Something/anything long sleeved in merino makes a lovely mid-layer for me :)

Strictly Come Dancing

If it’s just for taking the chill off every now and then, and looking nice while on (with side bonus of working if everything else isn’t), I’d recommend what we’ve got – a cheap stove with a bio-ethanol burner plonked inside. Needs no connecting to anything, no additional ventilation/flue/chimney, looks nice, gets properly hot. Downside is the bio-eth isn’t the cheapest thing in the world and even the low-odor stuff does have a slight smell – nothing like a Calor gas fire though, or even as much as a log burner, if it comes to that.

Heinz Sandwich Spread.

I prefer the tuna and sweetcorn version, but it slowly disappeared from everywhere some years ago, so it’s back to the original.

If I fancy a change (every couple of months or so), I go for cheese and pickle, using Lidl’s finest spreading cheese and Branston Small Chunk Pickle. If you use proper slices of cheddar, they fall out and drop pickle all down your tie.

I’ve layered in sleeping bags for years. I have a fairly thin bag, and 2 liners – one soft and thin, one a bit thicker – mix and match as required. For a lot of the time, as I don’t camp in the cold so much any more (and I’ve got a much warmer bag for when I do), I’m in the thinner liner and using the sleeping bag proper as a duvet.
Layering works for clothes – why wouldn’t it work for sleeping bags? Wearing clothes to bed is basically the same thing anyway… but much less comfy, IMO.

I’ve had some time off work recently.

I’ve always been working at the busiest end of my profession, but have always been able to cope with it. But from around Feb this year, it all started getting too much for me. Staff shortages, and I’m supposed to have a second person working with me at my level – but increasingly no cover there either. It came to a head when I went to A&E, appropriately enough for on here to get my shoulder checked after going OTB and coming down hard on it… shoulder was fine, but they didn’t really want to let me go as my BP was 220/180!

At the time, I felt this was mainly from stress at work; my GP didn’t agree that it could cause that increase, but did sign me off for a month as it sounded like I needed it either way. I then researched hypertensive crisis… nothing says it is caused by anxiety/stress, or that it causes anxiety/stress… just that many people who are in hypertensive crisis present with anxiety/stress.

My meds were doubled immediately anand the BP did quickly come back to reasonable, but it took a good 3 weeks before I started to feel like myself again. I did return to work and found that, mostly, I was back to being able to cope.

But in the meantime, just as 13thFM is asking, a job that would (should?) be a step down/back came up, for a bit less salary but much less responsibility. It also offered a greater chance of some additional training that would let me move sideways (although at over 50, i’m a bit worried about going back to Uni!). So I grabbed it, been there about 6 weeks now.

Can’t say I’m thrilled. Not out of the frying pan and into the fire, but starting to look like another frying pan. The last week has been like my old job – the boss was off, little cover, and huge amounts of work as a result. My BP shot back up (I know when it does, I suddenly starting peeing out large quantities of almost pure water) and that feeling of being overwhelmed started to creep back in.

I can recognise it now, and I know it’s less likely to be a constant problem in the new job, but I’ve already decided I’m prepared to move again if I have to, if it does become an issue for my health again, and sod the extra training. I’ve got maybe 15 years or so of work to go; the mortgage is paid off in 7 or 8 months’ time, and I am NOT going to work myself into an early grave for anyone.

13thFM: don’t know if any of that helps you, but it seemed relevant when I started!

Our Scouts went from 18-20 ish before covid, down to 3 (or 4, now – a new one turned up this week).

We had an informal meeting just over a year ago with our “new exec” chair and treasurer… and have heard exactly zero from them since. Area is not much better.

We didn’t run anything over the lockdowns – where some people had a relaxing time on furlough, the other leader and my jobs went into hyperdrive – I barely spent any time awake with my family for the first 3 or 4 months. So that won’t have helped, but certainly doesn’t explain all of it.

My wife works in the third sector, and she says there are reports left right and centre of community groups folding post-covid, as members and organisers have (presumably) found other ways to spend their time.

Keep pushing the word-of-mouth, please, folks about your local groups – it’s usually the best way to keep them going :)

I run 1x on my road bike, an 11 speed 10-42 cassette and I moved down from 42t to 40t on the front this year.
But I live in Wales, and have almost no roads that are flat, or even near flat for very long. So I’m usually in either the top or bottom 2 or 3 gears. Bottom will winch me up just about anything at a comfortable cadence; top spins out about 35mph now which is plenty.The gear range is almost exactly the same as my old touring triple, but so much simpler to use. It also helps that I’m happy riding at quite a wide range of cadence – I only tend to notice if I’m below 80 or above 105.
It would be far less nice if I lived somewhere flat and wanted to fine tune cadence to gentle slopes in either direction, but it works well for me around here.

Video

Every cyclist should watch this very short but extremely demonstrative video. Even though it does now look like it was filmed on a potato.

Let me throw a cat amongst the pigeons – despite having a Kinesis bike, I went for the Portland Design Works guards – very nicely made, can really hug the tyre and keep you properly dry.

What do people run in term of PC to get the highest quality Zwift graphics?

Why bother? It’s a cartoon anyway. For 2 years I’ve been running lowest everything on a very old pc and it still stuttered… but kept me in the “world” as it’s mainly the connect between going up and down on the screen and the smart trainer getting harder and easier that make it “real” for me.

The refurbed pc I’ve just bought (c. £150) has moved me to the heady heights of 1080 and “medium” graphics. I apprepreciate the lack of stutter, but otherwise there’s not any great real difference.

Horrid, messy garage photo:

PXL_20220709_145646877

Saris H3 mounted on a chopped up camping mat to act as a red-neck wobble board.
The new-to-me refurbed PC was just setting up Windows while I took this.
“Smart” plug for fan actually just a switched extension on the side where I can reach it.
2 sets of speakers, little ones for game sounds on the PC, bigger set for streaming Planet Rock from my phone.

It’s going to be less fun this year as the whole garage is a series of leaky bits – roof, walls and floor – and I don’t think I’ll be wanting to run the heaters or dehumidifier this year with the way electricity prices are going. Still, more reason to get out on the MTB instead ;)

Another vote for airgunbbs.

This is the place for anything to do with older or rarer airguns, both discussion and sales/valuations

Has anyone managed to find this on-demand? (I had to go out for a double-birthday do last night)
It’s supposed to be on Paramount+ available from yesterday, but I’ve signed up and can’t find it anywhere…

We bought a house next to a pub. It was fine for a couple of years, then new tenet landlords took over and basically treated it as a 24/7 party.
So there’s some respect for buying a house next to a pub, and there should also be some respect for taking over a pub next to houses.

We considered moving, but they settled down eventually and now have a young family of their own so it’s all fine (tho we never go there as my better half still holds a grudge from being told to “**** off and phone the police if you don’t like it” at 3am by the pissed landlord).

Oh, and there’s been the grand total of one fight outside in 14 years or so.

What sort of budget are you at?

Shedding at £1k or so, some receipts would be nice, check the oil, matching legal tyres is the jackpot.

£2-5k, best buying privately… you’ll have little come back against a dealer at this age/miles of car anyway, and you’ll be able to get a feel for the previous owner and hopefully the unredacted service history. Some keener prices as a lot of sellers will be seeing if they can get a bit more than the part-ex they’ve been offered.

£5-10k, a blend of private and trade for me, and maybe starting to consider paying for the info services like HPI or CV mentioned above. Depends slightly on your attitude to risk and how bad it would be (to your financial position) if the car got taken from you due to outstanding finance or similar.

£10k+, definitely due diligence time. The cost of the checks becomes a small part of the price.

Top tip: watch out for The Struts, and Luke Spiller their front man who is rumoured to be performing with Queen… They are far and away the best British glam rock band you’ve never heard of (tho they’re big in the USA) and Luke is the real deal. Us fans have been desperate for him to get together with Queen since, well, forever :)

Lezyne mini pumps that come with a clip that fits under a bottle cage. HV high volume for the MTB, HP high pressure for the road bike. Completely forget they’re there until you need them.

Annoying little seeds that break up and get stuck in your teeth. Grrrr.
I still get taken out to pick ’em as apparently, being tall, I can “reach the high ones.” More grrrr.

We’ve got one. It was bought as we didn’t want the hassle of a full-on log burner install, or any sort of balanced flue set-up… after all, we’ve got central heating anyway and 3 foot thick stone walls we’d have to install through (and no direct line from the current fireplace to the original chimney that end of the house). So it was bought for decoration and “to take the edge off” as my better half says.

It does a fair bit more than take the edge off, though – it gets bloody hot and that goes through most of the house!

It does smell a bit, but far less than the calor fire it replaced. And probably less than M-in-L’s log burner, too, but not quite so nice and woody, obviously.

I’d say it wouldn’t be cheap to run as a primary heat source – IIRC we buy about £50 worth of low odour and that’s 3 or 4 gallons, but the last order is probably over 2 years ago as it was a mild winter. Each fill of the burner lasts for 2 long sessions – maybe an hour or so each time, until the house is too hot!

It does look pretty – I uploaded a random video some time ago when someone else was asking … ignore the telly noise in the background, please!
Fire, I’ll take you to burn

DMT Aligner is a good piece of kit for sharpening. Not as perfect as some of them out there, but nowhere near the price either!
It will sharpen to hair-popping with little trouble, and the coarse can quite quickly recover a very blunt knife.

@Elbows- I always make sure that everyone knows once I’ve done the rounds! Especially as my girls tend to just drop most of our kitchen knives into bubbly washing up water and walk away…

I was out with a mate earlier in the week. We saw a fair few other riders, and most of them replied to my morning!/alright?/etc… but as I said to my mate, who’s a bit new to riding as exercise+fun, it’s always a reply – no-one else ever seems to be the starter. And I don’t think I’m doing it too far away…

More milk
(I don’t know how to get the youtube links in properly, sorry.)

What other trail centres are there, if any near Afan, say within an hour?

You’d just about get to Brechfa in an hour or just under, although I think the black still has some diversions.

Yep GP5ks every time.

I’ve got the Ortlieb Micro Two saddle pack, in 0.8l size.
It fits my Topeak Alien multitool, a Topeak 5NM little torque wrench, a puncture kit, 2 sets of 2 quick links (one pair Shimano, one pair of SRAM), 2 strong tyre levers, a spare inner tube (700c or 26″, but a 29er is pushing things), some cable ties and a pair of latex gloves. It’s rigid enough that it doesn’t need a strap around the seatpost at all. I also have Lezyne pumps that have clips that mount under my bottle cages, and a waterproof wallet to keep my phone and a spare tenner in which lives in a pocket.

I also have the same bag’s bigger brother – Ortlieb Saddle Bag Two which mounts to the same clip under my saddle, but does have a velcro strap for the seatpost. It’s big enough to drop the other pack straight into, and add a proper waterproof or warm layer plus a few snacks. So good for longer rides.

Having bought both bags, I have 2 clips, so there’s one on each bike and I just have to swap which inner tube is in it.

I’ve also just bought a couple of elastic straps to see if I can carry stuff that way on my 29er more easily – as I say, a spare 29″ tube is really too big for the little pack.

I hate carrying backpacks on my bike and will go to quite some lengths to avoid having to!

I think I might be secretly a little bit American. I like all those videos… and the sound of BomberCamp…

Only changed from a run of Gs to a Pixel as I got annoyed that my previous G had run out of Android updates… and I wanted some functionality from a newer version. Otherwise fantastic. SWMBO also briefly left the Gs for a Huawei, but hated it and dropped it down the toilet once too often… she’s got a G again now :)

Big cheap fan much like the others. Mine’s mounted on the wall above the PC screen and is plugged in to a switchable socket where I can just reach forward from the bars to turn it on (I very rarely turn it off again while still riding!). Puts plenty of air across body and head.

Try
https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/cyclingjerseysunlimited

Gumtree, yesterday :)

But it’s been up for weeks here, Pinkbike, Retrobike and Bike Radar as well without a nibble.

Just advertise widely and wait for that one real buyer that you need.

Slips in the boot and then holds the bike up so I can wash it after each ride.
Leaning it against stuff is a PITA – you can only get to one side at a time, it keeps slipping away from you as the front wheel turns, etc. Leaning it against the car is also an invitation to big scratches on your car.

Also quite handy putting all the bits that I take off when transporting the bike on a car rack back on the bike ready for a ride.

And for just holding a bike for brief work in the garage that doesn’t need getting the full workstand out.

But if you don’t wash your bike down after riding, very little point at all, especially in the folding version.

If you want to get the most money, then selling privately is usually best. But, dear god, dealing with the timewasters and “what’s your best price for cash, mate?”… by all means stick it up on the free places, but all my sales have actually come through Autotrader. I usually pay for “hold ’til sold”, but then my cars tend to be a bit niche and may take a while to find a (real) buyer. Be extra alert to anyone who messages you within seconds of the ad going live, they are pretty much all full-timer chancers.

Quick thread revival to say thanks to those who posted the Stabilus: I have one of the fork-y type stands pictured above but the chunky tyres on my new Big Al meant the prongs didn’t reach the axle any more :(
Tried to knock up my own wooden stand but it didn’t really work (I wouldn’t have been able to make it both stable and foldable to chuck in the car boot very easily), so I’ve just got around to ordering the V2 Stabilus – it arrived this morning and simply appears to do what it says on the box :) Comes with a carry bag, too… which is nice.

First up – Sudafed shouldn’t be taken long term – it causes rebound congestion after a few days – that is, the stuffiness comes back and nothing will shift it. Also raises your blood pressure and will tend to spoil your sleep. Can take a week or more to settle after stopping them once the rebound has kicked in.

As you suffer a bit year round, there’s a fair chance you’ve got a dose of background allergies – such as dust mite (not actually an allergy to the mites, but to their droppings… don’t think about it too hard ;) ). I usually say allergies are like pouring water into a bottle – one type adds some, another some more, and you can go along with no problems until something adds the last few drops that send you overflowing. So we want to reduce how much of each is going into that bottle, so to speak.

One of the keys to getting it under control – particularly hayfever and dust mites – is to make a room that’s pretty allergen free… and it’s best if that’s your bedroom.
Swap to hard surfaces where you can – blinds are better than curtains, laminate better than carpet. Treat the whole room especially any soft furnishings with Actomite or similar to kill the little blighters off. Hoover and boil wash everything you can. Consider a new mattress if it’s getting that way already. Never make your bed up in the morning, it gives them somewhere nice and warm to live… strip it right back if you can and cool them out.
That deals with the mites etc. Next is pollen and others. Keep the door and windows shut as much as possible to keep stuff out. Keep pets out of that room. Buy an ioniser and if you can afford it, a HEPA fan/filter. The ioniser clumps stuff up and then the filter removes it.
And importantly: wash your hair (and the same for your partner if you’re sharing ;) ) before bed. Otherwise you’ll undo all that good work as the pollen comes out of your hair and sits in a little cloud around your face as you move in your sleep at night.

Hopefully if you can follow some/most of this, you’ll keep the level in your allergy bottle low enough that you stop overflowing :)

Otherwise, there are several different steroid sprays available on script so if you didn’t get one that suits you the first time, ask your GP for an alternative. Also, the eyes drain into the nose, so a stuffy nose can actually be due to irritated eyes (whether you know it or not); sodium cromoglycate eye drops can really help (also some of the drug will drain into the nose and have a protective effect there, too, so the exact mode of action is not 100% clear).

Or if you live in Wales, come and talk to your friendly local community pharmacist and we can sort you out for free on the Common Ailments Scheme :)

bridleways in Wales can be ‘in theory’

And there are a lot of mental horsey type women around, so the bridleways that do exist on the ground are often poached to hell and back :(

There was massive damage to all the trails from fallen trees in the January storms. IIRC they had over 150 to clear. It’s not been very long that the blue and green have re-opened and it’s clear that they have been doing a lot of work to them – the first chunk of green ST has been completely re-made, and the blue climb too. Not sure about what’s happening on the black as it’s above my ability/testicles, but I guess they’re doing the same level of work and are not rushing. It may be worth getting on the Brechfa riders facebook group for more info.

Most of the black is closed at the moment. The blue and green are pretty well signed so long as you keep your eyes open a bit. If you also have the trail card, it all makes sense.

Put some 29 x 2.25 tyres on tubeless, it will make it much better and lighter on the rear. I’m running Racing Ralph front & rear.

I do like Schwalbe tyres and I’m happy to end up with 2 sets depending on the time of year, so RRs are definitely on the list (currently running Hans Dampf/Nobby Nic on my other bike over winter/spring).

How you finding the forks?

I set them to the recommended for my weight, then let a few psi out. Not used all the travel yet in the woods, next trip might be to Afan which is a bit lumpier… but on the whole, I’ve not really thought about them which is probably a good sign of them just getting on with the job :)

Only been out once so far, and I’m a long way off fast or experienced. It was much better than the twitchy XC machine I started mtb-ing on and soon found myself leaving the brakes alone far more of the time :) Back end is pretty hyperactive, especially at low/medium (for me) speeds, but I quite enjoy that; it settles down a bit as the pace increases. Gears shift crisply, saddle is comfy, shock just worked… really happy all round at the moment… except the tyres. I’m not a big fan at all, they really felt like they dragged the speed out of it and are probably massive overkill for the green/blue trails I’m (gently) riding anyway, so I think I’ll probably swap them out asap.