sunday a pineapple shaped distortion in spacetime

sungod

'ning

strange times, no water falling from the murk, next thing we know there'll be an incandescent orb rising in the sky

ride and contemplate these wonders

lincolndave

Morning, well that’s another month ticked off 4 more weeks the clocks go forward hooray, windy at the moment , club ride a 9 am,
Have a good day

tlw1

Windy but still a mud fest. Sleepover with rugrats mates still ongoing, then family over.

Stevo_666

March kicks off with a bit of sunshine which I'm not used to. Had a bit of an early night after yesterdays trip to Liverpool which started early and ended up with us getting a later train back to fit everything in. Stropteen is now happy with Scouseville as a uni venue, which is just as well as it's the only offer apart from the back up subject.

Feel a bit better now and bizarrely have a bit of mountain biking in the cards this week.

sungod

bit windy, but riding in sunshine was a novelty

unfortunately umpteen censored roads censored censored closed for censored censored censored half censored censored censored censored censored marathon censored censored censored runners censored censored censored three censored laps around the censored censored park would censored censored do the censored censored censored distance censored censored censored censored

censored

pineapple time, must drop hint to mrs s that all the orangettes have been eaten

pinno

sungod said:

...next thing we know there'll be an incandescent orb rising in the sky

You're being silly now.

Splashed about a bit.
Good job there's Chlorine in the water to deal with the green stuff.

Where mountain biking S666?

Chores to do, Amaretti Torte to make, tree stumps to kill...

Stevo_666

pinno said:

Where mountain biking S666?

Bedgebury, on Wednesday - nearest trail centre to me down in deepest darkest Kent. About bloody time too. Just given 'The Whippet' a quick fettling to get ready.

pinno

Shurely it's rusted to bits?

orraloon

I took the lawn mower for a wander this arvo. 1st March. Global warming is a thing. Grass has been putting on bulk all winter. Could have taken the winter bike for a wander but:
a) blowing a hoolie so f it, watch some Kuurne Brussel Kuurne instead
b) yesterday clocked farmer flailing the hedges big time on what needs to be my out or back route, so f that as well, don't need a puncture fairy fest. Winter bike is tubed.

thistle_

sungod said:

censored

They're all after that free beer from that Strava challenge thing.

Stevo_666

pinno said:

Shurely it's rusted to bits?

It's allerminyum - doesn't rust like that carbon stuff.

veronese68

Evening folks,
Reasonably lazy Sunday has been enjoyed. Traditional slow start was enjoyed, this was followed by a trip to the shops for fresh croissants to go with the coffee. Things took a slight downturn as I had to put a couple of shelves up. A spot of garage pottering and a fettle of a mate’s bike followed before a trip to check on the old dear’s gaff. Thankfully it’s still standing, mind you that could change by the time they let her out of Verona.
Good luck on the whippet Stevo, try to act somewhere between your age and your shoe size.

Stevo_666

veronese68 said:

Good luck on the whippet Stevo, try to act somewhere between your age and your shoe size.

Chronological or mental age V? There's a big difference.

pinno

Stevo_666 said:

pinno said:

Shurely it's rusted to bits?

It's allerminyum - doesn't rust like that carbon stuff.

The problem is, my allerminion Pinarello got (unlike me) stiffer and stiffer as the metal got older and more brittle.
Even carbon post, carbon bars, double bar tape and spaghetti hoops didn't dampen it down. It's now on the wall: pretty but pretty useless. Bit like a Gianluca Pagliuca.

veronese68

Stevo_666 said:

veronese68 said:

Good luck on the whippet Stevo, try to act somewhere between your age and your shoe size.

Chronological or mental age V? There's a big difference.

This is true, I guess mental age is also between chronological age and shoe size so I'd say go with that :-)

awavey

I hope you have more enjoyment from MTB'ing than I did today,when you arent ankle deep in mud,grit,sand,water,bricks,lumps of stone, theres tree roots & stumps to catch you out, and you seem to be in a permanent state of near crashing or avoiding crashing, plus it was bloody hard work...you get back to the trail centre, and its like people just comparing how they face planted or broke some ribs last time they hit a tree, or their tyre exploded on them.

and people do this for fun ?

as for Storm Jorges winds, well that didnt help the mood for sure

Stevo_666

awavey said:

I hope you have more enjoyment from MTB'ing than I did today,when you arent ankle deep in mud,grit,sand,water,bricks,lumps of stone, theres tree roots & stumps to catch you out, and you seem to be in a permanent state of near crashing or avoiding crashing, plus it was bloody hard work...you get back to the trail centre, and its like people just comparing how they face planted or broke some ribs last time they hit a tree, or their tyre exploded on them.

and people do this for fun ?

as for Storm Jorges winds, well that didnt help the mood for sure

I like to think of roadie riding as being like mountain biking, except that the obstacles that try to catch you out are made of metal and move

Where I'm going on Wednesday is pretty benign, just a bit gloopy in parts. Mate who lives there has a hosepipe handy.

Stevo_666

veronese68 said:

Stevo_666 said:

veronese68 said:

Good luck on the whippet Stevo, try to act somewhere between your age and your shoe size.

Chronological or mental age V? There's a big difference.

This is true, I guess mental age is also between chronological age and shoe size so I'd say go with that :-)

Yay, I'm going to ride like a teenager.

pinno

Stevo_666 said:

veronese68 said:

Stevo_666 said:

veronese68 said:

Good luck on the whippet Stevo, try to act somewhere between your age and your shoe size.

Chronological or mental age V? There's a big difference.

This is true, I guess mental age is also between chronological age and shoe size so I'd say go with that :-)

Yay, I'm going to ride like a teenager.

You are obviously a very creative accountant.

pinno

awavey said:

and people do this for fun ?

Well, given the close passes you get on a daily basis whilst out on the road seemingly.

It would be all the constant cleaning that would do my head in.
I've always been tempted by the half way house of a gravel bike - there's miles and miles of gravel tracks locally and I can miss most of the mud and tree roots.

Stevo_666

pinno said:

awavey said:

and people do this for fun ?

Well, given the close passes you get on a daily basis whilst out on the road seemingly.

It would be all the constant cleaning that would do my head in.
I've always been tempted by the half way house of a gravel bike - there's miles and miles of gravel tracks locally and I can miss most of the mud and tree roots.

Do it properly and get a mountain bike. Gravel bike = cynical marketing ploy to sell bikes to roadies who fancy some two wheeled fun but don't want to admit they are MTB'ers. Embrace The Dark Side

veronese68

Stevo_666 said:

pinno said:

awavey said:

and people do this for fun ?

Well, given the close passes you get on a daily basis whilst out on the road seemingly.

It would be all the constant cleaning that would do my head in.
I've always been tempted by the half way house of a gravel bike - there's miles and miles of gravel tracks locally and I can miss most of the mud and tree roots.

Do it properly and get a mountain bike. Gravel bike = cynical marketing ploy to sell bikes to roadies who fancy some two wheeled fun but don't want to admit they are MTB'ers. Embrace The Dark Side

Or for mountain bikers that can't quite bring themselves to get an out and out road bike. Basically just a hybrid with curly bars, I'm aware my bike is also guilty of that even if it predates the gravel bike nomenclature.

veronese68

oxoman said:

V what's that make me, . I swing both ways

Either not fussy or easy
If the unthinkable happened and I only had one bike it would be a cross bike. I've done London to Brighton off road on it and a 200km audax and it gets used every day throughout the year going to work and back.
Alternatively, you're not a bike snob and that's as it should be.

Stevo_666

veronese68 said:

Stevo_666 said:

pinno said:

awavey said:

and people do this for fun ?

Well, given the close passes you get on a daily basis whilst out on the road seemingly.

It would be all the constant cleaning that would do my head in.
I've always been tempted by the half way house of a gravel bike - there's miles and miles of gravel tracks locally and I can miss most of the mud and tree roots.

Do it properly and get a mountain bike. Gravel bike = cynical marketing ploy to sell bikes to roadies who fancy some two wheeled fun but don't want to admit they are MTB'ers. Embrace The Dark Side

Or for mountain bikers that can't quite bring themselves to get an out and out road bike.

This is Pinno we're talking about, mind.

awavey

pinno said:

awavey said:

and people do this for fun ?

Well, given the close passes you get on a daily basis whilst out on the road seemingly.

It would be all the constant cleaning that would do my head in.
I've always been tempted by the half way house of a gravel bike - there's miles and miles of gravel tracks locally and I can miss most of the mud and tree roots.

a fair point, and one that was repeatedly mentioned to me as I complained and swore at anyone who came near me yesterday

my view is the majority of my close passes are very much associated with the roads I have to use on my commute, my weekend rides are usually trouble free unless I end up on the exact same roads (sometimes its unavoidable), so whilst its not alot of fun commuting most days, I dont find myself thinking every overtake is going to be that bad, else I probably wouldnt even bother cycling it all.

whereas this MTB/off roading stuff, it took a whole lot more concentrating effort just to feel you were keeping out of danger, but even when you thought you were on top of it, your pedal caught a tree stump and suddenly pitched you right towards the tree trunk you thought you had been avoiding, or you hit a bump or sunk in a rut or the surface you are on looks puncture-riffic and theres just no let up, which is really mentally as well as physically tiring after a while if you arent used to it.

but to sum it up one of the LBS I follow posted a pic of their store manager on crutches today, because theyd been MTBing at the weekend and had an off.

pinno

awavey said:

...and had an off.

There's quite a few of those hotel/motel sorts in here. They've had more 'offs' than Eddie the Eagle Edwards.
That's why they are so decrepit and bitter

Stevo_666

pinno said:

awavey said:

...and had an off.

There's quite a few of those hotel/motel sorts in here. They've had more 'offs' than Eddie the Eagle Edwards.
That's why they are so decrepit and bitter

Oh hai

tlw1

pinno said:

awavey said:

...and had an off.

There's quite a few of those hotel/motel sorts in here. They've had more 'offs' than Eddie the Eagle Edwards.
That's why they are so decrepit and bitter

Had more crashes mountain biking but more serious road accidents

pinno

tlw1 said:

pinno said:

awavey said:

...and had an off.

There's quite a few of those hotel/motel sorts in here. They've had more 'offs' than Eddie the Eagle Edwards.
That's why they are so decrepit and bitter

Had more crashes mountain biking but more serious road accidents

Yeah - metal and tarmac isn't that forgiving.
I've broken a knee cap, had 11 stitches in my face around the nose and the fulcrum - dislocated the nurses thumb when they were trying to inject anaesthetic into thin flesh: 11 times, the freckles on the outside of my arms never came back, the bone under the left eyebrow feels like a corrugated roof and a whole list of other events, yet... I still go downhill like tw@t and it's still one of the best feelings in the world.

One of my SKS race blade longs came detached and stuck under the back wheel going DH - back wheel locked, front brake was none existent seen as I had neglected to feather it here and there and in the in the cold, in the wet... I snaked left and right for 100 yds and finally came to a halt upright. Luck smiled on me that day.

Riveted the bastard things together. Did a thread in workshop.

Came down a hill towards Winchcombe. It's 1 in 3 at the top, got half way down going hell for leather and pressed the front brake which emitted a nasty screech 'cos a stone had got lodged between the rim and the brake pad and then tried to brake a little more but there was nothing there except a horrendous noise...but I stayed upright.
Completely f*cked the rim on the wheel on one side.

Lady luck smiled on me that day too.

Went down the hill towards East Dean, very steep. A bloody Volvo over took me. I was doing 50+. Then he slowed and was turning to Burling gap at the bottom of the hill. I was on the inside. I closed my eyes whilst pulling on both brakes as hard as I could fully expecting to hit Swedish metal and in an instant, I opened them and the car had turned right just in time and ahead was empty road.

I've had a few too many spills but simultaneously, i've been lucky.