Drooper

I've signed up for this ride a week on Sunday: 65 mile Route I reckon the 100 mile route is a bit too ambitious this early in the year, so opted for the 65 mile 'challenge' route (already signed up for the Skye Mor 100 mile ride at the end of May so this will be good training). I've never tackled the Duke's Pass so this is an opportunity to take it on in the context of an organised event. I'm not sure about the road surfaces at points in the route (Loch Ard etc.), so will have to brace myself for a bit of road-side repair action. Weather could also be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it. The ride seems well organised, so it should be a good day out, with the added bonus that I can cycle to the start/end point as its only 5 miles from home - hmm....that adds a further 10 miles to the ride, right enough!

Nice!

Big Hoose + institution = lunatic asylum.

Surely no more than £20. Look at the Park Tools website for some good guidance on setting up your gears. I'd strongly recommend getting to know how to carry out basic manintenance on your own. This lets you deal with required fettling if you have a spill or hit a bad pothole and things go awry. It'sll also save you a good few quid in the long run.

Don't back down over this. I'd threaten the guy with legal action, though without a witness it could be hard to prove. Threaten him all the same. Glad to hear you're okay, and hope you're back n the saddle soon.

It seems that Rangers be be around £1M in debt for every year of their existence. No doubt this has already been metioned, but it seems very fitting somehow that it is all coming together in such a neat way in this year which will surely be their last *crosses everything*

By jove, I think they're fucked!

I would suggest that the Newsnight feature tonight was the most brutally honest, realistic, and thoroughly enjoyable media representation of the Rangers situation thus far. Bravo!

Funnily enough, there are a few intriguing parallels to be drawn in the Teutonic context. Hitler whipped the German people into a frenzy of indignation in response to the crippling reparations imposed upon their state after WW1. Clearly, The Peepul have been similarly wronged, and their righteous indigation, as so poignantly manifest on RangersMedia, will surely serve as a galvanising factor in another glorious historical chapter akin to that spawned by good ol' Adolf. The biggest question is, will Ally ultimately turn a gun on himself in the dug-out?

Ace of Spades?

I'm listening to the 'experts' on Sportsound. What a load of vacuous drivel. They clearly know absolutely fuck all about what is going on with the Rangers situation, or what the future holds. It's cringeworthy.

400 pages!

Senior football is progressively tiered in this country (allegedly). All clubs should be in the position to aspire to climb through the leagues and secure their optimum placing based on merit. There should be no accommodation of cheats. Every cheat who is afforded passage or even salvation robs a legitimate club of the opportunity to advance based on fair competition. This is the principle I talked about. Without it, senior football as a whole - SPL and beyond - is without integrity, and this detracts from its very purpose, surely?

There is a fundamental point of principle here, though. An abject failure to recognise and observe that would render senior football in this country an absolute sham (FFS, we're close enough to that as things stand). You talk of pragmatism, but it is simply expedience at best. You have to wonder what the point is, really.

This

Are the veggies catered for?

**PLEASE READ** Right folks, a further rallying call in advance of the Inaugural Team P&B Ride on Sunday 6th May. This is a description of the route suggested by Unleash The Nade: The Big(gish) One! The ride is just under 40 miles, so shouldn't prove too tough for anyone with a few miles in their legs and a reasonable level of bike fitness. This isn't a competitive outing, and, as we won't have been out together, we'll need to take it steady in any event. Safety and enjoying the day are the key elements. This is an opportunity to meet some of the guys on P&B, but, better still, to meet up with people who share two passions - fitba and riding (some of us enjoy cycling too!). It's an open invite, so everyone is welcome. If necessary we can easily split into sub-groups if it makes sense on the day and meet up for refreshments at the end, so there needn't be any pressure to tear the arse out of it if you're flagging for whatever reason. It is to be hoped that this is merely the first Team P&B ride of many, and it would be good to throw things open for suggestions of other routes (possibly a particular favourite in your local area). The aim for this year is to get together for an organised ride later in the summer/early autumn. The Pedal for Scotland event has been suggested and sounds like a decent shout. It would be great to see as many folk as can make it along on 6th May for the ice-breaker, though. Please let us know if you're up for it so we can get an idea of numbers, and UtN can organise the free bar at his local boozer as promised!

Hope you're back in the saddle soon, Buddie

What a load of old shite. You've obviously spent too long on that turbo trainer in your garage and you're feeling a bit light-headed

I thoroughly enjoyed getting out on the bike on Tuesday in bib-shorts and short-sleeved jersey. So good was the weather, I got pretty bad sun-burn (I never learn, as the missus would say). A quick trawl in the kitchen cupboard, though, and I discovered some after-sun lotion left over from last year. I've been liberally applying this to the affected areas (wrist up to sleeve line, and knees and shins). Good God, I was thinking, I'm developing a glorious deep golden tan for the first time in my entire life! Wrong! The after-sun has small print. There is a 'self-tanning' ingredient in there, and I am now a Jimmy Calderwood shade of lurid orange, with various streaks around the fleshy whitey blue areas that escaped this magical potion. Oh yes, and my palms also glow in the dark. I've been subjected to a truly tortuous morning of ridicule from the wife and eldest wean, and am having to wear long trousers and a long-sleeved top

Your missus will be pleased!

He's just uptight cause he's shite at riding

I have a bit of a thing about this average speed as a measure of cycling prowess thing. I've banged on about this before on here, but great wisdom is always worth sharing again Too many variables for me, to use this is an accurate measure. Wind strength and direction; ascents/descents; road surface; whether cycling solo or in a group etc....etc.... Who really cares that much anyway? Take my ride yesterday for example. I took a break at the 30 mile mark. My computer indicated my average speed as bang on 18mph. This was before I tackled the 1:6 ascent, had a tyre blow out that affected my return leg (having to reduce tyre pressure dramatically and ease off my pace while being particularly cautious of hitting potholes). I then had my monster climb to get back to the house. By that time, my average MPH had dropped to around 16.5. What do I take from that? Not a whole lot, TBH. All-in-all, the above means little in the grand scheme of things. What matters is that I had a good old time to myself. Just enjoy your riding, would be my advice. I suppose there's no harm in setting targets, but I find you get better at riding as you gain experience and as your fitness increases. I find that I enjoy riding (and riding hard when the notion takes me) if I can relax and don't get too hung up on how 'well' I'm doing. Just a personal thing, right enough.

Watch out for broken shells on the road!

Aye, I'll post something as a wee reminder/rallying call in the next day or so. By way of an update of my ride today (including flapjack consumption): I opted to tackle the Peaton Hill again. A 17% gradient (or 1:6 if you prefer). It's a beast of a climb, but the descent is a hoot! Anyway, having completed that section, I returned through Clynder and was met by that heart-sinking bang and hiss that signals a blow-out. This wasn't simply an inner-tube puncture, though. The sidewall of the tyre is well and truly fucked, too. A quick survey of the area revealed masses of tiny shell fragments/shards. A woman who heard the blow-out and stopped for a blether informed that apparently gulls lift shells from the shore area and deliberately drop them on the road so they break, and the birds can then access their juicy contents! I wondered whether she was taking the piss, TBH. I managed a very half-arsed temporary repair and limped back into Helensburgh where the very decent bloke in Helensburgh Cycles helped me patch up the tyre so I could make it home. He confirmed the gull story. Indeed, he told me that the gulls have discovered a nice newly surfaced tarmac area that they also favour for their sneaky feeding strategy....a new cycle path! I shouldn't laugh really Made it home anyway, and despite the ruined Michelin Pro3 Race tyre that cost me £30, has done less than 300 miles, and is now unusable, and the added grief of roadside repairs, I thoroughly enjoyed the day, and made decent progress all things considered. Approx 60 miles, so a good outing and a bit of an adventure into the bargain Positives included the first use of my Specialized BG Comp shoes. I can report that they performed very well indeed. I also used some other new kit that I had been saving for the better weather, so to try them out this early in the year was an unexpected bonus.