Search results for:

Not the messiah but a very naughty boy. A fortuitous ebay journey let me to fall for a Brian. Big love to Brixton Cycles for helping me get this up and running. Thing be rapid.

haha bloody hell, wrong thread, sorry....

Not the messiah but a very naughty boy. A fortuitous ebay journey let me to fall for a Brian. Big love to Brixton Cycles for helping me get this up and running. Thing be rapid.

Having to sign in when I have nothing to say sounds a bit pointless. And logging in does'nt make it seemless either. As I just logged in I've just done a few visits to regularly visited threads and though it did'nt take me to the first page, it took me pages that I'd since read well past whilst browsing without being logged in, so thats not really been a solution either. So for members it seems you are best off browsing while being logged in or not at all, which seems a bit meh.

I may be old school but I don't like being kept signed into things for long periods, why should I be? Is there a reason other than to show us as visiting traffic?

I'd say a large numbers of threads like 'in the news', 'football' and many others would be pointless going to page 1, in fact most threads with lots of pages. Any new visitors to the site can get the context as it relates to here and now, not context 7-8 years ago when Man Utd were good and Scoble ran 12 inches of spacers on every bike. If they want to go
further to see how deep the rabbit warren really goes (yes the matrix was on the tellybox again yesterday) they can click to the 1st page and trawl away. Even if we had the 1st page/last page option to go to on the list of threads,like we did on the old forum, that would improve the user experience, no?

I think I'm just an old bastard who shuns a lot of the new features, I don't really need or want to have notifications of replies to anything I've said, if I want to go back I can. I don't have a desire to be followed or to follow. Even seeing the old 'trending' button gave me have a bit of a funny turn. The new quotes thing its lots easier though so hurrah for that.

And yes I along with lots of others do browse from various devices from various locations so I can't see the cookie thing working consistently either.

Anyway sorry that sounds like me whining away, you're obviously very busy trying tweaking it all, just my 2p worth. Congratulations on the work done so far, and on the wedding news.

open all day and a jar of pickled moles to boot...

I knew my chips were missing a certain something that neither pickled eggs nor onions were providing.

When browsing the forum without logging in is there a way to change the settings so that when you click on a thread/conversation/whatever they're
called these days, it goes to the last page of a thread and not the 1st...every single time?

I mostly browse without logging in and use the 'today' button (how does this differ from the conversations button on the right hand side by the way?)
and having to click from 1st page to last page, and back then back again
back to the main topic list, is like, errr, really harshing my buzz man, and making me wander away from the forum much quicker than I would in the olden days
#firstworldrproblems
#sorryifthishasbeenaskedalreadyinthemyriadofthreadsaboutthenewplatformwhichicantkeepupwith

@Olly

I especially liked this bit from wiki "it featured a button-operated mechanism allowing the driver to open the passenger-side door" Haha, in your face Merc S-class, trust the Italians to come up with a letchy kerb crawlers feature #rascist

I was amazed at how good the bodywork was on it considering other Fiats from the era. My Dad had a couple of 124 Special T's back in the day, and they basically dissolved in the rain.

Saw a mint condition Fiat 130 coupe in Camberwell earlier. Never heard of one before, very cool looking motor.

thanks DIcki, better start reading.

ahh cheers my search fu is weak, will check it out, hoping its wine and beer....await mergatron....

I saw the wine thread but nothing on making your own wine.

Me and my partner thought we'd have a crack at this year. She has done it before so knows what she's doing, I think. Me, I've got no clue. I'm more of a beer man normally, not really a fan of white wine but like full bodied reds. We have a load of demijohns so are good to go.

I got cut to shreds at the weekend picking 6 lbs of blackberries which I've mushed into liquid and put in the fridge for the first batch. Yesterday I secured a load of golden plums that another friend has an abundance of from her tree, so thats another one. We also plan to make some ginger wine.

I've heard damson wine is pretty good but don't know anyone with a damson tree (hint: I'll give you a free bottle if you've got some you're not using-disclaimer no promises on quality this is amateur hour).

I like the idea of blackcurrent but 6 lbs of them is going to cost muchos pounds and as I'm skint I'm trying to do it all on the cheap. I also want to play about and mix some fruits together to get some different blends (get me with my wine jargon poncery) but this will be a real (un)lucky dip.

So has anyone done this? Any tips or recommendations? Any good blends/recipes gratefully received. And if anyone else does it, fancy some LFGSS homebrew wine swapsies?

^I think you were right and it was turkeys, this is probably the place. I can't remember where it is exactly, but I took this pic of my mate Ben somewhere in Essex a few years back.

I don't own a car but am a member of Zipcar and occassionally drive. I do it so rarely I still find it a novelty and enjoy it, even stuck in traffic, provided the car has a stereo. I treat it like a game, can I get through the day without being stung. I'm sure if you drive daily or for a living this is how it feels, which must eventually become a massive PITA.

With temperatures on buses and underground trains this week reported at 34-35c I absolutely will not use them, I even find cycling too hot in this weather and many times this week have longed for a car with air conditioning, and would have happily sat in one pootling along at 3mph no matter how much it cost.

Though modern cars are very economical and reliable, filling up with fuel never ceases to make me gasp in horror at the cost , I can't help but think what else I'd rather spend that money on.

I agree driving near schools at opening and closing times is a major ball ache, schools need to introduce big playground nets and cars need to develop child cannons to fire out children as parents drive past the school without slowing.

On the whole driving in London is like playing with fire, you will get burned eventually. I have no idea but I'd guess the % of regular London drivers that have never had a parking ticket, been clamped, fined for driving in a bus lane, jumped a red light or been done for speeding is very small. My parents no longer drive to come and visit me instead choosing the train due to being stung by a few of the above, and I consider them careful, considerate drivers. They have also had their car broken into twice, depsite it containing nothing stealable of any value.

Contrary to what Blue Quinn says it seems to me everyone in the countryside drives at at least 60 and most men under 50 go a lot faster than this. I think this maybe because my parents live in Powys which to my knowledge has no fixed speed cameras (just signs saying they do). Driving nirvana or blood donor heaven?

All speed limits are not interpreted as the max speed but rather the speed you should travel at. As a cyclist I am much more fearful for my safety when cycling in the countryside than I am cycling in London which my family can't fathom. Pensioners dawdle along at 40mph, and are treated with the same contempt by other motorists as caravaners, speed may kill but driving too slow makes others want to kill you.

i have a set in black you can have for £10, fitted, removed.

Brilliant! Noiser you are a star, dibs. PM'd

Cheers Howard, will try them too. Even when not on hols Campag operate on their own timescales it seems. I went into Condor recently asking for some new hoods for my shifters. They did'nt have any in stock and when I asked when they were due in, the guy replied '3 weeks ago' :|

Thrashing around Yorkshire and Essex watching the TDF at the weekend my bottle cage sheered off from the bolts.

This is the 3rd time this has happened with a metal cage on my steel bike in 3-4 years. Is this happening to anyone else, WTF?

I know part of the answer is UK road surfaces are shit. I guess my awesome power/above average girth/lightening speed/other is causing the frame to flex too much and putting too much strain the cage? Am I missing something, is there some good quality metal cage I should be investing in? Is a plastic or crabon one likely to fare any better?

On the same trip and I've also shaken lose a bolt from my crabon Chorus, the one that screws into the crank arm.

Campag catalogue tells me the bolt is an FC-RE302 but I can't seem to find the bolt in the UK. No dice at Sigma, I've emailed Sidcup cycles and am going to try Condor tomorrow. Any other suggestions?

What an amazing experience that was, well done Yorkshire and Essex, you've done the tour proud.

Me and a mate drove up on Friday afternoon from Brentwood to Otley, 5 and a half hours in the car, not nice. M1 traffic was grim with lots of roadworks where workmen lived up to their reputation as a bunch of work shy slackers as I saw 3 diggers, 2 with drivers fast asleep, and the other was eating sandwiches. Not a stitch of work was being done.

We were up and out on the course riding from Otley at 8am as we headed out to Kidstones to watch the race. I was amazed at the number of people lining the route so early and I cannot get enough of riding on closed roads, it was great.

I have never seen so many cyclists, CS7 rush hour was nothing compared to this. By the time we got to Skipton the town was rammed and we got cheered through the town feeling like pro's. Chapeau to the farmer near Kettlewell who'd painted his flock of sheep yellow for the occassion, proper dedication. I was lumbered with carring the ruksak due to my usual overpacking style, so also had the job of carrying 4 pints of lager in those zip top carton things acquired just before Kidstones climb. I whizzed up passing riders and near the summit the crowd were cheering 'easy, easy, easy' at me, which I'll never forget. This was followed by gasps of admiration, jealousy or disappointment as I pulled out the 4 pints of lager for me and my riding buddy and set about quaffing our faux-pro thirst. This chap who cycled up with his dog in the basket recieved loads of attention.

I DAS'd a LFGSS cap wearing rider pushing his bike up, he said he'd skid on the way back down. Who was that then?

The atmosphere on the hill was fantastic. Every child and anyone struggling to cycle the climb was given roaring support like the pro's would some time later. I did'nt get a picture of him but the chap dressed in white trousers, striped top, beret and a necklace of yorkshire puddings instead of onions also deserves a mention. The whole hill doing mexican waves was also pretty special and I lol'd at the loud boo-ing of the Astanta team car as it went by.

Here's Jens and his breakaway companions

Sagan with his Ferrigno calves

and Froome on stem watch

And Haribo just because

After the race had gone by we slowly made out way back along the route along with thousands of others.We diverted to meet a friend from Wales in Silsden for a few more pints, nice descent but I was feeling the cumulative effects of the days lager and sunshine by the time we had to climb back up the bastard. All the standing around in zero reception areas killed my phone battery but we got back to Otley after about 70 miles.

Day 2 and we did'nt leave until after 10am. Planned route was scuppered immediately as I took us up East Chevin road out of Otley, instead of West Chevin Road which was harsh immediately after breakfast and no warm up. We had no proper map or garmin and now no relevent route notes, so began a day of being mostly lost. Lovely fast descent down Hollins Hill and then a dual carriageway, thanksfully nearly deserted, to Keighley, where we arrived too late to be allowed on the route. The whole area we cycled over the 2 days was amazing but this place seemed to have modelled itself on the series Shameless. We crossed the route at one point where a group of blokes drinking some vision destroyingly strong cider were yelling at the caravan 'give us some fookin stuff' and on the way back through later we witnessed domestic disputes and drunks just passed out in the road. We decided against stopping for refreshment there.

We had to try and wing our way to Hebden bridge using other routes, which was a challenge, so there was lots of stopping and asking locals, who were all very helpful. Not like being lost in France where half of all directions I've received sent me in completely the wrong direction.

This climb from Oxonhope up Denholme Road seemed a lot steeper than the GPS later claimed


By now we'd realised that every town and village was in the valley floor, getting from one to the other involved going over a bloody great hill, and that road signs at many junctions were an optional extra the local council deemed uneccessary.

My knocking, knackered headset was now causing juddering under heavy braking and I had a few moments of genuine fear descending Stocks Lane at the 32 mile mark, especially at the hairpins. My tan temporarily disappeared in a white knuckle experience that flushed through my whole body.

Thankfully we then saw a sign to Hebden Bridge and with amazing luck arrived in Mythomroyd less than 5 minutes before the peloton sped past, but did'nt get any good pics, spot the yellow jersey.

We then trundled up to Hebden Bridge, met my cousin for 2 pints and lasagne and chips at the Stubbing Wharf pub on the canal which was rather good. I had wanted to go to Cragg vale but my riding buddy begged for mercy so I obliged. I had no idea the climb back to Oxonhope from Hebden Bridge was such a whopper, at 4.5 miles long or thereabouts, so any feelings of being denied a good climb were quickly extinguished. I really got a sense of how the TDF is won in the mountains as I arrived a the summit 10 minutes ahead of my mate, and was a dick for mentioning this to him.

The descent to Oxonhope was my favourite of the day, hitting 47mph, and I vowed then to go back and ride it in the reverse direction. From Keighley we took Swine Lane up and over the top on a lovely rolling bit of road
taking in East Morton and Menston before arriving back in Otley and ordering nearly the entire menu from the Chinese takeaway.

5900 ft of climbing in 62 miles making it one of the most densely packed climbing rides I've done, it may have been one of the slowest rides ever but it was certainly up there as one of my favourites.
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2956500

Day 3 I was up at 5.30am, the horror, to drive from Otley back to Brentwood in the hope of riding to Chelmsford to meet friends of
my riding companion for the final UK leg. Not suprisingly following our experience on the way up, the road 'works' had not been finished, I'm not sure they'd even started. More traffic delays meant it took 5 hours to get back. Upon unpacking I realised in my zombie 5am state I'd done 'a hippy' and left my cycling shoes at my cousins in Otley, there was swearing. So I borrowed some bear trap flats from my mates wife's MTB, and set off looking distinctly un-pro towards Chelmsford. Quaffed more beers, took some more woefully bad photos

then headed into Chelmsford to watch the end of the race on the big screen in the park, which in another stroke of luck
avoided any of the rain that had fallen on London.

Result. Curry for dinner and I was asleep by 9.30, possibly my earliest night since my parents had control of when I went to bed, which was over 30 years ago.

TL:DR - You may have heard, The Tour came to t'blighty, it were bloody brilliant like.

FAO my liver As soon as the World Cup finishes I'm going into detox, I promise.

LOLS, straight into LFGSS folklore. Charlie Z Harris, fraudster, owner of a ruined arsehole, internet tough guy with the intelligence and razor sharp legal mind of a crayon. Slam dunk, time to panic, quick snort the hash dude before it too late!

Whether Jeez, Tommy or Scottmac are deliberately trolling or genuinely hold the shitehouse opinions they spout matters not a jot to me, this place is immeasurably improved by their absence. Hurrah to the dictator! And if I could rep the anonymous reporters I would.

Me and a mate will be based in Otley, going up on Friday. As its so close we may ride up to Harewood House on Friday afternoon/early evening. Do you know if we can just come and mooch about for free on Friday? I can't see anything to indicate we have to pay.

And who will you be working for T4? Will try and swing by if we can blag our way in.

I've spent this morning looking at the route for the first two days. This excellent blog gives the best breakdown of the first two stages I've seen so far.

day 1
http://blog.veloviewer.com/the-climbs-and-finish-of-stage-1-of-the-2014-tour-de-france/

day2
http://blog.veloviewer.com/the-climbs-of-stage-2-of-the-2014-tour-de-france-part-1/
http://blog.veloviewer.com/the-climbs-of-stage-2-of-the-2014-tour-de-france-part-2/

my cousin was a postie before they sacked him for turfing your christams letters down a manhole.

i've never seen anyone eat so many rich tea biscuits. loved the fucking things he did.

/csc

probably tastier and more nutritious if he'd have just eaten the chrimbo cards

^thanks rhb too, think I've seen that before. No mention of cyclists but the traffic clusterf**k in Poynton before the changes resembles the problems this particular town has.

Thanks Bobby.

I met a town councillor out in the shires recently who was trying to increase levels of cycling participation. He was against total segregation and more interested in shared space. He was looking for good examples of recent shared space infrastructure in the UK that he could maybe visit or at least reference as examples of good practice. Also have CTC/LCC/Sustrans/Local Councils/anyone else done any analysis to see if changes in infrastructure had resulted in increased levels of cycling?

I immediately thought of Hackney and the right honourable gentleman Oliver Schick. I was going to suggest the Councillor join here (he's a top bloke and won't be put off ripe language or any forum shenanigans) to tap into the expertise of Oliver and others. I hope thats OK.

Apart from Hackney are there any other areas in the UK that are blazing a trail with shared space infrastucture that I could give him as good examples? Thanks.

(Sorry I've not had time to read through all the pages of this thread but will forward the link to this thread and Skydancer's shared road space thread to the Councillor for him to go through in his own time)

Firstly I confess to feeling rather smug that I managed to totally strip down, install replacement parts and rebuild my Campag 10 speed shifters, and they actually work! I'm a bit of a ham fisted mechanic, so succeeding at this, which was more fiddly than trying to remove the wishbone from Operation after an evening on the sauce, is actually an epic win for me.

Second confession is that as a result of the above, yesterday I rode a geared bike for the first time since October and I did'nt realise how much I'd missed it, I bloody love that bike. wells up