Went to The Dressers yesterday for the first time in perhaps 20 years. The pub food was pretty good, I had the burger which was tasty (unusual in a pub in my experience), and came with bacon, cheese and black pudding. The black pudding was the worst I've tasted. Mrs P had linguine, a huge plateful which she only managed to eat half, which was very good. Two mains, a pint, glass of wine £26. Good speedy service. What did strike me though was the missed opportunity after the fire. The place has been rebuilt, presumably through an insurance payout, and the end result lacks any imagination. It's fake olde worlde, bits of exposed wall, mulberry paintwork, distressed plasterwork, dingy etc. The end result looks like a huge chain took the cheap option on a standard refit. Disappointing and takes away from the whole experience.

Same in our house. My Italian mother-in-law used to make her own sauces and pasta from scratch. Never tasted better. My wife is as good and makes a lasagne to die for.

Royal Oak was up to usual high standard on Saturday night.......... As was the quality of people in the bar, mentioning no names of course.

I've only been in twice for a drink. It didn't strike me as somewhere I would go to eat but that is nothing more than an impression. I've been here 32 years now and never heard the Spinners mentioned in connection with food. Been hearing good things about Thyme and Plaice at Coppull recently so I'm planning to book there for Saturday night.

That's true! The FB is average pub food served in a fancy setting left over from the Red Cat days. The time we went there was nothing wrong but there was no reason to go back again. Same as a thousand pubs. The Royal Oak has always struck me as being a cut above. Pub food but that little bit better. Good beer as well

Have you been in the Fat Bull thenodrog? We went once and wouldn't go again. The Royal Oak is a long way ahead.

The Bay is a nice route with some spectacular views. No off road or A roads. The short section at Levens Hall is probably busy at weekends or peak holiday season. I found the section between Cartmel and Ulverston tough but it was at the end of a long day. I thought the inland section between Ulverston and Barrow uneccessary as the coast road is very quiet however the inland lanes are lovely to ride. The Way of the Roses is a favourite for me as York and Yorkshire is an area I love to visit having lived in York for four years. It is a great route. The first day climbing away from Morecambe is tough. After that you have a combination of rolling flat across the Yorkshire plain and gentle hills through the Yorkshire Wolds which are beautiful. Two tips. At Pateley Bridge there is a huge descent which suddenly turns a slight left hander straight in to the town. I guess it would be easy to hit 50mph down this. DON'T! It's a dangerous road, people have died on the descent. Secondly I turned up in Bridlington and couldn't find any B&B so book ahead. A great route, well signposted.

I was outside the Midland at 1.00pm, didn't seem the place for a sweaty cyclist to have lunch. Finished my tour today by going Annan, Lochmaben, Lockerbie, Gretna, Carlisle, Penrith were I jumped on a train to Preston

Did you go to the races as well? I went through Cartmel at 5.00pm just as people started to leave the race course up a one way single track road!! Bedlam!

I don't think your post demonstrated much sarcasm though I suppose the comment on having the misfortune to climb Ben Nevis is sarcasm but doesn't read that way. If you've dined all over the world you'll know Loch Fyne oysters are farmed. In the late 80/90s we used to buy them en route to Oban. Personally I would not expect farmed seafood to be the best.

Part way through a pretty good tour at the moment: Day One: Chorley, Glasson Dock, then followed the new Bay Cycleway to Ulverston Day Two: brutal headwind all day so slow progress but made Ulvesrton, Barrow, Broughton, Eskdale, Sellafield to stay in Whitehaven Day Three: Whitehaven to Annan along the coast and Solway Firth. Maryport is a lovely place. I'd hoped to stay there on night two but legs failed around 6.00pm in Whitehaven!!!! Not sure about today as Annan is on the northernmost edge of my map..

That post is laughably stupid. If you want food try these: Eeusk Oban Auberge Carnish Isle of Lewis --STUNNING Creelers Isle of Skye No.1 Peebles Road in Peebles - cafe Herges on the Loch Galashiels Saffron Innerleithen Sandwich shop Barra harbour. "Arrette" is spelt Arete and surprisingly walking up mountains is tough. Fort William is a hugely popular tourist destination which is why it is as it is. If you want to discover a country don't go to places which are destinations for mass tourism. It does take a bit of effort though. Rannoch Moor is wilderness. What no dancing girls?

Anyone who visits Annan, Dummfries has to go to Del Amitri Scotch egg of salmon and bantam egg with dill and mustard dressing Wood pigeon and black pudding roulade with bubble and squeak rosti, beetroot, baked baby onions and venison broth Green beans and caramelised red cabbage - like toffee! Raspberries, meringue, clotted cream and raspberry coulis £27 plus £5 for a super glass of claret from Chateau du Taste Blows the O&O or Clog out of the water for value. Must book late week and weekends. On a Wednesday night I got the last cover - only 30 covers. Fantastic I'm cycling up here but I'll be driving back for a weekend just to eat.

The road bike will be worth 3-4kms / hour. That's a big difference. The Trek and Canondale will both do it. Personally I favour Canondale. Frame quality is important at this point - you can always upgrade group set and wheels. My priority would be frame, fit, wheels, group set. Only one way to upgrade a frame!!!

Good question. Is it doable? Yes but frankly it's going to hurt. I have friends 30-40 years younger who could ride 150km in 5 hours, it would take me 7.0-7.5 hours probably 8 hours of actual ride time. I'd suggest you allow at least one hour for stops. The big question is can you do it for four days in a row? I know I can but then I ride a lot and 150km doesn't phase me. My suggestion would be this; Look to get up to being comfortable at 100-110km then try to find a roughly circular route of 120km near your home. Go out and ride it on a Saturday, then get up and do it again on Sunday. If you can do that you'll complete the challenge. The first day will be the harder. If you can do 120/day you will manage 150/day. Google tells me temperatures in South Korea are 35C today. In those conditions I would expect to drink 6-8 litres of water per day. I'd also eat a few salted peanuts every 15-20 minutes. Get real cying shorts, don't use any underwear and use some form of cream. Sudocrem (for baby nappy rash) is very good, Vaseline is OK but won't last all day. Whatever you use make sure you cover any skin which is likely to chaff

I only knew a little of the Guardian article but have emphasised everything Derbyshire police say here and elsewhere in the past. Some or all of the Derbyshire police advice will be known to the majority of experienced cyclists but I do feel it is always worth re posting as its fundamental to one's safety. The key point for me is s cyclist should assert (through correct positioning, not in an aggressive manner) the right to use the road and always ride at least 1.0 metre or more from potential obstructions including the kerb.

It does sound as though s bike fitting would benefit you. I fully agree with Audax on position though I would look for a balance between taking the weight on the arms and seat. My preference is to take weight through the seat as pressure on my arms makes them and my neck ache over distance. Re the Synapse Ultegra don't forget you are looking at the absolute top end of an outstanding bike range. Until you are sure of your back I would go for a much lower priced bike. Dolan can easily drop below £1000, Boardmans from Halfords and don't forget in the autumn prices of this year's models will drop significantly when the 2016 ranges appear. If you happen to need a quite small or large frame the discounts are even better as suppliers look to clear stock.

I know nothing about bad backs so can't comment on this aspect other than to say cycling is a low impact activity. I know many people who have moved from other sports, often running, to cycling after injury which prevents them from taking part in the other sport. Given cycling is low impact one shouldn't feel any discomfort other than the tiredness which comes from riding. The correct bike set up, frame geometry and suitable frame size will make a huge difference to comfort and performance. Geometry basically tells you which frame size fits and determines the riding position. The two important dimensions are the seat tube length, can one reach the pedals, and top tube length, how stretched will you be (possibly important for bad backs??) The head tube and handle bar stem also impact the riding position. The importance of the above is simple. Once you know the frame size and effective top tube length (the length between seat post and the head tube drawn horizontally) you can easily compare bikes from different ranges and makers without worrying about basic fit. With a bad back it could be worthwhile having a professional bike fit. This will cost £50 and upwards depending on where you go. The difference a few millimetres make is significant. Paul Hewitt (Leyland) and Colin Gardner (Kirkham) both have good reputations. Road bike, "sportive" or hybrid? I rode a hybrid for many years and could comfortably cover 80-90 miles a day. I rode Marins then. I guess hybrids have improved significantly in the 15+ years since I rode one. The significant difference between a hybrid or city bike is performance - you will go faster on any form of road bike by at least 3mph. You will sacrifice some comfort, less upright riding position and the flexibility to switch between tarmac and trails. A true road bike is designed to maximise performance. Unless one is going to race, time trial etc. or have a burning desire to keep up with the young bucks I don't see this as a consideration. A "sportive" is a bike which takes elements from true road bikes and "audax" bikes (audax bikes are designed for comfort over VERY serious distances). The sportive design gives excellent performance, more upright position and dampens road shock. For most who want to go further and faster it is the answer. I have been lusting after a Canondale Synapse 105/5 for months. A superb bike which gets great reviews. I think but don't know there is quite a wide price range. If Canondale is too expensive have a look at Dolan. I have a Dolan Duo which is six years old and still love it to bits. Most manufacturers offer compact or double chain sets as standard. The argument being with 10 and 11 speed cassettes (20-22 gears) why bother with a triple chain set? The point is that on a triple the gear ratios are so close there is little improvement over the 20-22 you get with a double. I get the point but this can mean the lowest gear on a double may not be low enough if you ride in a hilly area. To solve this ask for a rear cassette in the range of 11/12 to 30/32. This gives a huge largest rear cog and close to a lowest gear ratio of 1:1. I found the difference a great help. If you're young it probably won't make a lot of difference, it does for the more mature rider! My only other comments are to make sure you buy a bike which will take a full mudguard set, NOT race blades, if you think you might want to fit a rack and panniers look for the necessary holes and finally if you go for a sportive look for one with the width to accommodate up to 28mm tyres (the Synapse does).

No. I think you missed a word out when reading. I said "it certainly NOT the case" though I agree there should be an "is" in there. I know you did. I'm not a mod and have nothing to do with the running of the board. As for going off topic I'm simply responding to Al's categorising all cyclists in the same bracket which is clearly inaccurate. I've pointed out the same is true of car drivers, especially those who often drive certain makes, explaining this doesn't lead me to the opinion all drivers are idiots.

I can only presume by the visitors to this thread, shootings in America not withstanding, it's been a relatively slow news for the last 48 hours Like buses really

Nope it's simply that drivers using these types of vehicles often stand out as idiotic drivers. It certainly not the case, as I've already stated, all drivers of these marques are idiots.

I know, that's the point. I don't judge all car drivers by the behaviour of a few often in particular type of car. All the way from the young male in a hot hatch to the "mature" driver in an Audi or similar.

If drivers "hate" cyclists that's more the drivers' problem than anything else. Drivers really need to learn to differentiate between idiots on bikes and cyclists. If anyone wants to spend a few hours on a bike with me and anyone of the 170 people in our club you would quickly learn we have a great deal of respect for other road users and consider their needs and likely behaviour. Two reasons, self preservation and a desire to be seen to behave correctly. In general cyclists have far more road awareness than drivers. Just because there are idiots driving Mercs, Audis and 4x4s doesn't make me hate all drivers.

The Potted Barn in Ribchester is always a good stopping point and make cyclists very welcome. There are some cracking rides on the more westerly parts of the Lancashire Cycleway and plenty of ways to hop on and off it for some variety. Just be aware of Roby Brow! I've seen people fall off trying to get up that one. There's a good ride out through the Trough over to Quernmore and back down shadowing the A6. The drawback is having to ride the A6 for a few miles. It's also probably better to reverse the route and climb the Trough from the easier (!) side, if only for the fabulous descent afterwards. Another to try would be down to Ribchester, over to Chipping and Whitewell and then over Cow Ark (deep suffering) or miss that and go up the easier side of Waddy Fell (some suffering but for longer!) then drop into Waddy but watch your speed on the descent as there is an increasing number of pot holes in the tree shadows.

Ah yes Birdy Brow. Might as well throw in Jeffrey Hill as well! From where you are just head out in to the Ribble Valley and make it up as you go along.