John KIRK's Page

"House hunting On a bike around Sutton Coldfield . Big ride tomorrow in Tour of the Peak on a bike fixed by On Your Bike. Sunshine set for next week too !"

"Cast ne'er a clout til May be out - shame it wasn't a better day to enjoy this fabulous spot. If I can persuade you off your bike, the walk from Little Stretton to Pole bank along Ashes Hollow is proper lovely."

"They have to finish to get the jersey."

"and Cavendish carried on, won another stage and continued to drag his carcass over the mountains when most of the other sprinters cried off. There is so much bullshit talked about how he is "soft". I think he is as hard as nails personally…"

"with an Owl.... well I am a Sheffield Wednesday man. "

"I'm just going for the extra sack of lard myself :-) "

"I quite like the one with the lady wearing the orange jacket....none of the race-hype, or trying to look cool, just someone simply on a bike having fun."

"...and on a uni-cycle  ;-) "

"Careful John.    Winnats is probably on James' daily commute route from Solihull and he'll tell you he goes up it on 52/13 with a sack of cement in his saddlebag.  ;-)"

"Winnat's Pass from Castleton on Sunday.I will be employing a 34/32 gear ratio which should just about get me up without the ignominy of walking. Didn't use to notice it particularly 34 years ago when it was the middle climb in my evening…"

"The Chopper was a triumph of style over substance.  When it's riders reached adulthood they were ready to accept the same from politicans.  No wonder the country is in the state it's in - it's all down to the Raleigh Chopper!"

"Designer of the Chopper died today. I always disliked the Chopper as it nearly neutered me with that gear lever and was incredibly slow and unstable. It did save Raleigh from extinction though, by pretending to be a motorbike."

"Have you tried it, James?   25% is much the same as the steepest in San Francisco, but in addition Constitution Hill is cobbled.   That makes it a really tough climb.   I know someone who abandoned the attempt driving a…"

"The 'Pros' were reduced to walking up Consitution Hill in Swansea, and that's not steep. Its only 25%. This just proves they didn't pack the right gears for the job. Some of us had to live with…"

"And the slope to the top of Everest merely gentle if you measure it from far enough away! Don't know where you get the misinformation James - maybe you're looking at the wrong Bwlch, there's plenty of them in Wales. Anyhow,…"