hope everyone is keeping well.

look after yourselves.

Great thanks big fella.

Apart from broken hand

Best wishes reciprocated.

And to you Ton.

Cheers. I’m in my local so not too bad.

Cheers. Atcha

Hope you’re good, big fella.

Really feeling it this last week in the knowledge that we’re going to be in full lockdown again next week. Not that we’ve ever really been out of lockdown.

We’ve a government of clueless ****wits who couldn’t care less about anything outside the M25

It’s going to be a long, Long dark winter

Good to hear from you Ton, was wondering where you’d go to just the other day.

Honestly, struggling. But this too will pass.

Sorry if I’m being unusually grumpy (as opposed to my usual default grumpiness).

Also struggling, but hopefully I’ll get some closure on Friday.

Meh

Or beige if your a more visual kinda guy

Be fine at some point I’m sure

At this moment , life is pretty sweet.
Spreading my happy vibe to everyone who needs it.

Up sand down for me. Every time I want to go up north we get locked down! ( sorry chaps) and the lack of nights away in the mountains is getting to me.

However apart from that life is good

Manflu:-(

Mrs_D has Womanflu, she’s about 3 days behind me and it’s (approx) 10x worse than mine…

Aside from that I’m getting toward the end of the year & loads of holiday left over, really wanted to go somewhere but wary of government changing the rules while I’m away. Probably going to end up finishing for Xmas around the second weekend of December.

How are you Ton? Doing well I hope

Stuck at work, then couple of weeks at home before deploying for 6 months. Brain currently in pre-deployment denial but not looking forward to being away from the family.
Still, I have my health and am lucky enough to have cycling in my life so shouldn’t grumble (plus just booked the Malverns 2021 so that’ll be a giggle hopefully)..

Time rich, money poor.

Time poor, money poor.

It’s going to be a long, Long dark winter

I fear this will be the case for many of us.

Unsettled would likely be the best description. Work in Aerospace, so it’s a bit…well, unsettled. It’s somewhat annoying that a single aspect of my life can upset the balance of the rest so much, but I guess it’s a big part.

Need to find some time to MTB rather than just roady-up all the time.

Just designed and am about to 3D print a topology optimised, titanium stem cap which should be nice.

All the best to you all.

M

Thanks for asking.

I had an upsetting experience on Friday. I was in our small local indi health food shop. The shop has a 2m distance, masking wearing, sanitise before entering (they have a dispensing machine) and a one way system. A chap walks in without checking there are already 2 customers, grabs a couple of things, pushes past me without following the arrows and stand right next to me into my face. The owner asks him to step back 2 metres.
After leaving the shop I cross the road head down a side street. Next moment there is a short wheelbase white van crawling along side me. He winds down his window and shouts – “you stupid woman”. This was at me. I ask him “what did you just say”, he replies “you stupid woman, I haven’t got the plague you know”. This van driver turns out to be the man in the shop. He’s obviously watched where I walked and followed me in his van. Luckily our local postman was there and witnessed this. Postman was as shocked as I was.
Please be kind everyone. We’re all stressed and times are so hard for a lot of people. Kindness costs nothing.

Sorry for mini rant.
Apart from my best friend going through hell (she works for the nhs and has the most miserable home life situation and is broke) we’re fine. I’m doing me best to help her, but we’re in our 3rd lock down and its hard.

How are you Ton?

That’s horrible, Bunnyhop – exactly the sort of person you’d want to avoid, even without a pandemic.

I thought of you and Mrs T last week, Ton, while riding the Eastern Moors route. That was a good ride!

Unsettled would likely be the best description

Here too. That weird low-level of dread is hard to shake. Time to ride.

Hope you’re well, Ton, keep safe.

(Bunnyhop, hope you got the reg, although it’s understandable if you didn’t. What an arsehole)

Time rich, money poor, energy poor and seemingly deteriorating.

Hope you are doing better than I!

I haven’t got the plague you know

Should have told him that’s fine but you have it and were trying to protect him.
Asshole. I had similar with a customer at work. He soon made a hasty retreat when I told him how high the covid figures where in my local area.

Good to see you posting again Ton. Hope you’re good.

I’m not great myself.
Been off the bike for 14 weeks and had my collarbone pinned back together 3 weeks ago.
Still hurts like **** and can’t see me being back on a bike again this year.
On the plus side we’re moving up to Scotland before the year is out to be near to better riding.

Unsettled sums things up ‘nicely’ too. Still under consultation at work, due to find out our fate end November. Generally not keen on winter in the NE Scotland mainly just the darkness do have the SAD lamp out already. Finally health ok, still in remission from the lymphoma and subsequent treatment (3 years now). Feeling a bit tired and am slightly anemic but still rolling. Take care all.

Life should be good but Covid has shagged my business and really I’m two bad months away from being broke. Some days it’s only going for a ride in the sun thats stops the dark thoughts coming back.

Complicated…
We were in Northern Ireland visiting my wife’s terminally ill sister and family at the end of August when my 2 year old daughter was diagnosed with Leukaemia.
2 months later we’re still in Northern Ireland. Wife’s sister has passed away leaving a 3 year old daughter. Our daughter has had 2 months of chemotherapy and is doing alright. Wife’s mum had a mini-stroke last week and is now in hospital.
On the plus side it looks like our insurance company are going to fly us back home to France on Tuesday! Looking forward to getting home after a rather difficult time.

Hope all is well with you Ton.

I was going to have a moan but reading new retro Tom’s post my problems are insignificant.
Best wishes to you and your family Tom.

Good to see your post, Ton, I thought you were gone for good…
Healing vibes to all those struggling.

RetroTom, I think you’ve put things in perspective for a lot of people Here’s wishing you and your loved ones the very best.

Can’t shake off a lethargic feeling I’ve had all year, punctuated by bouts of what I can only describe as a kind of bloatedness. Feeling very slow on the bike. Picked up a shoulder injury that’s sticking around longer than I’d hoped. Riding mates seem much quicker at the moment, despite me being on track for an all-time best year for climbing height. But I’m thankful my wife and I still have our jobs and prosperity. Hope 2021 goes better for all.

That weird low-level of dread is hard to shake

That’s a great description. Trying to keep positive. A lot of folk have it far worse than me at the moment

Not doing too good if I’m honest. Certain things which are pretty traumatic (outside of covid) still ongoing and can’t get anyone to help sort it out. Equally fed up of people saying they are going to do things or help and nothing happening. This mainly applying to professionals not friends.

Posted this on my Facebook yesterday 😔

Hope everyone else is doing OK through their troubles and difficulties.

I’m sat here having been made redundant and ended up with a complex ankle break! No idea what the **** I’ll do next! What a very very funny year.

Learn to use crutches i expect

Me, im ok in the grand scheme of things being rubbish on bikes gets me down. I was never great but now im shocking.
Had a row at work and got called an InCel looser which affected me more than it should.
Not looking forward to jan through april in the uk
Hey ho

Doing badly here. Stuck in a mice-infested bungalow in a village in Scotland while waiting for the builder to finish our house. Lots of worries about the scale and cost of the project, hostile NIMBY locals etc. etc. so I’m having what used to be called a nervous breakdown. Very good Scottish GP has tried me on two tranquillisers, both of which were horrible. Have now had my first night of sleep in many months thanks to Mirtazapine, which after four doses seems to be having an effect in lifting me out of the black despair. Mrs GTi is doing better then me but had a serious wobble last week over some remarks by a NIMBY. She’s the one keeping the partnership on the go, dealing with builder and others while I hover uselessly, incapable of discussing much or making a decision. If she gets sick we are goosed because only she knows how to move the money around using her iPad. It really is a shit time for everybody, I can’t think of a worse time to have retired, sold up, moved into temporary and built a house.

Mind you my former colleagues are also having a bad time, working from home, not allowed to travel and now there’s been CV in one of the factories and the QC lab, both of which have closed so they can’t ship anything. Up to now the company was doing well, I’m told. It must be because I left.

My former colleague in Nigeria is stuck in Lagos, desperate for a holiday in UK but unable to come because they would have to isolate for two weeks on arrival

Meanwhile in Salisbury, Wilts my sister and BIL are enjoying healthy and active retirements with lots of socialising and meals out, coffee club, wine club, part-time jobs, community work. They live in a safe comfortable middle class area and don’t seem to be bothered by CV.

It really is a shit time for everybody. Well, almost everybody.

Slowly improving after a crap few months. Anxiety and what seems to be an underlying cancer paranoia all went mental and really stuffed me up for a little while (other things going on too that contributed). Thankfully docs were good and put blood tests in to see what was going on and all is fine.
Went for a nice cold water swim so all good so far today, but as with everything it’s up and down.

Thoughts to you newretrotom.

But in response to another poster. I get the ‘puts it into perspective’ argument but mental pain is like physical pain, everyone has different thresholds, and telling someone their broken leg doesn’t hurt as much as someone else’s heart attack doesn’t make it hurt less. It makes it worse because they now feel bad for not being able to suck it up.

I know no ill will is meant but at this time and on MH weekend everyone’s struggles are as real and hard to them as anyone else’s. It’s not a competition.</span>

Me? Good days and bad. I posted on here about my son’s problems a few weeks back and I’m not wired very well to deal with them. When he has a good day, it’s fantastic; equally all being in the house together if he’s in a hole very soon we’re all in the same one. Meaning no malice, he can suck the fun out of being married, being a dad, even out of life itself. I wish I was better but I’m not which is why the ‘perspective’ scenario makes me bite a bit.

That low-level dread is called depression. I wake up every morning filled with dread. See your GP before it gets worse.

Good regular food is important in preventing mood swings and depression. Don’t make our mistake of living off supermarket meals, they are not nutritious. I’ve lost 8 kgs by making that mistake.

Like many others, mildly struggling, feeling guilty about it because many people (good thoughts to you retrotom) have much bigger problems to deal with.

The only thing keeping me even close to balanced is getting into the outdoors regularly. Really worried that the winter will discourage me from getting this release.

Just want this gone as soon as possible and getting unreasonably angry at people “disobeying the rules”. The sheer arrogance of so many people who “know better” that the authorities and reckon the two household rule doesn’t apply if they are cycling or walking. Selfish selfish selfish

Oops, sorry about that. Got carried away.

Stay safe, try to keep level and let’s all get out of this as soon as we can.