Driving on the autobahn in Germany is a pleasure compared to driving on the motorway here. The Germans drive faster, but their lane discipline is much better. Actually, their overall standard of motorway driving seems to be much better than ours.

Just be aware, when they do have an accident it’s usually a big one, which can result in the mainly two-lane autobahns being bumper to bumper for hours.

I’d recommend Sierra Cycling[/url]. Based on the beach in Fuengirola with a communal swimming pool, free beer in the fridge and top guiding and trails.

We went in November and we’re going back in March.

I designed the stickers on your bike!

From what I remember about building mine up, the conical bit doesn’t have a nut on it. if you look here the correct one is the one on the far left.

I seem to remember I had to grip the end in a set of pliers to get the collar on.

The collar is definitely the right one though.

You need two of this one Barry

I used to have Avid Juicy 7s and Ultimates. I also had the bleed kit and bleeding both models was a doddle. Just follow the instructions that come with the bleed kit and everything will be fine*

*But don’t blame me if it isn’t!

The only review of the braided hoses on the Superstar website doesn’t look too promising…

Review here

I don’t suppose you have a GPS track of your route do you SteveCHT?

The video from yesterday’s ride (push) around the Mourne Mountains

Ferry prices from/to Ireland are a joke, and always have been. You are unlikely to get a decent deal and there are very few offers available throughout the year.

Lack of competition I guess, because the ferries are always busy whenever I use them.

Steve CHT how do you join Ballinastoe and Djouce together?

I once asked Brad Pitt if he raced in the AMA Superbike Championship. To be fair, I knew who he was, I only did it to annoy my colleagues who were all queuing up for his autograph.

I also interviewed Antonio Banderas, who seemed like a nice chap.

Hmm, I thought I’d ammassed a few bikes until I started reading this thread…

5 for me:
Santa Cruz Blur LT
Intense 6.6SS
Cotic BFe
Wilier Road Bike
Kenesis CX bike

The Cotic BFe frame was the first new frame I’ve ever bought. All the other bikes have been built up from secondhand parts, either from here or from eBay.

Then the two kids have got a bike each, as has the missus.

The utility hardtail…

The trail bike…

The road bike…

Erding is where the Erdinger brewery is located.

Enough said, I think!

Cotic BFe with Joplin 3 (lever)

Blur LT with Joplin 3 (remote)

I’ve got one and used it to carry road bikes, XC bikes and even a DH bike (although that was a tight squeeze).

It’s survived around 20 trips in the past two years, with only a bit of scuffing on the corners to show for it.

Ziggy says there’s a 98.4% chance of option E resulting in a happy ending.

Quantum Leap, one of my all time favourite programmes!

The snow is finally starting to disappear here in Northern Ireland…

[/url]
Boxing Day Ride[/url] by ianswheeler[/url], on Flickr

I am about 3 stones overweight. Apart from pottering about on the bike I’ve done very little in the way of fitness training for the past 10 years. So, the aim this year is to lose 3 stones and resume training, so that I’m fit enough to do the Kielder 100 and the 3 Peaks Cyclocross race in September.

meep meep!

I got a Jamie oliver cooking book….despite everytime he comes on TV I express my dislike for the man and have nothing but praise for Nigel Slater. Also she booked us a weekend in some fancy hotel in the lakes….can’t even take my bike because we have to ‘do stuff’ together.

So, basically she just bought you what she wanted…

It’s a wind up, poking fun at American christian fundementalists. Quite elaborate though!

SWMBO bought me a cross frame, with a little prompting. The only problem is, someone has now promised to give £100 to charity if I do the 3 Peaks in September. I’m hoping I don’t get an entry…

I promise to pay the £100 myself if I don’t!

I bought something from him recently, which arrived in reasonable time and as described. Actually, in my case, his communication was pretty good.

wheelz what camera do you use?

It’s a Contour HD. If I had to buy a camera again, I’d go with the Go Pro HD though, just because the chest harness is much better for mountain biking videos.

A recent video production…

Not the gritstone version, but a recent purchase that I am very, very happy with. The full sus hasn’t been out of the garage since I got it…

I’m 5’11” and had a large 575 and a medium ASR-SL at the same time a year or so ago. The large 575 was far too long in the top tube for me, whereas the ASR-SL in medium was perfect.

You are Valentino Rossi and I claim my £5…

I managed to bust a rear mech, snap the mech hanger, twist the chain and then bend a hardtail frame in one day at Lake Garda!

Only other damage on the trail was a rear mech.

We were out in Fuengirola with Sierra Cycling a couple of weeks ago. Accommodation was spot on and the two days riding we did was more flowy singletrack than the rockfest we had in the Sierra Nevadas a few years before.

Good group of people and I would definitely recommend them.

The accommodation is about 60 metres from the seafront in Fuengirola. Restaurants in town were okay, but the seafront restaurants are all a bit ‘Blackpool”.

As said above the riders couldn’t care less

Don’t be too sure! I spent all last week trying to convince a Moto2 rider that yellow, silver and purple wasn’t too bad a livery!

Paris, by releasing this image, helped me out a lot!

No, not a wind up, it’s in their official presentation, which can be downloaded from the Supermartxe website[/url]

Damn, wrong forum. On the other hand, it is a bike…

Your defence if the copper seems dangerously close to assuming they are just automatons obeying orders and they can therefore never be held accountable for their action in squeezing the trigger.

The Police should always be accountable, especially where firearms are deployed and used.

In the case in point the intelligence was wrong, but the officer acted on that intelligence in good faith.

True, there may have been ample opportunity for a bomb to be detonated had there been one, but there’s no such thing as an experienced suicide bomber and people do strange things when they are put under pressure, more so when they’re about to blow themselves to paradise I suspect.

At the end of the day, all shootings by the Police should continue to be investigated, not just to ensure that the rules were followed but also, like TJ said, to see if there are new lessons to be learnt.

It’s these investigations that will ensure that the police don’t simply become automatons but remain accountable for their actions.

On another note, I wonder how many officers who do actually pull the trigger and kill someone leave CO19, or even the Police, not long afterwards?

Agreed he killed him with cold calculating ruthless efficiency of a highly trained police operative killing an innocent man

This is completely correct. The chain of command failed de Menendez and the officer involved because intelligence indicated, incorrectly, that de Menendez was a terrorist when, quite clearly, he wasn’t. The officer did his job based on the information given to him.

More armed coppers would mean more inncoent peole killed and more coppers

I also agree with this, too.

DE MENEZES EAS ALREADY RESTRAINED – HE POSED NO CREDIBLE THREAT.

You don’t know that. In the case of suicide bombers “restrained” doesn’t necessarily mean “threat eliminated”, because there are 101 ways for a suicide bomber to detonate a bomb.

A dead suicide bomber definitely can’t trigger a bomb and, with a dead suicide bomber it’s far easier to check, in the limited time available, for the timing device that is often used just in case the suicide bomber has second thoughts before detonation.

Because of this you can’t possibly know that “even if de Menendez had a bomb, shooting him was not needed.”

As for your other point…

On one hand you say you’ve never blamed the officers, yet on the other you say “…the cop clearly lost control. He pumped an entire magazine into a man who was being restrained on the ground.”

That sounds quite critical on your part, even if you came to this conclusion based on your inaccurate assumption (despite it being very easy to check) that a Glock 17 magazine only holds eight rounds.

And on that note, I’m out…

Riders Retreat[/url] or Jolly Good Holidays.

Did Jolly Good last year and we’re doing Riders Retreat this year. Both are literally five minutes walk into the centre of town.