SeaBee

That one NEVER works for me. Somehow when I turn around, 10 mins later the wind will turn...

Great shot! Some more of the trouble named Kahlua that's arrived last year: She was quickly at home in the garden: And on her bed in the home: ....aand wherever I lay my hat, that's my home:

Thanks Richie. Awesome shot that, btw! Had the whole "it's all about the screen" chat on the way back from work with a buddy and IPS screens and so on. Searched a bit and it seems IPS screened (and/or at least HD) laptops are a bit more available now than it was when I looked around a year ago. Will search some more - but still opinions welcome!

Going to pop this q here rather than the h/w & gadget place, since photo's and editing will be prevalent here. Looking at getting a laptop - with editing pics as one of the top priorities. Had a look at a couple of options. One was Lenove Y580, but battery life (and weight) seems to be a bit of a constraint there according to reviews - but a kick-azz machine, spec-wise very little (I saw) challenging it at the price range. Number of other options I can't all remember the names of - but various Dell, other Lenovo, the odd HP, Samsung - don't know how good they are at making laptops? Then a buddy mentions - if it's mostly for photo's and photo editing, why not a macbook? So I looked at that - and not sure what you're getting for the extra premium you pay, other than a more trendy badge. Also suspect the interface may be a bit challenging to the mrs if she want to do something, but that's only that much of an issue. Ultrabooks? Sounds fun and funky, but is it a valid option? Or rather get a laptop and add an SSD in there. Any advise/ideas/comments? At the point where I feel I'm just going around in circles.

McLaren...? One of the few teams that went for a redesign on the car, where most went for evolution on last years car, with the eye on big changes for next year anyways. Obviously they got something wrong. It almost seems like they're never able to get the car properly balanced. Maybe due to engineers being chrome-blinded by now?

No - but when he started off the British commentators kept talking about Lewis "The Hammer" Hamilton... Hammer evolved/translated to Hamster very easily in my not-so-keen-Hamilton-fan mind.

That real... I wonder whether I should subtly indicate who did it, coz it sure wasn't me...

With Tank here... I am slightly taller than you and on a med (think it's 17.5?) Stumpjumper HT. Which may not be exact same sizing as yours, but can't be too wayward.

HR is individual - and in this case most likely indicative of your effort related to yourself. I got in the high 190's over the weekend - nothing as hectic as I presume Block house climb is. (If you want the precise value, I'll go check, but that irrelevant in my mind.) But last weekend I did not go that hard and recorded less. I'm no fitter, I just pushed harder. Measuring HR relative to somebody else means zilch. I've ridden with guys who have very low max HR's - and rides the wheels off me! Oh and if it's worth anything - I'm 43, so there goes all age-based HR calculation theories. Set your HR zones up via Karvonen formula and... go ride the bike!

...adn Kimi spoke! "Why did you not call me in?!" I can imagine somebody got klapped with a helmet after the race. Super comeback from Webber, Alonso and the Hamster, Massa turned around a horrible weekend after his tyres went as well... and where the heck did he pull that start from?! But to yet again have tyres as the main talking point is not on. That was ridiculous.

Hey Mads, think you've learnt another thing... I bet it was awesome just to be back on the bike!

Okay, I do it differently. I upload from my Edge afterwards. But what I can tell is that Endo does not seem to reflect any power data. Strava does. There is an android app for Strava.... use it, don't use it. No, I have no idea how the Strava android app works, whether it'll display your values real-time or whatever. But worth the download and check. BTW, in my mind (dodgey area) it's not powercal specific - it reads power values or not. Does not care whether it's powercal, powertap or whatever other device. Therefore very valid question from Jeepdude. Helps little if you have software that can handle power reading but your hardware can't pair with the device supplying the values - and powercal belts are ANT+. But since you've confirmed, no worries.

Once tried it and got myself one of those large long-life SteriStumpie's for a long weekend of training. Worked like a charm.

Nope. Had a black Bell Sweep R, it was crash replaced with a white one which did somehow not fit exactly the same. Still have the white one, but now ride with a black Rudy Windmax. Colour makes no difference ito perceivable temp for me.

If that's the case, I'd have done the same. (And I say that riding a 29er from their stable, though.)

Did your research exclude Specialized for some specific reason? Juuuust asking....

What piffef me off about the doping is the beer-bellied rugby fan criticising cyclists, when their sport is doing next to stuff-all - and I'd love to see the stats if, as example, rugby players are tested to the same extremes. Drugs have been part of it since inception, even if it was just (some of them hideous!) pain concoctions to keep them on the bike. We call an Argus or a DC or such painful? We have no idea what pain is. Any one stage on the Tour will most likely leave most of us crying, let alone the whole 3 weeks, let alone at that speed. And I'm not condoning doping, everything but. All I'm saying is a lot of the people getting all high and mighty about it has stuff in their system (hey, it's just a pill for a cold/booster/anti-inflammatory/pain pill) that'll get them banned if they were tested. Aaah, I feel better now. Roll on Le Tour!

Hey D, if it is even remote possible for me to make that course, I will attend! Took some pics at Paarl DH beginning of the year for the heck of it and to learn a bit - really enjoyed it. Just chatting and exchanging ideas will be great. You gonna be the supermodel?! Nerd, just get used to the camera, play around and have fun. The free course will be a good intro. But there are basic rules to lighting - the rest are just dials (to accomplish these)... and imagination! You just juggle the three and see what happens. Auto modes can give you a good idea of what the camera thinks it should be - and a lot of Canon's preset modes can take you a looong way. (TBH, I read some books and that was that...) And make no mistake - I use Canon's presets a lot of the time still - but you have to know what they do and what you want to accomplish. I still want to go on a course for the heck of it, but something like this course by Iride and Gary Perkin seems much more up my alley than "this is you aperture, you determine depth of field in a shot with that"...

Have some other moon shots at home. Did not shoot this one, never got around to it. Sept's one is a bit closer, anyways... (Don't know why the fuss of this one is so big) Interesting was with last years one I really had a hard time dialling in the settings. Luckily I checked some shots, because my normal ranges ended up way overexposed, it really does make a difference with the moon being so much closer! But that's a nice shot, Sheriff Dangle...

As a kid we rode our bikes everywhere. Heck, that was Upington, you HAD to ride a bike to get anywhere. I still have scars from those Chopper rides! Moved to the Cape, stopped riding bike to school middle high school... better chance of chatting up girls whilst walking... After school kept playing sport, ended up a decent squash player... then forked my knee. Kept trying to continue/come back, loved squash. Was just too painful, not on. Within months my wife told me "Just go DO something..." - could not do "nothing" having been used to being active. A week or so later she made the comment while we were braaing with friends - the guy was an avid mtb'er. Two days later I borrowed his wife's bike to go riding with him. We're still friends today. He'll kill me if I try to drag him up a mountain now! Unless he goes with the Landy and me on a bike... But ja, when he stopped riding, I rode alone in the mountain for a while, did not like the idea, got onto the road and enjoyed that immensely. Entered for the odd funride, had fun. Work and schedules make it difficult for me to train with partners and most of my rides are solo. So when mrs thought the roads became too dangerous for me to ride alone... Lo and behold I got a mtb. Started riding in the mountain on my own again.... still love it!

You end up doing silly exercises making you wonder whether your physio has her head on the right way. Takes months to heal (but at least you can ride!) - but now I can say at least my shoulder is better, more stable and my shoulder blade is not just moving along with my shoulder - it is actually starting to do the supporting work. It beats getting an op, unless the op is really required.

Yeah, but upside down flag is signal of distress, not mourning. Mourning is shown by flags flying half-mast - as the Danish flags were flying everywhere.

Brilliant! Just one more question on Le Mans: I noticed it on the podium footage - does anybody know why one German flag was flown up-side down?! Was it just deur-die-mis-geit or was there another reason?

Jungle bars rock. But I also like enduren's bars. Mostly Jungle, though.

I avoid updates like the plague... See, nothing gets between me, my couch, my duvet, my fireplace and the delayed last two hours daily! The odd glass of red may join the party.