Get your Bikeability training!

If a driver’s squeezing through when there’s not enough space then you’re not riding primary enough… you’re letting them think there’s space when there isn’t…

Best advice I got when I was complaining about constant harassment and lousy driving was to pick a different route. Sometimes it means a bit of a detour but there’s certain roads which seem to be too hard for drivers to cope with. Avoid those and pick the quiet side streets instead…

Remember, though, that if you’re riding then you’re part of the solution – keep going 🙂

I had a chat a few months ago with the shop manager of one of London’s main chains and he said 29 had never taken off as much as had been hoped – hence 27.5 being introduced with so much hype – closer to the 26 that we all knew and loved but with the easy rolling advantages of 29…

I wouldn’t underestimate the growth of road combined with people feeling less wealthy than they used to either – this will have swallowed up demand for N+1 that 29 represented when it came out.

You can get a very good road bike for £2k and cost of upkeep is far far lower than an MTB – parts last longer and you don’t have to drive for miles to go for a ride which saves ££ on petrol.

I’d suggest its not. It is creating something, but its not creative. Creativity would be thinking nobody has ever put XYZ and ABC together in a loaf and doing it (possibly iteratively until you get an edible combination!).

Having spent 10 years in ad agencies and worked in a proper creative environment (although as a suit rather than a creative myself), I agreed with everything in your first post about what creativity really is.

I agree with your distinction above about doing something which has never been done before being true creativity but how is ‘creating something’ not ‘creative’?

Creativity does not mean art… creativity means putting things together in a way to create something which is new or is more than the sum of the parts.

Baking a loaf of bread from the raw ingredients is creative.

And I agree w/ Matt. I think creativity is inherent in all of us – everyone has ideas – which is essentially what creativity is – in many of us I think our essentially creative natures are trained out of us as we progress from childhood to adulthood by societal norms and our formal education system – so yes, it can be ‘taught’. Or in my view – ‘revealed, released or re-revealed…’

Every post on this forum is creative in it’s most basic sense, although some more than others 🙂

ONS breakdown of UK welfare spending[/url]

42% pensions
only 2% and 11% respectively on unemployment and housing benefit and 15% on incapacity.

So if we want to reduce the welfare budget, removing those who are abusing the system will not make as much of a dent as reducing pensioner benefits…

Even as a lifetime Conservative voter I have an increasingly strong distaste for the narrative that our welfare bill is being wasted on ‘scroungers’ and ‘abusers’, especially when you have data like this to observe where the biggest savings could be made…

I don’t think it matters what has been promised in the past – demographic changes and 20 years of living beyond our means on excessive debt (government, companies, banks AND consumers) means we’re really nothing like as well off as our lifestyles would suggest we are. Not now and certainly not in the future.

I think the masses are just beginning to realise this as 7 years after the financial crisis and still no wage rises, no growth, emerging stagnation… why else did Gideon stoke house prices just before the election?

We have a very serious pensions crisis – partly because government and consumers have failed to make proper provision/made wrong assumptions about how much will be needed and partly because of simple demographics ie: people don’t die as young as they used to…

As a result of these wrong assumptions many people have failed to make private provision for their pensions, or spent every last penny on a massive mortgage and assumed house prices will go up forever and/or they can ‘downsize’ when they retire, without actually understanding that the assumption about state pension still existing when they retire or that house prices won’t have stagnated or crashed… may or may not be correct.

I don’t think we can afford to keep the current ‘contract’ going – there isn’t the money in the coffers to pay for our ageing population without massive tax rises – which no-one has the earnings to be able to afford…

Maybe we’ll end up in a new model with communal older communities where people live together, supported by charities or voluntary groups and younger family members. Much how it was before the Welfare State was introduced, and how many poorer countries still do manage it.

The reality of this may not be that bad, but a population that expected retirements spent on holiday in the sun with well-funded pensions will no doubt be rather unhappy with the government which admits to us that the reality’s not too rosy….

Worth listening to the Woman’s Hour segment – she gives her side of the story

Woman’s Hour

She admits she had an agenda in posting it on Twitter… to highlight incidences of everyday sexism – which is fair enough. I do think they should have called her out though on why she didn’t anonymise the man in question if this was her agenda… easily done to a screen shot and without putting his reputation on the line.

In defence of the points that she may have ruined her career she focussed on those who say she has ‘bitten the hand that feeds’ which is a focus on the politics of the matter, not those who’ve pointed out that ‘no client will trust you’ angle which I think is a very realistic and, from the point of view of clients, a quite reasonable perspective.

Well whatever her intentions, she’s got her name and face all over the media now… I doubt this was what she intended.

I think going public with his name and with what was otherwise private communication seems disproportionate – a bit like a driver trying to run you off the road for riding primary in heavy traffic – the punishment is not justified by the perceived provocation.

I think the point that for a barrister to be making private communications public is inappropriate is an interesting one – it’ll be interesting to see how this impacts her on a professional level.

IME it’s generally best not to court controversy if you want to gain trust and respect of colleagues and clients/prospective clients, as few people welcome it. How would you know you wouldn’t be the next person who makes a comment she finds offensive? <disclaimer, I’m not saying what he said wasn’t offensive, but I doubt he expected this outcome – if he had, you can bet your bottom dollar he wouldn’t have replied to her LinkedIn invite>

There’s plenty of barristers to choose from and for those clients who simply want to win their case and are seeking discretion (most?) I suspect they’d think twice about choosing her in future. Notoriety is usually only a positive selling point in a few scenarios e.g. music, art, celebrity nonsense…

We desperately need some inflation. If we go Japanese and fall into 20 years of deflation then our already-unaffordable levels of personal debt will get even larger in real terms.

In which case expect some serious standard of living issues and some really very serious problems for people who’ve gorged on credit on the assumption their salaries would go up over time/inflation would reduce the debt in real terms…

With so many of us having been brought up in a time of ever-increasing affluence I’m not sure too many people will know how to cope in a time of falling living standards brought about by deflation…

I’m recovering from a broken wrist and still wearing a splint when I’m out of the house – which would make it difficult to drive, so I’ve not yet got back in my car.
My view is to be cautious
a) if you don’t explicitly have written go-ahead from either the consultant or GP, or physio, then your insurance company may use this as a way to refuse to pay a claim
b) someone else’s insurer may seek to reduce their liability by suggesting contributory negligence on your part if you don’t have a written note to cover yourself.

Put it this way – is it worth the legal and financial issues of finding out you’re not covered when a) getting note from your doctor would be really easy or b) the cost of taking taxis or asking for favours from friends and family for the next month or so are not that great a cost in the grand scheme of things…

Buy Exposure, buy once. Like Hope – they will fix your stuff for free or for cheap…

The Joystick I found in the street in 2010 is still going strong.
The Flash and Flare I bought in 2011 had to go back repeatedly but they fixed them each time for free and eventually replaced them. I think they knew the design was faulty and have since replaced them…

I would buy Exposure again on the quality of their aftersales…

OP – glad you’ve recovered and you feel like you’ve got justice.

I don’t get the mitigation though – after all the covering up and the lies you really have to ask if she’s fit to hold a licence and in what way society gains from her continuing to drive.

I’d like to see some kind of penalty that where someone ‘needs’ to keep their licence for mitigating circumstances, they’re limited to a supermini with a tiny engine – the kind of thing which reduces their feeling of power and status on the road and in being smaller and less powerful, makes it harder to do so much damage to other people…

I miss my Roadrat. It’s a lovely bike to ride.

I got rid of it because, with the horizontal dropouts it was hard to get proper mudguards on it for year-round commuting and with flat bars it was a bit of a bugger up steep hills.
The flex made it a really springy, comfy ride. The flex wasn’t noticeable when riding, but if you go out for a long road ride on a full carbon bike wearing full carbon-soled shoes and you get quickly changed into commuting gear and jump on your Roadrat, you might find yourself asking where all your power has gone 🙂

From a brand-extension point of view, that’s Overkill

IGMC

27,000 uninsured cars seized by Police this year

Another stat for the OP to email to his idiot colleague… who no doubt will continue to insist that a few people on bikes running red lights are the biggest problem in UK road safety…

I didn’t say motorists don’t routinely break the law, I’m a driver and I break the law but, in my experience, far more people on bikes jump red lights than people driving cars do.

The key expression here being ‘in my experience’. Anecdote is not representative of the behaviour of a whole group and is not data – anecdotes are usually told to justify existing prejudice and reflect confirmation bias. We’ve learnt that just because a local drug dealer was a black man that not all black men are drug dealers but a significant proportion of UK population seem unable to grasp simple facts about bias when it comes to cyclists… almost like evolution’s gone into reverse!

More importantly, any UK driver who justifies their hate towards people riding bikes on the basis ‘they break the law’ is a rank hypocrite and needs to grow up and fix their own behaviour first if they really care about road safety…

50% of UK drivers admit to breaking the speed limit

50% of UK drivers admit to using their mobile

I feel sorry for people who fall prey to their anger and ignorant prejudice, no-one like that is happy.
I would be super polite and professional and ignore the obvious provocation. I’d also be tempted to email him Binners’ quote from George Bernard Shaw, but without any reference to anything else. He’ll know what you’re getting at but he’ll say nothing as it means him admitting he’s an angry idiot:-)

General reckoning is once rates do begin to go up, they’ll probably go from current 0.5% to 2.5% fairly quickly but unlikely to go up much from there.
But that was before it became clear that China is in a bit of a mess, which may change things somewhat. e.g. delay the rise as it’s likely to have a significant impact on the global economy.
Mind you, with Canada now in a recession, Russia, Brazil both in a big mess, Eurozone going nowhere and UK dependent on consumer spending based on increased debt, you may have bigger problems than a few more ££ on your repayments… if you think your job will be at risk in the next recession (whenever that will happen) then certainty about your mortgage may be useful

I don’t know if people have always been this thick or whether we’re just finding out these days now the internet reveals what’s going on in peoples’ heads.

Either way, I’m not hopeful for the survival of the human race 🙂

At the moment, it would appear to be breaking bones – 4th hospital visit in 8 years from falling off one bike or another.
I have the right amount of stubbornness to be a good climber… but like cake too much to be able to do anything spectacular with it

town driving is where autonomous cars wont be used, because they wont be able to go anywhere as human pedestrians will quickly learn they can very easily assert priority over them.

You’re assuming no changes will ever be made to the situation you currently know.

This could be resolved by having more pedestrian crossings and making it illegal to jaywalk…as per the US already.

I’d be fine with this – given the massive benefits to society as a whole that automated cars would bring – vastly fewer deaths and injuries, more people cycling etc, it seems like an acceptable sacrifice on the part of pedestrians

go to a proper bike shop and try some on – there’s a huge amount of variety and what suits/fits me may not be what you need.
From a brand point of view I think Gore stuff is superb vfm and I love the fit of Mavic clothing.

No way you’d be able to have that sort of thing automated.

Bit like there’s no way we could automate shopping, bank branches, supermarket checkouts, trains, stock trading, media buying etc…

A combination of LIDAR and real-time grip/traction data could almost certainly resolve that. Don’t forget we’re at very early stages in self-driving tech and have made great progress already. There’s billions of dollars/pounds to be made in developing automated tech so I wouldn’t underestimate the ability of Google, Apple etc to break through any challenges they find…

+1 for doing the course – you’ll learn lots.
I’d like to see it made compulsory for all drivers every 2 years… it’s a great reminder of your responsibilities and just basic awareness of how to drive properly

Marketing.
I used to really enjoy it but the longer I do it the more I find it shallow and meaningless and want to do something more intellectually stimulating. Quite honestly I learn more interesting stuff on STW than I do at work these days.

Now I’m contracting it’s more satisfying as each new project presents new learning and a new challenge.

I’m also adding an executive coaching qualification to my skills, which I think I’ll find much more satisfying, although the advice I’ve received is it’s hard to make a living from coaching alone…

Oil at below $40 a barrel will help a lot of ordinary people

Until the frackers in the US who’ve borrowed a load from the banks to expand then find the price is too low to make any profit, go bust, can’t repay those loans, the bad debts crystalize and the banks go bust (again)…

Not an entirely unlikely scenario at $40…

+1 for Footflaps.

A mortgage is the biggest debt you’ll ever take out and you’re paying a massive sum of money in interest – if you pay it off over the term over which you’ve borrowed it e.g. 25 years, you’ll be paying out way more than the amount you actually borrowed.

Obviously YMMV but you may be saving tens of thousands in interest payments if you pay off your mortgage early.

I would get 6 months living expenses in savings, then overpay the mortgage until paid off and then take the amount you used to pay in mortgage repayments and save that/put it in a pension…

Stockpile food and water…

Damien McBride says it’s a biggie. What he knows that we don’t I don’t know!

Front page of FT.com should be avoided if you don’t like the idea of big problems either…

We’ll find out over the next few weeks but there’s far more going on than just the stockmarket crashing…

You could use Zoopla or Rightmove but I believe some agents will delete a listing of a place that hasn’t sold and then relist it at a lower price, as a way to disguise that the price has been dropped and that the place hasn’t sold for ages.

I wouldn’t trust anything the estate agents says personally.

Rightmove has a Market Trends tab under the House Prices tab which shows number of properties marketed and sold, which can be revealing e.g. for some London areas you can see a big increase in supply over 2015 but few sales, or a falling ratio of sold to marketed.

Try them for yourself and see.

I’m of the ‘if almost every other road rider uses them and all the professionals do too, then there must be something in it’ school of thought.

Personally I find flats really inefficient compared to SPDs – much easier to spin and spin with SPDs

Having a similar debate myself…
I’ve done loads of risky sports over the years: skydiving, rock climbing, mountaineering, MTB, road cycling and the only one I’ve seriously hurt myself is the MTB – 1x broken collar bone 2007, 1x broken scapula 2008, and hoping the doc signs off my broken wrist in 2 days time. I had the collarbone plated and then the plate removed, and I now have a plate in my wrist.

I’m pretty conservative as a rider when it comes to risk and after the 2007/8 breaks I took some skills training which definitely helped my flow and reduced the number of potential incidents, but the wrist was just a small slip – wasn’t riding particularly risky at all. As I write, 2 friends in the Lakes who are superb riders are recovering from offs – one with a broken ankle, the other with multiple breaks. I conclude from this that neither skill nor training nor riding conservatively can eliminate serious crashes…

I do note that I do many more miles on a road bike these days in a given week than I did even at my peak of MTB and a fall is very rare indeed, whereas MTB, crashes are pretty regular, just part of the sport. Most of time there’s no major injury, but sometimes there is.

For me the crux of it is what the impact of a crash is one the rest of your life re your family, job and overall health. I’m a contractor and I’ve been unpaid for the last month as I couldn’t fulfil my contract and now have to find more work. I can’t afford to do this regularly or get a reputation for being a contractor who invalids himself on a regular basis. At 42 the chances of a less than perfect recovery are also higher than they used to be. Broken bones aren’t necessarily 100% recoverable either – my left shoulder is still slightly limited in movement and right shoulder, the scar catches on the bone or the bone is a little sore on wet days. I’m praying the wrist has no long term issues.

It’s a balance though, 30,000 people a year in UK die of obesity-related conditions, a lady I was working with got a stress fracture from running a half-marathon so nothing’s entirely risk-free.

I think I’m bailing from MTB for now to see how much I miss it, and stick to road for the time being.

They made a mistake. Send it back. It’s what you would want someone to do to you if you made a mistake which would cost you money, surely?

I have a 2008 Exposure Joystick still going strong, which I’ve had zero problems with.
I also have an Exposure Flash as a secondary ‘be seen’ light which I’ve had lots of problems with but they’ve fixed it under warranty every time. I also have an Exposure Trace which appears to have resolved the problems with the Flash

I’m very happy with my Lenovo ThinkPad PC – build quality good. Assume the tablets are the same…

There will always be a market for ‘premium’ brands to satisfy those who really want to spend more than everyone else.

True, that. Work out your target audience and get the brand and product right and you can make yourself very wealthy. Look at Rapha…

Read his autobiography, you’ll understand his music more, have a massive amount of respect for him, and you’ll realise how good your life is! Takes real courage to write a book as honest as his

Things The Grandchildren Should Know

We’ve had about 130 years since the Rover Safety (1880’s) was first launched as a mass-made bicycle and haven’t yet rejected the idea of a human-powered machine despite plenty of powered alternatives being available – mopeds, motorbikes, cars etc
At the moment in the UK, the trend is in the opposite direction (albeit from a low base given our obsession with the car since 1950s)
Maybe e-bikes have their place, but complete replacement seems doubtful, there’ll always be those who prefer the pleasure of 100% human-powered riding I expect

+1 for it being perfect post-ride recovery – keeps me off the cake and biscuits too 🙂

Def think about freelancing if you’re a writer. Make sure you do some research about day rates first though, so you don’t undersell yourself. You’ll be amazed what you can get – and how much more pleasant it is to be able to focus on just producing the work.
I’m an ex-suit, now contracting as a marketing planner and I wouldn’t go back perm unless I was desperate – so much better being freed up from all the shenanigans which go with perm work

Just to confuse things…
News out today about China devaluing to reduce the price of its exports, and the oil price continuing to slide…
Both of which are likely to reduce any inflationary pressure and which may stay the BoE’s hand re putting rates up