only2garners

I'd second the suggestion to get a proper bike fitting for anyone but particularly if you have an issue with your back. I had a fitting by Paul Hewitt in Leyland. He charges £50 (or he did a few years ago), but it's free if you go on to buy a bike from him. I have two bikes, a Cheviot tourer from Paul and a Cannonade Synapse Tiagra road bike from Broadgate Cycles in Preston. The Cannondale was about £950 in April 2014. I see the new Tiagra has disc brakes - mine doesn't. There are a couple of models in the range cheaper than that. I've found it very comfortable at rides up to almost 100 miles. On where to buy, it depends a bit on how you bike maintenance skills are. Mine are beyond useless so I make sure I buy from a local bike shop that will look after you. You will be able to buy bikes cheaper from the internet and bike warehouses buy you might find it difficult to get a local bike shop to help you with servicing etc. That's not a problem if you're confident enough to do it yourself. Overall I'd recommend a local bike shop. The 2 I've mentioned are good and I think Paul recommends Ewood Bikes. Of the big multiples Evans are decent - they now have a shop in Preston. Decathlon's own brand bikes have a strong reputation for value but the nearest shop to round here is in Bolton. Don't go anywhere near Halfords.

I worry for your eyesight then Al. To suggest that the majority of bad behaviour on the roads is by cyclists is frankly ludicrous. On Tuesday I went out for a ride across West Lancashire. It was a nice warm day so there were lots and lots of cyclists out, both out for longer rides like me or just pottering round locally. The only incident of bad behaviour was a car driver (I think it was a BMW for the record), who overtook me dangerously on a country lane and screeched into a gap between me and two other riders forcing me to break suddenly and almost come off. Now, like Paul, I don't assume that because I came across a driver behaving stupidly that the majority of car drivers behave badly. But it seems to be OK to make these sweeping generalisations about cyclists.

There's no need to go on the A6 at all on that ride. If you come off the Jubilee Tower road and head south for Bay Horse you pick up route 6, which you can follow through Scorton all the way south to Preston or cut off at Grimsargh if you want to go further east. Or you can avoid Jubilee Tower by taking the first left after the top of the Trough and meeting route 6 in Scorton.

The cafes in Chipping and Slaidburn are better. To ease your way back have a look at national cycle route 6 - it goes north from Preston to Lancaster along the Bowland foothills. Beware the Lancs cycle way. Beyond Whalley it gets seriously lumpy. Although if you go the other way it's flat as a pancake for a long way.

The A59 is a road to be avoided along its whole length on a bike. Luckily there are plenty of alternatives. For your ride you could have followed the Lancashire cycle way from Mellor over to Ramsgreave & Wilpshire station then back up over York to Whalley. Lumpier than the A59 but pretty quiet and a fabulous long descent not Whalley. If you're on Strava you should be able to see my rides all over Lancashire over the last few years.

I need to have a good look to plan where the best place(s) will be to see the race. Ideally the top of a hill followed by the finish in Colne. Still, plenty of time to sort it yet.

Would that be the same KP that has just managed 2 against Lancs?

It's now widely reported that Trevor Bayliss is about to be appointed as England's new coach.

We booked a table of 12 last Saturday at the New Holly in Forton and were asked to order in advance (for 2 courses anyway). All went very smoothly with the food for everyone coming out together. Food itself was OK but nothing special.

Don't be silly, for course he's not. Maybe he was a few years ago but not now. As Chaddy points out, Jimmy Anderson would be my outstanding England player at the moment, followed closely by Joe Root. The size of the contract is important - if he had had one as he has had previously he would never have bothered coming back. And he's off to the IPL now anyway and isn't available for the tests against New Zealand. Is he allowed to pick and choose which tests he plays in? As far as I'm aware there was no contract or agreement. He was told that the best way to get back into the England team would be to get his head down and make some runs. I'm not aware that there was a promise that if he made runs that he was in. Plenty of other cricketers make plenty of runs in the early season and don't get picked. Bear in mind his 355 was against a team that have not won a county game in over two years. Gary Lineker, Graeme Smith and Geoffrey Boycott don't agree with Strauss and the ECB - that's 3 more reasons to support them.

No he wasn't - he was only offered a modest contract this year. I have a friend who lives near him in London. He is a complete and utter to**er and he should not be anywhere near the England team. The Independent reported this morning that he's going to the IPL for the knockout games and he would not have been available to play the tests against New Zealand anyway. So much for committing to county cricket. Strauss says that he can't be trusted and that's exactly what my mate has said about him.

Was it closed roads Paul? Wonderful effort in what i imagine were horrible conditions. My experience at Ride London last year was somewhat similar although nothing like the climbing you did. 84 miles in the back end of a hurricane, but still hugely satisfying passing thousands all along the route. I've just checked on Strava and I think my biggest ride for climbing is c5,500'.

My guess would be Paul as I know he has been round there. I've been back a week from two weeks in Mallorca - 500km and 5,000 metres of climbing, including my fourth time up Sa Calobra. Wonderful riding as usual and every time we go we find more fantastic food and drink.

It's not road tax though, it doesn't exist. It's vehicle excise duty and that's calculated on the CO2 emissions from your car. Yours costs you £200, my car costs nowt and neither do my bikes.

It doesn't really matter whether you drive or not. Road tax, a tax on road users to pay for the upkeep of roads, was abolished in the 1930s. Since then roads have been paid for out of general taxation, so every taxpayer contributes whether they use the roads with a car, bus, bike or just walk.

It sounds like a considerably more enticing prospect than Leeds away Paul!

The second stage of the Tour of Britain on 7th September will be a circle from Clitheroe to Colne.

Excuse me for obeying the law. Maybe the law makers have looked at the law and decided it's working perfectly fine? If there's enough pedestrians in the road though it works, as can be seen after every home game on Livesey Branch Road. Also if I walk in the road and you come along and knock me down, whilst it won't be good for me, it won't be great for you either.

What do you mean by getting under the feet Al? It sounds like you just want to do what you want, no matter whether it's legal or not. Is that how you act in other circumstances as well? As far as I'm aware anyone has a right to be on a public highway unless specifically excluded (e.g. motorways). Further to that pedestrians have priority, followed by horses, then cyclists and then motorised vehicles.

I get the impression that you believe that anything that gets in the way of you driving your car should not be on the road. Cyclists have just as much right to be on the road as car drivers and are considerably less of a hazard.

I can see the attraction of a few days riding out by yourself too. Most of the riding I do at home is by myself rather than on club rides. But it is nice to be out and about in the Tramantuna mountains with lots of other cyclists and very few cars, even if most of them are passing me.

I don't think going midweek makes a huge difference at this time of year in Mallorca Paul. I'm told there are 30-40,000 cyclists arriving every week about now, so they're coming all through the week. Don't go if you like to ride by yourself!

That may well be true - my experience is only really in Mallorca. I was at Toulouse airport a few years ago the day before the etape du tour. We had flown KLM via Amsterdam and they had left our bags there (I didn't have a bike). Whilst in the office reporting the loss a stream of cyclists came in looking for their bikes including a group from Canada. Their bikes would not be there for 24 hours which rather defeated the object of bringing them for the etape - imagine how they felt. Certainly there is no advantage at Palma airport in having a bike box, especially at this time of year as there are so many coming in. The last time I was with Alex waiting for his bike we waited for ages at the point where they usually come out, only to find it later by itself by a completely different belt

I always hire. It usually costs £50 to take a bike on the plane plus the cost of whatever you put it in, plus the hassle of taking it apart and putting it back together twice, plus the risk of it missing the plane, plus having to only take hand luggage or pay for another bag as well. Against that i can hire a decent quality road bike for 70-100 euros a week. Having said that my son usually takes his, although he has a good box to transport it in - Christmas present from his parents!

It's been a gorgeous day for a ride today. Had a little pedal up to Garstang to have a look at how our new boat boat is coming along. Off to Mallorca a week on Friday for 2 weeks with plenty of cycling included.