Thanks guys, really useful info.

The faff factor involved in taking my bike puts me off, notwithstanding that my friend currently doesn’t have an MTB so we’ll have to hire anyway. The flights were cheap and the accommodation will be pretty cheap (though I’ll certainly be offering to pay) so happy to splurge a bit on bikes.

Getting a bi excited now :)

You’ve just added an absolute bonus ball to the mix Binners!

They were a birthday present as live comedy is my entertainment of choice. Having seen a fair bit, he really is very good. You can tell he puts a great deal of effort into crafting his performances.

Can’t even give them away it seems!

*Bump* for the afternoon crew.

After going hell for leather the last three years and racking up 2 broken wrists, 2 dislocated shoulders and a scare over a suspected ruptured spleen i think I’ve finally got ‘the fear’.

I was up at Gisburn on my own yesterday for the first time in a while. Has the qualifier drop off for hully gully always been that high? I never even used to blink at it, but taking all risks into consideration (and knowing that I could safely ride the trail itself) I went round it. Am i now a wuss? Will i ever recover my indifference to my personal safety!?

Calories

There are 4 calories per gram of protein and carb and 9 calories per gram of fat. I’m not saying one food group is better than the other, they’re just the facts.

Use MyFitnessPal. Work out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and cut 200 cals. Try that for a month, if you don’t see any results then cut another 100. As an indicator as a 6ft, 12.5 st, 31 year old male in a sedentary job my TDEE is 2200.

You really can’t out-exercise a bad diet (you’ve only got to spend an age grinding away on a treadmill before seeing all your work reversed with a single kitkat to know that) so concentrate on the diet.

Thanks Bob. I assume it’s an all day thing on Saturday? Any change of riding the route after everyone is finished?

Thanks chaps.

If it’s the more recent designs of floats self contained in a vertical tube type arrangement, then it’s more tricky and usually means a seals gone or there’s some grot stuck under a seal.

I’m afraid this is the case (there is a vertical plastic housing).

Thanks chaps.

If it’s the more recent designs of floats self contained in a vertical tube type arrangement, then it’s more tricky and usually means a seals gone or there’s some grot stuck under a seal.

I’m afraid this is the case (there is a vertical plastic housing).

Disdain.

Ah, the ‘ol ‘coaster in the calendar’

I heard ‘It’s like trying to heard geckos’ the other day.

A nice variation if nothing else.

‘Re-inventing’ seems to be à la mode right now. Is it just me or is it a self-contained paradox? You either invent something (i.e. create something new) or adapt something. How can you re-invent something?

Terrible news, far, far too young. Thoughts with friends and family.

@jemima – that looks just the ticket!

The overwhelming choice is the problem – i didn’t know where to start!

Ah just googled it. I really like Tim Key so will to check that out.

We’ve done some touring in the past, so have lightweight tent etc. Really, just hoping for recommendations on location?

Is that like a 18-30s travel program for “stags”, cause that really is not the vibe we’re going for…

Apologies for the re-post.

They’re already looking at new properties away from NI.

Doesn’t mean their funds don’t fold, or turn a profit. One of the VCs who invested in the Company I work for, had their Tech fund fold completely and wiped out all the investors. The fund management company is still going as are their other funds

VCs are not the same as a VCT. VCTs are unlikely to have individual ‘funds’ they can fold. Out of interest, what was the name of the fund?

The vast majority of money raised for VCTs has very little to do with VCs despite the government’s best efforts.

Quite.

Very high risk, funds do fold and the investors lose everything

Most of the good VCTs – Puma, Northern, Downing etc have been going for donkeys.

I looked at VTCs a while back, the up front tax relief (30%?) sure is tempting… however this is usually surreptitiously bled off via a complex + usurious fee structure during the time you’re locked into the investment (5 years?), after which you’re left with an illiquid investment trading at a big discount to it’s dodgilly-calculated NAV.

There are only one or two VCT managers worth bothering with, and they’ve not been fund-raising for a while. So draw your own conclusions about VCTs!

Fair point, I’d probably agree (though most of the funds will do buy backs IIRC). Having done some more reading, I’d wait for the new rules affecting VCT’s to flush through

You’re swinging in the dark investing in the stock market IMO.

If any VCT’s are raising at the mo I’d lump in with them. Tax relief on investment (reducing you’re income by the amount invested), and interest free dividend income (up to 9% by some managers) and no CGT on disposal. Downside is there is very little free float, but if you don’t need immediate access it’s not really a problem.

If you’re feeling a little bit more adventurous maybe have a look at EIS or SEIS, or even social investment(SITRs). You can have a blended portfolio, or if you really like the look of one, lump it all in.

The other option I quite like the look of at the mo is lending platforms. Most good ones have an insurance policy against default, and come April rumour has it that they will be eligible for an ISA wrapper.

Isn’t it all a bunch of arse because all they’re doing is rebranding the minimum wage as the living wage?

I think it’s going up as well. All this will mean is big companies cutting jobs to hit their budgeted salary numbers – expect to see a lot more ‘self checkouts’ across all retail stores…

I would also vote b)

Best. Thread. Ever.

Not that I’m a mortgage expert, but the Chartered Accountant in me would say you always pay off the higher interest loan first. It’s on that basis that I never paid off my student loan quicker as any excess funds went to settling overdrafts / mortgages which attracted higher interest rates.

Just got a pic, the apartment is right next to the ‘Espace de loisirs du pleny’ sign. It includes a guy in full face get up. Is that the name of a run, or the generic name for a the park? Also, I’m assuming I should take my full face?

P-jay – thanks. I’ll let my ‘wives’ know ;)

@kiksy – thanks, that’s probably the way I’m leaning. My mate hasn’t got a bike, but I think he’ll either buy one or i’ll lend him my 29er HT.

I don’t mind steep, it’s the temptation to go airborne which end up with broken stuff

Thanks Ade, that route sounds spot on. That’s the other thing which makes me think about renting – the overall I’m going to have to do when I get back if I take my own

Cheers gman. We’re flying to Geneva, is it much hassle getting the bikes over there? I’ve flown out to Paris once with a road bike – they basically wrecked it. Also, transporting it from the airport to the resort might be an issue?

Great work Kenny. Sounds like you’ve got a great mind set and are already putting in the checks and balances to ensure you don’t fall into the common traps (I’ve done 5k = I’ll eat 137 doughnuts)

In respect of the bodycoach stuff above, his principles are just above what could be considered to many to be common sense,. It’s essentially a macro based approach, 40/30/30 carbs, protein and fat (MFP is useful for this). There’s more calories in a g of fat than you’d imagine so you quickly rinse through your allowance!

What nealglover said.

I had a similar thing recently when selling the flat. The buyer’s bank couldn’t value the house as the surveyor inspecting the house ‘suspected’ there was asbestos in the garage. To my mind any additional work to determine whether it was indeed asbestos should be done at buyers expense (it is after all his bank which requires it to secure their investment). I also made it clear that should they find asbestos it would be for my account to remove (given that is a reasonable requirement when selling a property).

*Spoiler* It was asbestos. The buyer paid for the original survey, I paid the £600 to remove it, the bank didn’t charge for a follow up survey (or if they did I didn’t hear about it).

I’ve been off the radar for a while due to [insert excuse here]. Definitely keen to get along to a few more in 2016.

Also want to echo the compliments on the art work. The songs of praise one was inspired! Incidentally, I think I managed to get lost in Phillips Park on that ride…

As with mike_p, I have recently consolidated my pension pots (from various jobs) into my current provider. I rang my current provider and they sent me the form I needed to fill in. All the information for the old pension (number, ref, etc) was on a previous annual statement.

Will be a bit of signing and scanning, but certainly save you on the IFA fees (not all IFAs are bad, but I’ve had a fair bit of dealings with them, including the large networks and most of them, 80%+, are complete chancers).

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but try this.

1) Go into the App Store
2) Tap on any one of the five icons and the bottom of the screen 10 times

This will clear your cache of aborted updates. It should help.

Did you expect anything else?

Honestly? Yes a little. Maybe an older, more cerebral CM discussing the merits of different bands (he must have picked up a huge amount of knowledge over the years).

But no, it was the same old CM waffling with the same old sycophantic band tw*t-waffles.

Well that was an absolute shower.

I’m genuinely upset that XFM has gone. Yes you had the annoying adverts and an unhealthy obsession with Everything Everything, but the morning presenters were actually quite funny and it wasn’t London centric – I liked hearing about the presenters goings out for a night out in Didbury / Chorlton / City centre.

Can anyone recommend a Manchester radio station of a similar ilk?

My god I hate Chris Moyles.

Apologies I was looking at the return journey. The ticket is indeed for tomorrow, March 27th.

It’s the attention to detail that makes me so good at my job…

They all seem to be ‘different’, ‘leading’ or ‘first’ – but that bone technology has been around a while has it not?

Well meeting with the consultant tomorrow, so will probably rest completely for a good 2 weeks. Just got permission to put the turbo in the living room, so you know, silver lining and all that.

Walking sounds good, Mrs 88 is always keen for a hike.

@jekkyl the beer is on ice!

reckon if youa re smart enough to know what the bike needs so that you can tell the guy to do it, you ought to be smart enough to do it yerself

And alas I’m not.

I’m smart enough to know my garage has been smashed into and the door needs replacing, but I’ll be damned if I can do it myself. Repeat ad naseum for about every task I pay someone else to do (plaster ceiling, fit kitchen….)

They’ve tried to “book me in” for a service a couple of times in the one in Manchester.

I just ask to speak to the mechanic, explain what I want him to do / ask his advise and then ask how long it will take him. If it’s a 30 min job he will charge me for the parts (obvs) and a minimum labour charge, about £11 I think.

There’s a couple of gems out front in that store, but there’s also a few who know naff all about repairing a bike!