Excellent, looks perfectly hand-bikable. Thanks all.

On a handbike they point up, but as @sirromj says, it’s a front mech on a front wheel drive.

Just pinged them a message TJ, as a disabled rider myself it would be good to help others enjoy getting out.

Hey chvck, fellow mountain biking MSer here. Diagnosed in 2012 as well. How is the MS impacting your riding these days? I’m still riding but rides are short and e-assited and starting off can be a wobbly affair (with too many comedy falls), I can ride better than I can walk though and often use a wheelchair to get about. Been experimenting with handbikes and recumbant trikes but still prefer two wheels.

If anyone is heading to the Dukes Weekender cheer me on as I will be doing it on a handbike this year :)

Blimey, this reminded me I have a copy of the DKs album frankenchrist with the original poster of gigers Penis Landscape. I do wonder what my mind mum thought of that on her teenage kids bedroom wall 🤣

Looks interesting. Smart TRV which learns room occupation patterns. Be interesting to see how well it actually works. No app so just pop on the valve onto radiators.

radbot 1

I really enjoy cooking, I find the whole process quite therapeutic. House is full of recipe/cookery books and can I can sometimes be found reading recipe books as bedtime reading looking for inspiration. I cook a huge variety of things and also enjoy experimenting (it doesn’t always go well). Mushroom kofta curry tonight, it was lush :)

Nice video. Really struck a chord with my own love of cycling and difficulty walking.

Our smart meter can’t connect to the gas meter so whilst I can see the cost of a electric shower, as the bath cost doesn’t show surely that means it was free?

The police response is great. Brought a wee smile to my face :)

I feel for anyone who has been moving to a supposedly ‘safer’ higher bonds/gilts component moving to retirement as they have been hammered!

I think I will be lighting the fire this evening for the first time and heating will be on from now, just need to figure out a more austere heating programme :)

I regularly have to recalibrate my expectations of what I can do, driven by I’ll health rather than age (although I am older than you). The ‘sort your head out’ approach is certainly the best for me. I was never better than a mediocre rider but I rode a lot and did a lot of big epic rides. That’s all beyond me now and my riding is e-bike assisted and generally involves taking a book and a flask of tea to somewhere with a nice view to take in. I also started new things, weight training and climbing are new to me and all done around my physical limitations (and less looking back at the old me). But enjoying them is about recalibration of expectations and realising I can still enjoy stuff, just not pushing myself at the same level as I could before.

If you are thinking of the old MT90/91 then the modern version is the XM9 boot, or XM7 for a shoe.

Medjool dates stuffed with almond butter and microwaved for 10s ish to warm. Just the prefect balanced of fat and sugar.

I love the fact it has a 4 stroke engine. Can’t be many battery packs with that feature.

@ernielynch I hadn’t thought of that, I may some out thinking the country isn’t a major shit show after all!

We have a cosori one, I was sceptical but now another convert. Just made myself some roast carrot, sweet potato and celeriac soup for lunch, roasting the veg in it. Makes way more sense for roasting small batches than using the main oven. Usually get great results from it.

Thanks for the heads up. Just got myself tickets to ‘dreammachine’ which looks like a fascinating art/human perception project.

mick_r, some manufacturers use a direct drive coupled with a large multi-pole generator to eliminate the gearbox. See link for Enercons offering: https://www.enercon.de/en/technology/#showVideo

If you like Jupiter Artland have you been to Little Sparta? At Dunsyre, not far from Edinburgh and a fantastic place. I’m currently at the Jupiter Rising festival, love the place :)

I have one. Was reluctant to get as it looked a BSO but didn’t want to spend much as it was a bit of a leap of faith if we would get on with a tandem. It’s been great. We don’t do great miles on it and probably ride mostly ‘gravel’ on it. Just did an out and back up glen tilt to falls of tarf last week. Only things I have changed are the rear mech and cassette to get better shifting and gear range, new tyres for something a bit better offroad and proper saddles to replace the stock ones. Also now electric and conversion is also pretty flawless.

And they will customise the box they come in for an extra €20, bargain. (Although the box customisation is more than I normally pay for pads so I’m clearly not the target market!).

Im an mser, diagnosed with PPMS (the shitty end of the MS stick) eight years ago. Im still mountain biking, just got in from a night at the climbing wall and still fairly active within my limits. Its not a bed of roses though and disease progression means I regularly have to recalibrate what my normal is, which is a bit of a grieving process to go through as you adapt to change. I would say its that acceptance of change process which is key.

Yes you need to plug into the computer. Worth having Calibre as a library management tool if she reads a lot anyway.

If you download from overdrive, then use calibre to convert to azw3 and you can use with a kindle. Its a pretty seamless operation. You may need a plug in for calibre to strip the drm.

I was involved in a street brawl where I got hit over the head with a pick shaft. Lucky I wasn’t seriously injured/brain damaged/killed. I looked pretty horrific in A&E though as I was covered head to toe in blood. Still have a lovely scar on my head.

The nearby house a few of my mates stayed in had a bit of a reputation for regular ambulance visits, best I remember was having had a few sherries I woke up on the sofa with the walls covered in blood, like a horror movie, turned out two of the guys had a ‘pretend’ sword fight, although the blood wasn’t from the swords but one of them fell through a glass door and was cut up really badly, amazing I slept through all the shouts and screams and the ambulance turning up yet again.

LooK’s good, enjoy it!

No idea about the bike but what handcycle attachment did you go for? Thinking about one myself but have no idea whats good.

I have converted our tandem with a Bafang BPM front hub motor. Works just fine, but not as nice as a torque sensing mid drive.

My first trip to hospital from crashing a bike riding off road was 39 years ago when I ruptured my spleen. Thus began a long and generally incompetent love of exploring the hills on two wheels. Probably didnt get a real mountain bike till 91 though and made do with bodged together bikes made from whatever we could get our hands on before then.

I’d be up for it. Also pretty hopeless at chess.

See if there is a charity book bank locally. British heart foundation have them.

Blimey, that’s a blast from the past. I was on that ride with Stuart, you can see my back in a few of the pics :) That was the last time I rode it so no recent info, but it is a great day out with a pretty brutal hike a bike to the bealach. If you like rides with a fair portion of taking your bike for a walk then it’s ideal.

Anyway, thanks for the trip down memory lane :)

If your in Balerno then perhaps Fietsclub Balerno would be a good bet?

I have a Humanscale float, the counterbalance mechanism works really well and makes height adjustment effortless. I would recommend it.

I have an e-tandem conversion with a Bafang BPM hub motor, fitted about a year and a half ago and been good so far. Not as good as my shimano mid drive mtb but still does the job. I’d recommend it.

Clova to Prosen on the Ministers path and back on the Kilbo Path. Awesome day in the hills.

A couple of awesome rides turning easy local loops into a great adventure :)

High winds, drifting snow and not a lot of visibility made riding along Harlaw road a little difficult:-

Things were much nicer lower down:-

Still tough going in the trees:-

Oh me too!!

Keeping my elderly neighbours drive clear (even though she doesn’t have a car) so her carer could get in, been checking in regularly and cooking her hot lunch/dinner every day.

Carer also rocked up in a land rover in the worst of the snow on the first day (awesome people who don’t get recognised for the service they provide).

Feeling good (and clearly needing to virtue signal on here along with JT).