There’s not much in the way of proper mountain biking in the Limousin, a couple of hours east is a wonderful spa town and surrounding mountains

Sports and leisure

Why not go all out….(Toyota Deliboy if I’ve cocked up the copy/paste)
http://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=158372&country=uk

If I knew how to post photos, I’d show you the Upso ones, lovely things.
Carradice are obviously best known for their old fashioned canvas kit and I got the panniers when they first dabbled with ‘tarp’ material. Did a 600 mile 8 day trip from Snowdon to Ben Nevis with them in the usual mix of rain, wind, hail, sun, rain, wind……. Totally waterproof and ample space for a weeks kit. I’d happily buy again.
We went to the factory for the Upso and picked what she liked from the rack of dozens of different ones. Worth the trip just to look at the old fashioned clocking on machine (and to buy a local product)

I’ve got the below. They’ve been superb and UK manufactured
https://www.carradice.co.uk/bags/panniers/carradry-rear-panniers-pair

Just before lockdown we went and bought a pair for my Mrs bike…they were made from the vinyl sides of curtain sider lorries so great way of recycling and made to the same standard.

https://upsobags.co.uk/

Not injured but having to self isolate due a cancer op in 9 days so it’s a turbo trainer and an hour every other day to try to stay remotely fit.

Another vote for a Z4 Coupe and can’t believe I didn’t mention them at the start. I had one a few years ago and it felt ‘special’, an occasion to be out driving it. I ran it as a daily for 18 mths.
They look stunning even though the oldest are 14 yrs old (Build dates of 2006-2009) 265hp straight six that sounds glorious. Decent economy and reasonable VED. I had always wanted the M Coupe but simply couldn’t justify the extra purchase cost, annual running costs for performance I’d seldom dip into.
Buy one, run it for 3 years, get your money back.

BMW m140
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202006099951637?radius=1500&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&postcode=bd229ql&model=1%20SERIES&aggregatedTrim=M140i&advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=20000&make=BMW&sort=price-desc&page=2

Keep it a few years and the current high mileage will even out.

Lease a car at £300pcm (plus deposit) and it’s close to £13k over 3 yrs
Buy a 2yr old Civic @ £12k, still has 3 yrs warranty and after 3 yrs it may well be worth £3k..so total cost is £9k.
If it’s simply an appliance, use the car allowance to buy and run a 2nd hand car and save £4k over the 3 years.

They were so near with the GP450 adv bike..if only it hadn’t been so dreadfully unreliable…it was meant to be a real RTW bike but….
These seem to be bought by folk with more money than sense who’ve already got several other bikes in the garage.

I bought a Team Marin rigid in March 1994. It was £1095. I vividly recall riding to work on it one day when a colleague, stood puffing on one of her 20 a day, said
‘How much was that then, looks expensive.’
‘£1100’
‘Bloody hell, that’s a lot’
‘It is, how many fags a day do you smoke Gill ?’
’20’
‘Well, in 12 months, I’ll still have my bike and still be pretty fit, you’ll have spunked £1000 on fags and all you’ll have is smelly hair and clothes and black lungs’

I built one about 15 yrs ago, only 28mm and wished I’d gone wider, but it is still absolutely fine, a good space.
Did you treat the underside of the first layer of timber you put down on the decking? Or raise it slightly off the decking with something treated.
That’s the only thing I could see being an ongoing issue. Rainwater and something akin to capillary action with the grooved deck boards.
(IF it has been considered and sorted, apologies, if not I’d look at how best to do that before putting floor in etc, should be easy to ‘lift’ it all the way round bit by bit to put something under)

I’m sure plenty of people citing mental health on here will be little more than grouchy if they’re off the bike, but you have to wonder at what point measures become so economically impactful that UK deaths from Covid-19 are outstripped by suicides directly related to job loss, bankruptcy and so on.

I’ve been considered this a fair bit today. I suspect most people who aren’t cyclists, look at it as a bit of fun rather than take the view that it is exercise…like them walking or walking the dog.

Healthcare people.

A simple….

Thank you.

You could ring your insurer and your mortgage provider….or ask the internet.

I’d sell the ZZR and look at something like a CRF250 for a mix of road and trail in Spain. Nowadays I really don’t get the need for anything above 100hp (I run a 3 yr old Africa Twin with 94hp, it’s brilliant and being sat up, I never fear getting caught doing 3 figure speeds)

Bollox, I thought there’d be some suggestions….I had a belter as a kid and now need one for real, not just for starting grass fires in the sun

Buyers wouldn’t buy flood prone houses if Developers couldn’t actually build them in the first place because planning was denied.

Presume this chap came up in his chat on DiD?

I was typing as you posted gallowayboy. Thanks for that.

It feels like it needs a whole new approach. Any localised flood defences simply move the issue up or downstream. Wouldn’t it make sense to go left-field, the ‘island’ row of terrace houses in Mytholmroyd opposite the Coop for example…White Houses. Remove them ? Could many of the regularly flooded houses be adapted so the ground floor is effectively a waterproofed ‘cellar’ and develop a lightweight 2nd floor to add extra space. Failing that, linking in with insurance firms and simply demolishing dozens of houses and re-building them to be flood proof.
It all feels like we keep replacing the sticking plaster and never look at the fact that we won’t beat this issue into submission, we need to work with it.
A canal, a road, a river and a railway in a valley in places just 100 feet wide was always going to be a problem (I live over the hill and worked in HB for 10 years 20 yrs ago so know the issues well)

Stupid question time…..I appreciate it might not even assist by 1% but why don’t the ‘authorities’ drastically lower reservoir water levels when heavy rain is pretty much certain?
Around Hebden Bridge are several moorland reservoirs with their respective catchment areas.

I once did the maths for a very cheap to run car (Yaris diesel) over my 95k mile ownership….22p per mile. I reckon a standard run of the mill small car like a newish Focus would be 35-40p per mile. On that basis, the £40 a month for 150 miles is cheap as chips, however if others do 400 miles for the same cost I get that it is unfair. Perhaps refuse to pay it and leave the car at his place of work each day and commute in (and within a month he/she will probably be clammering to pay only £40 for the day to day use?)

I feel for anyone going through this, we did 3 and a bit years ago.

Get a power of attorney sorted now, don’t wait.

Get an assessment done for Attendance Allowance. https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance

£58.70 or £87.65 a week.

As above posts say, look at a few homes. Don’t make appointments, just turn up.

If dealing with the council, be shouty but don’t shout if that makes sense. Know what you’re talking about.
Get a Continuing Healthcare Assessment done. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-continuing-healthcare-checklist
For this you do need to know your rights or ‘they’ will ride roughshod over you. We had it done, knowing that mum would not qualify but it was to hold those in the industry to account and to let them know we had done our homework…it also prompts ongoing checks.
There is loads of info on this website

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My mother had lived alone for 10 years and was lonely for 95% of the time. She simply did not want to go and meet people…lifelong friends etc. We expected big issues in a new environment, especially a care home….but she loves it. Company if she wants it, a bit of safe solitude if not. Our experience of the whole thing has turned out to be a very good one. Yes we won’t get any form of inheritance and it takes some getting my head round the fact that some of mums ‘friends’ in the care home are wealthy and their wealth is safely tucked away in trusts whilst others squandered any money through their lives on fags, booze and ‘life’. Heyho.

Finally, forums are great for venting (and for other peoples experiences to come out) This issue will affect most of us in our lifetime. Get some form of plan in your mind while everything is going well…you tend not to think as straight when it is all going tits up!

Cubic feet x 4 ??? Where does that come from. I’m like the two above, 32kw whereas in reality one 6kw stove does us fine. And we burn about 2m2 each winter. (Well insulated mid terrace)

Having just spent a splendid week motorcycling in this region I am mightily jealous of your bravery to buy and renovate here. We rode past your village on our way towards Ainsa and then Fiscal where we stayed for 3 nights. A definate area I’ll return to this year with the MTB.

I suspect  miss-selling small city car diesels has caused much of this issue. Short journeys, never get properly warm, DPF issues due to this and spewing lots of crap out

Look on youtube for Iohan Gueorguiev

Here’s his first clip. Great music throughout the 20 plus videos he has done. Proper adventure

If you don’t do gnarly stuff don’t waste £200+ on a dropper, waste of cash IMHO.

I’m with Creg, Iohan is an amazing narrator and film-maker/adventurer.

Coincidentally, I had a hanger break on my cross bike on Saturday evening, 10 yards into a 40km night ride and the day before a 60km Keilder ride..both paid in advance for. The first time I’ve had one go in 30 years so I should be thankful; however, carrying a spare would have simply left me with a sorted frame but still with a mangled mech, chain and rear wheel.

Take her to one of the bigger bike shops that has loads of bikes on display. Do it midweek when It’s likely to be quieter and someone can spend time with you. She can sit on a few and decide which position suits her best. Then she can look at saddles. Shorts are an obvious thing but unlike bloke who seem to just get whatever they fancy, if your wife is anything like mine, she’ll be very choosy about fit so again, she needs to find some that fit properly…then buy 3 pairs min. (My wife found some good shorts 15 yrs ago, bought one pair and bemoans the fact year on year!)
Get it all right first time and she is far more likely to stick at it…I think

Great watch. Many thanks for posting to share

I privately run a LWB new transit custom. It’s brilliant. It’s the Limited spec which is really worth going for, best feature are the folding electric mirrors but it’s very well equipped.
I looked at quite a few conversions at a show a year or so ago. Very impressed and for your needs, it’d be perfect. I’d go for the LWB as that little bit of extra space will definately come in handy. Buying wise, as it’s your only vehicle and likely a long term ownership..I’d go pre-regd (We did this and save a fortune for what is a brand new van with 10 miles on the clock)
And driving at the speed limit on A roads sees well over 40mpg.

Keilder ? Way flatter than the Lakes and a lap of the reservoir would be a nice long ride for a little un.

I would suggest the best thing for you to do is what you plan, get up here and have a proper look round. (Budget? pointless settling on Ilkley if you can’t afford to live there)
You’ll find ALL the northern towns and many cities are down at heel (look up at the architecture to get a sense of what they all used to be like) but Bradford, as someone has alluded to, has simply been left behind the likes of Leeds and even Huddersfield. You’ll be fine working there for YAS but run off your feet 24 hours a day.
There’s out of the back door riding from most of the outskirts of the city but I’d suggest Oxenhope, Cullingworth or Wilsden/Harden as being the best of both worlds for you…pretty easy access to Bradford for work but decent villages with shop(s) schools etc

Tortillas to Totems.
Travel book by a guy called Sam Manicom about his travels North from Mexico into the USA and Canada in the late 90s. Met him a few times, really nice unassuming guy and a nice writing style

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I’m with the purist for starters. Drive to work with bike and kit. Leave car at work if you are able and cycle home. The next morning, fresh and with dry kit ride in to work in the knowledge that you can drive home. Do this a few times to get used to 13 mile rides and it’s an easier transition to ride there and back.

You could pretty much put a pin in a map of central France and find great cycling and walking. I’d perhaps look at Mont Dore. http://www.sancy.com/commune/mont-dore
Great walking and likely to be some chairs open if you fancy an express way to the tops.
Weatherwise, yes, it may rain, but more likely to be better weather than the UK. We had cool evenings and mid 20s, in late October last year between Limoges and Mont Dore…for the umpteenth year on the trot.

The Kearton in Thwaite at the top end of Swaledale is well worth a lunch stop.
http://www.keartoncountryhotel.co.uk/
Not much else there but I’d certainly be happy doing a couple of nights at the hotel and moving on somewhere else for a couple.

I’d have said Nokian…so get another set.