Dr Ferrari's Camper Van (off-topic discussion)

doozerie

buffalo wrote:

Does anyone have spare handlebar fillers? I don't know the name of them - they plug in the end of the drops so there isn't a gaping hole ready to gouge out internal organs in a crash.

You may have answered a question that seemed to elude medical science for a long time - what exactly is the appendix for? Though you may need a second "un-needed" organ for the bar end on the other side.

Lusk Doyle

Dexif wrote: »

Hungrycol wrote: »

Not cool.

because...?

...he is cool and knows what is not. Ipso facto.

RobertFoster

doozerie wrote: »

You may have answered a question that seemed to elude medical science for a long time - what exactly is the appendix for? Though you may need a second "un-needed" organ for the bar end on the other side.

I'm not a scientist, but I believe the appendix is used to store all the useful information about yourself in one place for quick reference. Need to know your shoe size, eye colour, and favourite pizza topping? Don't waste time looking at your feet, head, or stomach - just have a dig through your appendix. It'll save time, and get you bonus points on your next medical.

buffalo

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

I've a heap of them at home. I can bring a pair along next time I see you.

Sweet! I'll PM you.

bcmf

buffalo wrote: »

Does anyone have spare handlebar fillers? I don't know the name of them - they plug in the end of the drops so there isn't a gaping hole ready to gouge out internal organs in a crash. I keep losing them somehow. Was thinking of sticking a cork in there as a stopgap* measure.

*thank you, thank you. I'm here all week!

I have set as well.BBB ones I think!
I used the screw ones as mentioned by Lusk Doyle but I managed the unmanagable and lost one.KCNC ones too. I really liked them.
Now I feel sad.

buffalo

http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/Drug-Test.html

For doozerie - Mitt Romney's campaign strategist describes his doping before doing PBP.

edit: warning, it's a long article spread across many pages. http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/Drug-Test.html?page=all for the whole thing in one go.

drogdub

Hardy Bucks commentary on yesterdays match

tomasrojo

awec wrote: »

Bar end plugs.

Mine are forever falling out too, though thankfully always in places where I can retrieve them.

I wrapped a layer or two of tape around the ends of the bar plugs. That stopped them falling out. They'd been falling out a fair bit before that.

furiousox

:eek:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOYPNkss-54

doozerie

What is it with wet days? More than the usual number of people seem to see rain and automatically set their driving mode to "Twunt". No, wait, it's a bit windy too - *twisty* *twisty* to "Absolute Twunt", there, that's better.

ROK ON

Had a coffee in the Rapha coffe shop in London.

Man this place is so full of it that I feel remarkably at home.
Nice espresso also.

AstraMonti

Loss of Boost - What Could Be Wrong?

furiousox

Beasty

Please furiousox, you shouldn't be encouraging people to leave their car doors open like that...

buffalo

Hungrycol

I had a dream last night that my Canyon got nicked outside Seapoint Rugby Club! I only went in to look for my sungalsses and came out and it was gone. All was fine as I put a GPS yokie in the seat tube. Gardai found it in Watsons and I got the bike back.

The feelings of it being nicked are still with me!

doozerie

On my cycle in this morning I was behind a guy on a bike in a gleaming hi-viz jacket. The glare of it would have taken my eye out if I wasn't careful. At two different points, a car on a side road pulled right out in front of him, requiring him to haul on his brakes. I was baffled. Do these drivers not listen to the RSA & friends, their lack of respect for the sanctity of hi-viz suggests not.

Further on, a guy in a dark grey coat with its dark grey hood up over his head, and dark trousers, merrily cycled through several red lights. At one crossroads he weaved between cars crossing right to left and none of them hit him. Apparently those drivers don't listen to the RSA & friends either, based on their apparent lack of respect for the supposed death wish of those that don't wear hi-viz.

I myself was wearing black waterproof trousers this morning, and a black rain jacket. My blinding (1watt) rear light was on, but I listen to the RSA and the AA, I knew that certain death was imminent due to my invisibility. So as I moved over onto the cycle track just after O'Connell Bridge it came as a bit of a suprise to have a taxi driver behind me blow his horn. I was invisible, how could he possibly have seen me? I turned around, and there he was, with a facial expression that would sour cream from 500m away, gesturing at me to shove over as he kept his car close to me as he passed. Astonishing, it really did seem that he had seen me.

I needed to investigate further so I pulled alongside him as he joined a stopped line of traffic 50m ahead, and I engaged him in conversation. Turns out he had seen me, apparently I was "IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUKHIN' LAY-EN" and I should "FUHK AWWF". Could he hear me too, I wonder? I responded in kind, reckoning that keeping it simple and communicating in his language would work best. I aimed for volume setting 9 but in my enthusiasm I may have peaked at 11. The pure aggression drained a little from his face and was replaced by doubt, he pulled his head back from his open window, the window started to rise. You *can* hear me, I thought, I actually exist in your world, how wondrous. Here, having made this breakthrough, let's communicate further. But I quickly got bored, and he had adopted the petulant child expression that suggests that further conversation is going to go nowhere. As I cycled off he bleated something or other at me that I'll assume was an apology. I didn't go back for a mutual hug though, Mr Cranky Pants would have to do without today.

So, note to RSA, AA, An Garda, etc.: you can be invisible in hi-viz, you can be visible in non- hi-viz, and even if someone sees you they can still act the bollix towards you.

Oh, and note to my temper: tut, you made me look like a raving lunatic to all and sundry again, that's not cool. ...on the other hand, yer man's expression was priceless, so go you!

manafana

doozerie wrote: »

On my cycle in this morning I was behind a guy on a bike in a gleaming hi-viz jacket. The glare of it would have taken my eye out if I wasn't careful. At two different points, a car on a side road pulled right out in front of him, requiring him to haul on his brakes. I was baffled. Do these drivers not listen to the RSA & friends, their lack of respect for the sanctity of hi-viz suggests not.

Further on, a guy in a dark grey coat with its dark grey hood up over his head, and dark trousers, merrily cycled through several red lights. At one crossroads he weaved between cars crossing right to left and none of them hit him. Apparently those drivers don't listen to the RSA & friends either, based on their apparent lack of respect for the supposed death wish of those that don't wear hi-viz.

I myself was wearing black waterproof trousers this morning, and a black rain jacket. My blinding (1watt) rear light was on, but I listen to the RSA and the AA, I knew that certain death was imminent due to my invisibility. So as I moved over onto the cycle track just after O'Connell Bridge it came as a bit of a suprise to have a taxi driver behind me blow his horn. I was invisible, how could he possibly have seen me? I turned around, and there he was, with a facial expression that would sour cream from 500m away, gesturing at me to shove over as he kept his car close to me as he passed. Astonishing, it really did seem that he had seen me.

I needed to investigate further so I pulled alongside him as he joined a stopped line of traffic 50m ahead, and I engaged him in conversation. Turns out he had seen me, apparently I was "IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUKHIN' LAY-EN" and I should "FUHK AWWF". Could he hear me too, I wonder? I responded in kind, reckoning that keeping it simple and communicating in his language would work best. I aimed for volume setting 9 but in my enthusiasm I may have peaked at 11. The pure aggression drained a little from his face and was replaced by doubt, he pulled his head back from his open window, the window started to rise. You *can* hear me, I thought, I actually exist in your world, how wondrous. Here, having made this breakthrough, let's communicate further. But I quickly got bored, and he had adopted the petulant child expression that suggests that further conversation is going to go nowhere. As I cycled off he bleated something or other at me that I'll assume was an apology. I didn't go back for a mutual hug though, Mr Cranky Pants would have to do without today.

So, note to RSA, AA, An Garda, etc.: you can be invisible in hi-viz, you can be visible in non- hi-viz, and even if someone sees you they can still act the bollix towards you.

Oh, and note to my temper: tut, you made me look like a raving lunatic to all and sundry again, that's not cool. ...on the other hand, yer man's expression was priceless, so go you!

by engaging someone like that your just as bad as them, best way to deal with these things is to be polite and not shout, otherwise arnt you part of the problem.

Your commute doesnt sound very relaxing, dont worry about others just yourself.

Lumen

manafana wrote: »

by engaging someone like that your just as bad as them, best way to deal with these things is to be polite and not shout, otherwise arnt you part of the problem.

Thanks Ghandi. Lets just lie down IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUKHIN' LAY-EN and invite them to drive their horses taxis over us.

AdMMM

I posted in the wimp list thread with a question but figure it's more appropriate here.

Is there anyway that I can make my brakes a bit more effective in the rain. The rim is slipping an awful lot when the brakes are applied. I'm just using my old mountain bike to commute until I get my hybrid delivered to me next week and I had it serviced last week and new brakepads fitted so I don't want to spend too much.

Lumen

@AdMMM: clean your rims and pads, maybe abrade the pads a bit with sandpaper, nutmeg grater or something to break the surface in a bit.

manafana

Lumen wrote: »

Thanks Ghandi. Lets just lie down IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUKHIN' LAY-EN and invite them to drive their horses taxis over us.

yeah good luck with that, life is stressful enough without letting someone ruin your day for beeping at you, enjoy your cycling and keep out trouble.

doozerie

manafana wrote:

by engaging someone like that your just as bad as them, best way to deal with these things is to be polite and not shout, otherwise arnt you part of the problem.

As bad as them? Hmm, I doubt that - for one thing I'm not prone to acts of casual disregard towards others which at best are passive aggressive and at worst verge on aggressive violence.

Is shouting the best way to deal with them? No, it's certainly not, usually. Politeness is not always the best option either though, particularly when someone is yelling abuse in your face with body language that clearly is designed to threaten.

Having said that, I tend to aim for politeness generally, but am happy enough to settle for disdain when I fall short. Sometimes I even fall well short of disdain and resort to shouting back, and those incidents are the ones that leave me feeling bothered and disappointed in myself afterwards because that's not how I like to deal with any situation. I'd like to be like the Dalai Lama, for example, as I imagine he has developed the inner peace, maturity, and self awareness, to deal with any situation with calmness, patience, and thought. But I'm a flawed individual like most of us are and I don't deal well with every situation. The antagonist this morning is a flawed individual too, but he articulates his flaws in the form of outright hostility and aggression, thankfully I'm not *that* flawed.

Lumen

manafana wrote: »

yeah good luck with that, life is stressful enough without letting someone ruin your day for beeping at you, enjoy your cycling and keep out trouble.

I generally cycle in a blissfully stress-free manner, but that doesn't preclude the odd rant.

Can you not be shouty and relaxed at the same time? It's in the "be more Italian" subset of my personal development goals.

awec

How easy is it to change brake cables?

I have an old crappy halfords bike in the shed, going to take it out and fix it with a view to using it to commute and quick runs to the shop. It's cheap and crap so I'm not really worried about theft etc .

It hasn't been used in about 2 years. I know it needs 2 new tubes and the back brake cable is frayed and loose etc. How difficult is this to replace?

Is there anything else I should check?

Seeing as I've never done this before, would I be better dropping it into the LBS?

thebouldwhacker

I thought we weren't allowed talk about commuting in this forum......

Lumen

@awec piece of cake. Probably a good idea to do outers at the same time as inners.

The Park Tools website is good for instructions.

Proper cable cutters make cutting the outers much easier, particularly with gear cables (but Park Tools themselves are unnecessarily expensive).

awec

Lumen wrote: »

@awec piece of cake. Probably a good idea to do outers at the same time as inners.

The Park Tools website is good for instructions.

Proper cable cutters make cutting the outers much easier, particularly with gear cables (but Park Tools themselves are unnecessarily expensive).

I don't mind attempting it myself on this bike because as I said it's crap and I'm not worried about damaging anything.

It's this thing here:

buffalo

Can we get a new sub-forum for doozerie's raving posts? :pac:

doozerie

buffalo wrote:

Can we get a new sub-forum for doozerie's raving posts? :pac:

Who are you calling raving, infidel?

Ryath

buffalo wrote: »

Can we get a new sub-forum for doozerie's raving posts? :pac:

Is that not what the proposed Cycling Commuter forum is for

I'm sure doozerie can have his own sticky in it

cdaly_

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

I thought we weren't allowed talk about commuting in this forum......

Oh, not yet. We've got 4.5 weeks to talk about it as much as we can before we have to shut up...

CramCycle

Ryath wrote: »

Is that not what the proposed Cycling Commuter forum is for

I'm sure doozerie can have his own sticky in it

We'll have to have a vote on what to call it, suggestions in a box please, my suggestion:
The Do's and Don'ts of Derailling the Day of Doozerie

Hungrycol

Lumen wrote: »

@AdMMM: clean your rims and pads, maybe abrade the pads a bit with sandpaper, nutmeg grater or something to break the surface in a bit.

You ain't getting away with that..... WTF?

Lumen

Hungrycol wrote: »

You ain't getting away with that..... WTF?

Everyone has a nutmeg grater, right? How else would they grate their nutmeg?

doozerie

Lumen wrote:

How else would they grate their nutmeg?

I just hold my nutmeg near the personality of my least-favourite relative.

Dermot Illogical

Lumen wrote: »

How else would they grate their nutmeg?

I hold mine up to the telly when Joan Burton's on.

RobFowl

Lumen wrote: »

@AdMMM: clean your rims and pads, maybe abrade the pads a bit with sandpaper, nutmeg grater or something to break the surface in a bit.

Do you usually get the Butler to do it for you?

Lumen

RobFowl wrote: »

Do you usually get the Butler to do it for you?

I take my usual table at Guilbaud's and await the inevitable "can I boof your brake pads sir, while your fois gras is warming?".

RobFowl

Lumen wrote: »

I take my usual table at Guilbaud's and await the inevitable "can I boof your brake pads sir, while your fois gras is warming?".

On DNS we use usually hang them out the window with string while doing doughnuts in stolen cars.
Works a treat.

Wishbone Ash

Cutting it very fine with my new winter tyres - there's less than 1mm clearance!

Ryath

Collecting my four year old from school today to be met by a gang of junior infants wearing these dangling from their wrists

Fair enough it does add to visibility even if they are too big for a small child to wear on their arm but they are no substitute for common sense and teaching a child to be safe on the road.

My daughter is normally very good on the path and around roads, walks beside me on the inside and is quite cautious of the road and around cars and knows to only cross with me. Today with this magic arm band on she proceeded to try and walk straight across the pedestrian crossing with out me. We weren't even going to be crossing the road. When I stopped her and asked what she was doing she replied the cars could see her now and her armband would stop the cars squashing her. Grrr great way to undermine a few years teaching a child to be safe on the road by telling this magic band will keep them safe.

ednwireland

Ryath wrote: »

My daughter is normally very good on the path and around roads, walks beside me on the inside and is quite cautious of the road and around cars and knows to only cross with me. Today with this magic arm band on she proceeded to try and walk straight across the pedestrian crossing with out me. We weren't even going to be crossing the road. When I stopped her and asked what she was doing she replied the cars could see her now and her armband would stop the cars squashing her. Grrr great way to undermine a few years teaching a child to be safe on the road by telling this magic band will keep them safe.

maybe you should tell the school (after all they wont know if you dont tell them what effect they are having)

Ryath

ednwireland wrote: »

maybe you should tell the school (after all they wont know if you dont tell them what effect they are having)

Yea am going to say it to the teacher in the morning. It's probably just a once of I've explained to her it only helps cars see her when it's dark that you still need to be carefull. At the time though she was behaving like she just wanted to try out her new toy and I was stopping her.

petethedrummer

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Cutting it very fine with my new winter tyres - there's less than 1mm clearance!

Bring a spoke key and pray you don't hit a massive pothole.

Super Freak

AdMMM wrote: »

I posted in the wimp list thread with a question but figure it's more appropriate here.

Is there anyway that I can make my brakes a bit more effective in the rain. The rim is slipping an awful lot when the brakes are applied. I'm just using my old mountain bike to commute until I get my hybrid delivered to me next week and I had it serviced last week and new brakepads fitted so I don't want to spend too much.

Clarkes Brakepads. Halfords sell them, I find them a lot better than standard pads in the rain.

happytramp

Super Freak wrote: »

The blue end is meant for rubbing out biro and the black for pencil. Doesn't work.

Junior

AdMMM wrote: »

Is there anyway that I can make my brakes a bit more effective in the rain. The rim is slipping an awful lot when the brakes are applied. I'm just using my old mountain bike to commute until I get my hybrid delivered to me next week and I had it serviced last week and new brakepads fitted so I don't want to spend too much.

I've invested in Swiss Top Greens, I think they do a Black set as well which is also for alu rims. Well worth it.

Paddy The Pirate

Junior wrote: »

I've invested in Swiss Top Greens, I think they do a Black set as well which is also for alu rims. Well worth it.

Absolutely, the amount of braking distance they shave off in the green is well worth the price! They've saved my bacon a good few times.

ROK ON

Lumen wrote: »

Everyone has a nutmeg grater, right? How else would they grate their nutmeg?

I have
Nutmeg grater,
Walnut cracker,
Various cheese garrottes,
Oyster shucker,
Pineapple corer.

They have all been used. How do people prepare food without these essential utensils?