Shyheels

The magazine to which I contribute, and have contributed for more than twenty years, has really become quite a sleazy operator. I no longer trust them with anything and if I go on assignment for them insist on advances on expenses. This they will do, albeit reluctantly and with many hoops to jump through, but then they will start hassling you literally - literally - on your ride home from the airport, demanding a full accounting and hinting at swift legal action uf this isn't done within a very few days. I have even had these heavy handed emails arrive while I am transiting an airport en route to getting home, before I have even touched down at Heathrow. When it comes to getting money from them...well, you can wait for months, even a year. Sleazy.

Yes, I scrupulously avoid all of that kind of thing. The only time I have ever found myself with maxed-out credit cards was a few years ago when a magazine - a major international household name magazine, I might add - left me dangling for months with thousands on my credit card, all charges racked up on overseas assignments and for which I should have been immediately reimbursed. In the old days of this very same magazine I would have been immediately reimbursed - they used to be the gold standard, people you would trust absolutely on a handshake or spoken agreement, but the decent old gentlemen who ran it for decades retired, or were shoved out by the aggressive young suits that took over and I ended up getting hung up with maxed out cards for several months waiting for my money. I got it in the end, but I'd not trust them as far as I could spit now... Sad. As I say they used to be the gold standard...

Yup, it's a mug's game and no mistake, but a huge number of people play and play and play, skilfully and cynically manipulated into doing so by the powers-that-be who treat them like the sheep they are, made to be shorn And to return to the theme of the thread, many of these airhead borrowers no doubt wear PVCs out clubbing, blindly influenced by pictures of celebrities in glossy magazines. Original thought is rare these days.

...and for everything else there's MasterCard

I've always found that the harder I work, the luckier I get!

My cycling shorts are more the MBT type, but without the cargo pockets etc. They are touring shorts and look quite dressy in their way and presentable - handy when one is touring and being invited into people's homes (as happens more often than you might think) or if you want to enter mosques and temples. In a lot of places shorts are a no-no and so for those occasions I carry a pair of lightweight quick dry trousers in a neutral khaki colour. But otherwise I wear fairly long, fairly dressy touring shorts.

I did a lot of skiing in my youth - I mean a lot - but I never saw anybody wearing anything that slinky in the slopes. I'd have remembered!

I have quite nice cycling attire. Understated. No logos, no racing styes. Just nicely made jerseys and shorts from a fairly upscale brand. I dress well when I go for my bike rides.

You find those on bicycle bib tights - or at least I had them on my Gore windstopper ones. Not quite sure why you would need them here. They do look shiny. I assume they were not what was on Mrs Freddy's shopping list?

Down here I'm .Sussex I ride on quiet country lanes as a matter of course. Also as a matter of course I seldom ride on bike paths or shared footways - for the most part they are poorly maintained, often strewn with glass, while shared footways have more than their share of dog walkers with those long extendable leashes - accidents just waiting to happen. For years I commuted in a big city and grew accustomed to the risks and need for confidence and assertiveness in traffic, and made sure to observe and learn every day. It doesn't make one proof against accidents, but one does learn all of the obvious dangers and develops a sense of the mood on the traffic around you. Bicycles are not only the cleanest form of transportation, but the most efficient as well. Even in nature there is nothing that can cover ground with the efficiency of a human being in a bicycle. There is quite an interesting book on the subject written by an MIT physicist. Speaking of cycling - I'm out for a ride tomorrow morning.

I have found cycling bib tights - made of Gore windstopper fabric - quite useful in winter. They don't do much for me style wise, but they are good at warmth and breathability!

Not for me, thanks. I've tried the Lycra thing, but much prefer baggy old touring shorts....

Cycling seems a worthy topic - certainly it's an old favourite pastime/activity of mine. As discussed on the PVCs thread (see Outfit critique) revamping the 'engine' on a bicycle is a cheap and healthy alternative to costly upgrades and titanium do-dads. Have been working hard on my engine lately and noticing the results. I have never raced bicycles, nor had the least desire to, but have always looked upon cycling as a pleasurable form of escape - a chance to see the countryside in an unhurried fashion. No cycling clubs for me, just the quiet solitude of a bike ride on a quiet country lane...

Interesting thread this - oscillating back and forth from cycling to PVCs and back again. Maybe there's a connection. Maybe not. At any rate I shall start a cycling thread...

It's generally the engine that could do with improvement on a bicycle, or so I have found

If you really want a 650B bike, save the money you would have spent on the upgrade to your old one and apply it towards the eventual purchase of a purebred 650B.

There was an incident in Antarctica many years ago when a Russian doctor was obliged to operate on himself to remove his appendix.

Where is that playing? :-)

It is hard to deal wth anybody with an ocean in between you, especially Americans. They can pretty much stand on the other side and thumb their noses at you and not just on the matter of goods and services but other legal matters as well - as I have learned.

I missed out on those chocolates in my youth so I guess I didn't contribute. I was eating M&Ms.... Nice to see they had the good taste to include mine in the list. Maybe one day I'll be a celebrity....

Looks like the Yakuza got hold of her and they have weighted her down for a trip to the bottom of the harbour....

Well, I don't know who she is - what else is new? - but she is certainly flying the flag for the style. I think she looks really good in them (as did the breathless reporter on the DM) very comfortable and at ease in the style. I notice she used a soft jumper as a counterpoint to the shiny hardness of the PVC - a good look I followed the where-to-buy link. They are nice PVC jeans but I prefer the Topshop version myself.

He's way too much of narcissist... The whole world will be wrong, he'll be right...

We'll see. Kim Jong Un is a self aggrandising fruitcake but he does have survival sense. He knows he would never survive a full on conflict with the US Nobody but the US is giving him any air time at all

Each to their own. If I really wanted to elevate my heels, for whatever reason, I think I'd just go with Cuban heels and be done with it. I really don't like the look of those things. Even if nobody else noticed or knew, I'd know and not be comfortable or happy wearing them. But as I say, each to their own. There are no absolutes. No doubt there are plenty of people who would not care for my style either...