinking that is bespoke when bespoke is something very different.

Oh – the tie with that blue shirt is great – the shirt is shocking. The tie would look great with a plain shirt.

Don’t try too hard – it just looks like you tried too hard – not cool or anything alse. Plain shirt, splendid tie, good shoes, dark socks. Sorted.

psychle – how is that suit? I’ve wondered how these tailored numbers are – I know they are a step up from OTP but I went full bespoke for my last one. Well worth it.

If anyone is in the Midlands area and in need of a proper suit, I can recommend Coleman and Sons in Leicester. Great price and superlative tailoring and service.

So….you fail to understand the system, didn’t ask anyone who might have been able to help, did your own thing, got stung for it and bleat about it on a mountain biking forum.

Ring the Med Centre next time.

Hope That Helps.

I’d not grace a dull intended mis-spelling with a specific title – that would give both it and the originator far too much credence.

dunt

I’m a proud born and bred Geordie who delights in the strange crimes against the language born from regional variations. I certainly don’t equate non-standard use with a lack of ability. I object to someone who says something like

I think it’s very important, to master the language that you speak. I do find bad grammar annoying, as it shows that some people have been taught badly/been too lazy to learn.

and repeatedly uses ‘is not’ and other pointless mis-spelling throughout their posts.

If thats all OK with you of course.

*slaps baldy*

*runs away giggling*

One can’t help reading it when it is plastered all over the forum like a mad woman’s poo.

Is there anything worse than someone who bangs on about adoring the language and mastering it, then finding it both big and clever to butcher it as an act? ‘Mastering’ a language then playing the part of someone less able is a bit of a tedious act. IMHO of course.

I wish the little people were not so damned wealthy. About half the tubing needed for a great 29er there. Still – if your switch is flicked.

Stumpy – try riding through the middle of Stamford on a Saturday – down the hill across Scotgate then through town and over the bridge. It is an EXTREEEM thrill only for the rad and gnarly – and several dozen pedestrians who will do their damndest to not see you. Then there will be the motorists.

Stumpy – you highlight why I stay off the roads as much as possible around here. If you are going to live in the wilds of Deeping you’ll get scared by the yokels and retired far more often. Stamford is also full of bikeproof pedestrians who will always step out.

Stay off the roads!

If you can’t kick a man when he is down, when can you kick him?

I was working as Security and we had the Five Blind Boys of Alabama playing – knew it would be a hand-woven-from-lentil-flax world music kind of crowd so we were not exactly enthused.

5 old men who had sung in the same choir at the blind school they had attended in Alabama. They had the sweetest voices and backed by a great band. These old men (60 – 85) had never seen a days sunshine in their lives yet they were praising God for all he had given them. Their lead singer walked off the stage (with his helper) and sang from the audience, really getting amongst it.

There were agnostics, non-believers, doubters and heathens working that night – not one of us failed to be utterly humbled by these 5 old men and the immense power they brought with them – misty eyes and thousand yard stares a-plenty after they left.

Jesus Jones supporting the Wonder Stuff (Disco King tour). IMMENSE wall of wonderful sound.

Albert + hammock over the ramp = comfort

sfb – for once, first time ever, you have actually got it.

I used to live near soob (sniff, miss him so). If I was travelling down to meetings South of the M4, I’d have to get across the M40 before 0700 just to keep moving. They have improved the junction there (Handy Cross IIRC) which was one of the 2 worst traffic blackspots – in the whole UK! The routes from M40 to M4 will foul up given any accident on either road. If you work South of there, try to live South of there. Bits of HW are fine and the town is getting better, but the roads are getting worse.