ACL = anterior cruciate ligament -its the most common ligament to damage and once torn doesnt repair itself, your knee gives way unexpectadly and you quite literally fall over when you least expect it.
the repair involves using a bit of either your hamstring or patellar to make a new tendon and invloves quite invasive surgery (involving drills and blood !)
more common cartilage damage is where bits of cartilage come off and float around the knee causing pain and sometimes loss of movement - (sounds like Kinells complaint) its quite simple to fix through keyhole surgery.
However for those of you in the UK the big problem is getting our NHS to do anything about either. - you have to make a real nuisance of yourself and persist - they will do everything to put you off having any operation - i spent years going to physio and consultations before putting my foot down (with the risk of my knee collapsing ) and getting them to put me on the waiting list. - once on the list however i cannot praise them enough - i had surgery within the year and brilliant physio follow up and my knee now works. i dont need a brace riding trials but do keep the muscle built up with cycling.
braces are no replacement - go back to your GP and dont give up.
sorry guys just realised that i might have thrown you a wobbly
the second photo is of course Mart with JR watching him but it was not the same year as the other two - it was 81 when mart first rode SWM.
so its now down to the other photos as the bonus one has been guessed correctly as a very young Johnboy. (some stickers for you slapshot - see me in the fort)
Donald I would be daft not to wish I was riding, but the decision was made. The SSDT is a passion to some people whether that be a rider, spectator, course marker (flags in bogs are not neessary) etc. etc. it is a social gathering for a lot of people..........but yes I would love to do it one more time as I said in a previous post in 2011 bike, fitness and body allowing
See you in a few weeks yes boys and girls a few weeks!!!!!!! so if your training hasn't started YOUR TOO LATE and the moors will get their revenge
Gizza - you seem to have a real hang up about the flags in bogs?
if you consider the lonely existence of a course marker, he is off first thing in the morning every morning (and that starts on sunday) and as they work a day in advance of the trial they never get to see any of the event - no bikes, no spectators, no social gatherings, no meeting up with old friends to savour the atmosphere, they are in the middle of a deserted windswept moor with 200 flags round their belt and a hundredweight of markers on their backs.
The way we were all taught by the late WD to lay flags was in a straight line - if that goes through the middle of a bog, well thats unfortunate, but it is also quite amusing for us knowing that the unwary riders will face a 'bog challenge' the next day and of course knowing that our backmarkers will have to go into the bog to get the flag. - its one of our small pleasures in the job - and i bet its years since you've been caught out anyway
first post to name all 4 riders and the year will receive a 2008 ssdt programme and a couple of stickers through the post from HL (she doesn't know this yet)
to make it fair for those who don't have 'six days in may' i have removed the riding numbers
BJ - give the guys a chance and hold back - you can referee !
ps the 4th rider to be named is the one with the suzuki jacket on -
(I thought I knew who this was but now having second thoughts - BJ can keep me right)
having the choke on makes your bike run richer to help prevent your bike running to weak and seizing. not to make the bike faster at all
quite right - its also worth cleaning out your radiator at every opportunity, scottish bogs have a habit of choking your rad - a good mudflap on your front mudguard helps as well.
Repatriation insurance is required to get a foreign national back home, if there was no insurance cover, the foreign national would be stranded in the UK and who would pay to get the rider home? Repatriation costs a lot of money!
Big John
is this why us scots are not allowed to get an ACU registration card - if so i'll pay for the taxi across the border myself it would be worth it considering the money i'd save
To be honest, I doubt that the current setup would work in court. We once employed some ar$ehole who signed and dated his employment contract and then took us to an employment tribunal (we had dismissed him for being drunk at work). The tribunal awarded him the 'win' because we couldn't prove that he had been given a copy of his contract! We even had a Royal Mail 'recorded delivery receipt that showed we had sent it to him. His lawyer argued that the envelope could of contained our Christmas card to him.
We now ask all employees to sign and date their contract and then they sign again to state that they have received a copy of the contract that they have just signed ****ing bonkers if you ask me...
So, what's the chance of someone injuring themselves and saying "What ACU handbook? I've never received one in the post!"
your right of course - if the reason that we all get a handbook is to officially cover 4rses then they are wasting their time. However if the reason is to keep riders informed on the current regulations and requirements of the sport then they succeed.
In scotland we are still waiting for a handbook and to my knowledge we dont get the choice of a cd. - if we did could this save the SACU
my TC supporter status ran out without me realising and I lost some of my stored messages - I know that some people got reminders but I didnt - are reminders sent automatically and if not are you are loosing out on resubscriptions.??
I often wondered why you gave us such a leisurely ride back down the road from fersit, when there is so much moor and track between there and FW, you should pop up on the moor again to Alt Na Lairige, and off road it all the way back to town, the riders complain when they get too cold going down the road all the time.
It would make Thursday a full day, not the half day it is now.
its easy seeing who is'nt riding this year - never mind - I'll let them all know that it was your idea to put the BOG back in on Saturday Ishy.
what i meant to say was "you are assuming that the thursday run includes Fersit "
Has anyone taken the train to Rannoch to watch the sections near the station.....? If so how long/far a walk is it from the station, as my family were thinking of trying it this year instead of the long drive to chair lift then back to Fersit.
Thanks
two points
the sections at Rannoch are miles away from the station and the sections are pretty straightforward stuff anyway.
however if we get to use the sections at Corrour old lodge this year they are a bit better and about 3 miles from Corrour station - a much nicer walk to the head of loch ossian and up the old 'road to the isles' path.
however a word of warning - depending on the estate, we sometimes have to use lower down sections which are pretty flat river sections and not that exciting. we will be able to tell you nearer the time though.
secondly, (and here's one to get the regulars talking) you are assuming that the thursday run finishes at Fersit
to say he knows every road up there is not quite right - he's certainly been over most of them - in both directions!
if you are looking for maps ;last years are still on the ssdt website under downloads / 2007 event and each map is listed under 'monday route' etc but 2008 routes WILL BE DIFFERENT - however it will point you in the right direction
as Jock's "tuner" at the time I disclaim responsibility as I never touched the cycle parts. .
As a prompter you might recall the nice shade of blue Willie painted the tank on mine.
its coming back to me - 30 years is a long time.
mine snapped in half while practicing one saturday - i took it to Jimmy McFs farm chucked the two bits on the ground and jimmy welded it up using a bit of a combine harvester as a gusset - never steered right after that - or that was my excuse !!
saying that, the 348s were better than the 349s -at least when the 348s stayed in gear they were quite nice to ride (the term 'nice' is all relative - were talking abut Ossas and bultacos here)
No such luxury I'm afraid benj - just a long push. Not too easy if your 348 has just snapped in half at the sterring head!
2/4 - cant remember you ever having a 348 although it was a long time ago !!
the one i got from JMcC snapped in half - it was quite exciting as the throttle cable stretched and sent it onto full chat! - after that i bought a bulto which used to run backwards ! - oh the spanish knew how to make you suffer
Boofont - on the subject of observing - if you have a bike, although we will try to give you sections in the hill, there may be occasions that you have to do roadside or even other marshaling duties eg man the car park. but don't worry you will get a good variety - did HL tell you that you sometimes have to get up at 5.30? or did she forget that bit
Yes - and if you need any bike gear (road) its the place to get it - if you shop around you can get some real bargains. - trouble is you end up buying loads of stuff just because its cheap !
) and getting them to put me on the waiting list. - once on the list however i cannot praise them enough - i had surgery within the year and brilliant physio follow up and my knee now works. i dont need a brace riding trials but do keep the muscle built up with cycling.
yes boys and girls a few weeks!!!!!!! so if your training hasn't started YOUR TOO LATE and the moors will get their revenge 
- its one of our small pleasures in the job - and i bet its years since you've been caught out anyway 
it would be worth it considering the money i'd save 
****ing bonkers if you ask me...
Name The Year And The Rider
in SSDT Chat
Posted
right
some more clues
the other side of the top picture makes it easy and should also give you the year
so its down to the third picture for the prize