Did many holidays in the Vendee when the kids were smaller, generally staying towards the south of the area. Kids were happy body boarding and (for my son) digging holes in the sand, so good for us. Huge beaches north of Les Sables and south of Longeville were favourites. Get there before lunch before the car parks fill up, and it’s fine. After lunch was carnage in peak season.

Road riding was great. We did find some nice mountain biking when we stayed in the Lac de Jaunay area – area round the east side of the lake had some decent singletrack and short, sharp ascents and descents – good for an hour or so.

I have a Fenix 6 Pro, which is the 945 in a more rugged (but heavier) case. I changed from a 935 late last year, and I’m surprised how many of the extra features I use (maps, music etc.).

Do it – it’s an excellent watch

Used them for my Dad’s car. I was totally honest about condition with the online estimate, and the guy at WBAC was very keen to give me the price I’d been quoted. Checked the paintwork with the magnetic thing, checked it started and the money was in the account a couple of days later. The woman in before me didn’t have the same experience, as the magnetic thing picked up some shoddy bodywork that she hadn’t admitted.

Why do you have to pop a top on – can’t you just bare chest the whole thing like a warrior? A lot more aero for the bike than a T-shirt flapping around.

It’s a thought :-)
But sadly against the rules

Get a race belt. It’s a belt that you fasten your number to. Number needs to be on the back for the bike and front for the run. Just spin the belt round in transition.

Forgot about this – ask a triathlete, they’ll likely have a spare. Often given away at races.

I take a hole punch to races – much easier than trying to spear a hole with a pencil

I’d just start off with some tri-shorts rather than a full suit (DHB ones from Wiggle are fine). Cheaper, and you can add on a top if you like the sport. Just pop a cycle top or t-shirt on in T1.

For a sprint, I wouldn’t bother with socks, though I think it’s worth a couple of seconds to dry off your feet before the bike. There’s also a reason why many triathletes use elastic laces in heir running shoes. I forgot how to tie shoelaces in my first tri – lesson learned.

Good luck – it’s a nice friendly sport.

No issues for me (10 years ago now). All female team was slightly off-putting, but plugged my headphones in and zoned out for the duration. Couple of uncomfortable pulls, but running again after a week, and cycling after two weeks. Tightish pants are important. Worst bit was the smell of bacon as they cauterised the tubes :-(
One of the many upsides is that it now takes an awful lot to embarrass me.

My mate on the other hand had a nasty infection and was properly ill a week or so afterwards (collapsed at home with nobody else there). Morale of the story is – don’t do too much, and keep an eye on yourself.

I have several of these around the house. Seem to work well.

4 Way Charger Amazon

Partying with my local tri club this evening
My family and I are healthy and doing well
I have two lovely bikes I thoroughly enjoy riding
We have some nice holidays booked in 2020
Two full weeks off at Christmas

Just been through this with my Dad (who’s 86). If I recall correctly, the solicitor held the paperwork, and it was her that released the Power of Attorney documents to me after a meeting with my parents (and made some certified copies, which were useful).

In terms of access to money, I’ve done exactly what you’re thinking. Dad has access to an account with limited funds. He can’t remember his PIN and has no chequebook, so can do limited damage if defrauded. His cash is in another account that only I have access to. It’s been tough on both of us taking control, but ultimately, it’s what was required for his best interest.

The bank will give you a PoA card and access to online banking if you need to pay bills on his behalf. This has been incredibly useful.

If he needs care, you can look to apply for attendance allowance, which adds some funds to help.

Best of luck, and feel free to reach out for any advice.

Had a “bogey green” Chevette back in the late ’80s. Took me all over the country with (almost) no issues (and almost no maintenance). Rust eventually put paid to it rather than mechanicals.

My new neighbour has a white Chevette with a red top engine and (he says) deliberately rubbish bodywork. Noisy, smokey and awesome.

It was replaced with a mint condition Capri 1600. Slow, wouldn’t go round corners, but great fun. Miss those days.

Not sure I have much to add to the comments above. Just bear in mind that everyone there is on your side, and that it’s normal to cry.

I’ve also realised I’m just down the road from you. Feel free to reach out if you need to get out for a ride soon.

We use a Kickr Snap, i.e. the smart trainer where you keep the wheel on. Fantastic piece of kit, and it takes all of 30 seconds to swap bikes. It’s also half the price of the Kickr.

Edit: I’ve got 11 speed, and she’s got 10 speed, so we would have had to swap cassettes on a Kickr

That is awful news. Thoughts are with his family.

Met him once when I rode a morning of his John O’Groats – Lands End ride with him and his friends. He still raced up the hills and made some very funny jokes about his cancer.

RIP to one of the good ones.

Just been through this (twice!) with wife and student daughter, and ended up with two of these:

Inspriron 13 5000

Small, light, good battery. 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM. I like Dells as they’re pretty generic, and we use them for work. Good workhorses.

Another vote for Roofbox.co.uk
Also snapped a pin on a set of Altera roofbars (no idea how, it came with an allen key set to the correct torque). They apologised profusely and sent a set of more expensive Thule wing bars for the same price (which have a similar pin that’s 2x the diameter compared to the Altera)

Garmin have been good with a couple of issues – advance replacements done before receiving the broken watch back.

Wiggle are also very good. I tried to buy a smart trainer elsewhere over Christmas, and the other company didn’t reply to phone calls, e-mails. I cancelled and bought from Wiggle – here within 2 days.

John Lewis also very good. Feel like they have a stake in the business (which they actually do).

49 donations so far. It’s a slightly disorganised process, and booking (at least round our way) is needed. Mate goes to a permanent city centre clinic where he can book at short notice.

Do it; altruism at its best (and a free retro biscuit)

One more thing.  Just just my own experience, but my wife went through two sets of duff (brand new) Garmin speed sensors.  Switched to Wahoo, and it was solid straight away.  My Garmin stuff is working fine, but I’d probably switch to Wahoo sensors if I was buying today.

I run Zwift with a supported dumb trainer and Garmin speed/cadence/HR sensors, over ANT+.  Looking at your options an ANT+ dongle is probably easiest, but the 4iiii HRM with ANT+ to Bluetooth bridge looks good if you want to just use all your existing sensors.  Massively detailed review here:

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/07/viiiiva-bluetooth-bridge.html

Went into the shop for a saddle for my wife.  Emerged with a carbon road bike.  Happily she was there and saw what a bargain it was :-)

Had one of these in my downstairs loo for ages – it gets daily abuse.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bemis-Chicago-STAY-TIGHT-Toilet/dp/B00ZWKYLLW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541971880&sr=8-1&keywords=bemis%2Btoilet%2Bseats&th=1

Hinges broke after many years, and just bought another one.  Easy to fit, stays in the same place, and inexpensive.

Colleague has a new Disco Sport, and it is indeed in and out of the garage (fuel leak most recently).  He’s seriously thinking about chopping it in for something else.

In the STW tradition of recommending what you have, I’m on my third Hyundai Santa Fe (currently a 2017 model), and not once have any of them failed to start.  Few minor issues, but easily solved.  7 seats, so similar to the Disco Sport.

Top: long sleeved HH base layer.  Sports Pursuit had the mixed synthetic/merino ones a year or two back, plus windstopper layer. Gore Bikewear waterproof if it’s wet.

Bottom: Roubaix tights, or when it gets really cold I have a couple of pairs of tights that are wind/water resistant on the front only (they’re from Canada, so I suspect they know what they’re doing)

Other bits: buff under helmet and around neck.  Pearl Izumi do some great mid-level gloves.  Wool socks and (the essential) waterproof MTB boots

Done me well down to -10C or so

Not Bedoin, but I stayed here for a couple of nights back in May whilst we went up Ventoux.  Right at the base of the Malaucene route, and not bad for the Bedoin route.  Was very pleasant.

http://www.hotel-domainedestilleuls.com/indexa.html

Flew with a couple of cylinders from Manchester to Malaga last year, and Heathrow to Marseilles this year, via Jet2 and BA respectively. Contacted airlines, who were fine in both cases, although BA wanted my booking reference so they could be logged.  In Manchester they were in hand luggage, and picked up and refused by security.  Showed them the OK from Jet2, and the IATA guidelines (and then showed the supervisor), and they were allowed through.  At Heathrow I popped them in the bike box, and declared them at check-in with my e-mail from BA security – no issues.  I did leave the CO2 cylinders with my hosts in Spain and France, my Spanish and French not being good enough to argue the toss.

8 pounds for the cut here in the wilds of Cheshire – always round it up to 10 pounds.  They have a fridge of beer if you want one, and Chuppa Chups if you should want those too.  Nice bunch of chatty people.

I have a G6 sitting on my desk right now as my personal phone.  Alongside it is a Samsung S8, which is my work phone.  The G6 is about 80% as good as the S8, at a fraction of the price.

I looked at the G6 Play when I bought it, but the better camera and spec of the G6 was more important than the better battery of the G6 Play.

G6 is a perfectly fine phone, and pretty much stock Android.

Heard an interview with her on the radio this morning (maybe an excerpt from the Bespoked podcast).  She comes across incredibly well, despite the horrible situation she’s in.  Kudos to her.

Mix of 598 and 591s here on Thule Wingbars.  591s have been great over the years, but recently bought a 598 to go with a carbon road bike (598 has a load limiter).  Also using the Thule Carbon Frame Protector as another layer of protection. The 598 is a little bit better in every way, especially the shape of the clamp.

Tried the Altera bars recently, which despite coming with a torque key to prevent over tightening, I snapped the metal pin that the bars tighten against. Back to Thule – the same metal pin is double the diameter.  Not saying that this’ll happen to everyone; just my tuppence.

They will help you to get all the benefits that you are entitled to.  This is what benefits are for, you are the very person that needs them.

This.  Yes to card signed by us all.  You’re in my thoughts mate

Done.  No idea how you can cope with this.  Best wishes from my family to yours (and well done SoY for setting this up)

A colleague recently had his steering wheel stolen from his company BMW.  He was told that that it’s fairly common; they’re stolen for the airbags.

7 years in here.  No regrets at all.  Running (with tight pants) after 7 days, riding after 14 days.  No long term effects (apart from the no more children thing).  Friend had an infection after his, which was nasty for a while.

Looks like my Dad’s watch (which he still has, so not his) which dates from the mid-1960s.  He’s the original owner, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the original owner lost it.  No idea if Omega keep those kinds of records.

I’d hand it in and if it’s not claimed, you have a nice watch and a clear conscience.

Had delivery of some Atera roofbars today.  Always used Thule, but the footpack for my new car meant it looked awkward to put on and take off.  Atera is less flexible, but it looks great, and comes with a preset torque allen key.  I’m impressed with the quality and how easy they are to install.  German made and cheaper than Thule.

I loved my early 90s Cavalier (the blobby shaped one).  Still one of the quietest cars I’ve driven, but it did start to rust after about 3 years.  Had an old Chevette before that, which should have died from neglect, but carried on for years.

Only recent experience was a new Corsa SRi as a loaner for a month <span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>last year, which was worse in almost every way (bar the radio) that my wife’s Hyundai i20. I do like the look of the new Insignia though.</span>

I use Zwift a fair amount, probably a couple of times a week, squeezed in between work and family stuff.  It’s a really efficient use of time, and I know the better fitness will make the outdoor rides better.  I tend to use the structured workouts rather than “just riding”.

If your FTP is set correctly, the prescribed workouts are hard, but not too hard (if you know what I mean).  I used the turbo about twice a year before Zwift; much more now.  Wife has also invested it Zwift, and she likes it too.

Paid about £2000 a year ago for a straight swap to an Ideal boiler. Included a new remote thermostat, plus magnetic filter thingy. Seems fine after a year – no issues, plus a 7 year warranty I think. Don’t really think about it – it just works.

Edit: 4 bed detached house, 2 bathrooms

Yes, company pays, so had it this morning.

Done it for the past few years, and no ill effects so far. Had proper flu 20 years ago. A week off work, and felt awful for six weeks. No contest in my opinion.

Switched from one phone to two about five years ago, and I much prefer it. Work mobile stays on my desk during evenings and weekends.

Colin is your friend here – top guy and knows the area really well.

Flat Tyres MTB Routes[/url]