hill_393

I think personally there are 2 main points to talking to women. Confidence and Laughter. I've generally found that if you can make someone laugh they relax around you, and you get to know the real them. 1st dates, people always put up a front or a barrier, that you always have to break through. Confidence in yourself can make you attractive. Being happy in yourself makes you easier to be around. I've got my faults and downsides, but I'm generally happy in who i am, an I like to think I can talk to people well. I think the key is to find that something about someone that you click on - A joke, a friend, a situation. 1st dates are generally for exploring each other to find that something to lead on to further things. You can tell my age here! He he Darren

I'll come for Photographing needs!! Need to get out Darren

Who you gonna call?........... Chavbusters!!!

Check out the video's on www.thinkbikes.com The key to progressing is to vary your riding style. Before I broke my leg, my riding style was changing towards flatland riding. I was trying decades, fot jam tailwips, bar spins on the rear wheels. etc. I am suggesting ThinkBikes, as I feel they are a benchmark figure for developing riding styles and disciplines. I found a great way to develop was to ( And this method I'm suggesting I used to do all the time with Dave of Thinkbikes) have a stack of pallets or a picnic bench and try and think of as many different ways as possible to get up down, across, over, under it. Set yourself a challenge of 15 ways to get over a bench, with no one method being the same as the other. Another way I found is to get in the skatepark or rocks. As previously mentioned, park and rocks provide you infinite possibilities, and sometime the influences of BMX riders can steer your riding in a particular way, as mine did. Enter competitions. They are a great way of honing all your skills, and you will be around so many riders who will help and develop you. Hope that helps Darren

From an outside view, its fantastic to see 2 great riders, one known through great comp results, and the other through demo riding pushing hard to evolve the sport. I've been riding trials for over I think 12 years now, and have seen the sport grow beyond all original expectations. Gone are the days of XC bikes turned into trials bikes. It's now a big player in the Cycle Industry, and I can almost certainly guarantee every time I go to a major city, I see trials riders. This proves he popularity, and the different ideas of 2 completly different riders both have incredible potential for success, and I wish you both nothing but the very best!. It's forward thinkers like this that allow trials to grow. Good Luck Guys Darren

Coolio. Was worried about offending when I wrote that! Darren

Hey mate, just watched the Vid, Good Riding!! Makes me want to get back on the Bike and for my bloody leg to get better!! A slight recomendation I can give is if you plan on doing a 2nd promotional video, take the crashes out of the video. From a sponsor's point of view, a rider who crashes won't look that appealing to them. I think the key with any sort of Promotional Video is do do something no one else has seen. it's not a criticism by any means, as the video was good. Like the music choice! Darren

Nope. Put the dead spider on my hand and measured it. The girlfriend was freaking out so I couldn't take a photo. She wanted the thing gone Darren

My Ex Girlfriend used to live in an Oast House, and our bedroom was under the spire. Spiders are known for liking cold, damp and dingy places. Well right above our room was this. I remember one night waking up at about 3am after something hit my head. I rolled over and the girlfriend had a look of terror on her face. I'd woken up with a HUGE spider on my forehead. Not this wasn't a big Spider, this was enormous!!!! It was the total size of my hand! The body was a fairly decent size, but the legs took it to the size of my total hand. I woke up the entire house when I screamed, and the spider soon suffered a quick death though!! Girlfriend made me move the bed to a different location after that!!! This was before the Hornet Incident, a completely different story......... Darren

Hey Guy's; Sitting here being a cripple has given me a lot of Internet time, so I've come across these 2. 1st vid's different, and not strictly trials, but he balance for this blew my mind. And it's on a full sus!! 2nd was just fun to watch Let me know what you think Darren

Nice one Rob Built for you without a doubt. Now that I'm out for a while, be interesting to see how quickly you develop from an outsider's point of view I would text you this, but you never reply! tee hee Darren

One of my closest friends, Dave Lowe of thinkbikes.com Been riding with him since day 1, and despite both of us starting at the same time, he's always inventing and changing his styles. Not on one single occasion have I ever been bored with him riding, and we always push and challenge each other. Hope fully when I get back on a bike in a few years time, he's the 1st person i will want to ride with. Staples is amazing as well, but nothing he does can count anyway cause he's Ginger, and smashed Ash Trays over his head when he's drunk!! ( A Porthcawl trip with him, chai, tall rob and myself) Darren

Cheers dude - Appreciate it fella. Not sure weather the state of my knee once healed will take a battering from normal trials, but I have the intention of riding flatland style trials - Was getting pretty good at it before this. We shall see Darren

Well bit of an update I'm going into theatre tomorrow morning at 7.30 am under General to have my knee sliced and diced. I think what's going to happen, and I need to talk to Si (My mate who's a Physio) about this is I'll have a nice long vertical scar over my knee, where they will set about attaching 3 ligaments to replace the severed one's ( Si mentioned Carbon Fibre, but this has yet to be confirmed), and then on the surviving sort of in tact ligament, they are grafting doner tendon to strengthen it up. I'm going to have a nice 6 - 8 inch scar on my leg - That's going to be one to show the kids!!!. I think after the op, the next stage will either be a tube cast to keep it stirdy for a few days whilst I'm bed ridden in hospital, or straight into a support and begin the physio. I'm quite lucky because as it stands now, I have a weight bearing cast, so I have been putting a little weight on, as so to remember the feeling of walking ( Sounds silly I know, but you'd be suprised!). Si is suggesting Hydro Therapy amongst other things,but he has said the recovery time is down to me, and as I stand now ( No pun intended!), I have the want to recover ASAP, and get off the crutches quickly. I'm being predicted 6-8 weeks for this ,and this is my target. Obviously, one thing at a time. The silliest thing has come of this though, after everything, I've decided to become a blood doner, but also sign up for a general doner card. It's due to someone who had this card that I am going to be able to walk again, and so if I can help anyone when I die, it's the very least I can do. Anyway, rant over and done with. Darren PS - Anyone suggest any good books to read - I'm going to be in hospital for about a week recovering! And yes, I've read the New Harry Potter Book...

Trying to get riders doing moves syncronised is a hard move. Whilst we were filming, I think if i can remember correctly , it took 5 or 6 times to get that move correct (Up and 360). From a demo point of view it works really well Darren www.thinkbikes.com

Well she obviously got the looks out of you two!! he he Arse is about the same, and I don't know who's got the higher voice!!! Darren

Yep, and that headache bloody hurt!!!! I'm going to get Dave, somewhere, somehow!!!! i will get him!!! I'd do Jenny - Very Fit!!! I could say this just to annoy Spode, but it's true!! Rob and I would both would!! he he Darren

He he I will agree with you on that one We did have a long talk about this, and in all seriousness, if my injury can help in any way, it's to highlight the importance of Simon's point - Learning to fall and land safely is sometimes more important than being able to land a 10 foot gap. I've been lucky over the 13 years or so of trials riding, and I've proven that it takes one lapse of concentration and forgetting to land that could spell the end of your trials career. Darren

Hi Guy's Update Still trying to figure out if this is a good thing, but due to the severity of my knee injury, I'm having one of, if not the top consultant in my local hospital doing the 1st stage operation on my knee Hopefully that means that I'm getting the best care the NHS can offer! Tip to everyone - If you feel like breaking a bone and you want the best care and surgeons, plus also avoiding the annoying NHS waiting lists, so it as severely as possible!!! he he gotta laugh Darren

Cheers for the description Si. I will no doubt keep everyone up to speed on the recovery after the op - I think the hardest thing was aceepting the damage was done - In doing so, i was able to move on. Riding trials, as with any sport is a risk, and there are always chances of Injuries. I've been lucky enough to have a up to 12 year riding career, and so worse case scenario, if it were all to end due to this, I can say I've had fun doing it - Keeping upbeat will I think def help the speed of my recovery! Thanks once again for your support, and i put a challenge out for everyone.... Try and beat this!!!!! ( I think if there's a contender - it's going to be Spode! he he Darren I'm sure darren will let you know how things are coming on after his opertaion next thurs be thinking of you next week mate!!

Hi Guy's. Just got back home after a week in hospital - Simon, the Trials Forum Physio Specialist will be adding details later on as to the extent of my injury, and the process of repair and recouperation. Suffice to say it's worse than Spode's described it - Much longer period of recouperation needed, and the surgery is very detailed, but I'll be honest, it looks at though 14-18 months will be the period before I can even think about being on a trials bike. I just wanted to say to everyone thanks for your good well messages. Coming home to these has made my evening. On a side note, I may be selling my Ashton - - - Details to follow Darren www.thinkbikes.com

True, I agree with you on that one. Truth be told, your on my Facebook account anyway as a friend! Lol. It has it's pro's and con's, like any other webpage. BTW, the article I'm referring to is in the Sun today, on page 6 I believe - Underneath the Cartoon Darren

Has anyone seen the comments made in the newspapers about Facebook? I find it quite funny that a newspaper for the people is making distasteful and negative remarks about a website for the people! Seems contradicting in a way!!! he he Darren

One word - AMAZING!!!! Being an old man, I grew up with Transformers, Thundercats, A Team, etc, and the film brings back so many memories!! And the original voice of Optimus Prime is in the film!!!! Bumblebee rules as well! Darren