mlteenie

I cycled to work this morning but unfortunately whilst looking to my right in the dark (550am) I ended up riding off three (unexpected) steps and face-planted onto some rather coarse gravel, resulting in ripped Gore Tex, scratched brake levers and bloody bits all around the corners. Oh, and the left side of my face from eye to chin looks lke a raw steak (not to mention poss broken bone in hand too). Moral: ALWAYS look where you are going!

As oft said of A&R men, you sit on the fence, you get it up the arse!

Inner bend or outer bend?

I have all my bank statements from the last six years and wrote down all the amounts they had (over-)charged me (a shocking amount - no good with wad) and by the time they had got back to me the hold on cases had been announced, so now I think the only way forward is going to court/lawyer.

Excellent. Was that on the road or off-road?

You could cycle round it after zeroing your trip distance. I wll try and remember to do it tomorrow.

Martin Lewis' website explains it in more detail. I need to check the latest status, but I think you can still take them to court and be awarded money if the individual judge thinks it is appropriate, but there has been some sort of hold on hearings until after the test case.

Keef, I opened the A&L online a/c after Martin L's recommendation, although I am still have my RBS a/c too. The A&L a/c requires a minimum of ?500 deposit a month or they charge you ?5 (which seems very reasonable what with the amounts the thieving scum rip off you normally). How did you go about taking your bank to court? I sent a letter to my bank after thinking about it for ages, only to find they had decided to freeze its claims. I haven't gone further as it seems a bit daunting doing it online. Did you use a lawyer?

You can get very cheap ones (around ?20 I think) when they are on sale at LIDL. Ours has been great (thanks Chav!). We go through a lot of bread. Just finished the last of the honey loaf and I can hear the kneading paddles whipping up a wholemeal job as I type.. The pasta machine is at the back of the cupboard and I gave the juicer away.

Would like to come but every year I have the same dilemma - Burns Night and then my bithday the next day. Always very 'tiring'. Poss, then to you too MrB.

Woodie you are a hero - thanks for dropping off the book. I will read and pass it to another forumite. Cheers. Johnny Guitar Watson

Nice one! Great bit of Curtis. Here's something else (there isn't much live footage but the live album is legendary and was one of Stevie Ray Vaughan's faves as a kid. And he knew how to wear a hat. He was found on the pavement outside a block he was living in. Apparent suicide. Very depressed man but murky death. Donnie You got PM

Peace and Love Marvin - What's Going On

That's the spirit(s)!

I don't know about JB going to Jazzrock HELL... depends whether you like jazz rock I s'pose. No-one can deny his ability to play a ballad, and when I go it will definitely 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat' at the service. Birthday coming up and that book sounds great. What's it called?

Guitar (mainly electric) but also bass. University of Rock. I am usually wary of such suggestions due to much disappointment. I suppose it would depend on what and how you are saetting it up. Good luck.

Couldn't agree more, Jah, as you know :)-D Next time we'll go together! And Woodie, nice one. You talking about Fab T-Birds? 'Girls Go Wild' is definitely in my top 10 DID albums. Learned an awful lot from that.

HNY everyone! I found myself on the net at about 7am on NYD and found this which was from the Grauniad online. Unfortunately I missed the show. P'raps youtube will still have it. This has always been my opinion (apart from the when he was a junkie at the Cream Albert Hall gig, and even that went on far too long). 'Tomorrow's South Bank Show celebrates Eric Clapton. It's nothing new, the programme last broadcast a hagiography of him in 1987. He used to be called Slowhand, but perhaps he ought to be called Secondhand. The celebration of this cultural pilferer probably won't point out the level to which he can be uninspired, and objectionable. He's always been questionable company. In 1965, the Yardbirds were convinced that their third single, the groundbreaking For Your Love, would be a hit, with the potential to wow the masses. But the mix of bongos, harpsichords and tempo shifts was too much for their purist guitarist. Clapton quit. Yardbirds' drummer Jim McCarty said that "Eric had these R&B mod songs he wanted us to do. Him leaving was a relief. Eric would be sitting in the van not talking to anyone. You'd think he's so moody, he's such a pain, we're fed up with this." With that, the grumpy Clapton was free to pursue his muse. Except that it wasn't his muse. Clapton is a serial borrower. He even borrowed Jimi Hendrix's hair in 1967, perming his barnet to emulate the recently-arrived guitar hero. Most of his 1970s hits were chugging, Mogadon-paced covers: Bob Marley's I Shot The Sheriff, Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door. His creativity with Cream, such as Strange Brew, were collaborations. Left to Clapton, Cream would have played half-hour versions of Robert Johnson's Crossroads. And the thrilling guitar on Layla was played by Duane Allman. When not channelling the talents of others, there's his tendency towards the lachrymose. If his song Wonderful Tonight, a tribute to his then wife Patti Boyd, articulated his true feelings, she must have been married to a man with all the complexity of a block of wood. Boyd's recent autobiography chronicles the control freakery that dominated the relationship, revealed his extra-marital affairs and his love of the bottle.More bizarre was his wearing of whites to watch cricket on TV. Pasta preceded viewing The Godfather. Another musical blub fest, Tears In Heaven, was at least written in response to what must have been a nightmare - his son Conor falling to his death from a 53rd-floor apartment in 1991. However, Clapton has no problem letting fly when he needs to get something off his chest. In 1976 - drunk and loose-lipped - he used a Birmingham concert to praise racist Tory Enoch Powell and declare that Britain was becoming a "black colony" and that he wanted "the foreigners out". (Handy that Hendrix was dead). Reports of this show led directly to the formation of Rock Against Racism. In 2004, he told Uncut mag that Powell was "outrageously brave", rather than dismiss his past comments as drunk ravings. Clapton's popularity is a mystery - there's no fire, no abandon, no musical identity. Given a platform, Clapton will either send you to sleep or offend your musical sensibilities with pap. But both of those must be better than hearing his pathetic political views.' Nuff said.

As a longtime veggie, I agree with Asset but I am not keen on the meat-a-like products such as Quorn. I once ordered a v-burger in a joint in Greenwich and when I bit into it I had that adrenaline rush familiar to the betrayed veggie, discovering what I thought was a real charcoal-grilled burger and complained to the waiter. He said it was definitely veg but I insisted that I was a vegetarian and I knew meat when I tasted it. He went off and brought me the box - it was quorn. Now I avoid the stuff like hell. It is a very effective meat simulation (particularly texturally) and no doubt ideal for those cutting down for health reasons or weaning themselves off meat. If you want to (risk) eating meat, then buy the good stuff with a cute name like Daisy and cook it properly! I'll stick to assorted ethnic food which is very often veggie.

Sean, thanks for your help but.. I outlined my experience but didn't give the forum the FULL insight into my goings-on that day - I can spare you that! I needed a Travelcard because I was doing more than two journeys. I also (naively) expect the transport to be bleedin' useable, rather than having to 'learn' the whole system. I am glad to be back on two wheels and free again. I will remember the 63 tip for another time, tho;-)

Does anyone know what the three police cars with associated officers were doing about 12pm? The cars were racing up and down with officers running in and out of gardens and alleys on the Dutch estate. Hot pursuit would be accurate.

Bluecanary, I agree totally and sympathise with everyone who must undertake the grim experience of commuting on public transport, especially those with mobility problems although since this was a thread about cycling to work I was posting with that in mind. I want to encourage people to cycle and who cares if their saddle is at the wrong height/pedalling cadence less than ideal/etc - at least they are doing something for the greater good.

Thanks Oglandia! RANT ALERT! I don't know how people commute by public transport. Today, through no fault of my own I had to get to Farringdon without my bike. I left the house a 7.50am and walked to the nearest newsagent for a peak time Travelcard (?6.60 for two zones!), then due to heavy traffic decided against waiting for the 37 bus and walked to Herne Hill to catch a Thamelink direct to Farringdon. I was more than halfway to Herne Hill when the 37 overtook me (I don't think I saw another pedestrian walking my way, ie. no wonder we are being warned of the epidemic of obesity - no-one was walking, esp. lazy schoolkids with travelcards/parents who drive). When I arrived at HH it turned out the first train was only 4 carriages long due to some defect or other, meaning most passengers (sorry 'customers') couldn't alight, and of course it would mean missing that train and waiting for another half-an-hour for the next one. I considered walking (or using my card on a 37) back to N Dulwich for a train but caught the first Victoria train on Plat 2 instead. When I arrived I fed myself into the tube. Jeez, if I was an old person travelling from somewhere out of town I would have been chewed up and spat out! It was horrendous. Eventually I got through the ten-deep queue at the barriers only to miss the first three trains due to volume of bodies. Everyone was a drone, devoid of personality and freedom. The absolute opposite of riding a bike to work. There is no need for it. Next, I changed on to the Metropolitan (or whatever it was) and made it to Farringdon which had just been seriously affected by a fire alert. Then it rained heavily on me as I trudged past the chocka traffic on Farringdon Rd to a shop where I bought some heavy items and waited (almost) in vain for a cab to get me (late) to my final destination at about 945. Give me the sometimes risky but always healthy, independent and free cycling option any day! Good luck to those who do public every day - I cannot handle it!

It takes me about 30-35 mins at a fast pace but unfortunately I go the direct route: Wally Road-Elephant-London Rd-Waterloo Bridge-Covent Garden-Holborn. This route is not very nice (does depend on time of day, esp. in the morning) but it is direct and is really not as daunting as it may seem. As I said earlier you can get maps from TfL or pop into a local cycle shop to get the free map covering that area. They have recommended routes, which is a good start.

Hi Caron, Glad the bike is still going well. I don't blame you about the A23 after Ikea - I would avoid that if at all possible. It is too complicated to explain the route on the forum, but TFL do some very handy maps that cover the whole of London (call 020 7222 1234 or visit 'Cycling' section of TFL website to request maps 10 and 12) and will get you from here to Sutton with recommendations for quieter roads. Having looked at the route just now, I am not sure why you would need to ride the stretch of road you mention. I will have another look tomorrow. I think I would fsvour the A23 to Croydon then veer off on quieter roads. Although it looks a long way, I think it would be a fairly quick ride. I hope that info is of some help.