Interesting, Ive never known it closed before, but I can see how it might be prudent. No matter we will bimble on for a an hour or so and stop at an alternative.

To qualify this, I’ve only taken the autoroute towards Dunkirk/Belgium (regular trips to Brussels/Netherlands), and the first couple of Aires in that direction were closed. No idea about the other routes.

We were planning on stopping at the Aire in Calais for the night

Last few times I’ve been across, all the Aires near Calais have been closed (for obvious reasons).

And tunnel. So much simpler (and cool for the kids – “I’m driving inside a train!”)

Does the 220 allow you to upload workouts?

It does – I upload intervals and tempo runs onto mine. I really like it, but am tempted by the new 225 with integrated optical heart rate monitoring.

Running event yesterday. £19.95 for one image; seemed a little pricey…

On the flip side, I was at CyB a couple of years ago when my boy was about 10 years old, and the last hill is common to a few trails, including the new blue.

He overtook a couple of riders ambling up the hill, who pretended to be struggling. It made his day :-)

Well done Paul. Admitting it is winning the battle. Round of applause for Paul everyone

Many thanks. I can now move on… :-)

I take the bag off to put the bike(s) in the stand for cleaning and lubing. The clip-on/off ones are less of a faff. Just my tuppence.

My name is Paul, and I’m a saddlebag user (the shame) :oops:

I’ve got the strap-on version (ahem) on my cross bike, and the clip on version on my road bike. I much prefer the clip-on version FWIW.

Tools, CO2, tube, patches, bit of cash all fit.

I just replaced my M540 SPD pedals as the bearings were getting a little wobbly. 8 years of hard use for 26 pounds, outrageous!

:-)

(I know I could probably service them, but for the money it’s not worth it. In the spares box for now)

Easton bars – road and MTB
Shimano pedals – all bikes
Shimano groupsets – all bikes, including disc brakes on MTBs
Gore waterproofs
SDG saddles – all bikes
Specialized BG gloves

Everything else is a bit mix and (mis)match

Also on Squirt here, seems good for the sub-2 hour rides I do. Keeps the drivetrain nice and tidy.

Just don’t google Squirt….

Not my experience with my cheap Decathlon track pump. Easy up to 120psi

Have you both conspired to have all the gear and no eyed deer on the same thread?!?

Brilliant :-)

If it’s just a length of tubing you need drop us an email with your delivery address and I’ll pop you one in our next mail run:

I have a couple of the Epic bleed kits, which work well for my Shimano brakes. Nice gesture above.

It’s improved a huge amount since the 80s and 90s. Lots of new investment and a few restaurants, coffee places, ice cream shops etc.

Completely traffic free all the way from Seacombe Ferry to the Floral Pavilion (theatre) with some nice architecture and great views of Liverpool. Bike path across the top of the Wirral as well as an extension.

So if you want a nice flat, safe space for younger kids, with access to ice cream, I’d say it’s worth it.

Been to Ireland many times, and never used a GB plate, though my number plate is an EU plate with the GB symbol. Never seen any anti-UK sentiment in all the years. I am Welsh though, so a fellow Celt.
Just make sure your insurance and breakdown covers foreign use (not just the default third party cover).
Back in the early 90s we went to a wedding in Belfast – height of the troubles. Almost no-one from the mainland turned up apart from my friend’s immediate family (and us). Had a great time, and didn’t pay for a meal or drink all weekend. When we checked-out of the B&B, someone had paid the bill already (still no idea who).

My oldest brother’s mate had a mk1 Fiat Uno turbo when I was a kid. To this day, I have not come close to the fear associated with being a passenger in that loonbucket…

My brother had one. Going rather fast in a car with the structural integrity of a coke can gave a new dimension to fear….

I’ve just got myself (and the boy) an Xperia Z1 compact. The Z3 compact just seemed a bit big, and the full sized ones waaaay too big.

So far, I’m pretty impressed. Pretty fast and battery life seems good. I’m coming from Windows phones and Blackberries, so this is my first Android phone. I’m resisting the temptation to run it under the tap “just to see” if it’s waterproof. If you don’t want to open the covers to charge it, you can buy a dock, which connects to pins on the side. Well worth it in my opinion. Popped a 64GB card in the side, so should have enough memory for a while…

Camera seems OK as well
Piccie

Wife has an Xperia M2, which is bigger and seems very nice for a budget phone. Not water resistant though.

Just installed Lollipop on my Z1 Compact. Worked fine (though it’s only a week old and and didn’t have much rubbish on it).

Seems good, and I’m used to Lollipop from my tablet, so I was swiping in some of the wrong places on my phone.

Happy overall.

UKIP and inconsiderate people in general. Being British used to mean making things a little bit better for everyone. This seems to be on the wane…

Should we ban cars because I saw a driver run a red light this morning?? Of course not, that would be stupid.

Thanks wysiwyg – good advice.

wysiwig, do you also do Nexus 7 screens? 1st generation if that makes any difference?

This was my favourite bit of the original Runners World article.

“If we ignore the health benefits of running, does running have any health benefits?”

They adjusted the results between runners and non-runners for BMI, cholesterol, blood pressure etc. Er…

I’m on about my fifth big toe nail in 10 years, due to a “trip over a child’s toy” injury, plus a lot of running.

Yes, they do grow back (at least for me).

Hmmm…

In the car I have a cross from the local church and an evil eye from Turkey. Both given to me. I like to cover all the bases, just in case there really is a God, whatever variety.

Nothing on the bike.

I Squirt all year round

Has the gripping arm on your 591 ever caused any damage/marks at all to the frame at the point of being gripped?

Yes, not much paint left. It’s an old aluminium frame though

Used an eTrex Vista for a few years with OpenMTBMaps, which works pretty well.

If you’re travelling elsewhere, workwide maps are available here Wiki

I’m considering getting an eTrex 30 – mainly because each eTrex Vista route is limited to 250 points (I think). I use BikeHike to reduce the points down to <250 BikeHike

I blame them modern, water efficient toilets.

I’ve now banned my teenage son from using the upstairs modern loo in favour of the downstairs old fashioned loo whenever he’s been eating vegetarian food.

Was driving yesterday (sorry, but I am extraordinarily considerate with people on bikes), and an oncoming car was drifting towards my side of the road. Put brakes on to reduce the collision speed.

He then looked up from his phone long enough to pull back in. Idiot…

As with most professions, I suspect there are good, bad and indifferent physios.

When I had neck issues, the physio just looked at me and said “do you carry a bag over one shoulder”. A few sessions later, and with doing the exercises, I was cured.

With my recent knee issues, one physio was a bit ineffectual, but the most recent one knew exactly what he was doing, told me what exercises to do, and after three sessions I was back running. He was recommended by the knee doctor I saw after the MRI scan.

Might try this in the summer. Just need to measure the height of the car with bikes on the roof first.

Oddly, I ran past a house on Saturday with four 2CVs in various states of repair. Took me back a few years to when one of my colleagues had one. Push started that one many times.

I looked at this a year or so ago, and bought the Forerunner 220 (before the new Polar came out). After an initial glitch where the watch failed (and was replaced under warranty by Wiggle), it’s been great. He could easily a a heart rate chest or wrist strap in future.

No problem to record rides, you just need to change the activity type in Garmin Connect after it’s uploaded.

Normally only do 1-2 hour circuits from home, so never far from civilisation.
In the seat pack:
Tube
CO2 cannister x2
Patches
Multitool with chain splitter
Chain links
Tyre levers
Fiver

In jersey pocket:
Pertex jacket (if there’s a danger of rain)
Phone

Best of luck Keith, and great comment on the bone marrow transplant procedure.

Coincidentally, I’m just off to give blood now, and am already on the register.

Had a tour of the factory many years ago when both Rolls Royce and Bentley were made in Crewe (and were similar cars). Were taken for an “enthusiastic” drive afterwards by one of the Mulliner people. Bentley Turbo R I think – one of the turbocharged 6.75 litre cars. Beautiful to be driven in, and extremely quick. Like being thrown forwards at high speed in a padded leather glove.

Some friends had a Bentley Mulsanne Turbo when they first came out (long time ago). They did complain somewhat about the reliability.

I’ve got a 220, and it’s my most used bit of kit. Really good watch.

Had two Islabikes. Mate currently has two Frogs, which seem very good.

Both good, not sure you could go wrong with either really. When my kids were younger, all the other kids on the campsites would abandon their heavy suspension bikes and want to ride the Islabikes, because “they’re really fast”.

fwiw windows phones have Nokia maps which you can run offline and download any maps you like

I have a Windows phone, and you can indeed run the Here sat nav application offline, and download whatever country you want before you go. It’s pretty good.

Here has also become available for free for my Android tablet, which is nice. No compromise as far as I can see.

Navfree is OK, but nowhere near as good as Here.

Having said all that, I prefer my Garmin sat nav in the car, mainly because of the easy mounting (have it on a mount fitted on the dash rather than a suction cup).

MTB 2006
Road 2003
Hybrid 2011

MTB doesn’t have many (any) original parts left apart from the frame.
Road bike (with Ultegra) still has original shifters, derailleurs and brakes – still work well