.

Cheers stumpy01. I have every intention of taking it all the way to court if necessary, as I was in no way liable.

It’s become a matter of principle now, as she refuses to accept responsibility for her mistake and that’s a particular bugbear of mine.

I’m already £350 out of pocket, as I had to pay the excess when I collected the car from the repair workshop. Obviously I will get this back if I’m deemed not at fault in the future, but it’s still annoying.

A similar thing happened to me about four weeks ago. Driving slowly through a car park on the main thoroughfare and a young girl in a hurry to get to work pulled out of one of the parking rows without looking, on the wrong side of the road, straight into the nearside wing of my car. No witnesses.

She admitted liability on the spot, gave me all her details and said that her father was a mechanic and would be able to repair the damage. I got the car home and, on checking, there was a lot of damage and it was obvious it was going to be expensive.

So, I called the insurance company and left it for them to deal with.

Surprise, surprise, she refused to admit liability (when her insurance company eventually contacted her – she didn’t report it) and now her insurance company want to go knock for knock, which would cost me a £350 excess and whatever premium increase my insurance company deem appropriate. Their argument is that it was in a car park , so I should have been paying more attention.

My argument is that she should have been looking where she was going, stopped before pulling out and that I was in no way to blame for the collision.

Luckily, although it wasn’t reported to the police, I got loads of photos of the collision that also showed the position of both cars in relation to the main thoroughfare. When I checked the OS maps for the area I discovered that the part of the car park I was on is classed as a road, as it is the only access to the street behind the car park, so it was no different to her pulling out of a T-Junction without looking.

I am still awaiting a response to this information from her insurance company, but I’m not holding my breath.

If something like this happens again then I won’t be going anywhere until the Police have attended!

Last time I was in Doha, back in March, there was talk of building a road riding route (quite a long one) around the city that was partially covered and used water aerosols to keep it cool. Not sure if they ever got around to building it though.

I’ve had two of them and would definitely have another. If it’s the SS2 frame then the price is okay. If it’s the SS1 frame then he’s about £200 too high.

The death of Marco Simoncelli has hit everyone in the MotoGP paddock extremely hard. The guy was fast on a bike, even a little out of control at times, but he was also one of the most approachable riders in Grand Prix racing.

He had a laid back approach off the bike and always had time for people, even those he didn’t know from Adam. He was criticised heavily by other riders, but didn’t let it get to him, bouncing back with one-liners that had press conferences in stitches. He really was an all-round nice guy.

The dignity his father has shown at such a sad time is inspiring, and it’s obvious from whom Marco inherited his outlook on life.

The Italian media can be pretty intense at times, but Paolo Simoncelli’s response when questioned by them on arrival at the airport in Rome was, as I said, inspiring.

You can read it here…

Super Sic will be sorely missed by everyone in the MotoGP paddock.

I’ve had two Slopestyle frames, both the earlier version and not the SS2.

I built the first one up with a double and bash and used to pedal it around quite happily. Wouldn’t say it was an all-day bike, but it was great for trail centre days. It weighed around 34lbs IIRC, so it was no lightweight. Fantastic on the downs though.

The second one I had I built up with a single chainring up front and used it for more downhill orientated riding. Could keep up fairly well with mates on DH bikes on most runs.

Never had any problems at all with mine, with the exception of the pivot bolts, which are prone to falling out if not secured with loctite.

Sold the last SS to buy a DH hill bike, which I’ve since sold on. Was on the look out for another Intense SS frame, but bought a Froggy 518 instead.

A very courageous man no doubt, but an instrument of war and a bringer of suffering nevertheless.

I think the 25 hostages freed by the actions of John McAleese and his colleagues on 5 May 1980 would disagree with you about the “bringer of suffering” comment.

Actually, a double tap from a H&K MP5K doesn’t leave much time for suffering…

Can’t remember if I’ve posted this before, but this is from our summer trip to Morzine/Les Gets this year.

I had the HD, which I then swapped for the GPS. Big mistake. The video quality was far worse with the GPS than the HD, and the thread on the Contour forum related to this problem was massive.

I think they’ve fixed it with a software update now, but I got rid and replaced it with a GoPro, which I find much better (if only for the mounting options)

I’ve also got a couple of entries up for sale. Email in profile if anyone wants them.

I’ve just seen people with Foot Locker bags and boxes of phones

Down with Foot Locker and mobile telecommunications companies. I’m with you brothers!

Actually, one of the best things about the wheel compartments is that you don’t have to mess about taking your discs off (and then putting them back on again when you arrive), as they’re protected by the tubing used to reinforce the bag so can stay on the wheels.

Having said that, I hate removing/mounting discs so much that my do it all bike that I usually travel with has Centrelock hubs for exactly this reason!

The wheel compartments are one of the best things about the bag. I got a set of Deemax wheels (150mm rear) with 2.5 Highrollers in the wheel compartments with no problems, although I did have to let a bit of air out of the tyres first.

I took a fully kitted Medium Intense 951 with Boxxer forks to Morzine in an Evoc bike bag, with plenty of room left over to cram in body armour, full face helmet, tools and all my riding gear for the week. (It wasn’t going in a plane this time, so weight wasn’t an issue).

The bag is far easier and quicker to pack than the CRC bag I had before, as well as being much easier to pull around. I bought it after Easyjet destroyed my second CRC bag in less than a year!

Expensive, but well worth the money IMHO.

Can’t see why she couldn’t give it a go with Sierra Cycling. The last time we went we had a complete novice (female) with us who managed most of the trails without any problems…

I can also recommend Skiidy.

I’ve done a couple of trips with Sierra Cycling. They were ideal for us, as we were a group of blokes just looking for a few days mountain biking after testing at Jerez.

Both the riding and the guiding were excellent. Would definitely recommend them. The hardtail I hired after busting my Blur was also in good nick and well maintained.

The riding in the video below was done with Sierra Cycling. Most of the video was shot around Alora…

I’ve worked in two-wheeled motorsport for the past 13 years, but on the PR and Marketing side. Got into it by accident really, but what people have already mentioned about the long hours and time away from home applies just as much to the non-engineering side of the job.

I did ten years with a factory World Superbike/MotoGP Team (Kawasaki) and I was away from home for around 240 days a year. I spent so much time in Malaysia over the winter while we were testing each year, I probably qualify for dual citizenship.

I’m now freelance, working for teams that this year are racing on two wheels in Moto2 and the Endurance World Championship and on four wheels in the FIA GT1 World Championship, Blancpain Endurance Series (I’ve just survived my first 24-Hours of Spa), and Le Mans.

I’m 43 now, with two kids, but I wouldn’t swap jobs for the world!

First single was Milk and Alcohol by Dr. Feelgood

First Album was Never Mind The Bollocks

Many thanks for your help. I will peruse the suggested websites and maybe even get in contact with Neil if I have time while I’m there.

Et voila…

Muff Diving Club[/url]

Many thanks Ambrose!

Could I get the XC routes as well Ambrose?

Cheers…

I did my rigger test on the one remaining radar tower at Stenigot. Sliding down the outside of the tower in wellies was an experience I’ll never forget!

This was Les Gets and Morzine just over a week ago…

I have a GoPro and will be taking it to Morzine with me next week. I like shooting video and then editing it together, either to look back on a great holiday at a later date, or for my SO to prove to my life insurance providers that it wasn’t suicide and that they should pay out to my surviving dependants.

I can also recommend the 601 trail, but you do need to be… errr… committed!

You can do 601 in the dark too, if you’re completely mad, as we were. all the rocks are white, so they reflect light quite well, making it really easy to see which one was responsible for removing your rear mech.

I’m banned from planning mountain bike trips now…

We took a complete novice – he’d never ridden a mountain bike – around The Beast at Coed-y-Brenin. He walked a couple of short sections, but was fine on the rest. He did crash into a tree, but that was a mistake any of us could have made and he was uninjured.

He’s now a complete convert and is coming to Morzine with us in two weeks time…

Tried Hugin, but got the best results with Photoshop’s Photomerge function.

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Carlingford Panorama[/url] by ianswheeler[/url], on Flickr

Cheers for that retro83. I will give them a try.

Anyone got any suggestions/recommendations for photo stitching on a Mac?

Your German needs to be good though.

I thought my German was good, but I proved to be misguided.

Translation errors saw us doing the Adrenaline Line, on hardtails, in the dark.

It was the best day’s mountain biking I’ve ever done, despite the extensive damage to both bike and body!

There are a couple of shops in Torbole that offer guiding. The one opposite the main public car park in the centre also runs regular bus uplifts to the top of the trails. All the details are on a board outside the shop, but you’ll need to check timings and then maybe book for the following day.

A few of mine from the racetrack…

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Leon Haslam[/url] by ianswheeler[/url], on Flickr

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Andrea Iannone[/url] by ianswheeler[/url], on Flickr

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Scott Redding[/url] by ianswheeler[/url], on Flickr

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Scott Redding[/url] by ianswheeler[/url], on Flickr

What, France?

If that’s what it takes…

I’d echo Penguinni’s post. Please ‘like’ the Facebook page, even if you don’t know where Northern Ireland is!

If you don’t and they do get away with excluding us from the forests here, we’ll only end up annoying you by heading over to the mainland and getting in your way at trail centres.

Click here for the Facebook page…

I took the family (wife and two kids – 8 and 9) for a week last year, and I was out on my bike for much longer than an hour…

There’s a big outdoor swimming pool, plus horse riding, a Go Ape type place (which was good fun with the kids), an all weather bobsleigh and a few other attractions.

The only problem you’ll have is the weather. If it rains, which it does in Morzine, then keeping kids amused can be a bit of a problem.