Gorgeous day and great ride on the gravel bike yesterday.

4lb off which is a nice start. Often the way with me in the first week. Need to keep going steady now.

I’ve been running 2.6 x 29 mezcals on my big dog. On the weight, it feels heavy to lift but rides quite light.

In also. Gradually put on 10kg over the last couple of years. Need to sort it out.

My wife picked up Kids Against Maturity as a family Christmas pressie. Basically a toned down version of Cards against humanity. Played it on Christmas day. I didnt think it was going to be any good but it surprised me. We had 3 kids aged 9,10 and 11 and 4 adults playing. Lots of belly laughing at some of the answers. Edgy enough for the adults to find funny but not too dodgy for the kids. It won’t have much longevity so probably not great value for money but good fun in the short term.

We recently bought a half price Emma from Lidl which was a bit of an impulse punt. It lasted a few days before it went back (which was interesting process once it was no longer rolled and vacuum packed!).

I actually found it very comfortable in itself. The issue came when sleeping along side my wife. It didnt support us independently like a pocket sprung, and with me being heavier, my wife felt like she was rolling into me. So, if you’re going to be sharing the bed with someone not of a similar weight, then i’d be very cautious.

Its actually both as it crosses and forms part of the county boundary. The north and west side is in P&K, the south east is in Fife

We had the same in our old house with external twin wall flue. Often needed something that burnt quick and hot to get the draw. I started saving all the bog roll tubes and used those.

Great news, he looks a lot better 👍

On its way as soon as I can get to the post office

Donation made. We’re in the middle of a bonkers week moving house but will try and get my girls to make a card and send it off. Best if luck to them.

Mushrooms have no place in CCC. No peppers?

They do in mine! Use less meat but still ‘meaty’.

Yes, forgot peppers. I like those long sweet peppers rather than bell.

My recipe:

Fry off mince, finely chopped onion and garlic. Then they key ingredient – some chopped chorizo. Add some chopped mushrooms. Add in a tin of chopped tomatoes and tin of kidney beans in chilli sauce (much better base sauce if chilli sauce version used). Add some extra ‘lazy garlic’ and ‘lazy chilli’ to taste. I like the slight acidity that these add. Add a bit of cumin and smoked paprika to add some smokiness and depth. Season with plenty of salt and black pepper. Then leave it cooking on low heat for a while to concentrate the flavours.

Absolute shameless bastards

Surely it’s hardest gear and powering. 100+ RPM, whatever you can manage.

On Zwift, in my experience, often the pack I’m in REALLY eases off for a bit around 1k out as everyone catches their breath and gets ready for the push. Then it’s balls out when it’s time to sprint. I’m usually stood up, the turbo is rocking around and when I get over the line I collapse in a heap and come off shaking with my heart feeling like it’s bursting through my chest wall!

Worth putting that on social media and writing to the branch manager. Good people deserve good outcomes, she could use it in her annual review.

Definitely planning on this.

In regards to the solicitor. We did have a mortgage offer. But a document, the certificate of title I believe it’s called, came through wrong with the wrong figure on. This is in Scotland and they put the property valuation figure (which they use to calculate the LTV and base the mortgage off) as the purchase price. However as is common in Scotland we offered over this so the purchase price was higher. Also as we’re in Scotland there is no ‘exchange’ as such. There’s a bargain concluded through missives.

As I understand it, my solicitor flagged the mistake to the nationwide. They told him they would correct it and to proceed. He did and drew down the funds to make the transfer but at this point it became apparent that Nationwide hadn’t corrected the error. They then retracted the whole offer and said he must return the drawn down funds and they would then re-issue from scratch. My gut feeling is Nationwide’s systems are geared towards the English house buying system and I’ve fallen foul of that.

Well, we have the keys, sort of.

After Wednesdays intervention the money came through late yesterday. However too late in the day for the solicitors to organise transfer etc. So it will be done first thing Monday morning. However the sellers have let us have the keys now so we can measure up etc.

Good old in-branch Nicola! She rang yesterday to see how things were. I was quick to heap praise on her for turning everything round. A proper example of good customer service. Still have a complaint open and will be looking to claim back the penalty interest but glad it’s almost resolved now.

Just left the branch. It was certainly the right call to go in. Spoke (politely and calmly) to a very helpful member of staff who was understanding and empathetic. The polar opposite of the person in the mortgage team I spoke to yesterday. She rang someone and that person has raised an escalation request. This has to be approved but she assured me she would pursue this through the day and would update me later on progress. If approved this should move things forward much more quickly.

I understand things go wrong which is why, despite the issues we had last week, I didn’t escalate anything and gave them the chance to rectify it. But once you start to get into stuff like 10 more days minimum to manually re-key something when we’re already in breach of contract just isn’t on. Fingers crossed now.

Thanks for the feedback. @macdubh I’ll be courteous to anyone I speak to in branch. But as it stands it’s my family who are close to tears so I will be pushing this for a resolution as much as I can.

Sorry, my solicitor did tell me at the time about the mortgage purchase price issue but said at that stage it should be a formality to correct it and he then went on to get that assurance from Nationwide apparently. It did cross my mind if he had dropped a ball but I don’t think so. I believe it’s Nationwide’s incompetence.

I’ve been on Twitter too. Just been given a platitude and referred to complaints procedure.

I had a framed print made up for a mates 50th of a big ride we did on our first trip to the alps. Just need the strava details and trail maps do the rest.

DESIGN YOUR OWN

Also Joe Anderson the wrong un’ ex mayor’s nickname Chippy Tits seems to be extending into a more general insult

Heard one recently when back in Liverpool that cracked me up as I’d not heard it since I was a kid – Meff (Tramp / Scruff). It was also prefixed by the word bad for extra emphasis.

‘He’s a bad meff, him’.

Canterbury and Whitstable (6 miles apart) for a mix of nice small city and a great coastal town with working harbour, beaches and good food and drink. Probably best chance of good weather too I’d imagine.

Might be worth a look in TK Maxx if passing one. My wife just found a Columbia Ex Reign Outdry Extreme jacket for £56! No mens in stock for me unfortunately but could be in other stores I guess.

I’ve worn my GTX trail cross a few more times now. Very happy with them still.

On the sizing I think they’re true to size if using the size guide on the adidas site. I went half a size up which gives a bit of space for thick socks but they don’t feel too sloppy with normal socks. I wouldn’t have wanted them any bigger so not sure about going a whole size up.

My sister is a child psychologist and has recently started some consultancy work with Liverpool. Essentially she’s been brought in to help provide support for the young players who they let go. Obviously Liverpool are a massive club and this level of support won’t be available in many clubs I assume but it shows that there is an increasing recognition of the moral responsibility these clubs have towards these young peoples mental health and ability to cope with the issues that arise from not making it.

I asked a similar thing on here a few months ago when we were selling ours. Was advised not to bother and confident now it was the right decision. I did some basic bits, grout pen on the tiles, lick of paint etc. That’s as far as I’d go.

😂

I pulled up behind a transit connect earlier at a roundabout sporting a mildly amusing display of stickers. The Hope and Muc-off ones caught my attention followed by a christian fish symbol with the word Satan in the middle. Couple of aliens flipping the bird? Probably most enjoyed the ‘Shitbox edition’ one next to the transit connect logo. Brightened up the drive home anyway.

My medium Vitus Escarpe has 450mm reach with 410mm seatpost with 215mm seatpost insertion depth.

I also have a medium big dog with similar geo to the scandal and it fits really well.

On-one big dog / scandal / vandal

This is my big dog and covers your wish list I think.

Pootling along a fire road at about 2mph when I realised I had a leaf stuck under my front mudguard buzzing the tyre. Bent forward to try to pull it out but the bike folded under me. Impaled myself on the end of the bars and cracked a rib.

Can I just ban people and be done with it? The second will sort itself out well enough from there.

This was pretty much my thoughts. The rest is just delaying the inevitable sadly.

Does anyone have real world experience with the new goretex adidas boots?

Wore mine for the first time yesterday. It was dry but I went though some wet long grass. So not the stiffest test – but they kept my feet dry, were very grippy, and were comfy. Only slight thing was because of the high cuff, that bit dug in slightly whilst walking in them. No issue on the bike of course which is the main thing and they will probably break in a bit before long. Overall really happy with them.

That Aussie Grit jacket mentioned above is my go to. Great jacket. What a great PSA that was when they were going out of business! Surprised to see anywhere with stock.

I’ve seen a few ribbons hung from trees marking trails, and paint dabs as Scotroutes mentions

That FS Pro with the Pikes has surely got to have a strong shout for the best bang for buck bike of all time? My mate still rides his and has been all over with it.

Not keen on the looks of this model though but still good VFM in the current climate.

Picked up those lights last year. Good lights but mine didn’t hold a charge. I’d charge it up, leave it for a week or whatever and then when I went to use it it’d die within no time. Was fine if I charged it up right until I went out. Weird. I’d probably still chance it at this price though!

Mudhugger for me.