As a soldier, especially at that time, it must have been a very difficult situation to find yourself in. The local population, or at least the people you saw on a regular basis, hated you with a passion, which they were at pains to make obvious everyday.

Then you're told repeatedly how dangerous these people are, before confronting what amounts to an angry mob. Yes, the demonstration may have been peaceful, but even peaceful demonstrations can be intimidating to those tasked to police them when they're significantly outnumbered.

Unless you've been there, it's very difficult to understand just how intimidating, and frightening, it can be.

Should the soldiers have opened fire if they weren't in imminent danger? No, of course not. Should individual soldiers be prosecuted after all this time? Personally I don't think so.

As others have had to accept the release of convicted terrorists under the Good Friday agreement, would it be wrong to expect the people of Derry to accept the vindication of their account of that day without pressing for prosecution of individual soldiers?

I guess we'll find out soon enough…

I once ran my zx9r at 12000 rpm for 15 mins (about 45 miles) on an empty German autobahn, chasing a friend who knew the way…

After a few minutes the little worrier in my head started to wonder for how long Kawasaki had tested them at max revs

We couldn't get our display ZX-10R in the race trailer after the Le Mans GP a few years ago, so I had to ride it back to Germany.

04.30 in the morning, empty autobahn and full throttle for an hour. The only distraction was the dash lights which kept flashing for some reason. Gave me a bit of a fright the first time they all lit up!

Here you go PeterPoddy

King Kenny's TZ750 at the Indy Mile

Someone posted a link to Kenny Roberts' TZ750 flat tracker. King Kenny did a few laps on the bike he said "they don't pay me enough to ride" at last year's Indy Mile in Indianapolis (it was on the same weekend as the Indianapolis MotoGP round).

He was only supposed to be doing a few demo laps, as he hadn't ridden the bike for over 30 years and, as he said himself, "a quick practice on the bike would have been a waste of time. Either I'll do it or I won't, but I've got my bone doctor on standby…"

They didn't look like demo laps when he got out there. He was pretty fast. Fast enough to convince Valentino Rossi that his request, made before Kenny's ride, to have a go was maybe a little bit rash! He bottled it in the end, saying "only Kenny can ride this bike…"

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I've just had this problem with the rear XT brakes on two of my bikes. The problem with mine was that air was still left in the caliper, despite using a syringe as described above to try and "suck" the air out.

The only way I could bleed them properly was to take the caliper off the mount and let it hang down so the bleed nipple was at the top. Bleeding them in this position allowed the air that was lodged in the opposite end of the caliper to the bleed nipple to escape upwards through the nipple.

Both brakes are now fine.

Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland

Monschau, and it's not that far from the ports either (just over the Belgian border – south of Aachen)

Cochem or Koblenz, on the Mosel/Rhine rivers, wine producing area, loads of campsites, boat trips and it's very picturesque. Not far from the Nürburgring Nordschleife either if that's your thing. Again not too far from the ports.

I have two young kids, who are now approaching the age when bullying can be an issue. I can't give iDave any first hand advice, because I've not been in a similar position.

However, I do have some experience of dealing with 'problem people' of similar persuasion to those that iDave has described. To pop round and visit violence upon these people is a tempting solution, but the consequences can be a lot worse than you ever imagined.

A quite word can easily lead to a punch up. Even if you win, you won't know whether retaliation is just around the corner – and that retaliation could well seriously injure or even kill you.

Sometimes the only way to deal with these people if every other avenue is closed is to put the fear of God into them. To frighten them so much that even thinking about retaliation brings them out in a cold sweat.

But how many of us are capable of doing that?

Maybe action dan could help out; he seems to have some good ideas on how to deal with people with a slightly different moral compass to the rest of us, although I doubt this approach would meet with TandemJeremy's approval.

I hope you get it sorted soon iDave; it must be a horrible situation to be in.

I camped right at the bottom of Pen-y-Fan last time I was there, in the woods next to the stream below Llyn Cwm Llwch. Didn't see another person for two days, although it was November!

I don't know if Seasonally Unadjusted are still running in Morocco. I was talking to one of their guides over the weekend when I was in Jerez and he said Jim had gone back to the UK. Don't know how true that is though.

The same guide (Domin) has set-up in Morocco and we're looking at going out there in November. Might be worth dropping him a line at domien@hotmail.es – he's Belgian, but his English is excellent.

I don't think he's sorted out his website yet, so I can't point you at that, but he was our guide when we went with Seasonally Unadjusted a few years ago and he was very good.

Head down towards the German border at Aachen. At Eupen (on the A40) turn off and head down to Monschau, which is just over the border. Fantastic area for outdoor activities and very picturesque too.

Back of Skiddaw is my favourite from Keswick…

The equivalent of Formula 1 hotels in Belgium are the Etap hotels. Cheap and cheerful, but okay.

They also have quite a few Best Western hotels that are reasonably priced.

Whereabouts in Belgium are you going?

The first record I ever bought was Milk and Alcohol by Dr. Feelgood.

Scargill claimed early on that was an agenda to close the pits whether they were economical or not

He may well have been bang on the money with that one…

Edukator, you're a teacher, what the **** do you know about the coal industry?

So only people who worked in the coal industry know about the coal industry? Is that what you're saying?

And what exactly was Scargill right about?

OOH SteveL you're so cool!
OOH SteveL that thread about commencal bearings for a measly £69.99 is amazing.
OOH SteveL you the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The thread about Commencal bearings was quite funny though, especially given your previous posts on mtbrider…

This is quite lightweight. Not sure how lightweight, but it can't be more than 25lbs.

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I have been known to listen to "Land of Hope and Glory" at max volume on rides. Does this count?

I can also recommend the Mawddach Trail. We did it a few times last year from Barmouth, over the railway bridge (which the kids loved) then along the side of the Estuary to the George III pub at Penmaenpool for lunch/liquid refreshments.

Kids were 7 and 9 at the time and had no problems at all with the route, which was about 16 miles. It's completely flat and well surfaced, which is a bonus for the kids.

This is the railway bridge crossing from Barmouth:

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Many thanks Mister P, a replacement has now been ordered.

jcromton – I misjudged a drop off, went half over the bars and landed on the brake lever with my head as the bike twisted sideways underneath me. It was quite painful!

I remember observing in court a man charged with burglary (a local smack head who could hardly keep his eyes open in court)! He was found in possession of a screwdriver (the offensive weapon). His defense argued that he legitimately had the item because he was on his way to his mothers to fix her front door.

Maybe his defence should have argued that he legitimately had the item because it was one of the tools of his trade (burglary). Or was he pleading not guilty to the burglary?

Still looking for an XTR lever if anyone knows anywhere where they can be bought separately.

How much do you want for it Postierich?

Funny how easy it is now for each of us to be given the level of surveillence previously reserved for drug smugglers & the IRA!

Just had a quick look outside and I can't see any blokes called Bob, wearing combat jackets and hiding in an OP contructed of chicken wire and horse dung…

But then, if they were there, would I see them anyway?

I will just assume that they are there and act accordingly 😯

+1 for Freefall by Tom Reid. Amazing book about one man's struggle with mental illness. It's worth reading Seven Troop by Andy McNab once you've read Freefall, for another view on Tom Reid.

Tom Reid, real name Charles Bruce, committed suicide by jumping from a light aircraft being flown by his girlfriend without a parachute in 2002. A tragic story given his background. The book ends well before this date, so I'm not giving anything away!

Christopher Brookmyre is good, as is Colin Bateman (or just Bateman now) who is the Northern Irish version of Brookmyre.

Half of our Moto2 team got stuck in Mugello, Italy. They took a train to Geneva this morning and are currently travelling on another train from Geneva to Calais, where they are hoping to stowaway on a cross channel ferry by hiding in the lifeboats.

I will let you know if their plan was successful!

The storage is there, but the people are not. Electronic communications are stored, but nobody will bother looking at them unless they're flagged or unless you end up being 'under investigation' for whatever reason.

If you start using a lot of trigger word such as bomb, plot, terrorist, plastic explosive etc in your emaila and telephone calls, or become a regular visitor to http://www.diysuicidebomber.com you probably don't have much to fear.

Unless you're having an affair with the wife of someone who works at GCHQ/NSA…

Did she used to go to Squires Nightclub in Preston?

I used to frequent Squires Nightclub in Preston back in the day but I'm not called Heidi..

We stayed at Hendre Mynach Campsite[/url] just outside Barmouth. The beach is literally 2 minutes walk away from the campsite.

You can ride down into Barmouth with the kids along the virtually traffic free seafront, where you can pick up the Mawddach Trail for some family cycling (to a nice pub).

Coed-y-Brenin in about 20 minutes away by car and the Pont Scethin route can be started from the top of the campsite.

Kids loved it, as there was plenty around the area to keep them occupied during the inevitable British summer rain!

We're doing exactly the same – heading for the Alps and stopping off at Eurodisney.

Main problem for us is that I need to find somewhere to store four bikes when we're at the park, as I obviously don't want to leave them on the back of the car.

Do any of the resort hotels have storage?

Ah Leyland, it's where I was brought up. Haven't been back in years, has it changed much?

I can second Worden Park, but I dount they still have the witches hat in the playground nowadays.

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Kenny Noyes, Catalunya Moto2 Test

Be very careful with the sizes, as Yetis do come up large compared to other frames. Normally I ride a large frame at 6' but the large Yeti 575 (2007 model) was too long in the top tube for me. I always felt like I was too stretched out and too high up.

Nice bike though.

I recently sent back an Edge 705 with a smashed screen. Cost was £90 (standard out of warranty repair charge) for a replacement unit, which I had back within a week.

Excellent service…

I took the grip shifts off both my kid's bikes because they were struggling with them. They both use trigger shifters now with no problems at all (age 8 and 10).

I discovered today that one of my friends on Facebook is also friends with simonfbarnes*.

I assume I should de-friend him immediately…

😀

*This is actually true!

Photography is easy, just spend as much money as you can on the kit and it will do it all for you!

Oh, apart from the composition thing, which requires a bit of 'creativity'. Having said that, half the people I've worked with who claim to be professional photographers don't seem to know where this setting is on the camera!

I'm quite proud of that – and I'm damn sure it's far cheaper to just fix everyone than try to work out how much to charge those not strictly entitled…

Anokdale didn't say that everyone shouldn't get fixed, what he said was that people on a reasonable income shouldn't be expected to pay again for treatment just because they can afford it, when they've already contributed though taxes.

Personally I think that if you have a big house, expensive car and an affluent lifestyle then really other tax payers should not be paying for your loved ones, you should.

But surely they are paying for their loved ones, through the extra tax they pay on the earnings that allow them to have a big house, expensive car and an affluent lifestyle?

Why should they pay twice?