As DJ15 says if we have full employment whenever a job does come up then people can ask for enormous pay rises to move. And then offered even more by current employer to stay leading to inflation.

I have some vague recollection from Economics 35 years ago that 5% unemployment would be about right for the economy as a whole. Not so good for the 5% though…

RR is full of cyclists, quite a few with Derby Mercury. As said above riding from the city is disappointing a few little bits of paths and things. Few tracks over to North East of city are Ok and you can ride mostly off road to Nottingham for soemeasy miles. Ticknall / Robin Wood is maybe 45 min ride from city centre but is a mess in winter.
Cannock is 35 minutes away but I can get to Church Stretton almost as quick as Edale sometimes!

I like Derby, fairly average city. Know where near as rough as other places. Easy to get about with motorways or by train. Music is not so hot though but if only here for 6 months not an issue. Not to expensive. Has a lot going for it really.

Ride from John Thompson Pun, Ingleby every Monday night.

I lived in 5 lamps area for 20 years and it was 5 mins walk to city centre or 1 minute onto park and straight onto cycle paths to get you across town to work.

ton – last year at Mach n Back I slept on top of a tarp (maybe near slugwash) in my Alpkit Pipedream 800 bag. Plenty warm enough despite being near freezing.

Best tips is having dry socks for the camp wear a beanie to keep head warm. I like the Ibex merino beanie which is really tiny:

Ibex

For history I would suggest Graham Fife’s Tour de France: the history, the legend,the riders, I have an earlier version.

Hi Tim, Used to run a lot until 20 years ago. Tried the couch to 5k thing a couple of times recently and got injured fairly early on even with ASICs or Nike shoes. Now trying to walk more.

Get some decent shoes and give the C-2-5k thing a try, if it is to easy just skip a week – it gives sone structure if nothing else. Crich Chase or Shining Cliff are excellent places to run, try to keep off road if you can, much easier on those ageing legs;-)

Dovedale Dash next year?

I still have a large vinyl collection and still enjoy listening to it. Not sure I agree with spending thousands for it to sound nice though. If you have a half decent amplifier and speakers and then add a record player or CD of a similar price point the record player will sound nicer than cd. (20+ years ago one journo wrote that if everybody had a Rega record deck CD players would not have taken off. Rega’s being better & cheaper at the time.

I have upgraded a bit over the years, second hand Naim pre-power amps, PSU & speakers and it does sound nice. I do put my mp3 player through the system occasionally and the sound is so disappointing in comparison, if convenient.

As much as I love my vinyl I don’t think I would really recommend anybody young buying into vinyl due to the storage space and difficulty getting it. Not sure how much a second hand Linn LP12, Naim Nait 2 and Linn Kan II’s would cost, say £1,000(?) but it would still sound great.

Where I went to vote in mid afternoon there were two tables you could choose from. One table had just 15 people all day, reckoned that would be about 60 for the full shift!

Camping is easy and just turning up I can only ever remember being turned down once. And got in just down the road.

I once spent a day in a tent avoiding raid, that was in Oregon when I coudn’nt be arsed. Great weather other than that.

Enjoy it.

As others have said you need to have a talk amongst yourselves about what you want.

I have heard of people who:
– Rent out house here and then work for guiding / holiday companies abroad.
– Rent out your expensive UK house and rent somewhere cheap such as Asia or South America. Live cheaply on the difference.

Takes some guts to chuck in a good job, pension or whatever. Not sure I could have done it after daughter was born.

Will be on at 19.45 according to Twitter.

I trust Twitter over you;-)

Was in London Town with Mrs B at the weekend and I mentioned how much less Christmassy stuff was about in John Lewis, Selfridges, Debenhams & BHS. Was pondering on if there was a change in the air.
Would like even less though….

Yes, suitable for trailers. Pretty tame really for riding gods like us from this forum;-) Ideal for kids or beginners and a nice cafe. I occasionally ride out there, do a lap and ride home. Enjoy.

trail_rat – this looks like the one we used, website changed since 2008! We got a flight into SF and caught a train down to Redwood which all worked well.

http://www.californiacampers.com

Mrs B and I managed to rent a VW campervan for SSWC08 and driving round Napa, Yosemite, Carmel etc. Worked for us but your teenagers would need a tent really. Price-wise it worked out OK although as pointed out above proper motor-homes can be a bit pricy. Even more so during school holidays if that is when you are going.
TBH you would be better off going on your own and taking your bike in September. Cheaper and as much riding as you want;-)

Like zippykona and am interested on running costs. Comparison to an electric fire or gch.

Seems you can get 10% of Apple / Kindle’s which is not possible elsewhere.

Nessie

Viewpoint of a clean rider:

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Whistler+cyclist+Will+Routley+says+competitors+used+PEDs+aren+just/7502237/story.html

It also appears Mexico is now part of the Commonwealth. You learn something new everyday! (see note at bottom of article)

Pie in Pie Town! This was peach pie after my eggs, hashbrowns and toast:

[/url]
101_0164[/url] by blackhound59[/url], on Flickr

Enjoy it Monksie, some lovely places on the route. From what you have previously done you should be fine. Brush Mountain Lodge is worth a stop as is Como Depot (South side of Boreas Pass) owned by an Englishman called Dave.

Download ‘Be Brave, Be Strong’ by Jill Homer and/or view her blog. Preferred it to Paul Howards book personally.

If its your first enjoy it. Times do seem to have got slower over the years for all but the elite. 20+ years ago I ran ~85 loads of time with a pb of 82.09 and I used to finish way off the pace. It is a much more respectable time these days.

Secret Race is good, as is the boo on Bobet by his brother mentioned bove.

William Fotheringham’s Fausto Coppi biik is another recommendation.

Orienteering, fell running, road & cross country. 35 years ago I was Irish junior champ at Orienteering, can see the trophy from here!

Does she like wine? Does she like handbags?

http://www.cellarviewines.com/wine/media_item.html?cr_i=35433

As djg says, use Tektro or Shimano. I selected Tektro as I didn’t want to mix Campag & Shimano;-)

In Euro touring mode but just take off bags for winter riding:

[/url]
P8181021[/url] by blackhound59[/url], on Flickr

Perhaps JB did it from behind a grassy knoll.

And of course Barry won his 2003 tt world championships only after Millar was found to be on the juice.

Heard earlier on R5 that only Fernando Escartin was the only rider on a podium in Paris with LA that was never implicated in doping. He rode for Kelme…..

So if one wanted a winter project of a guitar for acoustic material what would you recommend? Been thinking of this for a while. [Sorry to OP for hijack] It will be for my own amusement, not likely to inflict on anybody.

Oh, and what is the modern equivalent of Bert Weedon’s Play-In-A-Day which I recall from 40 years ago?

I have had problems with my recent purchase. Hope clamp on a Easton Haven post (ali frame). ALl new & clean and I keep tightrning more & more. Is 4nm sufficient?

If I understand Michael Barry’s confession correctly he was doped when he won the 2003 (also 04/05) World TT title when David Millar was banned for the same thing!

Interestingly both Barry & Hincapie claim they have been clean since 2006 which was when LA retired for the first time.

dawson – I have never smoked so assume poor circulation. Often take them off in the middle of the night once warm though.

Yes. I read some years ago that if your feet are cold it is detrimental to getting to sleep so I wear mine when temps dip. I do suffer with cold hands / feet on the bike in winter so maybe mild circulation issues.

If it helps you get a comfortable nights kip go for it.

If MrsB is visiting I am usually warm enough, usually when sleeping alone, which is most of the time, I wear the socks.

I rate these which I put a couple of thousand miles on last summer for £90:

Dicolor

No bottom issues in these or the Attaque from higher up the range in 4,000 miles in 2 months.

Maybe add knee/leg warmers from the same source for winter?

Not tried the Craft shorts but used other stuff from the range and it has all been excellent.

Not certain about this but I *think* it is because the NHS will pay for it in its own good time which is 1+ years away. Simon wants it now for both pain relief & to get to prepare for Rio.

35 minute interview with Greg Lemond on attached link

Lemond interview[/url]

I used to work in the rail industry both pre & post privatisation. I was not involved in franchising though a former boss went to work in this area.

I know a part of the job was to challenge the assumptions of the potential franchisee’s so a little surprised this has happened. Process could have changed though.

I did wonder initially if Branson’s challenge was a bit of sour grapes – don’t know the numbers myself – but seems the bearded one is correct.

Privatise it all again and recruit me as a vastly overpaid consultant is what I say.

[/url] DSC_8887[/url] by SherriffPhotography[/url], on Flickr]Greek lady[/url]

Forme Plateau is what I am using, nicer than the Ribble.

So, anybody apologised to Greg Lemond then?

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