come clean, we did, the head said that we could do it as there were no exams, etc, but also said that we could only do it it once every three years. Went to Barbados !!!

Could never afford that in school time. IMO the kids learned more life skills in those two weeks than they would have at school.

great bike, enjoy it !

Nice pics stu, as i said in my op, "a few highlights"

Hey duggie style – Cant argue with the conditions up there this morning – FANTASTIC !

You hit the nail on the head with "flow"

It just aint got flow, like a lot of other man made trails i have ridden – treat it like a XC ride and its not bad.

But for 2 and a half hours driving i need more than "not bad", I live next to the lake district so have loads of natural xc type riding on my doorstep.

singlespeedstu – WTF are you doing on man made trails then….

Dude you need to get out more, there are LOADS of man made trails with exactly that

Isn't it half-closed at the moment?

There was one diversion of a shortish section of red route.

Went to Kirroughtree last weekend , much better in my opinion.

As a XC track DB is ok, i just prefer long climbs with looong flowy, technical descents.

Also annoyed at the dog walkers, walking on the singletrack. 😯

Trekster – would love to know where the best bits are, are you talking about going off piste? Is that acceptable, in terms of trail centre etiquette.

i am a big guy 100kg and have the new m4s, more than enough stopping power 😀

Thats great

My best riding buddy is my 12 year old son, we spend so much time together bombing down singletrack, getting muddy, and generally being mates.

Riding with your kids is so cool

using it ish

still prefer firefox

I am a wedding photographer and my average wedding is about £1500. I can understand how to member of the public it may seem like a lot of money for "just taking a few snaps" but trust me there is a lot of work around post production.

I will spend between 8 and 10 hours on my feet, I typically take between 1 and 2 thousand pictures, they need editing and then there is album design, the cost of the album, insurances, rent, tax, marketing, associated web fees trust me the amount of money that goes in my pocket from a £1500 wedding is not very much.

Like so much in life, you get what you pay for, i believe my work is worth £1500 there are a lot of togs out there that will charge you a 1/3 of that for the same thing.

Put it this way, you can buy a £200 full sus at halfords or £2k on a proper full sus. ergo – you get what you pay for.

I experienced this a lot in the snow. To me it was washout and put it down to snowy conditions

Had my first dry run yesterday and it was fine

What's the rock like at KT in the wet

Drove past the area today and still lots of snow on the ground. Phone the shop there and they said that they were not hiring out bike, it is essentially shut.

WhinlaTter is my "local" however not much further away is Dalbeatie and kirroughtree.

They are free of all snow and ice. That's where I will be this weekend.

See you there ?

reckon one of the best trail centres (weather wise) will be dalbeatie. It was very rideable last weekend and they have had temps of 6 ish all week with rain, so ice, what ice ….(i hope)

Thats where i will be this weekend.

Big M – Member
YG – that looks like the Dragon to me, did you ride it last year?

Crickey ! thats some observation, yeah it is the dragon …did you do it.

Just got into the fred whitton this year, so no dragon in 2010

I am a big guy, got myself a cervelo r3, very comfortable, done numerous centuries, longest ride 155 miles in one sitting.

The bike has won the paris roubaix twice, and was the lightest bike ridden by the heaviest rider. It was on this basis that i chose it.

double post – edit

Because my son needs won for school but doesn't know which one to get

what do you think? 😕

What makes you think I have taken them off. They play havoc through rock gardens though

I got into the fred as well!!

Did the dragon last year IMO its pretty tame. Did the full 112 miles but it was kind of wierd as a lot of it was in urban areas.

I am used to riding in the lakes not through housing estates – so the fred should be right up my street

myo xp – brilliant

None of that will stop a bust collar bone/rib/ankle/wrist etc. though.

True but it will help with a whole load of other injuries.

That coupled with riding within my limits is what i feel is a responsible outlook to doing what i love and running my business.

i am one of "those guys" you see at trail centers with pads on, elbow, knee and shin – no full face though.

Sorry but cant afford to get injured.

I am a wedding photographer and cant afford to be out of action, so i take all the precautions i can

2.3 60 a i think

looks pretty good to me mate.

FWIW pic took long time to load

Ours are 15 months apart – on purpose.

It meant that we got all the sleepless nights, bottles, nappies etc out of the way.

Same here

safari and firefox for me

marin indian fire trail (with 2 punctured tyres)

How old is he if you don't mind me asking?

He is 12

or this one

im on a roll now !

this one nearly made me wet myself !!!!

this is pretty funny

was there this morning, offloaded the bikes, got kitted up and then saw some blokes that had gone out come back and report that it was rubbish.

Put the bikes back on the car, went home and rode in the city, steps, benches etc

made a nice change !

must be honest, the very existence of "yeti tribe" would probably stop me ever buying one

🙄 must be honest, not sure we would have you!

(removes tongue from cheek) 🙂

Gisburn was unrideable this morning – Too much snow and ice

Hopefully gonna head up to dalbeatie next weekend, will be watching the forecast intently all weeek

but whereabouts is that drop off?

Around Lancaster?

Hey Grumm – Look forward to meeting you someday.

We went out to gisburn this morning, but it was too snowy, so we made up a few trails around ashton memorial (williamsons park)

Had a blast.

Hemlock is way better looking and a much nicer bike – IMO

HA HA just kidding

Its a moot point, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, ask 10 people what the best looking bike is and it will be the one that they have shelled their hard earned readies on. or the bike they would like to buy if they had the money

however seeing as you asked, its got to be the YETI 🙂

Hey Flap jack – sweet ride – what size is it, large?

Heres mine

so why is dalbeatie so ice free, is it lower?