Tony

A friend at work has convinced me to give cyclocross a try so I am going to do the TLI race at Mugdock Country Park on Sunday 29th October. I thought I would mention it on this forum in case anyone else who might not have thought about cyclocross feels like giving it a try. I'm told you don't need a specialist cyclocross bike for the TLI events - MTBs are acceptable. (I am planning to use my commuting hack - an old touring bike - with knobblies on it for the occasion.) The dates for the whole series (and some photos from a previous Mugdock event) can be found on Davie Graham's website: http://www.cyclocrosser.co.uk ...and also on the BraveHeart forum: http://www.braveheartfund.com/chatroom/ ... IC_ID=1637

I intend to ride

I would miss out Arran, Kintyre etc (you can easily do Arran/Islay/Jura in a long weekend so best save it for another time) and take the train to Oban, ferry to Barra (don't miss out Vatersay) and head up the island chain to Harris/Lewis then on to Skye, Mallaig (visit Camusdarach beach) and down to Ardnamurchan then a couple of days on Mull/Iona and back to Oban....

Noted with interest Doug's reference to Canal St station - presumably this refers to the 50 yard stretch that runs from the station platform, under Causeyside Street and behind the pub in Stow Brae. In my experience this is definitely the worst section of the track for broken glass. I don't use Canal St regularly any more but when I did I found it necessary to dismount and push my bike along this section, to minimise risk of punctures. (This with 32mm kevlar-belted commuting tyres)

Was your Ultegra chainset originally part of an 8spd groupset? A 7/8spd chain is slightly wider than a 9spd chain so the chainrings would be slightly further apart. Had this problem myself - when I converted to 9spd but tried to keep my old Stronglight touring chainset (which was originally purchased in the mid-90s when 7spd was king). Solution for me was to get a new chainset as the "chain slipping between rings" thing just got too annoying. Although maybe you could just get new chainring bolts instead to adjust the pitch - I never thought of that at the time

Check your chainring bolts have not become loose. (Usually this situation is accompanied by creaking noises from the chainset when pedalling at hight torque)

Martin, what time do you think you might be there? I plan to come along - I can drop in any time after 1830 Thanks Tony

I don't know if there was a Brian in the first group but there was certainly a Euan McKay........the Fullarton Wheelers Sunday bunch also made a surprise guest appearance. Me and Euan and Dunc (?) got swept up by them partway round the first lap. (I think their Sunday runs must be a bit faster than ours)

I have voted for an APR as I did a couple of these last Summer and they were a lot of fun in a painful wheel-hingin' sort of way

Count me in for the "fixed-wheel Sunday"...

Alan I've been commuting on fixed for the last couple of months and I'm using 44x18 (66 inch gear) which I find is ideal for my flattish commute. I think it's best to err on the low side when choosing a gear because when you're going downhill you can either use the brakes (obviously!) or use your legs to apply gentle "reverse thrust" to stop yourself from accelerating so that you don't have to spin like a maniac. (I found it took a week or two of regular riding to get the hang of this.) Tony

£450? They must have seen you coming.... ...which is more than can be said for the gentleman I saw cycling up Finnieston St on Thursday morning, wearing a thigh-length camouflage smock and matching balaclava (teamed with black shoes and black trousers). At least he'll be safe from snipers, artillery spotters etc

I've just bought 2 metres of 3M "Diamond Grade" reflective tape (1m in yellow and 1m in "Police Blue" from this site: http://www.bikeseen.com ...planning to cover my rear mudguard (and the mudflap I'm about to fit) in alternating blue & yellow stripes, also similar bands along my top tube for side visibility. There's also this site: http://www.beseenonabike.com/ ..they sell similar reflective tape etc but not the "Police Blue" which took my fancy.... Got these links from the Commuting section of the "Cycling Plus" forum which has a lot of good info on lights etc especially around this time of year.

I will probably be there

Darryl (doesn't this mean you will be unable to defend your title as club Hill-Climb champ....according to the Confined Events calendar it's on Sat 1st...) I may go to Arran just for the day, probably going over on Sunday morning and meeting up with everyone at some point. Thanks Tony

I'll be there.....

Campbell forgot to say - the final times (with the 50secs added on) are in the box two thirdsof the way down the page with people's initials next to them. They are listed in starting order. (One you might not recognise is Ronnie McKenna - in case you can't read my writing) Thanks Tony

I will do the timekeeping, barring any problems at home/work. Would someone else who thinks they will be there like to PM me their mobile number so that I can let someone know if I will not make it? Thanks Tony

Sorry folks I wil not be able to make it this Wednesday due to work commitments - I am having to go to Milton Keynes at short notice and with the usual airport delays etc it's unlikely I'll be back in time to make the TT ...so someone else will have to do timekeeping duties - I'll put myself down for this next week

I will do the timekeeping for this one, as I managed to palm it off on Kenny the last time...

I'll take a turn at the timekeeping for this first in the series - intend to ride the other three Have not done timekeeping before - do we normally use some sort of special stopwatch or what

I am going to have to pull out as well due to family commitments (a birthday I'd forgotten about)

Who's coming along tomorrow night then?

6 people took part tonight on a sunny evening: Lead Group: Claire Jim Daly Alan Chasing Group: Dave Liam Rankin me The lead group were given 5 minutes which turned out to be about 4 minutes too much as we never came close to catching them! Jim Daly won the sprint (so I am told) with Alan second and Claire third. In the chasing group it was Liam first (as expected), Dave second, me third. Hope to see you all again next week - in which case the gap will be 30 seconds and I'm swapping places with Jim Daly

Looks like we have at least 5 people for tonight then: me, Dave, Claire, Alan and "Guest" (Liam?). I suggest we follow the same arrangements as last week - meet at 1900, for a 1915 start. I have pasted in Stephen's directions below for the benefit of any newcomers. VENUE: GATESIDE CIRCUIT Gateside is just East of Beith on the B777. You can usually park at or near the church / village hall. Start line is further out this road (i.e away from Beith): you will notice a road heading off on your right with a notice about a whisky bond. Start is about 100 yards along this road. Route is along this unclassified road past the whisky bond until you reach the A736 (Barrhead - Irvine road); turn left (careful here - the A736 can be busy) straight until you reach Lugton and turn left at the Paraffin Lamp (pub) which brings you onto the B777 heading back to Beith and turn left again to cross start line. Lap distance about 6 miles. Race distance just over 3 or 4 laps (finishing at top of hill at whisky bond).