Excellent. Had never heard of Sisters Brothers as it is a present from MrsB. Will look forward to it.

Just bought Train Dreams for my kindle. Just finished the short:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thousand-Miles-Freight-Train-ebook/dp/B00AXPRA8M/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359745449&sr=1-1

which was excellent. It is about a young woman travelling around America by jumping on freight trains. Well written.

A recent novel I read was Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner about ‘progress’ in Alaska. An excellent read.

Next up ‘The Sisters Brothers’ by Patrick Dewitt

Think he is still the national record holder for that ski jumping lark.

Got a Panasonic a few months back based on good reviews. MrsB bought me a top of the range one for ~£150 and it is excellent. Not bought a loaf of bread since.

Was meaning to make my own bread but never got round to it, so this has been helpful. Use strong flour though.

Well done Tim. Keep at it, it gets easier. And you have some nice paths near you, bit of an uphill finish though….

Trek 820 from about 91/92. Cost £300 I think.

I drove a big van last year with a trailer on the back – 14 seater with 9 guys and bikes for half of it. (I was driving LEJOG) Having never towed a trailer before I found reversing really difficult with a trailer and never really got the hang of it over the week so a bit put off caravans.

We went to a showroom at the weekend to take a look and saw a couple of T5’s that were 3 or 4 years old with 74-80,000 on the clock which seems quite high. Prices were £24k & £28k which is above our budget anyway.

Going to be difficult to choose between a camper and motorhome for all the reasons eloquently put in the above comments. Toilet would be nice for No 1’s over night.

I am reading more with mine. As said above it is portable and I keep it in my manbag courier bag so have it with me when I go out.

Was at SSUK a few years ago and rode part of the way there and then back to Brussels. Weather perfect.
In 2009 did the Flanders sportive/race weekend. Weather perfect.
Last summer travelled through Belgium as well as France, Luxembourg and Germany in a week. A bit to warm for my liking!

Great place to ride and loads of nice little towns, though would avoid Charlroi. We camped rough all week.

And as oldgit says the cobbles are tough. Only thing worse than climbing them is descending on them! Have fun.

Not really noticed drivers going any slower. I still seem to be the slowest on the road in among the lorries with most cars travelling above national speed limits screaming past.
And in the city it is all hard right foot/hard left foot. Is fuel still to cheap?

But for the Victorians most stuff was made oop North and needed transporting to London and I suppose Bristol (2nd biggest city back then iirc). Nowadays with limited UK manufacturing less of an issue.

There will be more jobs meaning less people on the dole but benefit will not be in my lifetime. Will be happy to see it finished tbh. I spent 34 years on the railway before retiring so maybe a bit biased to a decent rail network.

And why are questions purely related to sport of cycling? Only ~30% of dopers were cyclists. What about all the footballers, tennissers etc?

My Berlingo only gets 40mph amd I drive that with care on the fuel front so thought salesman’s mpg estimates on generous side. Figures suggested above a bit closer to what I would have expected.

Probably will keep any purchase awhile, only had 2 vehicles in last 20 years!

We are in our mid 50’s now and thinking of camping a bit less as we get older, we also have more time being retired. We did hire a VW Westphalia for SSWC 2007 in California and that was a positive experience. Even that was for us to see what we thought of the idea.
It is all the compromise stuff about only vehicle/narrow roads/ height restrictions/space inside/toilet (for occasional use) that we need to get out heads around. Thanks for responses.

Thanks. It would only be for me and Mrs B (who doesn’t drive anyway) and we are both retired so no commuting or pesky kids to worry about. The go anywhere VW -v- looking out for height restrictions in a motorhome is on our mind. Good that insurance is not to bad.

My current Berlingo has done 42,800 miles in over 9 years from new so I don’t drive loads anyway. Usually have a bike with me when I do!

Just sending some cash Luke. Pension in my account today so now have some funds. So sorry to hear about this, don’t know right words.

Go and race.

7dayshop but try the Sanyo black eneloops. Been impressed with them.

Got some tyres this week in less than 48 hours. SO happy with that – especially at the price.

Brought this sort of thing in where I used to work. Idea was 5% of your staff were the worst performing and would be managed out or no payrise, maybe leave. Following year another 5% and the year after another 5%.
Around about that time stopped annual payrise for everyone and then I got made redundant. Was not a happy place. Expect for the senior management perhaps.

Thought Millets had gone already, it has in Derby I heard. And the Co-Op dept store just up the road (opposite HMV) is closing soon.

Used to be lots of little shops then big chains took over and could sell more stuff cheaper. People migrated to these stores.

Now internet is cheaper and people have moved on again. Small shops can’t compete with internet or afford rents in city centres. Already going to pound/charity/coffee shops.

10-15 years ago very few coffee shops in city now 2 Costa’s, 2 Starbucks, a Nero plus loads of smaller ones including a Cafe Kona!

As per flatfishy’s link 4 of us did it last year and already got one in for 2013. Running total is actually 14.

Go for it. Does not have to be some 150 miles each day epic. Go after work on a Friday and be home for lunchtime on Saturday if it suits. Go somewhere different.

Dick – not sure I want to sell it straight away. I do need to contact the seller this week (waiting for another unit to arrive, as I say long story) and check with them. I have mentioned it to them before though.

I have re-checked the price and can see £125 + postage:

http://www.adventuretradingpost.co.uk/

So was thinking of £80 to include postage, case, and pack of 3 lithium batteries. Note that in the pic in the advert where it is orange this unit is grey. It was posted to the UK in February 2012. Of the £80 £75 would go to the charity with difference being postage. I sent one out last week and was charged £6.35 as per the post. If you want a pic then email is in profile.

Assuming no one tells me I am doing anything wrong of course. So it could be available next week or week after.

Leroy Rosenior had 10 minutes in charge as football manager at Torquay before being sacked.

I managed 34 years with the railways.

I managed to retire at 51 on approximately half pay. I started paying into a final salary pension at 17 and when AVC’s were introduced when in late 20’s I started these as well. Each £1 was matched and I got 20% tax relief on it. I also bought a second house with Mrs B when I was 40 which I got paid off when I was 50.

My best advice is:
* Its all about risk. How much do you want to take.
* Don’t put all your eggs in one basket (I lost some money this way)
* If your pension includes contributed by your employer tahn this is good.
* Look at charges. A cash ISA is not necessarily great onterest but it is 100% safe (if less than £85k in one bank)and there are no charges. Look at effect of charges on other products.
* Look at a share ISA with someone like BestInvest where charges are lower. Where will growth be over next 20-30 years. India? Maybe South America. Get your ISA invested there. I heard China would be the next big thing some years ago and invested there for a few years. I was getting 25 to 32% annual returns for a few years.
On the last one I had a final salary pension, AVC’s, property and cash savings, the share ISA was a small risk.
* You can invest in wine, art etc if you know something about it learn about it or get good advice. Not for me though.

Used these in 2005 to ride in The Alps. They took our stuff ahead, often met us in the middle of the day.

New owners since 2010 so may be a few changes since I went:

Bike Adventures[/url]

Borgen / Bridge / The Killing / Wallander are all excellent but I bet they get their own Big Brother rubbish etc as well.

What always throws me is when an occasional bit of British dialogue comes up. I am still looking for the sub-titles and wondering why they have disappeared!

£50/mth dual-fuel for 50 year old 3 bed detached here. LED GU10 bulbs, cavity wall insulation installed. Roof insulation is not enough but that is being sorted in next couple of weeks.

Did that Stanbury race 20+ years ago – used to get an out-of-date malt-loaf at the end in the pub. Happy days.

Did a pb in the brass monkeys 26 years ago, 82.07 for 65th position. Won in 68.07. (Stumbled across the result recently)

As said above most costs already incurred and they do event for profit. Assuming course is similar it is down some smaller roads. Anything saved could go to charity. but probably not a lot.

Don’t know anything about this story other than above. But in my experience when I do know something about something in the media from personal experience then it is usually substantially twisted or plain wrong.
So when I read anything in the papers I am inclined to disbelieve.

Post hack of course. Cant remember Go-Far / pre-hack days.

Retired at 51, now 54.

Wasn’t particularly bright at school but left with some ‘O’ levels and CSE’s and joined the British Railways HQ Finance team. Liked running / orienteering and didn’t want a job where I would have to work weekends!

Didn’t try hard enough at ICMA (now CIMA) accountancy quals (preferred running) and only passed first 3 years but eventually got AAT qualification. Moved around a bit Derby/Nottingham/London/York/Newcastle and managed to survive privatisation and interminable re-organisations. Was going to retire after 34 years in early 2010 but before I could get my letter in they made me redundant. Massive result as I have final salary pension and managed to buy a buy-to-let property some years ago. Not rich,but I don’t have to work.

Quite a bit of Naim on this thread.

Linn LP12 / Ittok / DV 20X, Naim 72/140/Hi-cap, ‘Avondale’ Arcam Alpha 5 cdp, Denon TU260L tuner and Naim Credo speakers.

Mana Acoustics stands on left for main sources, Isoblue for amps.

Rachel – I had some Kan’s for years (with a Nait 2), excellent speakers.

[/url] P1201181[/url] by blackhound59[/url], on Flickr]Hi-Fi[/url]

parkesie – must have been a bank holiday when you went. Saw no one. One of the nice things about the route is it’s quietness.

Mr pedalhead’s sub 12 hour was indeed excellent. Don’t think it has stopped raining since;-)

We stayed in a pub which had a local (non pub) car-park next door and was told that would be safe. Car was still there next evening when we got back.

I have also heard that Machynleth rail station is a safe place to leave it. Park there, get train back to Newtown, ride to Knighton and tghen follow TCW.

TCW[/url]

[/url] IMG_0553[/url] by blackhound59[/url], on Flickr]Floyd[/url]

I like the black eneloops, think there is a white eneloop or something. Certainly seem to last quite well in my Garmin Dakota

Funnily enough I have a very similar situation to the OP. My garage (not attached to the house) sits lower than the neighbours garden and after rain water seeps below the work bench at the end. Only a little, not as bad as the OP. My roof is alu or steel sheeting but again I get condensation on the ceiling that then drops onto the stuff in the garage.

Garage is constructed of 40 year old concrete ‘sheets’. Also looking for a solution.

Unsure weather to knock down and start again or what. Following thread with interest.

Sardines on toast according to Graeme Obree.

trail-rat – free only if on benefits or over 65 iirc

I would contact the landlord and look at doing a deal. For the landlord he has an agreed rent, why should he/she pay out £100+ for no benefit? The landlord may be prepared to go 50/50 to get an improved property and the tenant saves on energy bills. I would agree to this (I am a landlord).

If the tenancy is recent, then the landlord would have had to get a cert of the insulation etc. That would have told both parties what the situation was with the environmental impact of the property. The tenant would have had the info even if they didn’t read it.

Similar to Mr Woppit I went down the separate spur and olde style round sockets and plugs. Sounds nice, (Standard Naim cables and amps here).