This is a beer I discovered quite recently and has become one of my favourites.

Brewery: Oakham Ales

Oakham Ales is an English brewery now based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, but first established in Oakham, Rutland. The original owner, John Wood, left Oakham Ales in 1995. Its headquarters is the largest brewpub in Europe, The Brewery Tap, which opened in 1998 and is located in the old labour exchange in Westgate, Peterborough. The brewery also owns The Bartons Arms in Aston, Birmingham. Among awards the beers won have been JHB 3.8% picking up the Supreme Champion Beer Award in 2001 and Attila 7.5% was the National Winter Beers Champion for 2009.

Perry’s book focuses on the under-appreciate topic of what constitutes male identity in these times.

Grayson Perry is an artist who is known for his pottery work but has received acclaim for his documentary work in recent years.

Perry’s work explores male identity as he has in his own life. Particularly he explores certain communities where males are lacking a positive identity, due to decline- whether as one example the mining industry in the UK.

I was lent this book recently after striking up a conversation about The Tipping Point and my friend had read it and also recommended this book.

Experience

The experience of reading this book was very similar to ‘The Tipping Point’. The whole book has one major, overall, ‘argument’ to present and each chapter is made of research, stories and case studies that present ‘sub-arguments’ that support, unpack and flesh out the main argument.

On first look you might think a dropper seatpost is another gimmick for bikers with too much spare cash. However, out riding recently with others with dropper posts, everyone was raving about them. I thought about the possibility that one offers - simply being able to change your seat height on the fly. When mountain biking it is necessary to shift your weight and body position around on the bike and move the bike around under you.

Combine Josh Bryceland, Phil Atwill, Brendan Fairclough and a bunch of other riders. Add in some wintery British slopes and you’ve got yourself a slice of lunacy, a slice of ‘what the hell just happened’, and A Slice of British Pie.

Homegrown

This 25 minute long nutter fest, brought to you Dirt, celebrates good times on bikes with some of the world’s biggest and most loved mountain bikers. None of that slo-mo, none of that dubstep and nobody is putting their goggles on in this film. Brought to you from the genius mind of Tom Caldwell, prepare to experience an old school insight into the epitome of winter riding in our muddy little corner of the world.

Cedric Gracia

Is a French mountain biking legend.

50to1 (Josh Bryceland etc)

Is a world cup winning mountain biker from the north of the UK

GMBN (Global Mountain Bike Network)

Is a Youtube channel about all things cycling.

Mountain biking tyres

A list of links from research I did about buying mountain bike tyres. These are quite old now, but I still recommend Maxxis tyres.

Maxxis

• maxxis | Chain Reaction Cycles
• Maxxis ranchero xc tyre | Chain Reaction NZ
• Maxxis Ardent MTB Tyre | Chain Reaction Cycles
• maxxis ardent folding in Wheels & Wheelsets | eBay
• MAXXIS CROSSMARK FOLDING TYRE 26 X 2.10 | eBay
• Maxxis Ignitor XC Tyre - LUST | Chain Reaction Cycles
• Maxxis ignitor | eBay
• maxxis ignitor folding - Google Search
• Maxxis Advantage MTB Tyre | Chain Reaction Cycles
• Maxxis ADvantage 2.1 « Singletrack Forum
• Maxxis Advantage MTB Tyre | Chain Reaction Cycles
• Maxxis Ignitor XC MTB Tyre | Chain Reaction Cycles
• maxxis ignitor folding - Google Search

Continental

• Continental Mountain King MTB tyre 26x2.2" folding | eBay
• Continental Mountain King II 2.2 Protection tyre review - BikeRadar
• Continental Mountain King II MTB Tyre - ProTection | Chain Reaction Cycles
• Wiggle | Continental Mountain King II MTB Tyre | MTB Off-Road Tyres
• Continental Mountain King II - Google Search
• Continental Mountain King II review - Google Search
• Continental Mountain King II 2.2 Protection tyre review - BikeRadar

Schwalbe

• Schwalbe Hans Dampf Evo MTB Tyre - SnakeSkin | Chain Reaction Cycles
• Schwalbe Hans Dampf Evo Trailstar 2.35 review - BikeRadar
• Schwalbe Mountain Bike Tyres | Merlin Cycles
• Schwalbe Nobby Nic Evolution TL Ready Folding MTB Tyre - 26" | Merlin Cycles
• Schwalbe Nobby Nic Evolution Snakeskin TL Ready Folding MTB Tyre - 26" | Merlin Cycles
• EVO-TECHNOLOGY | Schwalbe North America

Hutchinson

• Hutchinson Cobra MTB Tyre | Chain Reaction Cycles
• Hutchinson Cougar XC Tyre | Chain Reaction Cycles

Halo

• Halo Knobbler 26in Tyre | Chain Reaction Cycles

WTB

• WTB Bronson Race Tyre | Chain Reaction Cycles

Other

• BikeRadar.com • View topic - Can someone explain 60a and 70a tyre differences
• Mixing different front and rear tires - Bicycles Stack Exchange
• Michelin Wild Grip’r 2.25in tyre review - BikeRadar
• folding puncture resistance mountain bike tyres cheap - Google Search
• BikeRadar.com • View topic - What puncture proof tyres?!
• folding in Tyres eBay

I used to commute to work on a longboard and got into Skateboarding again recently.

I starting watching some Youtube videos and came across this documentary. Long distance travel on a normal street skateboard.

This post started as research for comfortable shoes city exploring in London and Tbilisi. The criteria was lightweight, durable and able to wear in city context in a range of situations. The following are shoes that started off as off-road shoes but work well for urban adventures and city / mixed used.

Desired Shoe features:

• Protected toebox from scuffing / scraping / tearing
• Trail running style sole for grip
• Lightweight
• Ankle support and protection
• Able to be worn in a casual context

Bought to use for mountain bike guiding.

Pros

• Solid construction
• Work well
• Easy to charge with stand

Cons

• Batteries wear out too quickly
• If batteries are replaced with normal AAs, device can’t be used in the charger stand

Conclusion

Could be better options now. With mobiles tempting not to need this kind of radio. But still handy as a backup when there is no signal.