I was thinking this would be the case!

To be honest I am not so bothered about breakages – the cranks are getting binned anyway. The BB is still okay so I was going to leave that be and slot the new Turbines in.

(I think it is pressfit and I don’t currently have the necessary hardware to fit it)

I started with something cheap… very cheap. Figured if I binned it I would be less upset than something newer and shiny!

I went with a TDM800 as a result. About as exciting as a Blandit of Hornet or something – but with a touch more character from the twin. I only ran it a year or so – then switched to a 955i Speed triple which was considerably more entertaining!

Some people spend a lot on a first big bike – not sure I would have done that even if I had the funds!

Saniflow type solutions won’t handle it – to be fair submersible pumps in pumping stations quite often struggle with plastic bags, particularly if they shut off pumping when the bag is in the cutters…. Grundfoss and Lowara may tell you differently, but whilst they are pretty good at selling stuff they aren’t the ones in the sh*t 😉

Anything can be blocked up if subject to abuse – I don’t like macerators and use them only when there is a really good and compelling reason to do so! That is usually long rising mains in narrow pipework. If I get to put in the rising main it is of a sensible size so I can throw solids handling equipment at it – which avoids me having to go back too often!

So I am with Big John on this one 😉 I think putting a macerator inline will give you a short term solution, but one that will give you even bigger headaches further down the road. It will also add a nice big chunk of expense!

Red Storm 🙂

Had a FitBit Surge for a little over a year, whilst functionally it has been okay – the wrist rot has been bloody horrible to the extent it stopped working yesterday and I celebrated!

Next go is the Garmin Vivoactive HR which has had good press. It was between that and the Polar M600… or a Fenix HR, but that was scary expensive!!!!

1. Moto Guzzi Griso 1200
2. Trek Fuel EX+ (about 5 miles as I am only just starting to come out of long term injury!)

I was thinking of doing this, but I am too terrified to get on the scales and see what the damage is after 15/16 months of inactivity due to injury! All set to turn the tide now though, I was trying to get started the last couple of weeks but with Christmas things got a little caught up!

Good luck… I may or may not be brave 😉

I always thought it was Mountain Bike – even back in the late 80’s when I started out on a Raleigh with a gate like frame! (’86 I think it was… back in the days when the local bike shops were all roadie places that felt you would “grow into it” and before the concept of “frame clearances” had been developed… the nadger/top tube interface was a right of passage back then!)

Getting out more – walking, running, riding… anything really… perhaps a spot of surfing too if that’s okay.

May try and give myself a little more time too for photography and get back upto speed there. This last year or two have been a little disappointing on that front.

That will do me. I want to finish 2017 a little bit more myself than I have been in a while.

I have been doing a photo a day project for the last 6 years, and usually put a few words on each one about what I have been upto. Not much, perhaps a paragraph or a line or two.

It’s quite nice to look back over!

Started 1st Jan 2010 and it has become so much a part of my life – it was almost started as a response to being in a really bad place and fighting my way out of it, we lost my Mum and Gran along the way and had the birth of 3 children, a divorce and a marriage. Some of the pictures are epic masterpieces, some are pictures of cats… some are absolute dross… but all of them tell a bit of a story. It’s something I hope to look back over as years go by and that (my children and perhaps those who follow) will be able to look back on and learn a bit about me.

Flickr keeps loosing pictures which is annoying, but they all live on in Facebook and perhaps I will find another outlet to host them too.

Trying a Magic Mary/Hans Damph on the Fuel EX when in 29er form, currently just have the stock 2.8 Chupacabras on the B+ wheels, though on the look out for something a bit more winter friendly!

Hardtail is currently on XR3 front and rear, though may swap them soon. Not sure if I will just recycle something I have (Mountain Kings, Nobby Nics or Chunky/Smorg) or get something new!

I went for Black Pudding Bon-Bons today. They were very nice indeed 🙂 Caramelised red onion sauce to dip em in as well!

Very nice accompaniment to a pint of Ulverston Breweries festive ale (Santa’s Blotto), and the pint of “A Good Stuffing” that followed 😉

It did take a good bit longer to build a bed for my daughter afterwards – but we got their eventually and even made a damn fine job of it!

That was why I got one – took us about a month to get used to it, now I wouldn’t be allowed to change it if I wanted to (which I don’t!)

Eve – had one for a year now and it is fabulous!

https://www.evemattress.co.uk

29er for me, absolutely everytime… almost.

I made the switch from 26 on a whim, and loved the way the bigger wheels rolled – and the speed I was picking up added to the grins. That was on a Whyte T129, which for other reasons I fell out with. I decided it was time to trade up for something new just a few weeks ago and the Fuel EX just fitted the bill, although I went b+ on that one, then stuck some 29er wheels in anyway 😉

Everyone is different though – perhaps my choice would have been different if I lived somewhere else?

No riding yet – but I am hoping to start next week sometime and have pretty much planned out the next 6 months with loads of riding time 🙂

This year has been a wash out!

It is another one of those routes that I have been meaning to do for years – then moved to the Lakes and thought I would get all these classics ticked off… and have thus far (in 8 years) done absolutely none of them!

To be fair life did get in the way, and I mistakenly thought I would fall in with a bunch of folks as I did in Stirling which also never happened… but both of those are probably excuses to me not being determined enough to do stuff I want to do. There may have been some black dogs along the way to scupper things too.

I read the article though and kinda feel compelled to get my arse out and get on with things 🙂 It was one of the best bits in the mag for quite some time!

3 bikes at the moment, should be rationalising that to 2 soon though.

6 guitars at present… though at some stage that will hopefully grow as I have several on my wish list 😉 Everything I have is kinda Les Pauly (including one actual Les Paul) but that doesn’t stop me wanting another 2 or 3 proper ones… then I kinda fancy an SG or two… and a 339 or two… and I so want a Baritone, especially if we ever do get around to “putting the band back together” or we just decide to build the Scottish “Supergroup” that gets knocked around every so often.

After that – I may even add a Strat and Tele.

This has just given me the realisation… I am going to need a bigger house!

If you happen to be getting to the more westerly edge of the A590 in South Cumbria then I can thoroughly recommend the Bakehouse in Greenodd’s offerings. Epic good!

Speaking as someone whom has fisted the odd crocodillian… they all look pretty much the same from the outside, you kinda have to get down and dirty to determine whether it is a boy or girl croc.

Not that raping a boy croc is worse than a girl croc and either would probably be described as “foolish”.

(I was pre-qualified in my fisting escapades, and it was entirely UN Approved Violation that I was involved in)

Orange – always fancied one myself but went with the Vito this time…

That new Merc truck looks fantastic though.

I have a 2 door, oil fired one – it is the only cooker in the house. We moved in about a year ago now.

We had a bit of a learning curve with it, thought about redoing the kitchen to accommodate a conventional oven but it has never happened.

The hot plates on mine are hot enough to stir fry on, you start to learn where different heat zones are and move pans around to suit. Top oven makes fantastic roasts, bottom oven is superb for slow cooking (and did our Christmas Cake in it this year!). The kitchen is lovely and warm all the time, and the heat rises and heats upstairs pretty well too.

I turned it off for a bit in summer and used the BBQ outside instead! I think when we re-do the kitchen properly we will perhaps get a double hob or something put in for summer use, but my wife has declared that should we move (or just redo that kitchen) she wants a 3 oven version as non-negotiable now 😉

Yeah – it is a nightmare. Usually in bed and asleep/drifting off and I stretch… instant pain of doom!

Can I just ship myself to the island and leave all the celebrities behind… it would by much easier than making a long list!!!

Either a big lazy V Twin or a 955cc Triumph Triple at full chat – engine starting to wail like only a triple can – with the induction howl coming in over the top.

Epic 🙂

Or a big V8…

I have had this bloody thing for MONTHS. It JUST WON’T DIE!!!!!

Seriously, did 3 weeks, went to the docs and got drugs which failed to help. It had just started to go when we had a big weekend of travel and stuff and back it comes. All fevery, achy, tired and lurgified.

That said, I think it may be starting to go (again), finally. It must be near 2 months of feeling grotty now though.

Hats are awesome – I have a selection!

Go for it – felt, leather, cotton… even straw at a push… all good. But for the real shiz then it has to be fur felt.

(I have an authentic Indie hat from the folks that made the ones for the film… but I was an archaeologist once so it is kinda allowed!)

Given a lot of artists use mains cable to wire up heads to cabs – I wouldn’t be overly worried about using it as speaker cable 😉

TBH I think a LOT of HiFi is snakeoil though 😉

I had an Outlander for a couple of years – loved it! The company car tax was a bit savage though so chopped it for a pickup and now a van.

I was looking at second hand ones as a possible private car the other day… and the Foresters (had an early one of them with added lunacy) as we could use something 4 wheel drive if the weather gets rough!

(My van struggles to make it down the lane when it gets a bit snowy/icy)

21st November 2016 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

I hope so 😉

Mine is a 27.5+ model, but I have stuck on a pair of 29er Hope Enduros with nice big tyres on for the winter (Magic Mary/Hans Damph with ACRES of room left).

Took it up a pretty steep road climb last week and had no problems – think I heard somewhere that a lot of Trek employees run the longer fork with 29″ wheels anyway!

Not really used it in anger yet due to injury, but my wee pootle this week suggests that it is going to be very, very good indeed 🙂

Why has it improved them?

Well the wheels now actually spin around 😉 I think the rotor was fouling on the calliper body, so lifting them a fraction of a mm has freed it up nicely 🙂

It may be down to using a Shimano Icetech rotor… but either way it should all be 203mm, so I am putting it down to a slight error in the calliper. The previous Shimano brakes were spot on, and the spacer I moved off another bike was fine with the same size rotors (that was also on Shimano calliper).

Really good brakes though once you have got them just right! I then NEVER TOUCH THEM AGAIN!

This may not be the best photo in the world… but it is my first ride in 15 months so deserves a mention 😉

24th November 2016 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

I so need to get back up for a go on the Ochils again sometime 😉

Plus Mine Woods and North Third…

Finally got my (latest) e4s set up nicely today – I resorted to throwing a small shim under each caliper to lift them a slight tough higher and that solved all my woes.

Quick 2 mile ride today – with a very muddy and steep drop back down to the house seems to have them working with a nice bit of power now (bit of an endo moment!). Runnning 200mm front, 180mm rear and they are currently feeling stronger than my old set which will be transplanted onto the hardtail before the old bouncy bikes gets stripped and sold on (also 200/180).

The new ones are red, this may be why they feel better 😉

Amazingly… I forced myself out to see what would happen today – I have a hill outside the house, big road climb, that I thought I would use to test myself… see how many weeks of riding it would take to get up it. The main climb is only 50 vertical meters over 270m so it is a stiff climb, but nothing that dramatic!

Made it first attempt, 14 months (nearly 15) off the bike… and with the 32T upfront still!

This leaves me in a bit of a quandary. I may just pop the new 28T on the shelf for the time being and see how I get on for a bit longer!

Flatter sections… I live in the Lakes 😉

I am hoping that the fitness does come back quick, but a helping hand is always a good thing 😉

I did consider less aggressive tyres, but I am trying to keep off the road as much as possible! The winter clag is going to be here soon enough now…. I have a hardtail with something considerably less aggro on it, but I haven’t quite got that fettled up and ready to go as yet! Probably a job for Christmas!

My plan is to start off with the 28 tooth, once I have a modicum of fitness back in a few months I am thinking I may throw a 30T oval on and see how I get on with that.

Kinda curious about that having cut my mountain biking teeth with (fake) Ovaltech – mine was Suntour’s version as I couldn’t afford the Big S 😉

February.

I work outdoors and it is usually the coldest, wettest most grim month. The winter excitement has worn off and Spring is still a way off. Those first warming rays of sunshine that start to hint at the change of season appear sometime in March (usually) and give that first lift.

I know it is entirely psychological for me, but to be honest I don’t really care! The added confidence is what I was looking for – after years on SPDs I was happy enough with being able to unclip without thinking about it, but there is always that odd occasion when it goes a bit wrong and doesn’t release (very occasional granted!).

Most the problems I have riding stuff are in my head, anything that helps alleviate those is a good thing 🙂

Bump start. It should be a breeze on a VanVan, the cylinders are teeny!!!

Contrary to the above – not all bikes are easy to do so on! I had enough fun getting a 955 Speed Triple to bump on a not overly long hill… the 1200 Griso involved freewheeling down from the brow of the hill above Little Langdale to the Three Shires and dumping the clutch as I passed.

It only just did it!

The hard part was pushing the bloody thing up the half mile from the ford to the brow of the hill, on a hot day. Took about an hour and I wasn’t going to have a second attempt!!!!

A new battery is only going to be 20 – 30 quid I would think, so you could just replace it and not worry….