There was also a very long (1+ hour) red flag on Saturday before the semi finals that might have thrown the broadcast schedule out of the window.

Just back from the race too and agree with a11y’s comments.

Definitely quieter than previous years, the finish area is now a real mess with a vip area, additional grandstand (where you can’t see anything other than the finish area). That means the actual finish area is a stupidly small spectator zone with an Oakley DJ lorry taking over where the podium and presentations used to be.

Music was so loud and the commentary you could hear was terrible.

Buses back to town seemed slicker than previous years though.

Saturday was dead, semi finals suck and a lot of the pits that didn’t qualify were packing or packed up today.

Limehouse basin is a good spot, the runners come up one side and they come back around the other a while later having been round Docklands. I think that is quite far in, so have cheered friends on there as they’re potentially flagging at that point and need a cheer on. Plenty of pubs and cafes wait it out in too.

It is busy though, so be prepared for lots of queuing.

I’ve had Rave coffee subs on and off over the years, always been good.

What a mess!

For those that can’t get into Glen Nevis, there is that other place on the road to the venue. ‘Wild Camping’ I think the site is called. Always looks pretty good when we go past on the bus.

Had a lovely long weekend on the Kennet & Avon this summer and didn’t do a single lock. Admittedly is was an out and back but along two different looking stretches of water (the hire place is in the middle).

Might be an option for you:

Plan your route

Close to Avebury, Silbury Hill and Stonehenge for the Kiwis too.

The racers have put on a fantastic show this year despite everything the new regime has thrown at them. One of the best seasons I can remember for a long time.

The bad…

I don’t like the new format with a semi final.

The new hot seat layout is rubbish.

I don’t like Cedric as a commentator or that Aussie guy, not sure what they actually bring to the table.

I don’t like the production of the new coverage – Just from the latest race, they were focusing on Loic and his missing visor at the end rather than capturing the emotion of a lad that has just won his first ever world cup.

I don’t like the way they interview riders / other random people / look at tyres whilst a racer is on track doing their race run.

The good…

I do like the extra cameras on track.

I do like Aaron Gwin as commentator.

Walk into Newport each morning to use the facilities.

If you are on Facebook, the Fairford Spotters Facebook page is great for timings. A lot of knowledgeable people on there.

Two B1s are currently out from last night on a 23 hour mission I believe. I think their activity should ramp up next week as there is a big NATO exercise.

The U2 usually goes up between 7-9am and returns 4-7pm each weekday. That’s pretty ace to watch how quickly it climbs out of sight on take off.

The U2s are at Fairford also, fly out most weekdays all year round.

Great to hear the house rattle to the B1s going up at 9.30pm last night too! Love having them back at Fairford.

I had a single dental implant done about 15 years ago and it’s been fantastic, as others have said fit and forget.

Had it done in Budapest by: https://www.vitaleurope.co.uk/

I had 5 trips out there including the initial consultation (which I see they now do in London) and the facilities were 1st class, I’d even argue that they were better than the dentists I had been to in the UK.

I think I paid around 2.5k for treatment, flights, transfers and accommodation (which they also arranged for me). I also had an upgraded ceramic crown fitted (it’s like bike parts!)

From memory I was looking at least 3-3.5k in the UK at the time with the basic fittings.

One thing to bear in mind is that although it has been fit and forget, I think the crowns have a limited life expectancy. I think mine was about 10-15 years, so this something I might have to look at in the future. Not so bad for a single tooth but worth raising with whoever you go with if you are considering having them all out.

I am only a handful of rides into mine and I love it already.

6ft tall and grande sizing, no wandering front end for me – feels planted. Descending on it is unreal, feels like a full sus!

I think they’re based in Spain on this deployment and just passing over the UK on exercise. There’s one currently at 28,000 feet over Wales heading North.

I took inspiration for bike storage from the van Hannah Barnes used to have:

Vivaro’s and more Vivaro’s

Have a swb Ducato with a separate garage like the van in the link, can get 2 gravel bikes in there wheels on or 2 full sus bikes wheels off, plus any muddy gear is away from the sleeping area. I don’t want to keep any bikes outside the van, so this works well.

The double bed is width ways too as it’s a Ducato (am 6ft and can just about stretch out fully). With swivel captains chairs too it is a nice comfy space.

The Marlborough to Stroud bit of that looks ok to me, mostly quiet B roads.

The road out of Marlborough up to Hackpen Hill (3 on your route) is a nice road with lovely scenery but people can speed along there, so keep steady.

Reasonably flat around the lakes at the Keynes too.

Have a great day!

It doesn’t get easier, you just get quicker.

Blimey, there is a lot of anti-Swindon in this thread! :-(

Just for some balance, life long Swindon resident here and I like living in the town.

Hannah, feel free to ping me a message if you have any questions or need any recommendations on the Peoples Republic of Swindonia. If you do end up heading this way, I’ll get you a beer to welcome you too.

Thanks for the info on wiring!

Quick question…

Need to insulate my loft too and wondering about laying new insulation directly over existing wiring in the loft?

Seen a few contradicting views that it’s either ok to lay over (with newer type insulation) or that you should lift the wiring up and rest on top of the insulation (perhaps in reference to older type insulation)?

There is a great interview on YouTube for Bennett’s with one of the commercial director’s of the TT.

They’ve launched the TT+ live stream to open it up to a new audience because they had calculated that the current audience and participants were ageing and it would be unsustainable.

I love it. The Everest quote above sums it up, people should be able to choose to live on the edge.

The racing this year has been excellent.

When it’s wet on the Ridgeway I wouldn’t enjoy riding any bike on there, so a gravel bike in the dry is just fine.

If there is already Microsoft 365 on the laptop check the OneDrive settings, should be able to set that up to sync and if there isn’t enough space then it’s about £50 per year for 1TB of storage from memory. Really simple.

Lourdes was a great start and that Pierron onboard is incredible, looks sped up!

I shall be there at Fort Bill, can’t wait.

Definitely! I’ve no idea what the viewing figures are now compared to say, 7-8 years ago but Rob Warner in particular has taken it up a gear. Be a shame if Discovery were to change that, I think his deal is with Red Bull exclusively, so I hope they can work something out.

You’re right though, a series away from the restrictions of the UCI would be very interesting.

I think this is the last season of Red Bull coverage, so the new providers might provide a better track view (presumably for a subscription fee).

Same as Haze here, was a subscriber but gave up when things started getting sluggish on my iPhone.

It’s almost unusable since, so nothing to even warrant me subscribing again, can’t be great to get new subscribers.

Appreciate there is a cost involved to keep the lights on but it’s the only forum I visit of about 10 that has these issue as a free member.

Definitely get the doc to do a blood test to double check the level.

I tried to give blood in Dec (male, 42nd donation, never any issues) and had a reading of 118! Nurse said it could be the hand sanitiser in the donation centre messing with the finger tests as they had a few similar that week.

Blood test at docs came back 2 weeks later at 156, so it was a false reading at the donation centre.

Brilliant stuff!

As BB says above, I also look forward to this thread each year. Thanks for putting it together and inspiring me to get out more.

I live up the road from Fairford and was lucky enough to ride there to watch the F15s from Lakenheath land there on exercise a couple of months ago.

In the space of 30 minutes one of the U2’s stationed there landed, then a few of the F15s and then as I was about to leave and out of nowhere, two B2’s flew in to do an approach practice from their base in Iceland! The first one did a huge wing wave as it flew past the tower and they both did a low pass over the runway and straight off back to Iceland. I have it on video if there was a way of posting on here, blinking amazing stuff.

I also saw the last two B1b’s take off home to the USA a couple of weeks ago, that was special but that 30 minute spell with the B2’s will take some beating.

Cae Gwyn is in a lovely location just up the road from Coed y Brenin:

https://caegwynfarm.co.uk/

It’s in the middle of nowhere but has basic amenities and stunning views.

It’s the National downhill series 9-10th October at Antur Stiniog if that helps with your decision making. Uplift is closed for the weekend.

Did you see the Tim Commerford Stingray? It’s a thing of beauty in black.

<Puts hand up>

Great idea for a thread!

Am currently playing my Epiphone Jack Casady, no band at the moment just amusing myself.

NOC at Southampton would be a good shout too:

https://careers.noc.ac.uk/vacancies.html

7IDP Sam Hill. If they’re good enough for Sam Hill to pedal all day in… Best I’ve had.

6 weeks on from a grade 3 separation myself, no surgery required but still have open 6 months appointment just in case. Apart from sleeping on that shoulder side, it’s pain free now and I was riding again after about 3 weeks. As Mikertroid says, still looks ridiculous though with the step up bone bit!

Had a brilliant physio to help me. Get yourself some physio latex bands to help target the shoulder, loads of decent YouTube videos on stretches.

Substance by Peter Hook is one of the best I’ve read.

How not to run a club is also decent but a bit off topic.

Have you considered something like the Zoom B1Xon and a decent set of headphones?

I hardly ever use my amp at home these days and love being able to play around with the sounds on the pedal as loud as I like, can plug in my iPod and play along too.

Ah man, this is sad news. Going to stick his Musik mag chill out mix on from 1998 now.

One man and his bike by Mike Carter is a cracking read.