I think he’s generally alright, but he has a book to sell…

And over the years it has become obvious that when otherwise normal people have a book to sell, then they will behave like complete bell-ends for a few weeks.

Having a moan at Wiggo seems fair enough for him, given his superdomestiquing and part ownership of Slipstream.

But at least Wiggo when he behaves like a cock realises it, and then very publicy and usually amsuingly says ‘Sorry I was behaving like a complete cock ‘ – this is inherently likeable in a way that DM’s never quite accepting his culpability isn’t.

He has also since upgraded his ‘wont get in the Top 10’ asessment of Wiggins to ‘could get in the Top 5’ 🙂

I can hear the ‘White saddle’ alarm ringing at Transition HQ now.

Kyle will be bollocking GRF over brand reputation damage before you can say ‘bar ends on riser bars’ 🙄

If he’s that good at 14 he should think about it – amazing – kids are brilliant at not knowing what they should not be able to do 🙂

14 LOL

No way at that age he should taking fashion tips from GRF – even if he’s done him a deal

If he’s a good mate buy him a tub of Minty arse lard once in a while – he will need it – or a gel cover for his saddle

If you like it, get it, you will not look like a nob riding a bianchi and it’s nice looks will make you want to ride it more and you have spent well

Your mate he fail

It will be because they are nicest looking bikes at entry level with the best colour and are ‘italian’

That’s all you need to know

What does your mate ride?

So…

Inspired by this thread I went for a ride on Leith today doing something like this route…

And I saw 3 lots of people. One was another MTB rider in the car park , another wasca group of young mums and kids on path to tower and the last was a (miserable) dog walker when I did windy willows before going MEGA 🙂

And then i did not see a single soul – including journey back to starveall

This was 2-4pm on fri avo in June on some of the most desirable land in our crowded isle – which is anything but IMO

If riders want to do this kind of thing I guess all they need to do is take 1/2 day off

This thread is awesome to the power rad

Personally, I have given up the full lycra on the commute, as it does just as much harm to our perceived image as running red lights (which it can be either safe or dangerous to do, if you dont know that then you lack experience and judgement and should not be telling others what to do). And I dont get spat at or have amsuing ‘got any drugs?’ comments. Well not as much

I also witness far more oboxnious behaviour by riders in lycra who think they are ‘real cyclists’ (ie done a few sportives) than timotei chicks, hipsters, altura dads, suits on bromptons and other kinds of normal people.

What I find most annoying though is people who think they know better than you do what is best for you, and then tell you, or even less effectively, post about it on Interweb forums.

But each to their own eh?

😆

In 10+ years of cycle commuting in central London I can think of NO occassion when another cyclist running a red light has put ME in danger.

Therefore ‘**** off lycra boy” seems entirely justified as a response.

Yeah fair do’s.

I wonder if J1m would let us run through on his land? 🙂

yes bent_udder – If I’m going to stack bad then I need to go all the way and leave it to life insurance. If Mrs Winterfold is on here asking about Hayes brakes let me know :D. The sickness and accident insurance is too expensive and looks too difficult to claim on.

What the State provides is fair enough – dont have problems with people claiming that – the DWP arent going to sue the Forestry Commission cos I fell off Cliff Richard though are they? Not that I do those, too much chance of it going pear-shaped to be responsible.

Broken collarbone type stuff should be doable as it is ‘knowledge work’ so not like being a builder.

Better check the small print on the CTC membership…

would be funny to see jedi on the ladders in one of those and a 3 piece suit – riding a guv’nor 😆

rangerbill – I would consult urban dictionary before wearing that t-shirt round your mum’s

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=spaff%27n%27pabb

I would have complete sympathy for the dog walker above (hence CTC 3rd party but would prefer they never got hit) but as self employed worker if I take risks, stack and am off work there is only one person to blame…

I also sympathise with the pressure on landowners face. Particulary as you describe.

You’re right though there are letigious bellends about and lots if money to be made and it effects people who judge their own risks and don’t blame others when it goes pear-shaped

Topic choice – good
Spelling, punctuation, grammar – all suitably poor
Use of smilies – excellent

While considered in parts the effort should succeed somehow the overall effect is one of ‘obvious troll is obvious’ and we feel the student must try harder.

Teanhurtmore – sometimes the law is an ass – you can often spot this when there is clear and documented evidence of transgression and plod does nowt – I don’t expect Millar to be getting a ticket anytime soon. Why not suggest to the local plod he books the Local hunt if you want another perspective? You might be surprised who else will break the law when it suits and is impracticable or unenforceable.

This does not imply you disrespect other people or behave in a way that endangers them – most of us I would hope do not need a law or bylaw to tell them that.

Bent_udder yes NT is an over-simplification that route would be a nightmare to negotiate with FC landowners etc etc

The insurance thing is a big issue which complicates matters hugely. I am at a loss to understand the kind of bell- end who would ride cheeky or permissively then sue the landowner because they stacked hucking or racing but the fear of litigation makes things tricky for people who understand and accept the consequences of their actions.

But… I do think once in a while something like this makes a point that needs making – there are plenty of us and we are not going away. It makes in a way that hanging around peaslake bus stop doesn’t.

(that said they shouldnt have gone down the path from the tower)

“Got splashed all over the BBC and now the plod are cracking down on speeding bikes in RP. “

Cant say I agree with your cause and effect here.

Plod were making a half-arsed effort with speeding bikes well before DM went round at supersonic speed. Also a BBC journo took part in the ‘event’ and they are well complicit in it.

That said I dont intend slowing down in Richmond Park any time soon, and I dont expect to get busted for it either.

teamhurtmore – no offence but please look at the map below and work out where the Hurtwood starts and ends before you post any more about it.

This was on NT land.

http://www.friendsofthehurtwood.co.uk/images/stories/hurtwoodos-cps.pdf

These kind of details are quite important when you are posting on a public forum.

Sorry was forgetting myself for a minute there – obviously this kind of thing is a disgrace and those taking part should feel dirty and ashamed of themselves.

While I am mostly for gentle respectful behaviour and polite negotiation with other countryside users, IMO once in a while something organised and on a scale like this makes a useful point.

<pulls up soapbox, places scratched record on gramophone etc.>

We are too fragmented as a community, and the people who do have access to the powers that be, are too reluctant to take the help of others when offerred (or maybe just too busy – in which case… take the offer)

Why this is I have no idea – but dorkingtrailpixie made a point about in-fighting in another thread and I can see why he might think that (assuming pixies are boys and not girls or androgynous).

Just because we all like mountain-biking doesn’t mean we all have to agree, and doesn’t mean the rest of the world expects us to present a united front/consistent view. As long as we dont start bitching at each other at the Hurtwood AGM or NT meetings things will be better the more of us there are involved.

Any ideas on what is happening with the chain drop?

Lots of pro roadies who use SRAM Red (top end roady gruppo) spec a steel low end SRAM front mech as the red ones are not reliable, too flexy, or rather their mechanics sort it

Just a thought, good luck with it

I didn’t clock anything new in that? Or were you making a more general point bent_udder?

Love the dog walker just after the start – didn’t bat an eyelid – hope we don’t look like that all the time… (see above)

Yes that looks massive fun – I’d be up for some of it if theres another one

Yeah Howards cool and you could take him to your parents

For those who like live life on the edge I reckon the original recipe would be somewhat enlivened by the addition of a small tin of tiger balm*.

*If you were hanging around Brighton and the Zap in the early 90s you may well have met this girl 😉

Feckadoodledo

Everything cleared up down here and the light and shadows in golden hour on my namesake hill were just bodacious to the power awesome.

Our island at this time of year is so beautiful.

Mega Avalanche just look so bonkers – like a really bad cat 4 road race meets rushhour at Oxford Circus tube going downhill in the high Alps. 😆

I am confused – there is some kind of cycling performance benefit associated with the use of minty arse lard?

I thought it was just one of life’s guilty pleasures…

Yeah fair points. That said all I did was read the sign in cp3.

But the simple fact is lots of riders, not many members, so thanks for reconsidering and stumping up.

So there you go,as I’ve said many times ‘the Ranger’ (Mark) is a good bloke doing a good job and looking out for us.

Forget the rest of it, making a donation keeps him there, instead of a barbed wire fence.

Simple really.

(Im not convinced about the publicity stuff. Id been mountain biking about 4 weeks before knowing who he was, what Hurtwood was about, had joined etc theres this thing called The Interweb you type words in it tells you stuff. I wonder if MTBers spend their time wandering around in a magic cloud of trail pixie dust with little clue how the world actually works?)

teamhurtmore – on W1nterf0ld ride all trails that are there and do not give a shit about the sensitivities of other possible owners – he is deficient in his general kharma and upsetting him by riding trails on his land rebalances the well-being of the universe.

Having enjoyed the trails dont talk about it online much. (freerideNick will laugh at me for being paranoid but careless talk costs trails)

If challenged look innocent and doe-eyed and say something like ‘Am I not on Hurtwood land then?’ and politely ask to be directed to the nearest right of way.

(Xmas Pud/Flicking the Vs/Ewok village – this is all sanctioned/legit/dandy)

Nick – Im still not clear which one we were discussing – can you PM me?

You will hear the MTFU argument quite a bit.

But…

All the SRAM Pro Tour teams will now regularly use a 32 tooth rear cassette on stages with steep hills.

if its good enough for Contador…

(Dave Millar used a 36 tooth XX rear cassette with XX rear mech in the Giro – this is because he uses those ovoid chainrings, which are 130mm OCD only but 42:36 is the same as 36:32)

having the low gears gives you the option of spinning and using a different muscle group and you will get tired later.

I have had this conclusively proven to me in races in France where young riders with a jey 34:29 (haha benders) have then comprehensively spanked me up mountains by time gaps that are measured in geological terms.

You didnt say if you had a compact chainset?

SBZ – different understanding of ‘into the red’ then 🙂 most people mean it as beyond threshold (ie you are on borrowed time before you blow).

So – find a hill you cant quite climb at threshold (HRMs do help with this, but if you dont want that, then its the pace when you could just about hold a conversation), repeat until you can do it, then find a steeper hill, or click up a gear.

That’s the best way of improving your power in my experience as I dont think you can hide.

Save blowing out of your backside for the last mile.

amt27 – you might find you can go harder for longer than you think. I couldnt understand how i was ever going to do it, until I had a mate show me race pace on the course I was going to do for my first one. Then I got it, it is a proper effort, but sounds like you are fit and you just have to take the pain.

if you find the Cannondale stiff on a test, then it will be a bugger after 100 miles on shitty roads. You are light for your height – properly roady light actually so stiff frames will feel just that

i question the wisdom in carrying a pack that big on long rides.

However a bike you can out rack and panniers on wont be so good for getting a good TT position. Although it wont hold you back on your first goes either.

Difficult…

Does anyone do an audax style bike for that money?

Something like this would cover all your bases http://www.dawescycles.com/p-110-audax-sport.aspx you could do evens in a TT on that I am sure.

EDit acutally the Tifosi CK7 is an audax kind of bike isnt it?

Further edit 30 – getting old? 😯 😆

But… we can only ride on bridleways anyway?

There are loads of things you could do, sneaking a few features onto your local bridleways in a safety conscious manner would be one. I can guarantee it would be ignored in my parish 😉

dorkingtrailpixie

there’s no arguing with your pov – but it makes you a bit of a freeloader IMO – that sounds pejorative but I respect it as a rational choice.

you can apply the same argument to parish councils, school governors, etc etc

there are loads of things that get done only because people give some time or a bit of dosh voluntarily

I dont have a problem with people being too busy at work or having families or just not wanting to do committees to get involved. But I think when you do that you give up the right to have anyone listen when you have a moan. Except on here.

And in this case you can just bung them £25 and have no more involvement then that and then have a moan. It’s not even one decent tyre.

On the other hand if every MTBer who rode Hurtwood joined we would form a substantial body who would have to be listened to, but I dont see that happening. It’s just not that kind of sport.

SBZ If you can ride up a 20% hill below FTP then I would expect you to be a lot quicker than you are – no offence.

In the red means above 85% MHR.

Exceptions: you might be a slow bicycle race expert, do a mean trackstand, or worst of all, have a triple 👿

The ones in the Surrey Hills all seem fine, and as another poster pointed out, a reasonable chance of them being considerably more attractive than yer average MTBer so why grumble.

A bit more tricky when you are on the road bike though as you can freak them out, especially if overtake at speed without a warning, and the simple situation is that if you get kicked you could very easily be dead and if the rider falls that can be very nasty too.

So… caveat emptor, not much point getting all Socialist Worker about it.

Save your energy for militant red socks…