Ha. Saw this too and thought about sticking it up here but apathy got the better of me. I think most walkers don’t realise that their ascent / descent is three times less than what the average Jo on a bike can manage.

JCL – don’t you watch telly? Monkeys will eat pretty much anything; beetles, snails, scorpions… Seen it first hand in the tiny piece of Malaysia which is left over to jungle. SA too. Gibbons will snap up anything that moves.

Eating a healthy, balanced diet with a bit of tuna, veggies, pulses, nuts and red meat has not equated to a flabby arsed family here. I double dare you to a butt cheek photo stand off. Smellevision off. *girding loins and waking toddler in anticipation of actual standoff*

And primates never eat ants, snails or any other carnivorous forms of protein…

Come now, this is STW, is it so very different from not feeding them spaghetti sky monsters ( how I hate that derogatory phrase ).

Anyway. I’m a big fan of letting your kids make their own choices when they’re ready to do so. My wife is a committed vegetarian and I would be happy to see my son go the same way when he knows his own mind. Meantime, he’ll eat mince when appropriate.

Well, being vegan doesn’t make you weak so the problem doesn’t lie with her, er, musculature. But I’m sure you knew that.

Son is also vegan (20mths)

Not casting aspersions and we all have to make choices for our kids, based on our experiences of life but that’s very, very young for a kid to be taken out of the traditional food chain.

Treated myself to a new MW heavyweight zipped fleece last year – discounted but still not hugely cheap. It’s unusable due to the fact the forearms become soaked with sweat within minutes of mild exertion. This very quickly gets very cold and uncomfortable. Hopeless.

I’m confused. Do I need to update my big hitters list or not?

Just for the record, I did bring my mtb all the way to Aberdeen for Xmas and haven’t been out once. I think I’m in the BH running.

As a similar struggler (drug free for a few decades now), I’d highly recommend ignoring anything you read on this post. Even this.

Well, maybe buy a packet of Hamlets and a bottle of whisky.

Had to drive to Aberdeen again to sit watching You’ve Been Framed and Emmerdale with the inlaws.

But… the weather’s looking nice on Christmas day so for us two it will be smoked salmon and scrambled egg followed by a bike ride and dinner with lashings of booze.

Oh God. I married the wrong person, didn’t I?

“You’re so vain, I bet you think this song is about you.” Said by the wrong person at the wrong time…

I have very black hair, my wife is very blonde and our two year old is also quite blonde. I had white hair (like Village of the Damped white) until I was nearly three, so I suspect anything is possible!

Can’t wait to give the Sandstone Way a try! As for miserable bike shop staff, it doesn’t get any worse than the shop – in – a – trailer at Hamsterley. The young lad who ‘works’ there is Kevin the Teenager with severe pmt.

They’ve spelt, “hardcore” wrong.

jive honey – I know :-(
Thanks mcmoonter – was hoping you’d comment. Good info there thanks. Despite their awfulness I do quite like them. They hung in my grandad’s toilet and I used to like looking at them when I was a kid.

Cheers – my grandad owned the paintings and I know they were a gift from the artist. I suspect they won’t make me rich then…

Like button And I reckon it’s nature over nurture. If generations of dogs have been bred to chase stuff, they’ll do it no matter what. Throw whatever you like :-)

Along with a fair few others from here, I bought a MinUte when CRC were knocking them out for £300. It’s my most used bike now, with a cheapo kid seat sometimes clamped to the seat post.

Love the riding position and forced, chilled out riding style. Also gets used for the short journey to the local park for family photo shoots with all my kit in the panniers.

Surprisingly able on singletrack too (I stuck cyclocross tyres on it).

A £60 downhill stem which I bought and tried to paint black. I don’t have a downhill bike :oops:

Repack – your signature has vanished. Good. Thank you. For pretty much everything.

Peter May’s Island trilogy is very, very good. Detective stuff but done well with a bit of interesting history thrown in. I’d go so far as to say it’s the best set of books I’ve read these last few years and I read a lot.

Also, “I don’t suffer fools gladly” = prat.

MrNice – Member

and I’m sure we can find someone you could call a **** if you’re feeling left out

That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me *weeps*

Do spare a thought for all us sole trader, self employed types as you roger the girl from accounts and call your boss a ****. I would love a decent night out.

Was sick as a dog at about 7ish (but not as sick as fin25’s dog!) and slept until 9pm. Was then wide awake and feeling like death until 2 am when my body pretty much shut down.

Awoken by two year old demanding to watch Baby Jake on the Kindle at 4am. So not much sleep but there are worse things in the world than sleep deprivation. Like a dog shitting in your bed.

The 39 Steps. Any of the various versions. Fantastic caper :-)

Al, after accidentally cooking a pizza with the polystyrene base still attached some years ago, I no longer make any assumptions when it comes to processed food. I scraped off the topping and had it on toast if you’re wondering…

Whoosh is it? Well ta for that. Too uninterested to Google, just interested enough to post again.

CFH – I have one every time I buy one.
brakes – there are two kinds – one which needs cooked and one which is edible straight out of the packet. And yes, both taste better fried but I am not a patient man.

Thanks all. Will continue to remove it whenever possible. I often just sit with a beer and a knife and scoff it, so it’s not always cooked.

Just joyous :-D

Unbearably giant egos, slogging it out once again. Go buy a bicycle then come and report back to us.

Perhaps five years ago after a night out with work mates. Got chatting to some random guy at the bar and we each spent about £50 buying each other malts. Ended up with all my colleagues back at mine – I staggered the full length of the living room before toppling forward into an ornate door handle and nearly ripping my ear off. It was the same size as my head for a few days.

Wow! You can see why they scared the wits out of folk in the olden days…

Snap ’em in half to save their postage costs then.

be prepared to shit it out.

We can’t all be paragons of Godlike driving but I try or be, and post this in the hope that people who don’t indicate at roundabouts might read it.

Use your **** indicators at roundabouts you selfish, inconsiderate ****.

Sometimes, on days like today, I’m very glad to be working from home, sat in a comfy chair in the office, gazing out at the mizzle collecting in the corners of the window and the encroaching gloaming enfolding the trees and fields in its dusky embrace.

Got ****’ soaked out with the dog earlier though.

Some of my dog photos from the past month…

And the original hairy dog, Kasper…

Battered tatties

Down here it’s all about smashing yer pastie. Sad but true.

Try hitting up the nicotine pills for a few months. The phenylalanine guarantees a constant stream of bum pumps pretty much at will. No longer sure if I’m addicted to the nicotine or the hilarious arse japes.

John drummer – never heard any Jon Bon Jovi?!