I got caught by the Evri parcel scam last year.

In my defence, the text arrived at the exact moment I was genuinely expecting a parcel which was my wife’s birthday present for that very day- so I was surrepticiously clicking through the links on my phone whilst trying to talk to my wife. Even then, I managed to click on the Evri site’s legal terms and conditions link in an attempt to verify it wasn’t a spoof site- sure enough, the page showed up, all present and correct.

Anyway, it was a spoof site and I got scammed. Which I realised when the parcel in question silently arrived about 45mins later through the postbox.

The worst part of it all is I can no longer laugh at people who get conned by dumb scams as I am now one of those people.

Squirt of a water bottle to the face?

Or perhaps this will make him twice as angry, hard to say.

I think its a stretch to expect someone who’s never heard that phrase or its background context to immediately associate it with a specific set of crimes regarding inciting racial hatred in a particular period of rioting in the UK.

I’ve never heard the phrase and this place and Strava is the only social media I use which I assume is the reason why. Unless you count arguing over disc brakes on here or something, I don’t spend my life in a constant social media malestrom.

I might have auto-associated the phrase with someone of a particular mindset who generally thinks the country’s too woke or lefty but not specifically with the crimes referenced up-thread which are very serious in their nature.

As it happens I’d try and avoid the phrase at all costs anyway due to it being totally cringe-inducing but that’s a different matter.

I’ll keep this short as I don’t want to derail the thread but whilst we’re on the subject of naval expeditions, I read a book called The Wager by David Grann recently and it was brilliant.

Anyway, carry on.

I went to Chipping Campden last summer and liked it. There was a couple of pubs and cafes and one at the end of the road (the volunteer inn I think it was called) was quite lively and had the rugby on and I even think there was a low-key stag do in there, but not really sure where they’d been all day.

We did a decent walk to Broadway Tower and back. Had a nice church too and is very olde-worlde picturesque.

Depends what sort of gentleman’s weekend really- I was with my wife in Chipping Campden and liked it for a relaxing weekend but if you wanted to smash it up in a load of pubs it’d be too quiet for that. But a walk and a pint, probs all good.

For those who’ve missed it “Hurty words on Facebook” is the phrase used to describe the comments made on social media inciting violence/arson/riot/murder by those outraged that the posters were jailed for the crimes.

I also have to say that I literally had no idea at all that this had any sort of hidden meaning.

I don’t think its giving up at all and the list of things you mention you will still do in your OP all sound like fun stuff to do that will have a great health benefit anyway.

Like the poster above me ^^ I get most of my “fun” out of following trainerroad plans and picking ad-hoc goals to keep me fit, I still get the benefit of training and keeping fit but there’s no stress if I miss days or whatever. In fact the “event” itself is usually just to act as a carrot/motivation to train and I sometimes find I’m relatively indifferent to the event itself when it comes around.

I’m 43 and don’t have kids and fitting in training and work (tbf I also study) in together is super-hard, I have no idea how people with kids manage to fit it all in tbh, its no surprise that its all a bit much to keep up.

Serious answer, I think in many cases this stuff gives some people a sense of belonging and purpose that they do not otherwise have in their lives.

I sometimes just give a thumbs down which seems less escalatory and occasionally if I’ve gotten into a bickering match asked them if they’re a nervous driver as if so, dealing with cyclists on the road could be stressful and they’ll learn to get better in time (said in a completely genuine manner)

When I had it recently I tried to give it a week before exercising properly but think I did some zone2 spinning on the turbo trainer a couple of days after and kept an eye on my heart rate in case anything weird happened.

I think its tricky to apply any set rules other than if you feel OK try some light exercise and see what happens.

If you have the time to gradually ramp up the intensity over a period of days then that is clearly preferable but both times I’ve had it, I had some major event planned literally ten days after which is not ideal really.

Nice, thanks for the heads up

Pleased for your mate and hope he enjoys it, though I am also not keen on that stem.

I’ve mulled similar things over in the past but decided a while ago that anything slightly bespoke, super expensive or emotionally valuable to me will probably stress me out more than it would relax me- I already obsess about damage, theft, wear and tear too much on my off-the-peg and completely average carbon Giant TCR. I don’t think I could relax for a minute riding around on a bike like that in OP.

Yeah I was congratulated yesterday for “pushing myself to the limit” on my 60k road ride. In fact I spent the whole 2hrs cruising round flat lanes chatting to my mate. But, I have had time off due to illness lately so if it was comparing yesterday’s effort to the last few weeks, I guess it may have seemed like a big one.

I’m not necessarily against it in principle- Trainerroad uses AI in its coaching more and more and seems to work pretty well.

I guess the Strava AI could get a lot better in time, the more people use it? Maybe its too early to judge, IMO.

I thought this was normal and yes at the seller’s expense if you can’t provide recent records.

You can just say no, though. Up to them how much they care- I guess they could reduce their offer by 1k or something on the basis they think they may have to spend money on a faulty gas/electric system when they move in and have no reassurance to the contrary.

Surely not a deal breaker but could be more admin to avoid it then just doing it IMO.

Thanks for the warning. I don’t commute on the FLoop but use it occasionally when riding.

I live in South Manchester and its not uncommon now to see lads with their faces covered riding around 3-up on scooters/peds/whatever and its obvious what they’re up to.

Shit state of affairs.

I definitely get something out of having a laugh with my mates in the pub over a few pints- clearly not a physical benefit but a social or wellbeing sort of benefit or whatever you want to call it. I meet the same guys (or variations thereof) for other social events that don’t include alcohol, like cycling or walking or whatever and they’re great too, but we’d still look to meet up for some beers once in a while.

I’d estimate I drink slightly too much but not loads. My general diet is average but not perfect so if I was minded to, I could probably make equally positive (but different) changes to my health by eating less puddings or cheese or steaks or whatever as cutting out a few of pints a week.

I think a more interesting question (to me, anyway – the reason I clicked into this thread) is alcohol’s effect on your sporting performance. Obviously, get battered to the point that you’re hanging out your arse, your sporting performance will probably suffer.

I often wonder this. Historically I’ve been equally enthusiastic in partying as I have been in exercising- though I’m 44 now so drink a lot less, but still go out a fair bit. Previously it would be fairly common for me to perhaps do some V02 max intervals on a turbo trainer and then if may mates were in the pub I’d go and spend the night in the pub. Whereas now I’d just choose one or the other.

So my question is, I wonder to what *extent* alcohol effects performance- we all know that zero alcohol is better from a purely physiological perspective but in the example above I don’t believe the night in the pub totally negates the benefits of an intense session on the turbo trainer. But I do wonder (if it were quantifiable) how much less effective that session is due to the beers.

I can usually finish in the top 20-25% of a trail or fell race and many of them were done with a mild hangover- I honestly don’t think I’d ever have finished a single place higher if I’d have stayed sober the previous night, in any of them. I even kind of think the same would apply if I had a pretty serious hangover (i.e. I really think I’d have placed exactly the same in the race) but I’ve never tried it to that extent.

I have mine in an upstairs spare room and was really worried the paint would be peeling off or something but its fine tbh.

Having said that, it has a huge window at the end that opens, plus a vent you can open in the wall (for some reason) and I always keep the door ajar with the bathroom window open too (which is across the landing) so the air can flow through and out.

I promise I am working quite hard on the trainer and do a fair few Vo2 max sessions etc.

Edit to say this is with one of those Vacmaster fans.

As others have said, if its unregistered land (I think something like 20% of england and wales is still unregistered) then Land Registry won’t have them and the OP will need to find them himself but yes they could be with the building society if there’s a mortgage.

I only road ride these days, but literally never in my entire life.

I don’t take a breaker with me for this reason. I am quite diligent about checking for wear and replace them quite conservatively so really the only hazard should be if I get a faulty one I suppose.

Oh man, gutted to hear that, so sad. Saw her DJing last August at Wilderness Festival and numerous times with Crazy P too, also remember saying hello to her once or twice at Electric Chair in Manchester back in the day.

I really liked Milan. The Navigli district which is just outside the city centre is really nice and well worth a visit.

I know this thread is going to go a different way now, but just for the record, I personally was actually interested in how much weight Victoria Pendleton could squat

Not quite the sane thing but I’m 44 and currently studying law part time which has meant a 2 year GDL course and now a further 2(ish) years CILEx course.

I didn’t try super hard at school and scraped through but, who’d have thought, now I actually put some effort in and try my best it is quite easy to do well at these things it turns out.

If only  my 16 year old self had felt the same!

I’ll always have a soft spot for Oasis as they were the first band I was properly into and be part of a scene etc. Fair to say anything they did after 1996 was pretty average though.

It feels like they never really went away to me as I’ve seen both Liam and Noel do Oasis tracks at various festivals, charity gigs etc over the years.

I don’t think I can be bothered going but I do hope they smash it and do a proper job of it for everyone who gets a ticket.

I live down the road from where their mum, Peggy, still lives in Burnage (I recall Noel once saying he offered to buy her a huge house somewhere but she didn’t want to move) and still occasionally see people doing the Oasis tour where they get bussed past her house and Sifters Records (also still there) and all the rest of it. I would say its probably a different place now compared to when they grew up but I’m not sure if that part of Burnage is all that different to be honest.

Back when I used to do a lot of that sort of thing, a guy who was pals with my mate was a tree surgeon. I remember a couple of times we’d have been up all night partying and then come 6am just as we were sat in someone’s front room contemplating the day ahead with the light coming in, he’d get up and announce he was off to go to work.

“This is going to turn into a shitshow and we don’t have time to police it”

For every single one, I presume.

Kingsway Cabs have never let me down:

http://www.kingswaytaxis.co.uk

0161 442 0642

The A6 is generally OK south of Hazel Grove and any of it is fine at 6 or 7am on a weekend.

Some A-Roads look off-putting but if they’re wide and have clear lines of sight then actually not so bad (though the A6 itself doesn’t really have these).

In any event, I doubt any roadie plots an out and back route for 30miles down the A6?

They surely either live somewhere near it or more likely are on it for a few minutes as a shortcut to somewhere better- unless you literally follow them the whole way in your car, how would you ever know.

A Raleigh Lizard so no, but I would definitely take the paint-scheme

For me its a real shame that Zwift’s training functionality is so poor as if it was even just halfway as good as say Trainerroad or some of the others I would for sure opt for Zwift as my one-stop platform for virtual racing and training and there would be no contest.

It sounds nuts but half the reason I use Trainerroad is purely because of their calendar functionality which I find really intuitive and helpful when planning my weeks.

I think Trainerday is the closest cheapest alternative to Trainerroad. I’ve never used it but heard it is decent.

trainerday.com/

Off the top of my head there’s also JOIN and I think My Whoosh might even be free but is funded by Saudi oil money so maybe put your virtual hard-hat on before admitting using it to anyone on social media. I think there’s also one called Athletica AI but I have no knowledge of what it’s like at all.

I didn’t realise TR was going up in price. I’ll probably stick with it but I ditched Zwift when they upped it even though I really like the racing on it.

Flat 90k road ride in Cheshire with a mate early tomorrow. Think this is the least amount of hills I’ve ridden by June in any year since I started cycling 😯

I’m gonna stick my neck out here and suggest the situation described in the article was pretty crap for all involved and serving the punters was the only pragmatic course of action.

If you’re working a bar for a relatively low wage, ejecting 10,15,20 guys, whatever it is,  because you don’t like their politics is a big ask- especially if they are at that particular moment doing nothing except sitting having a drink.

Serving them and waiting for them to move on is often the only practical solution. Anyone who’s worked in a bar solo will know the feeling.

Its crap for everyone but let’s be honest- challenging them and asking them to leave could easily have ended in a trashed bar, assaults, injuries or worse.

Let’s be real. It’s easy to have principles when you’re not the one being asked to single handedly confront and eject a bunch of EDL guys for a minimum wage bar job.

Yeah its a bit like complaining that BBC Sport are covering the World Cup.

I’m not a huge Glastonbury fanboy and whilst some people can come across as a bit over-emotionally invested in it, I think its cool that we can have a national cultural event like this, once a year in the Summer.

Yeah exactly, I agree tbf.

Even if the farmer is sick of repeat offenders or whatever, he could surely just put a sign up- there’s not one visible at the entrance and we get a pretty good look in the video.

Legally, “Assault” is putting somebody in fear of immediate unlawful force (regardless if it happen or not) and “Battery” is using unlawful force against somebody. Though literally nobody, including the police and the media use the legal definitions very much and simply use the terms as they are commonly understood.

Naturally, it is common that the two come together quite a lot, so most time(s) people are a victim of Assault+Battery (or Assault + a more serious offence)

Meaning, for sure the offence in the video could qualify for both- ditto for deliberately or recklessly splashing people with puddles in your car.

In fact, I recall that under the Offences against the Persons Act, deliberately or recklessly infecting someone with a disease equally counts as an offence, though more of a grey area. ABH is “some harm more than trivial” and doesn’t have to be permanent so if the victim in the video were to be infected with a more than trivial disease of some sort as a result of the sh*t-spray, then I think hypothetically in some scenarios the farmer could even be guilty of ABH.

The cyclist is trespassing (we presume) but that’s a civil offence so not sure how much mitigation it would offer the farmer.

I’m not sure if you were looking for more of a philosophical answer but my trainerroad plan occasionally prescribes zone 2 (easy) rides which I do outside and I use a heart rate monitor to ensure that I am indeed keeping the effort at a low (conversational) pace.

The weird thing is if I do say 2hrs like that at first it seems almost ludicrously slow when I start off, but by the time I’ve done 90mins of it the thought of suddenly upping the pace seems really unpleasant, but that could just be me.

I’m not sure about Garmin (and I might be wrong about this) but I think the Strava weekly effort compares you to the previous couple of weeks, if that, and doesn’t reflect on anything else. So, if you taper before an event and then do some big days it thinks you’ve gone crazy when really you just rested and then did some efforts.

“They probably think food grows on a plant or something.”

This did strike me as an odd thing for a farmer to say. But then there’s a lot to unpack in that article really.