@daffy nice! How are you specifically training for that? I’m planning to ride 260miles/20000ft over two days but coming from a low baseline of not much.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2268014-exclusive-two-variants-have-merged-into-heavily-mutated-coronavirus/

Hmmm, not qualified to comment but anybody that is, please do!

Ok just seen that New Scientist has published an explainer, so panic over!

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2268379-two-coronavirus-variants-have-merged-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

So what are the equivalent steel bikes that are more lively than the CdF ? As far as weight, I think it’s probably only a matter of 100’s of grams in weight between different steel frames.

My CdF feels pretty lively but it is the 853 steel model, which was on sale.

I’d pay to watch people try and walk down some of the FoD off piste

I use my CdF as a winter/touring bike, built it up during lockdown 1.0 as had a few components lying around.

Thinking of getting the carbon fork for it as will lose almost a kg from the weight.

It’s a good do-it-all bike for my needs.

The 2021 frame has better tyre clearance “ The ability to run up to a 45mm rear tyre and a 50mm front tyre on the provided 700c rims increase the all-terrain ability of the Croix – and it doesn’t end there. If you want to experiment with 650B wheels, you could run up to a 44mm rear tyre and a 50mm front tyre.”

Your restraint is admirable to a degree but if I lived within 10 miles of Innerleithen or Peebles I would be riding there on a regular basis. I live in the Borders but not close enough to count as local.

So would I, but Ashton Court is useful for the city but is not all that tbh.

And I bet they all drove a fair way….Grrrrrrrr

Larry, exactly right but have been doing the ‘right’ thing, as advised by numerous cycling bodies etc but am now starting to get a bit of ‘cabin fever’.

Don’t forget whilst we are winning the first dose ‘race’, we are actually lagging behind on the two dose vaccine compared to other countries.

Now this could be an issue, as technically you’re not vaccinated until you’ve had both doses. So therefore other countries won’t let you in until you have had both doses. End of August for over 50’s.

I’ve a feeling Greece might swerve that requirement, as tourism is 30% of their GDP.

@TiRed, never have questioned your reliability at all. In fact your posts are the only thing keeping me sane at the moment and I’m sure 99.5% of STW would agree.

It was probably from watching her interviews on the TV, tbh.

I found Devi Shridar actually a bit of a doommonger in the early days, she has lightened up considerably now, maybe somebody had a word.

I guess it’s a bit like asking a pilot their opinion on how to run an airline…

Are the scientists that appear on the national TV channels reliable?

Or have they themselves become addicted to ‘fame’. Personally it really grinds my gears, when you get a scientist on TV, giving their opinion on when we are going to be ‘unlocked’. That’s the governments job!

Also I think it is starting to paint science in a bad light for the masses.

I really don’t understand anybody who advocates zero COVID now in this country, you seriously need to have a word with yourself.

Maybe it’s because you are retired and financially ok or you work in an industry which has done ok out of this mess.

Have a thought for those of us here, who have lost their jobs, going to lose their jobs or have no idea what’s going to happen to them.

I could express my other thoughts but probably would get banned…

I hope so, luckily I did all my bike buying in the first lockdown, so should be able to weather any further reductions in salary.

All the major players TUI, easyJet and Jet2 have got lots of bookings but the issue is, nobody actually knows what’s round the corner, will it be June, July etc when the big padlock gets undone on the border gates. Unfortunately nobody is in possession of a crystal ball.

You can book international holidays in May at the moment but I think that is a pipedream.

I just am really worried about my employment position at the moment.

So here’s a question for you.

I work for a major travel company in their ‘transport’ division, have been furloughed on and off till December, now on permanent furlough.

I understand the fact of variant transmission by opening up borders etc and it conflicts me greatly, on one hand I want the international travel industry to have a ‘summer’ but don’t want more series of lockdowns due to variant transmission as well, also my partner is clinically extremely vulnerable, so it has been a tough long haul for us.

I just can’t see, without state support, how our company can keep afloat if there is no ‘summer’.

Will the government offer us furlough beyond April and will it be publicly acceptable if the rest of the U.K. economy starts opening up?

WHAT about the people that work for the holiday companies? There will be no companies left to take you on holiday in 2022.

I can understand the optimism some people are showing but this strikes me as nuts:

Everyone’s booking holidays.

I fear it’s pretty much guaranteed that these holidaymakers – if they’re allowed to go – will bring back one or multiple variants of the virus that are more resistant to current vaccines just in time for them to spread enough to be ready to run rampant over the winter.

One year of holidaying in the UK for everyone, if they want a holiday, would be a massive boost to getting closer to normality foe 2022/3 and onwards.

WHAT about the people that work for the holiday companies? There will be no companies left to take you on holiday in 2022.

Door is closing fast for those in DB schemes

Can you please back this comment up with evidence, or is it just a guess? Because it genuinely has me worried.

My pension is a DC scheme, which I self manage. It is interesting that even though my company contributions are pretty generous (15%) it is the compound interest that is growing my pot much more than the contributions. Going part time has had a much smaller impact on pot size than I imagined.

Taking an active role in managing your funds, whaterver the size, is the biggest difference you can make

I need to do this but haven’t a clue how to pick the right funds etc. Also don’t really trust IFA’s, I mean really if you’re that good at financial advice, surely you’d be a millionaire! And not giving the advice anymore.

Dan, have you not got a closed DB scheme too?

I’m 100% sure my MP is not on there

Rees-Mogg :-0

Thanks Tired.

I am less optimistic about the Ox/AZ vaccine.

Yikes, isn’t the AZ vaccine the backbone of the UK’s programme? What implications are you inferring to?

Saw this coming up at Aldi https://www.aldi.co.uk/ferrex-18v-cordless-pressure-washer/p/010743399898701

Thanks for the heads up, unfortunately I ordered a box of the mountain berry in the excitement, d’oh!

Ok I have booked my jab . Fretting already – i am a bit needle phobic 🙂

It’s ok, you’ll just feel a bit of a prick…

I’ll get my coat.

They’ve made some great stuff over the years… why wouldn’t we welcome them trying to make some mtb specific kit?

I agree with you and was lucky enough to live near the archive store before it closed but a few years ago there was quite a bit of reverse snobbery around Rapha.

I was expecting loads of replies along the lines of “bloody Nancy Rapha, I ain’t wearing that overpriced guff”

Awesome, thanks everyone, have amended the titles to hopefully get more hits.

Not when they’re heavy! The VC-10 might have been cleared for FL430, but got stuck at mid-20s when at max weight.

Hmmm, are you talking about military VC-10’s full of fuel ?

Of course most commercial 70’s aircraft would struggle to reach anything like 35000ft. Thicker air=more fuel burn.

Rubbish! 747-200, VC-10 even the 707 have ceilings of over FL400.

It’s modern jet engines, that make the most difference in pollution, high bypass, more efficient, less NOx, quieter.

That’s why BA got rid of the 747-400, inefficient, two more engines to maintain and a much higher fuel cost per passenger than a 787/A350.

The reason why the black soot came out of the jet pipes was that the engines where far less efficient in burning all the jet A1 that went into the engine.

Bit like the old Diesel engines, you never see a euro 6 diesel chucking out soot now (unless you remap it and remove the dpf)

Thanks Kimbers, I hadn’t seen it reported it anywhere but that’s a bit of good news at least.

I’ve also heard third hand, that people in London were getting their 2nd vaccine shot pretty much on time.

Are they opening up the private hospitals to Nhs patients again ?

@stevextc

This one is really not urgent or critical though. Just a bile readsorbtion test to give some possible options to manage symptoms or not. (and the symptoms aren’t that bad… more inconvenient)

Sent you a message about your scan, as had one in the summer.

Gore Shakedry insulated for the ultimate winter jacket

What temperature are you using yours down to ?

Great tips, thanks !

Was planning to ride it on my Croix de fer but fit a carbon fork to it, so would weigh about 9.5kg, gearings not an issue, 50/34 up front, 11-40 on the back ;-)

Will be using a B&B/bunkhouse for the night, so will pack light.

It’s just more the type of training, is two sessions of intervals a week and then one long hilly ride per week enough initially ?

Great editing, what software did you use ?

Happy Christmas everyone, hope 2021 brings us all good hope, cheer and happiness and continuous sunny days, rainy nights with the trails drying out quickly, no punctures, no gear failures and shiny new kit.

The Far East coped well with the virus because they had a little bit of a practice with SARS, that had a 10% fatality rate.

Apart from a bit of disruption to travel to the Far East, the west didn’t even raise an eyebrow when SARS kicked off.

Arsebiscuits, I suggest this is probably the wrong forum for you, try joining all the other tin foil hatted, brexit voting gammons on the news, politics & economics forum on Pistonheads, you’ll be welcomed with open arms over there.

I’ll wager you’ve just bought an e-bike for ‘exercise’ too and to boost your ‘eco’ credentials but still think cyclists are the manifestation of Satan on public roads.