Saeed -

Yea, not African Hunting related, but do you follow the Tour De France? I'm curios because UAE has such a strong squad this year (and the last couple)

Great tour this year, lots of fireworks.

I don’t.

But have lots of friends who do.

Very large number of cycling sportsmen in the UAE.

I think we have one of the longest cycling tracks around.

It runs through an area in the desert we go to every week, and it never surprises me on how many are participating, all hours of the day.

I have seen them cycling at 2 in the morning.

My daughter enjoys cycling and she goes on there often.

My younger brother is also a cycling enthusiast and he cycles all over the world.

Check your PM Steve.

It's a good race this year. I haven't been on a bike since I was a kid, but for some reason my wife and I get hooked on tracking the strategies and effort of the TDF every year.

quote:

Originally posted by Kyler Hamann:
It's a good race this year. I haven't been on a bike since I was a kid, but for some reason my wife and I get hooked on tracking the strategies and effort of the TDF every year.

I'm a lifelong rider/racer. These guys are the worlds best trained athletes.

Sorry, but the only thing more boring is watching golf!

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Sorry, but the only thing more boring is watching golf!

I like golf!

It is absolutely the best game to make your fellow players mad!

This is excellent if you haven't seen it.

https://www.netflix.com/watch/...05?trackId=255824129

Talking of cycling accidents, I am amazed they’re not more.

I see clumps of people of several dozen cyclists so close together if one fall all of them do.

I have on occasions picked injured cyclists.

Some have their bikes totally destroyed!

Had a friend from AR visiting Dubai, took him to the desert, wind was blowing so hard.

Met a cyclist who was so dehydrated we gave him all the drinks we had!

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:
This is excellent if you haven't seen it.

https://www.netflix.com/watch/...05?trackId=255824129

Agreed, great series.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Sorry, but the only thing more boring is watching golf!

I would say cricket. But I think any sport can be exciting, as long as you know that sport well enough.

Quite so, Bush Peter! My American grandson seems to find American football exciting but he, poor lad, has had insuffient exposure to Rugby. When you have seen the NZ All Blacks captain go to the sideline to have his scrotum sewn back on then go back and play the rest of the game you know which is the game for men!
The poor boy even enjoys baseball when the rest of the world knows the obvious superiority of cricket. On the other hand I am presently in the South of France where cycling is a religion. The way they ride on the road makes you doubt their chances of dying in bed. Each to his own!

Those who snigger at golf do not know the game!

It is absolutely the very best game to play tricks on your fellow players.

I took up golf, was totally useless at it, but enjoyed playing it.

I devised a system, very simple.

No practice swing.

Each swing counts.

Putting with one hand.

You play the ball where it lies, even in water.

We became so popular, we had an entourage following us!

Some nitwits complained to the management of the club.

He told them we are the fastest team, and we pay our dues!

Some members got into the spoof things.

And brought diving goggles and flippers.

They wire those when hitting a ball from the water!

And the few times I took a mounted croc and left it in the reeds by the water.

When some Japanese players came up on it!

Sadly, that was before we all had cameras!

Then the club managers calls in the evening, asking if I was at the club, because someone reported seeing a croc!

I'll agree that cycling isn't the right sport for everyone.

I've been at it for probably nearly 40 years.

It keeps me very healthy, mentally sharp and focused. When I have an upcoming event, I am driven to succeed to the best of my ability.

Yea, we wear stuff that begs for easy criticism. But so do guys going on Safari. We dress up like Stewart Grainger in some old hunting movie.

If you think the Stewart Grainger look is a bit silly you should try the outfit we wear to shoot grouse in Scotland!

It always amazes me when I see some of those going on safari at airports!

First thought comes to mind is “wannabe nitwits!”

Second thought is “stupid idiots!”

quote:

Originally posted by the Pom:
If you think the Stewart Grainger look is a bit silly you should try the outfit we wear to shoot grouse in Scotland!

Kilts and a bagpipe shaped shotgun?

Flat cap. Tweed jacket. Tie with suitable sporting pattern. Plus 4s or, as is becoming fashionable, Plus 8s, usually known as Breeks. (These are knee-length tweed pants). Shooting stockings, knee length, brightly coloured, tied up with woolen gaiters with fluffy bits that hang down the side of your leg. (Specially designed to catch on every bit of rough vegetation). Boots, unless you are truly fashionable, in which case, leather brogue, shooting shoes, preferably very old.
Shotgun should be an English or Scotish, hand made, side by side sidelock, suitably engraved. Over and unders are a sure sign of someone who learned to shoot on clays rather than rabbits. Looked down on by traditionalists mainly because their owners are usually better shots!
On most formal pheasant or grouse shoots everybody will be wearing this uniform. Even the visiting Americans!

Yes.

And 2 inch shells, hardly more power than a current 410!

Never seen anyone using 2 inch. Mainly 2 1/2. My guns rebarrelled to 2 3/4. King Charles seems to do alright using a .410 on driven pheasants. Who needs power if you point the spout in the right general direction? In a recent survey only 4% of British shooting men considered themselves to be a below average shot!
Personally, I can usually hit a barn if I'm standing inside it. 50 years ago I could shoot birds with some style but, as with several other things, I ain't what I was!

quote:

Originally posted by the Pom:
Never seen anyone using 2 inch. Mainly 2 1/2. My guns rebarrelled to 2 3/4. King Charles seems to do alright using a .410 on driven pheasants. Who needs power if you point the spout in the right general direction? In a recent survey only 4% of British shooting men considered themselves to be a below average shot!
Personally, I can usually hit a barn if I'm standing inside it. 50 years ago I could shoot birds with some style but, as with several other things, I ain't what I was!

I don’t want to brag, this is what happened.

About 40 years ago, went to a big shoot, I think in Peterborough.

With my girl friends father, who loved shooting.

They had a down the line shoot.

For our American friends, it is like normal trap, but one is allowed two shots.

I can’t remember the scoring but one got maximum points for breaking the target with the first shot, and still gets a point if he breaks it with the second shot.

My friend had a Beretta shotgun with an open choke.

When we got there, the England Shooting Team was there too.

And sadly, they were the exact opposite to the American shooters I was used to.

These all had their England shirts on, and were standing separately from every one else.

My friend, like everyone else, were not too impressed with them.

He said “I hope you beat these snobbish idiots”

I told him I could, if I have the right shotgun.

Behind the counter were several shotguns.

I pointed out one for him.

It turned out it belonged to the girl behind the counter.

He asked her if I could borrow it, and told her the point is to beat those guys.

She was very happy, and said it would make her day.

We all shot.

I won!

Got some funny looks from those guys, especially as I kept saying this was much easier than American 16 yard trap.

I shot trap in America 2 years.

My average was 99.0 and 99.5.

I set some records which I am told some still stand.