Re: Unicyclist spotted in West Devon lane!

General
1

On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:02:44 +0100
Danny Colyer <danny_colyer@hotmail.com> wrote:

> On 07/09/2007 21:11, Danny Colyer wrote:
> > It’s been suggested that it might have been Rob Northcott. He
> > reads rsu, so he should be able to confirm that. This is Rob:
> > <http://www.bristoltobathonaunicycle.co.uk/photos/rob_riding.jpg>
>
> This has now been posted by Rob:
> “It was probably me on my way home from work yesterday - I was on my
> coker going down the hill towards Walkhampton. A bloke with a beard
> was heading the other way, towards Yelverton, on what looked like a
> small-wheeled folding bike like a Brompton or something - I suspect it
> was he who posted the comment.”

I was on the Dahon. And the beard is indeed my strongest identifying
feature (at least for those who would consider it rude to comment on
the paunch). So, we’ve small-worlded that:-)

I was well-impressed by what I saw. And if he commutes it to
Princetown … he’s seriously mad! Dammit, I’ve half-contemplated
moving to Princetown myself: it’s a fine location in the moors,
(AIUI the highest town or village in the UK) and houses there are
much cheaper than most other places. But I fear if I moved up there
I might be tempted to get a car, which is something I definitely
want to avoid.

–
not me guv

2

how can people post like this if they are not memebers??

3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet

4

yeh i know but how can they start a thread and not be a member??? maybe its in there but i missed it :thinking:

5

Re: Unicyclist spotted in West Devon lane!

“Nick Kew” <nick@grimnir.webthing.com> wrote in message
news:h829r4-en5.ln1@grimnir.webthing.com…

> I was well-impressed by what I saw. And if he commutes it to
> Princetown … he’s seriously mad! Dammit, I’ve half-contemplated
> moving to Princetown myself: it’s a fine location in the moors,
> (AIUI the highest town or village in the UK) and houses there are
> much cheaper than most other places.

I thought it was a bit bleak up there (based on a one-evening stay). I think
I’d want to be a bit lower. And I reminded myself yesterday evening of the
joys of starting at the bottom - had an excellent ride up to Dale Head, and
back down again. The hard bit of the climb is quite hard work (for me), but
it then slackens off, flattering you into thinking you’re recovering whereas
in fact it’s just not as steep - but it’s nice anyway. Then return the same
way is a glorious whizz, so you finish feeling really happy and suitably
exercised, and not needing to recover immediately.

cheers,
clive

(in case of any confusion, in the second bit of that I’m talking about
somewhere quite a long way from Devon :slight_smile: )

6

its basically because rec.sport.uni is a channel and not a forum originally. I’m not an expert i’m abit young for that, but ask in general chat and i’m sure u’ll get loads of oldies that’ll tell you all about the good days of usenet. I only know the bad ones.

7

Re: Unicyclist spotted in West Devon lane!

On 08/09/2007 01:18, brendon557 wrote:
> yeh i know but how can they start a thread and not be a member??? maybe
> its in there but i missed it :thinking:

You start a thread on usenet, it gets passed through the gateway to the
forum. There would be very little point in having a gateway between
usenet and the web forum if posts only went one way. Don’t forget,
usenet was here first; rec.sport.unicycling pre-dates the web forum by a
good 5 or 6 years.

One thing you won’t have noticed is that this thread was actually
started in uk.rec.cycling, then later cross-posted to rsu. Normally
cross-posting is frowned upon, but this is one case where it’s entirely
appropriate.

Unfortunately the web forum doesn’t seem to handle cross-posting [1] (a
significant weakness IMO), so you didn’t get to see that it was
cross-posted and your reply has only gone to rsu, not to urc. I thought
that might be the case, which was why I originally started a new thread
on rsu rather than cross-posting. It’s also one reason why I’m posting
this reply via usenet rather than the forum, so that I can restore the
cross-post and clarify to the urc regulars why they’re not seeing any
replies coming back from rsu.

[1] Posting to 2 or more newsgroups simultaneously.

–
Danny Colyer <URL:http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
“He who dares not offend cannot be honest.” - Thomas Paine

8

Re: Unicyclist spotted in West Devon lane!

On Sat, 8 Sep 2007 01:14:44 +0100
“Clive George” <clive@xxxx-x.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:

> “Nick Kew” <nick@grimnir.webthing.com> wrote in message
> news:h829r4-en5.ln1@grimnir.webthing.com…
>
> > I was well-impressed by what I saw. And if he commutes it to
> > Princetown … he’s seriously mad! Dammit, I’ve half-contemplated
> > moving to Princetown myself: it’s a fine location in the moors,
> > (AIUI the highest town or village in the UK) and houses there are
> > much cheaper than most other places.
>
> I thought it was a bit bleak up there (based on a one-evening stay).
> I think I’d want to be a bit lower.

To do that, either you’re seriously rich, or you’re living
somewhere whose bleakness is measured in a rich cocktail of
toxic chemicals, and a wide range of 24/7 noise. Or maybe
urban Plymouth student-land or an unfashionable suburb.

–
not me guv

9

Hello Nick - sounds like it was indeed us who saw each other. I do commute from Princetown to Yelverton (Crapstone actually) every day, either by bike or unicycle (probably about evenly split between the two). If I’m biking I’ll go straight down the main road, but if I’m unicycling I’ll go via Walkhampton, past the church and up onto the old railway line track. I prefer riding off-road as much as possible if I’m on one wheel - people tend to pass a bit fast and close for my liking on the main road, which is annoying on a bike, far worse on the uni.

Princetown’s not as bleak as people think - but don’t tell anybody. House prices here were extremely cheap when we moved here in 1995, but seem to be less so now (but still less expensive than places at the bottom of the hill like Yelverton or Tavistock).

Rob

10

Re: Unicyclist spotted in West Devon lane!

On Sat, 08 Sep 2007 21:37:36 +0100
Danny Colyer <danny_colyer@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Copied from rsu - cross-posting threads with rsu really doesn’t work,
> because the vast majority of posts there are made via the
> unicyclist.com web forum, which doesn’t handle cross-posting:

Thanks:-)

Since you raised the matter, I checked r.s.u on google groups,
so I’d have seen it eventually. But I got your post first.

> On 08/09/2007 20:35, rob.northcott wrote:
> > Hello Nick - sounds like it was indeed us who saw each other. I do
> > commute from Princetown to Yelverton (Crapstone actually) every day,
> > either by bike or unicycle (probably about evenly split between the
> > two). If I’m biking I’ll go straight down the main road, but if I’m
> > unicycling I’ll go via Walkhampton, past the church and up onto the
> > old railway line track. I prefer riding off-road as much as
> > possible if I’m on one wheel - people tend to pass a bit fast and
> > close for my liking on the main road, which is annoying on a bike,
> > far worse on the uni.

Ah, I see. That figures.

Yes, I’m not keen on either of the roads up to Princetown: they’re
both too busy. My favourite on the mountain bike is the track going
up from Burrator Reservoir and reaching Princetown from behind the
Plume of Feathers. But that’s a bit rough for a road bike or - I’d
presume - a uni. The railway path is a bit boring (when cycling for
leisure), but a good halfway-house between road and offroad.

> > Princetown’s not as bleak as people think - but don’t tell anybody.

:slight_smile:

I haven’t let bleakness put me off. Just the thought of that return
journey from Plymouth after an evening out, in the winter. And nothing
like the bus service to Yelverton and Tavistock - no way to chicken out
of doing a big hill.

> > House prices here were extremely cheap when we moved here in 1995,
> > but seem to be less so now (but still less expensive than places at
> > the bottom of the hill like Yelverton or Tavistock).

I understand it has a bit of a troubled history, with a lot of problem
families being put in council houses up there at some point. But it
looks fine (though not pretty) now. And it has all the tourist
facilities, like nice food pubs and restaurants, to liven it up.

Is broadband universally available up there?

–
not me guv

11

Either of those routes (past Nun’s cross to the Scout Hut and Sheepstor/Burrator or down past Crazywell Pool to Norsworthy Bridge) are too rough for the unicycle I was riding on Thursday, but I ride them regularly on another unicycle with a fat 26x3" downhill tyre. As for road bikes, I did ride up that Crazywell Pool track on my Mercian tourer in my student days to settle an argument with the mountain bike crowd. Not usually a good idea though, and it has become a lot looser and rockier (i.e. more fun!) since all the rain this “summer”.

No, it’s not that exciting, but it’s a very convenient way to get to Yelverton reasonably quickly without using the main road. The more interesting tracks the other side of the hill (as discussed above) take too long for regular commuting use - and I have been known to turn up at work scraped and bleeding, which doesn’t really look very professional :confused:

If I’m riding home from Plymouth (which I don’t do often I admit) I find the first bit is the biggest slog, from Plymouth out through Crownhill, then the climb up from Roborough. I don’t mind Peek Hill - it’s over quickly then there’s the nice flat ride across the top. Pehaps I’m just used to it. Pork Hill (Tavistock side) on the other hand is a bugger - get to the top, then lose most of the height in Merrivale and have to do it all again. I used to hate that when I worked in Tavi.

Yes, since a couple of years ago.

Rob