Joe Low

You're right. If I die on the bike, I know what my last words will be, having rehearsed the situation a couple of times. Nothing uplifting, wise nor inspirational, unfortunately

2.5 not every other ride but not seldom either 1.5 part-scared which makes me part-angry..... ok, **** scared and homicidal.

I dont want a photo of me with an orange sticker on my head, so havent bought one. I think if its a one-off, R50 is fine. I think it'd be pretty vain to be getting photos with stickers on your head for more than 1 a year. ActionPhoto are still in business so maybe they know what they are doing. Bulk processing for petty vanities is good enough. The only photos I've got of me were done by Jacques Marais - brilliant guy as well as photographer. Couldnt have been much of a thrill for him, but maybe there was a challenge in making me look (halfway) good. Actually he's a fantastic photographer, check out his site http://jacquesmarais.co.za/

14 pages - have you guys sorted any "No Entry" signs @ strategic points yet?

Ahhhh nostalgia, it ain't what it used to be.

+1 & v funny

Hi Fester - I can relieve you of your burden if this is still available for Fri/Sat nights. Please pm

The hard way! You have to push yourself as hard as poss and record the results. e.g. Work hard on a hill before sprinting to exhaustion.... a couple of times. Then look at the karvonen formula that sets your zones between your resting heart rate and your max.

Get in touch with Ronelle - Hub nick, Torque Pics (& or Ronelle(?)); she's got quite a scheme running down your way.

1st check your proper max out it sounds like you're working to the wrong no. & its too low. I know mine is at least 180 but the formula would say 173 - that 5% makes a big diff. In decent form i can do a race near 90% average, at 95% I can do less than 5 mins. Symptoms? Retching, uncontrolled breathing, metallic taste in mouth, acid in lungs, spangly vision. Get past that, then think of slowing down a little.

When I was small I loved the stylised iconography of communist China. Made me a little maoist.

Of course it is. You got a whole lot of unpublicised rules and unsigned tracks, I'd say ignorance has been inflicted & you cant blame folk (especially occasional riders) for not knowing.

Our work here is done But the answer, as you can see, is there is no one answer - research the different approaches and pick one that you think will suit.

If you are going to focus on heart rate as the basis of your training then get a book, programme or personal trainer and do it thoroughly. Those that do find the base training at lower rates gives them the ability to be faster in the long run. Its a discipline and you have to do it properly to make those weeks of feeling like you're not getting anywhere pay off. Most of us go as fast as we can for as long as we can. Personally, I'd expect to do a 3hr race at 85-90% but i'm old fat and slow(ish) so maybe not representative. I only wear a monitor on the indoor trainer. 1st thing would be to find out what your max is. I hope you're not going on the 220 minus your age BS.

Sheer genius in its simplicity I would imagine there are loads of occasional riders that dont know what the DH guys know & arent trying to be difficult.

As Whitney would tell you - "its not right but its ok". Cavendish is a legend, lets see him winning sprints. Loads and loads. What's the point of having a Ferrari and using it to plough a field?

Are some moderators biased? No, all moderators are biased. If you are a human being you are biased - there is no such thing as objectivity in the human psyche. It's something that we each believe we have as individuals that no-one else has. Just so happens that my particular bias is better than anyone else's. So Eccentric's question should be "who is the moderator who agrees with me the least".

There, fixed it - no need to thank.

Saved from the cold by 18yr old's parents eve at school..... .....would've prefered the cold i think.

Really great that your reactions stopped the attack and you got a new bike from people that appreciate you. Very cool that you're physically recovered. Helluva story.

Used to esp from Millionaire days, but friend had him do some corporate event and said he's the nicest fella, so i've found it hard to dislike him since. Same with Gary Bailey who is so biased towards ManU and against Liverpool, having met him i can put up with a lot more. Terry Paine, doesnt matter if you have or havent met him - there's no getting to like that guy.

Strayed a bit too far north then, but at least i got my Camelbak.

Back to the Future was a film that defined the decade - along with Top Gun and a couple of others. The sequels? Never seen them, even taped them a couple of months back on PVR but deleted before watching them. Whats the point when theyd told the whole story in the first one.

PM Bobbie - she knows a lot about groups going out in that area road and mtb. Andrew Bell is also v helpful. Interesting fixation with capitals and mix of plea for help with rant mode.

My friend smsd around 9:30 asking about an accident scene she'd gone past this morning. Said it looked bad, cyclist at the side of the road shouting, someone on a stretcher emergency vehicles & private cars that had stopped etc. but no further details That's on my normal route, anyone know anything more about it?