Any riders in Poole/Bournemouth?

1000th post, come to Poole and Bournemouth and ride your bikes, its a beautiful place.

^

If you say so. I personally can't stand the place anymore.

It's like much of the UK the urban centers are shit but much of the surrounding areas are nice. We are shit at doing large towns / cities in this country, good ones are the exception.

yep, go to Poole and Bournemouth and just drive straight past to either depths of Dorset or New Forest where nice and scenic rides can be had...

^

If you say so. I personally can't stand the place anymore.

...since birth...

I'm with The Brick on this one. There's loads of really nice scenery once you get out into Dorset/Hampshire, but Poole and Bournemouth centres aren't exactly the nicest places.

all town centers are shit, But what about riding around, think of Western ave, sandbanks road, glenfurness, Branksome park road, the seafront, poole park, the chines, holes bay road,
I could go on

My point was that they are really no worse than most other large towns and cities in this country.

In the south of the UK nice towns / cities I can think of, Central London, Oxford, Bath (ultra posh though), Bristol, the rest Portsmouth, Southampton, Reading, Swindon e,t,c are either post industrial southern towns where the economy has collapsed (e.g pompy / soton) or massive sprawling out of town business parks with shopping centers and massive car parks (Reading, Swindon, Guilford, Basingstoke). The UK is just shit at doing towns.

partly agreed,
the existing towns that you mentioned above are expensive to live in , simply becasue they have retained their character.
Most of the newer places are the result of planners insistance on making things car friendly, and the worst examples of hell holes to be found in this place are exactly that-- castlepoint for example,
in Poole they created a fucking out of town superstore asda- 100 metres away from the train station, complete with multi lane road and massive car park,
and they are still doing it, putting these places up.
What we have here that is unique are the Chines, deeply wooded valleys that run down from several places to the sea, the soil being acidic encourages pines, and heathplants, and I love it.

What we have here that is unique are the Chines, deeply wooded valleys that run down from several places to the sea, the soil being acidic encourages pines, and heathplants, and I love it.

Coming off the Wessex Way down the Avenue towards Branksome = best 'You have reached your destination' introduction to anywhere. Glorious. Then you follow it round and pop out on Haven Rd with an awesome view of the harbour. Smile on my face every time.

Fair enough Tommy, I hear ya. Not sure ultra posh would be how I'd describe Bath, but I guess living somewhere gives you a different prespective on the place.
Anyway we've gone off track. Riding in Dorset is good. As you were.

Being as i know you lot, I need to ask, do companies have to have a policy on Sabbatical leave? or are most of these types of long breaks by special arrangement?
Im getting ready to have a pop at someone, need info

quickly come on!

Hi just quick question. Im wondering about getting a Brian Rourke Deda Frame. Any suggestions on the price i should pay? it is second hand. Thanks

woah off piste lurker post,
frame, g.c. track £100, also search ebay for sim, also look in cycling mags,
also UTFS, right who knows about sabbaticals?

No idea J, I think it will depend on the company/managers etc. I can't say I've ever seen any info on it in contracts or policy documents in my (limited) experience. Have you asked your boss?

Yeah Im on it, it seems woefully inadequate to me, need to sort shit out.

http://www.thecareerbreaksite.com/career-breaks-and-the-law.php

you might want to know what the law is surrounding career breaks or sabbaticals. Currently, there isn't one. You don't have to offer your staff a sabbatical if you don't want to, although they do bring benefits for the company.

all town centers are shit, But what about riding around, think of Western ave, sandbanks road, glenfurness, Branksome park road, the seafront, poole park, the chines, holes bay road,
I could go on

Gets a bit boring mate because I have seen this stuff for the last 27 years.

Used to be a lot nicer before they "modernised" the quay ... would see proper massive ships (with sails sometimes) ... small navy vessels ... fishing fleet ... pretty much all gone.

There used to be a really nice museum down the quay and it had different stuff about the harbour as you walked up each floor ... all gone replaced by "The Mint" and "Dundees".

http://www.thecareerbreaksite.com/career-breaks-and-the-law.php

thanks Adam. I will stop giving it to you about maps now, maybe.

With a map and a compass, a shoe lace and a swiss army knife there is nothing you can't do!

yeah thats how Im livin

Did I spot any of you good gentlemen cycling along Southbourne seafront last night at approx. 9:30pm? Black frame, white rims, rucksack with what looked like 26" wheel attached to it?

Braker has organised a forum ride to Bournemouth.
Looks like it'll be about 120 miles. Anyone else up for it?

doing a coastal relay race further west that day, well up for meeting the riders at the end, social time, see what happens.