Posts by anth

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  • Hard News: Morning in Auckland,

    In the "Statement from Rick Ellis, TVNZ CEO":

    I would like to acknowledge the thousands of Paul’s supporters who have contacted us and who will be disappointed at this outcome. I have a stack of emails on my desk fully 20cms high.

    Does he really print out every email, or have his PA do so for him?

    Or perhaps Paul Henry's lawyer brought that stack in as a bargaining tool. Not that I'm implying he was pushed rather than choosing to jump.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report

  • Hard News: Sunday in Super City,

    did you get that from this ARTA graph, or is there more data somewhere else? If it's from the graph then I'm not sure I'd agree that traffic flows are steadily declining - car trip numbers look pretty constant to me. And I'd point out that the graph only covers the 7-9am period into the CBD.

    NZTA show AADT (daily flow averaged over a year) for each bit of state highway ... not exactly a steady decline, but a fairly significant decline all the same.

    These two things together support the suggestion that the Busway has made the commuter peaks shorter. People who used to go early now sleep in a few more minutes as they can still arrive on time, people who leave at a set time later on (perhaps after a school drop off) now get through during the peak instead of a bit afterwards. I don't commute over there and haven't seen any other figures so don't know if there is any merit to this idea. Some data for traffic from 6-7am and 9-10am would be interesting.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report

  • Hard News: Morning in Auckland,

    TV3 is reporting that Paul Henry has resigned.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report

  • Cracker: Strike Nine (and counting),

    Thing you have to realize about ACT is: It doesn't matter what 95% of the country think about anything.

    True, but they can't dismiss the opinions of the majority of people in Epsom quite so easily.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report

  • Cracker: Strike Nine (and counting),

    I've just confirmed that no new categories have been added for Nobel Prizes recently. I'd started to wonder if the Sensible Sentencing Trust were hoping to win for Hypocrisy and ACT for Dysfunctional.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report

  • Hard News: Behind the Paywall,

    Some people who are more inclined to see conspiracies are claiming that the Times paywall is designed to drive people away in order to provide evidence to lobby for a law preventing the BBC offering news on the web for free.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report

  • Hard News: Wanna Route?,

    buy some really good puncture-proof tyres

    Yeah, that was what I meant by the belt. I've not tried those belts that can be added between the tyre and inner tube. You and I agree about the puncture proof tyres, but some people don't like the way those stiffer tyres handle.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report

  • Hard News: Wanna Route?,

    It isn't our imagination that most punctures happen in bad weather, rubber is much easier to cut when wet. Big thick knobbly MTB tyres mean the cut has to be much deeper, but all that extra drag makes them less fun on the road. A kevlar belt helps a lot too and imposes a smaller impact on ride quality.

    Being horrified at the thought of wearing cycling shorts seems very common, I certainly was once upon a time. Most who have tried them on a long ride find it so much more comfortable that we get over this pretty quickly. I've never been tempted by the replica team uniforms though, paying to wear all that advertising seems odd to me.

    I consider being drafted a complement. I was doing bunch rides quite a lot a couple of years ago and thought that those who never took a turn at the front were implicitly acknowledging that those of us who did were stronger riders. I can see how someone who a never pulls but eventually sprints off could be annoying though, assuming that they hadn't wanted to go faster all along but were waiting until it was safe to pass.

    As for bike shops I've been happy with Mt Eden Cycles. A few years ago I was after a do-anything bike, fast enough to go out with the roadies, tough enough for some easy single-track, with rack and mudguard mounts for commuting. This was the 11th bike shop I went to and the 1st that had anything suitable (a Specialized Tricross). Their service since then has been great.

    As with most thigs bike the late great Sheldon Brown is an excellent source of advice on saddle adjustment. It does sound though like Geoff's is too close to the handle bars or tilted forward a bit.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report

  • Up Front: Romeo Smells of Roses,

    This talk of forms with inappropriate/missing labels reminds me of the Y2Gay problem.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Disingenuous Press,

    I think it's safe to say people in Manakau are competent to realise that a man who stood against Brown for the mayoralty twice isn't his BFF.

    On the other hand in a few months Brown is standing in an election in which most of the voters aren't in Manukau.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report

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