They have a right to march under British law, so there's not really a lot we can do about it.

The Police, rather than banning the march, should be looking to have enough of a presence on the ground to ensure the safety of the marchers.

If necessary, the cost of this should be passed on to the organisers, who in this case are Islam4UK.

I don't support any group that claims to be a platform for extremists, whatever their religion, but I do support their right to protest.

I'm ex-forces (or ex-paid oppressor as my brother's father in law insists on calling me) and, if I'm honest, I didn't really care what people back home in the UK said or thought when I was out in the Gulf in '91. Having said that, it was a lot less dangerous then!

Lot's of the superbike boys use it in there tyres.

Not any more they don't. Nitrogen was used in extemely hot conditions a few years ago, but nobody uses it anymore as there was no real advantage.

The only place you'll find nitrogen on a superbike now is in the front forks and rear shock. On a MotoGP bike it's also used by some teams to run the pneumatic valvetrain, but most stick with good old compressed air.

A quick blast on the XC bike and then back home for lunch. Perfect

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This year I intend to learn to ride downhill fast(er).

Buy Downhilly type bike – check
Buy full face helmet – check
Dig out body armour from MX days – check
Book holiday in Morzine – check
Increase personal injury insurance – check
Grow bigger b@lls – oh dear…

The local A&E department are already on standby. Luckily they have all my details from the the year my New Year resolution was to start racing MX!

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I've got exactly this set-up. I carry four full size bikes, although the kids' bikes are only 14" hardtails (adult size though).

The 9081 extension goes on easy enough and the rack is very easy to mount and unmount from the car.

The bikes go on really easily, but you'll need to think about it the first time you load them as you need to take into account the various sizes and the fact that you need to get the longest holding clamp over two bikes to attach it to the frame of the third bike on the rack.

I usually load one of the 14" bikes nearest the car, then the wife's medium hardtail, then my Yeti 575 (which is the tallest) with the last 14" bike going on the 9081 extension with the additional clamp on the yeti.

Even then I have to take the seatpost out of the yeti, otherwise it would get badly scratched by the two sets of handlebars/brake levers either side

Once it's on the car it's pretty solid, and the tilting mechanism is really easy to use with even four bikes on the rack.

Overall, it's the best bike rack I've ever used and you don't end up with scratches all over your frames from the bikes rubbing together like you do when you use the 'hang-on' style racks.

Well worth the £250 I paid for it and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Maybe head down to the Ballinastoe trails in County Wicklow, which is only about 40 minutes/1 hour South from Drogheda.

More info here[/url].

The same site also has loads of information on other trails in Ireland, both North and South.

5 Belize

I thought the book was pretty good. Met him a few times through motorcycle racing and I have to say, he does come across as a bit of a cock. Can't fault him for trying the Dakar though…

Many thanks theBikechain

The Downhill mountain biking opportunities don't look to be too good in Denmark!

Downhill in Denmark

I managed to circumnavigate The Lakes quite happily on my epic fitted with Panaracer Fire XC Pro tyres.

I've got a Saris bones rack. It's okay on my Alfa 156 saloon, but I daren't use it on my Audi A4 Estate, as it just looks like it's going to fall off even when the car is stationary!

Saris do a slightly different rack for estates, or cars with a flat rear. Might be worth checking these out on their website.

I don't use my Saris rack now, having bought a Thule Euro 909 and 4th bike adaptor, which s tow bar mounted.

Royal Mail are pretty good here in Norn Irn as well. Never had a problem with them and the postie is always cheerful, even in the crap weather we're having at the moment.

Penmachno back in February

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I didn't know Burt Reynolds was into mountain biking…

I used to run Fox 36 Talas, but I switched to a Fox 32 Float 140 to lighten the bike up a bit. I actually prefer it with the 140mm forks, and it's certainly easier to pedal uphill – although that might have more to do with switching from a double and bash to an XT triple chainset.

I read all three of the original Bourne books in a single weekend way back in 1985 – just couldn't put them down.

They all hung themselves.

What, at the same time?

Was it some sort of suicide pact?

Did the subsequent police report mention anything about "suspicious circumstances"?

You need to be a bit careful approaching parents. Sometimes it's better to find out if other kids have had the same problems, and if their parents have ever spoken to the bully's parents.

My 9 year old son was being bullied by a lad of 13 who lives near us. The bully is on anti-depressants and receives counselling for depression. I'd let it go for a long time, as the bullying wasn't that serious and my lad just shrugged it off most of the time.

This lad has bullied his way through most of the younger local kids, but nothing gets done about it because his father is in the police and gets very, very aggressive when approached about the behaviour of his son, even when the person approaching him is female. He is also 'with drink' on a lot of these occasions and has assaulted people in the past.

Both parents are also quite happy to lie about their son's behaviour.

One day he gave my young lad a right kicking. Holding him down and punching him in the face repeatedly. I'd had enough. I went up to speak to the parents, who claimed that they'd seen everything and that my son started it.

I asked them why, if they'd seen everything, they hadn't stepped in and stopped it before my son had received facial injuries. They had no answer, except for the father to become very aggressive towards me, because, once again, they were lying to protect their son and had seen nothing.

I told him very calmly that I wouldn't accept any aggressive behaviour from either him, towards me, or his son, towards my lad, in the future.

His response was "or else what"? So I told him that I blamed him and his wife for failing to bring their son up with a proper sense of what was right and wrong, and that I would be holding him responsible for his son's actions in the future.

I explained to him that if his son ever gave my lad a similar beating, I'd be round to dole out the same to him. No talking, no discussions, as it was obvious that he was beyond reasoning with.

We have had no trouble since.

They will be moving soon anyway, as he got convicted of drink driving by the local constabulary recently and lost his job as a result. So much for his 'mates' in the police!

Not an ideal solution, but sometimes there really is no reasoning with people.

I hope it doesn't come to this in the OP's case.

Escalation of violence can happen, as I found out.

We used to have a bloke at school who was a bit of a bully. Didn't really bully me, as I was a lot bigger than most people in my year, but he used to make certain people's lives a misery.

He got a bit carried away on the rugby pitch one day and raked me with his studs. No problem, all sorted out later when he tried to continue outside the changing rooms.

20 years later I pole up at a school reunion and this bloke offers me outside to pay me back for this incident, which I'd completely forgotten about.

I pointed out to him that I kicked his arse 20 years before, and did he really think I wouldn't be able to do it again, especially as he'd put on about 5 stone and was a little bit on the fat and wheezy side!

So I would day, yes. Tell your son to hit the bully back, but be careful at any school reunions in the future!

Stoner said:

Nice pic wheelz. Was that taken with a compact camera or SLR?

It was taken with a Canon G9 compact. The Robin was literally about 20cm from where I was sat, right on the edge of the table.

42 – self employed in the field of motorcycle industry/motorcycle sport PR, Media and Marketing, including commentating on MotoGP (but only on the Red Button in the UK).

Here's a Robin from last weekend's ride at Coed-y-Brenin. He was at my sandwich while I was eating it!

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Tickets sorted for Belfast, all done by the missus.

Conor Said:

I'd like to give it a shot on a HT.

So you'll be there on the Cove next year then Conor?

He's fixed it now…

After many messages on Twitpic!

That's quite worrying, as I'm off to Coed-y-Brenin this weekend. Are these trails definitely closed, because I don't fancy riding the Tarw Trail and Dragons Back over and over again!

Might have to go elsewhere if this is the case.

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Has that worked?

Edit: It seems so!

You need to be a bit careful using an Edge 705 on a mountain biking, especially if, like me, your "skillz" are a little lacking.

This happened today – over the bars and bike into a handily placed tree. The Garmin was on the handlebars and is now properly busted. Thankfully Garmin offer a fixed fee repair service!

This is mine. Sebastien Pourcel launching his Kawasaki KX450F in a quarry near Charleroi in Belgium.

We were doing a MotoGP v MXGP feature with Pourcel, Anthony West and Livia Lancelot when the photo was taken.

Pourcel was fast, while Livia Lancelot was good looking and fast!

Ah, The The. One of my favourite 'bands' of the '80s.

Lockable cycle storage – 1

Bike washing facilities – 2

Kit washing and drying facilities – 3

Basic bike spares (tubes etc) – 9

Easy Access to Pub/local amenities – 3

Food and energy drinks for the next days ride – 9

Drying room – 4

Locally sourced food for evening meal and breakfast – 4

En-suite – 4

TV – 8

I've bought two brand new Carrera Kraken frames (14") for £25 each over the past three weeks from a charity seller on eBay.

One has been built up with 26" wheels for my 10-year-old son, and the other is currently being built up with 24" wheels for my 8-year-old daughter.

They don't have any of the 14" Kraken frames up for sale at the moment, but they do come up quite often. They do have a 16" frame, but this will probably be too big

The seller's items for sale are on this link

This is the 26" wheeled one:

Suzanne Hoffs still looks pretty good now…

Susanna Hoffs

I always use Via Michelin

Endorfin Speed II XC bike. Not raced much, but it has done a Merida Marathon and the Brecon Beast this year. It's also my 'all-day' bike at the moment.

Winter tyres fitted at the moment…

No, I had the forks in the spares box. The steerer got dented at the top, so I had to cut it down and then it was too short to fit any of my bikes. Fits this nicely though.

Thin Red Line, and I wasn't the only one who walked out that night either.