Not me, but my brother-in-law
Mixmasta Mullet

Whether you’re a fan of classic redneck hairstyles, well crafted skits, shaolin level turntablism, sick edits, crate digger’s gems or just straight up party bangers…. this super sassy magic whizz kid’s extra fancy tuff cuts are gonna blow your wig clean off

Available for crack parties, xc races, barn dances, album launches, funerals and protest marches

I am getting some reassurance from the fact that the vulnerable group of blokes who have been groomed by JPW, Jordan Peterson and their ilk, those aggressively defensive young boys, those heartbroken under-acheivers, have been weighed and measured by the number crunchers and have been found to be worthless.
That they are of no significant financial consequence to the marketing department suggests to me that this rebellious little temper tantrum is smaller than thought and the current fad for defending toxic masculinity as a cornerstone of contrarianism has run it’s course..

Nearly eight years with moderate to severe knee pain here.

I spent some time a few years ago taking an exploratory route via GP – physiotherapist – knee specialist (MRI scan) – back to physio. All resulting in a big fat nothing.

I had almost given up cycling completely over the last two years until last summer when I embraced the natural movement exercise philosophy. After much discussion with my brother in law who is a very learned sports therapist, we came to the conclusion that strengthening the knee joint in all directions with gentle exercise might be the only least worse option.

Lots of tree climbing, light (mostly steep uphill) trail running on severe terrain, slacklining, yoga and callisthenics and I very comfortably managed 40 pain free miles of mixed riding over two days last July.

Having completely slacked off on the strengthening programme during autumn, I managed to hurt myself again on an intense SS ride last week, but seem to have healed fairly quickly with a lesson learned regarding maintaining a more holistic approach to exercise.

My other half lived and worked in Northland for 9 years.

Better pay and conditions, kinder, friendlier, more human people, beautiful countryside and choice weather. I went over and stayed for a month and it was like a breath of fresh air.

We’d relocate to Wellington without a second thought if I didn’t have inescapable family commitments in the UK.

I think it was meant as a light-hearted Alan Partridge quote.

ahhh… that would make a lot more sense

1978-1990 mostly riding street  (mtb and bmx) falling off 20+ times per ride, often backwards or otb – no helmet.

The next 15 years not much riding outside woodland bimbles and towpaths, trips to the shops – no helmet.

2004 – 2009 ‘proper’ mtb – no helmet.

2009 bought my first cycling helmet cos my kids were born and felt duty bound. Wore it for about 5 years til the cradle broke, couldn’t afford to replace it til earlier this year and now nearly always wear one as I expect the kids to wear theirs.

Sometimes still don’t wear it on the 5 minute work commute out of habit.

I’m at Flowerpots or Exmouth oikeith..

Ah OK .. no worries.

Thanks anyway :)

this could work!

with an offer I’ve just had on facebook of a 20″ frame and wheels.

what sort of time will you be in  Poole?

there really is only one human response to this situation.

smoke it with him.

it will instantly become an infinitely less cool activity, and you will have bonded with him on a level that at present, he can only experience with people outside of the family.

you might make a prat of yourself, but at least it will be a laugh and his smoking mates will respect you (and by association, him) for being ‘down’, leaving you in a great position to offer advice about the dangers of excess.

otherwise he’s just gonna be out rebelling against his square parents, smoking super skunk with only his muggy mates for support.

Sounds ideal.. thanks Jam bo. I had a look at the Gawton pump track online, looks fun. I’ll have to make a day of it if I head over :)

And THAT Fred’s much more inclined towards giving away perfectly serviceable  (sometimes even highly desirable) bikes for nowt, as well as working for a bicycle recycling charity

I’ve broken my dirt jumping cherry this week. I am no longer confined to the ground!!

I’ve gone from can’t jump, won’t jump (anything at all) to sessioning some small 12 inch kickers.. and over the course of three days I’ve managed to roll in on the local trails (never thought I would do this) progressed to clearing a couple of small humps on the beginners line, but was initially too scared to hit the 4 foot table that followed..

The next day I hit it a few times but couldn’t clear it..

The next day I learned to clear it every time, but the next jump in the line was very dilapidated and I couldn’t get far with it.. so i moved on and hit a couple of bigger step ups and drops.

Massive progress, massive confidence boost which transformed my ride home popping off everything I could find… Still a long way to go  and I’ve run out of tabletops at the local spot and am not ready to hit doubles, but I’m totally inspired to ride and obsessing about my next ride in a way that I haven’t done for years :)

More sessioning stuff tomorrow

This book has informed many of the decisions I’ve made since reading it 30 something years ago.

People who whine about folk that are less well off having nice stuff, or claiming benefits, or people whining about taxes.

Just focus on your own struggle, if you don’t like it, change it, but if you must moan about other folks getting an easy ride, look UP the ladder,  not down.

They missed the vein with my sedative last time and I only received paet of the dose..

It was a very unpleasant experience which resulted in them halting the procedure

I’d go for double sedative, a couple of valium and a stiff drink next time.

might be a bit of a trek, but I’ve been following Cheshire Camper Repairs on FB and their work looks good.

Amadeus of this parish for providing the set of cranks which have kept various bikes on the trails over the last 8 years.

Trailmonkey for apprenticing me in the dark art of navigating East Dartmoor and also for inviting me into his home to party monkey style with his wonderful family, amongst other tremendously blurry night’s out.

Crispybacon – a truly inspirational secret superhero, for his guidance on west Dartmoor epics and numerous crude jokes.

Somafunk for counselling and generous emergency aid packages during my divorce.

Singlespeedstu for free SS bits and merciless banter.

STW’s most infamous banned member who insisted on paying for all the booze when he came to visit us for a few days earlier this summer… A legendary force for good. Great times.

all the others who have provided cheap bits and bobs, free partworn tyres, or have just been foolhardy enough to turn up for STW rides and social events around deepest darkest Devon.

But surely that is not long enough on the evolutionary scale for those with dairy tolerance to become prevelant, and no environmental factor to weed out those who are intolerant?

Does epigenetics come into play here?

There’s a gazillion caps available on graffiti webshops for pennies and most will fit a can of hammerite. Tailor your spray pattern too!

Or pop into a shop and rob a few new caps in the traditional manner.

Follow Bigyans advice to avoid similar future situations.

I’m a massive wuss at cold water,  but I’ve kept Wim in my thoughts and been in the sea a fair bit this summer… hot weather might have helped too though.

I have a mate that was inspired by  Wim to do an open water swim every day over the last winter.. I’ve seen some ace icey selfies as a result. Not sure if he’s continuing this year.

anytime there is an issue he just reminas out of public view

Sensible adult refuses to get sucked in to farcical media smear campaigns.. How very, very dare he!

Yep.. we have a completely honest relationship and besides, I’ve probably spent less than £200 in the last five years and less than £2k in the last 20 years.

I have a cycling fetish rather than a bicycle fetish though, which helps keep the costs down.

Track looks ace.. can’t wait :)

As smear campaigns go this is really quite sophisticated

I don’t think that depression is temporary for all people.

I would agree wholeheartedly. But I think that with the right support, and determination (desperation in my case) you can find the right approach, find coping mechanisms, learn to prioritise your mental health, embrace change and growth and discover the changes you need to make to increase your well-being.

Suicide is a permanent solution to feeling suicidal. Suicidal feelings don’t ever have to be more than temporary.

My dad hung himself when I was six and I became a dark and troubled youth. No councelling, an emotional wreck of a mother and an abusive stepfather all added up to me becoming a ticking time bomb.

I got into every kind of trouble and eventually threw myself off a cliff at age 20.

The thing is, as mentioned above it’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Waking up in ICU with my wee teenaged brother at the end of my bed looking emotionally broken was the first step towards recovery.

I’d sought professional help leading up to my suicide attempt but wasn’t taken seriously. I’d isolated myself from friends and family because I didn’t want to burden them. My problems were too big, celestial, infernal.

If I could have been brave enough, selfish enough, to get support from those close to me, trusting enough to admit my defeat – then maybe someone could have helped me to get treatment.

It took me a decade to turn my life around, to get stable and to learn to feel good and the journey was filled with highs and lows that I couldn’t have previously imagined. And that’s just it. Ive had the best times of my life since then and experienced true and sustainable joy. When I jumped into the unknown, I had no idea of the glorious freedom that was waiting for me a few years down the line.

Having suicidal tendencies is an indicator of emotional crisis and if you can seek help it’s entirely possible to transform your future.

Please don’t try to suffer the burden.

Please find the strength to discover a better way, and please don’t be afraid to get help with working out the answers.

Pieris Brassicae

Check your cabbages

This is ours :)

My father in law bought it as a project but spent the next five years using it for taking garden waste to the tip and for collecting logs from the woods.

Last year he decided he no longer wanted a vehicle and asked if we could make better use of it.

We spent a couple hundred quid on it and it’s been in regular use ever since.

It’s used daily in term time for the school run which is marginally cheaper than paying for school transport, we’ve had a few great weekends away and a couple of longer trips and music festivals. So far so good although I’m currently trying to solve a starting problem.

It’s thirsty, the lights are shit, it needs regular oil and water, it’s recently needed a new starter motor and I haven’t yet worked out if the latest problem is electrical or fuel related. It only needed some welding for it’s last MOT.

I’d like to spend some money on getting the bodywork rust free to prevent trouble in the future and it needs new window seals all round. I worry that the engine will fail catastrophically at some point and need replacing

All that aside we absolutely love it and it’s changed our lives. We use it every evening through summer and cook all the kids evening meals in it. I’d lusted after a camper for years and wouldn’t have gone for something this old and definitely wouldn’t have gone VW, but she’s got so much character she’s like one of the family now.

Look for something with as little rust as possible – seams, sills, wheel arches and jacking points. Ideally any rust problems will have been welded rather than bodged with filler. Ours is water cooled which has a design flaw in the water jacket which means the cylinder bolts corrode making engine repairs an impossibility. Some modern engines will fit though. It will need ongoing maintenance and repairs unless you can afford something that’s had a full resto.

Do it… why not? Sometimes a bit stressful but mostly smiles.

View post on imgur.com

Yeah.. err.

Years of banging on and on about Brant’s shit frame design and the distress it caused him, yet back when Rob was trying to sell the frame on he told the buyer that the frame had no problems that were any worse than any other frame.

I think that’s what folk are finding scandalous  (excuse the pun)

Come back Rob… this is waaay better than The Archers

Short is going to be better for trials.. you don’t want it set up like a mtb

I’ve been very happy with an Exotic carbon fork (445mm) on my Soul for the last few years.

I’ve just resurrected an old Rockshox Rev and put it on the Soul though and wish I’d done it earlier :)

EDIT: just realised I didn’t read your post properly.. you can sometimes pick up Onza forks pretty reasonably.. Ive used one for the same purpose as you’re suggesting before.

Thread title should read:

BUSTED at C+H! Help me think of a plausible cover story

The thing is, you don’t have to be an inspiration or a hero now.

You have to find a middle ground where you’re comfortable with yourself, and hang out in that comfortable place while you all adjust to the people that you’re going to become.

What’s happened will change you and you need to be kind to yourself and let change gently happen. The kids will likely instinctively understand this, and will find it much easier than you do.

It’s ok to feel beaten down by it all, and you WILL find your way through.. one day at a time.

Please be a friend to yourself, and please find professional support.

I don’t wanna wade in on a pub thread particularly, but in the spirit of all good characterful hostelries I’ll give my two penneth.

There’s a pub for everyone and on certain occasions I’d probably even prefer to chance my arm with a barload of gammon than to sit in a genteel establishment with everyone minding their p’s and q’s.

Not every pub has been gentrified.

I know you were acting in good faith, but what you’ve really done is escalate a situation from something mildly obnoxious but relatively benign, to something far more menacing and likely to turn ugly.

Doesn’t matter whether you’re a foul mouthed radge or a polite and courteous fellow with a stout heart and honest intentions, you’re nothing but a troublemaker once you start throwing your weight around, especially if you’ve taken the law into your own hands and acted without the express consent of the landlady.

Perhaps the punctilious daytime demographic had already outstayed their welcome?

And of course this :)

Summer ’92 – big warehouse rave and Slipmatt dropped this  chart hit. The rudebois in the dance all started a lazy skank and I was in love with d+b forever.

Ooh yeah.. that’s a corker

I’m using one of Joss Stone’s mum’s old bar stools as a planter in my back yard.. and I chopped up another one and used it for floorboards in my camper van.

Which in my book, pretty much makes me one of the beautiful people.

KMD – Who me?

Cool G Rap and Polo – Erase Racism