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I preferred to say "I know you said your hair needed cutting badly but I didn't think you meant it".
No wonder I never got anywhere.
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Really enjoying this ATM
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OK not overheard here but I rode home via Richmond Park this morning and then through the car park of the Coombe Hill Golf Club which is housed in what looks like a very exclusive estate.
I saw one of these right in front of the clubhouse, you know the area that has spaces marked with shit like 'Club Captain only'.
Not only are they enormous and enormously ugly but this had a vanity plate '7000 RR' which must have cost a pretty penny.
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Strange sort of memes/silly names crossover post
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This seems to have turned into the 'Plane boring stories' thread rather than 'In the News' and yes I know I played a part in starting it.
So here's a crossover in the news story:
Wizz Air launches 'all you can fly' annual deal
Meanwhile I will keep washing my plastic bottles and recycling them. As Sean Lock said when I saw him in Epsom "Oh you all recycle in Epsom do you? I used to but then I went to America for a holiday and I thought 'what's the point?'"
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great pics. Interesting tyre choice, speed up front and gnarr for control at the back hein? Kinda the mullet look.
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A wry smile from the recycled pallet in my garden
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That's a good question; they all have pros and cons. I will try to list the key differences here but yes my first effort this year was 1st April and that was pretty brutal conditions given all the rain over the winter and spring so I can imagine how the March trip was.
https://www.strava.com/activities/11166104464
161 km
1,676 m elevation
L2B from Cheam using the classic Ranmore common, north downs, downs link, south downs route that I have been riding since the noughties on my MTB. Its quite tough and some of the trails are more MTB style than gravel but I've done it so often I know it by heart. It seems to take forever to get to the top of Pitch Hill and then you can see the south downs way off on the horizon but once you drop down to Cranleigh and join the Downs link you cover the distance quickly.
I went over the top of the South downs on the way out. The section over the south downs way via the top of Devil's Dyke is amazing but it is a very long, tough climb to get up to the radio station at the top and then you have a fair few miles of rolling SDW trails which have more climbing. But the views, big skies and feeling of being all alone in a very large space are great.
From Brighton I head back to Shoreham and join the Downs link there and retrace my steps to Christchurch Hospital and then on the road to Horsham station as I can get a train to Epsom, my local station from there. Horsham is on the Southern network and the train carries on to London Victoria via CLJ if needed although it is a slow train.https://www.strava.com/activities/11084786520
111 km
990 m elevation
L2B using a cross country route from Epsom towards Wisley that I was keen to try out. This avoids the tough north downs climbs and I also went into Brighton via Shoreham so avoided the south downs as well. So a fairly simple ride but perfect for early spring when everything was still underwater.
As mentioned, on April 1st this was mudbound for many parts of the north downs but those have subsequently dried out and are currently rideable.https://www.strava.com/activities/9406603922
81 km
716 m elevation
For some reason we got the train to Dorking and then rode from there. The shortest of the options but a mate was trying to help me unravel the best way through the surrey hills and we wanted to road test this one.https://www.strava.com/activities/9346200951
132 km
1,038 m elevation
L2B starting at Kingston on Thames. Again heads further west avoiding most of the north downs climbing and is based on the official BHF L2B off road route. This is a very long and winding route and took a long time heading West before finally going south. I got lost a few times around the Wisley A3/M25 roadworks as the route goes directly through the works (all the workers were very helpful) and it was quite painful. I haven't bothered repeating this one.https://www.strava.com/activities/12137933387
151 km
1,219 m elevation
The route I rode yesterday. Starts at Sigma sports and follows the Esher/Bookham trails I would normally ride on a weekend and then out over Ranmore common via a long but nice climb to Polesden Lacey and then another long climb from Westcott up Leith Hill.
This is pretty much all the climbing on this route and beyond Leith Hill it drops you onto the Downs Link quite a long way past Cranleigh which is good because you avoid that annoying section where you have to double back on yourself (near 'Baynards' on the map) but bad because there is a lot of long road sections which seem pointless when there are alternative options available. There were also a couple of cheeky sections where we were forced to use the Surrey/Sussex borderpath (a footpath). It was quite rideable but I try not to do this if possible.
An annoying detour off the downs link just after Southwater and just before Mary's (ex-Stan's bike shack) saw us hacking our way through overgrown brambles for 30 minutes when we could have followed the correct route and covered the same distance in 5 minutes.
it's fast but for me it's a bit too much on the road.
Once we got to Steyning we spent a few minutes thinking about whether we should go over the south downs but we decided to keep to the planned route and head via Shoreham.
After fish and chips at the Regency the other two headed to Brighton station and I headed back to Shoreham and up the Downs link to Horsham as per previous trips.So it depends whether you want long, fast, climby or a mixture of all three.
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I've no idea, I didn't ask him but it has GARMIN printed on it. It didn't seem to do anything the whole seven hours.
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My personal choice is a couple of Bloody Mary's in the airport lounge and then snooze for a few hours on the plane. I'm usually 'almost there' by the time I come round.
EDIT: Oh and I just sit in my seat the whole flight. I can't bear going to the on board toilet or these people who seem to wander around the aircraft chatting idly to others or are constantly up and down getting stuff out of the overhead lockers (then putting it back in five minutes later).
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errr...that REM one is as old as the internet itself. I call foul.
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It depends what funds are like but I usually stay in the centre of Morzine but that's for ease of access to the uplifts and is a houseful of blokes rather than a family.
If you are looking to save money I think that Montriond (where I stayed with @chez_jay waaay back in 2005/6) can be had for more reasonable rates.
But hard agree with others above; Morzine is the answer to all your questions. It will be reasonably busy in the summer but not painfully so and mostly will be northern blokes heading for the uplifts so the town centre is more quiet during the day.
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Another L2B off-road yesterday (that's about my 8th trip this year) and I was shown yet another route for the northern half.
Conditions were perfect and after haddock and chips at the Regency my riding buddies caught the train of shame and I solo'd back to Horsham to make it 150k for the day.
Here's Steve just north of Steyning and the three of us at Shoreham harbour.
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S’funny. I thought ‘raw-dogging’ had a very different meaning
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something something Prawn Ring...
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Can't help with the route but went to Carcassone in May and can confirm it is worth the visit.
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I'm not up on this story either and assumed it was an Aussie female cricketer.
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Great pics
Common red darter or sympetrum striolatum (I think) on my watering can this morning.
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I retired in June 2023 and the only thing I miss about not working any more is the cycle-commute. So when my main riding buddy mentioned that he wanted to start commuting again I offered to join him to remind him of the route and ensure he made it in safely on day 1.
Not a lot more to report other than cycle-commuting is much more relaxed in the summer and when you don't have a deadline to get into the office. He didn't even want to leave particularly early and we didn't leave my place until 08:15 and took a leisuely ride along CS7 with the cycle commuters and cars deep into August-holiday low volumes.
A coffee in Canary Wharf with another riding buddy before taking the long route home made for a satisfying ride.
A few pics for illustrative purposes.
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yup, it's a slow burner...
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Font please?
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Not sure if this is old or new news or applies to all Android phones but with newer Samsung phones if you put the camera in selfie mode and then hold up your palm to the camera it will start a short countdown then take the pic without you needing to push a button.
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Tru dat. My main gravel riding buddy came from rowing to road cycling via a bit of MTB to gravel. He still pumps his 2.2 MTB tyres up to 60 PSI 'so I can go faster on the road' and wonders why he gets bounced all over the place off road.
Whenever I'm riding behind him on the gravel bike I often shout 'outside foot down' and he replies angrily 'I know' whilst doing the complete opposite as he wobbles around the simplest of corners.