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2k's for the anagram?

Brilliant, AB - I can forgive myself for not getting those. "Staddle" rings a very faint bell, but "strike the beam" is completely off my compass.

Hi Andyc, RE post 31, the anagram seems to work OK .
ST rike the b EAM . with "the biker" in the middle.

i had 'strike the beam' but wasn't wholly convinced it could mean 'to be of little importance' even after seeing that link.
doubtful that i would ever have got staddle.
well done AB and thanks again Jolan.

Sorry AB I missed the point altogether, I've been working on 5 letters all afternoon....but was nowhere near anyway. Nicely done and thanks for the explanation.

I didn't know the expression. I actually thought of strike, but it's got six letters!

I had assumed that "the" was the middle word, with the letters of biker scrambled around it, and that all of that was surrounded by a four-letter word for mist. I tried every one I could think of, and not surprisingly steam wasn't one of them. :)

I did, however, wonder if there was an expression "smoke the brig".

Oh dearie me! I hang my head in great shame. Of course it should have been (6,3,4). Before posting, I take huge care to check my clues and the letter count. I remember counting "strike the beam" SEVERAL TIMERS using my fingers. I seemed to get STRIKE = 5 letters every time (must check my number of fingers). Again, a thousand apologies.

Well done Chrise. And thanks Trevor and RE for being so lenient with me. Sorry if I've missed anyone. I still can't believe I kept getting 5 letters for strike.

1. (cryptic) FAR FROM IT = on the contrary (Chambers)

2. one of exaltation = lark; to incite = spur; central dissent = s; LARKSPURS = plants

3. beautiful women (to) let = belles + let; very (French) = tres; BELLES-LETTRES = elegant literature (Chambers def)

4. lumber = saddle (Chambers & Oxford Thes’i); last rainforest = t; yielding s(t)addle = STADDLE = a small tree left unfelled (Chambers def)

5. mist = steam; anag (turned out) of “the biker” = riketheb; ‘enveloping’ = st(riketheb)eam = STRIKE THE BEAM = to be of little importance (Chambers def).

Here is the actual Chambers entry:-

kick the beam or strike the beam to be of little weight or importance (from the lighter scale in a balance rising so as to strike against the beam).

What's the expression? Jove nods? Something like that. I know I wouldn't have got it with 5 or 6 letters - AB deserves the credit!
Thanks again, jolan - look forward to next week.