Drooper

Ah yes.... St Paddy's day!

Going out with my local cycling club for the first time tomorrow morning. Weather forecast = pishing down and cold. Nice ETA on Sun 4th March: So, rolled up in the howling wind and driving rain, and loitered for a wee while until one guy came along. This guy was 75 years old (76 on Saturday), I kid you not! The plan was he would link up with me and we would head to meet another guy a few miles along the road. The second guy was a mere boy at 74 years old! So, obviously the club organiser was pitching this at a certain level for the newbie diddy? Well, yes and no. These old blokes, the first in particular, are hardcore. We also met up with another couple of riders. One about my age and another younger guy in his early 20s. The pace was pretty pedestrian for the most part, but that was fine as it was my first taste of group riding. Really decent blokes, too, it has to be said. We covered about 45 miles with a cafe stop, and the weather improved on the return leg. I enjoyed the day, and will go back. The guys I was riding with reckon I'm fine for their intermediate group (this sits below the serious riders who race etc.). That sounds good to me, and I'm planning to head out for their 70 mile ride next Saturday all going well. Some motorists don't seem to take too kindly riders in a group. Their problem, I suppose, but I'm not generally used to this as a lone rider. The etiquette stuff might take a bit of getting used to, but there are plenty of good reasons to join up with these guys I reckon. Huge credit to the older blokes. FFS, if I'm in anything like that kind of nick when I'm their age, I'll be hugely proud of myself.

Why aren't these dirty fucking ratbags dead yet?

Rangers are a cancer on Scottish football. They need to be cut out. I dodged a bullet coming from a family with Rangers sympathies, but gravitating to St Mirren thanks to a right thinking friend. This thread is largely populated by similar right thinking football supporters. I feel at home. Cheers for that.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I'm at a bloody conference all day tomorrow. Gutted!

THE GOVAN SOUP KITCHEN OPENS AT 5PM....

That thread is a thing of indescribable beauty. Edited for emphasis.

FFS, my office chair is now damp with the anticipation. My wife just called from home, in a state of terrified shock reporting that my dancing shoes have eerily started to tap out the rhythm of The Sash from their place at the bottom of the wardrobe.

Fear has been stalking the corridors of the training complex and Ibrox YIKES! Sounds like a job for Scooby and Shaggy! Scoobydoobydooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

What an arse. One of the reasons lights have a flash function is to differentiate bikes from other vehicles. Let's face it, we need to be distinctive as were the most vulnerable folks on the road.

And it doesn't get much more disappointing than that.

FFS, much as I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread, I find I'm opening it up expectantly to read any new post only to be a bit disappointed that it isn't confirming the news we all crave. This sense of disappointment comes a close second to that which I've been experiencing today each time I receive a text message and it isn't the anticipated proposal of marriage from Natalie Imbruglia

Aye, I swapped my insulated gloves for a Spring pair today after finding it a bit toasty yersterday. What a difference it makes not having streaming eyes/fogged up specs and steam coming off you when you arrive at work. The longer days are great too. Much as winter cycling doesn't tend to bother me too much, there's nothing like losing a layer and being able to put the hammer down a bit without fear of hitting an ice patch or skittering off the road due to gritting.

Aye, but the ST sales are.... Mibbee

Do they have tailor-made trails through there? I know there are newish trails in the Carron Valley, but I've got out the way of going off-road - to the point that I considered punting the MTB in order to get another road machine (I couldn't bring myself to do it, though, and I wouldn't get anything like the true worth of the bike in a sale at any rate). I've signed up for an introductory club run at the weekend. It looks as though they might be juggling their plans to accomodate me, so no backing out. It's probably just as well as I need to get into some training for the Syke Mor at the end of May.

My reading of the Retard story might suggest that this wouldn't be paid out as the very integrity of the deal is being brought into question (in much the same way that my car insurance wouldn't be paying out for an accident if I had omitted to put it through an MOT).

You really couldn't make any of this up. It seems to me that Ticketus either made a truly insane decision in giving Whyte this money even prior to his purchase of the club, or that, as I've previously suspected, there was a lot more to this deal with Whyte being a patsy. Based on this story, assuming the adminstrators aren't simply making a desperate and probably futile throw of the dice attempt to claw back some funds, then the former scenario applies. This is very difficult to get your head round, and actually now looks as though it is Ticketus that was the patsy, and either Whyte or the puppet-master had this outcome in mind all along. FFS, talk about murky....

Are we any further forward in learning what information the administrators passed to the police last week?

Already all but dead.

Correct. What was the name of that Christmas hamper mob (Fairpak?) that went to the wall leaving all those who had invested chasing sweeties. I don't see a huge difference between them and the Rangers ST holders to be perfectly honest.

Technically speaking, the money wasn't paid to Gretna. The SPL provided funds in order to ensure that the Gretna players received their wages and were therefore in a position to fulfil their fixture commitments.

Switzerland? Buying a football club is like making love to a beautiful woman....

I don't believe that was Craig Whyte at all. It sounded a bit like the guy who does the dodgy impersonations on Off the Ball. I was waiting on him bursting into his John Boyle/Frankie Howerd routine.

It might stop the male mouthbreathers slabbering around the letterbox when their female companions inform them that it is that time of the month. Actually on re-reading that, it conjures up a seriously disturbing image.

Good spot - though I'll no doubt take delivery of the shocking pink Playboy Bunny variant