Don’t forget sky rent the lines from BT your number may have been taken back by bt.

Apparently the number goes into quarantine, to be reallocated in due course. I can’t ever get it back… So whatever happens, I’ll have to reprint my business cards etc, and try and contact 100s of people with a new number.

I’m not on BB Connect. Just ordinary broadband.

I’ve emailed the chief exec, not going to hold my breath on that! I just stated all the facts and asked him to instruct whoever is able to resolve my issue to get onto it.

I get the impression that the manager just want me to cancel and go elsewhere to absolve them of any obligation to rectify things.

Where do I stand if they try and do this? Do they have an obligation to provide uninterrupted service?

G

What’s connect BB? Ofcom “don’t deal with individual complaints”. I’ve escalated Sky’s complaints procedure…

I’ve also read their terms and conditions which states that they need to give 1 month’s notice before they change their terms.

As far as I can tell, as I’m still paying, I still have a contract with them which they’re in breach of…

G

Tell them that if it is not possible for them to provide broadband to you then you want a refund for all the broadband you have been paying them for for the last two years.

That’s not a bad idea! Doesn’t solve any of my current problems though – no internet and no landline. And I live in an area with no mobile coverage so it’s vital that I have a landline.

Are they under any legal obligation to provide continued service?

G

Any thoughts anyone?

Sky have just rung me and told me that there are no internet services available to me in my area, not even fiber! This is in spite of 2 year’s uninterrupted broadband from them, and constant communications asking me to upgrade to fiber!

So they’re saying that I’ll have to go elsewhere, but they’ve lost my landline number and it can never be retrieved!

Fuming…

G

If your glasses correct astigmatism or anything other than straightforward short/long-sitedness, I think they can be a bit more complicated.

I have those weighted ones that correct astigmatism. My old lenses were just straightforward -1.5/-1.75, same as my glasses…

G

Would you like us to post our addresses and where to find the spare key too?

G

Went to a whorehouse last night but it was packed…

Too many cocks spoils the brothel.

G

Well tonight thank God it’s him, instead of yoooooooooooooooouuuuuuuu…

G

If you don’t want to freeze them but avoid the boredom and finger stabbing of pricking just put a cut in them with a sharp knife, it’s a lot quicker.

I put 2 big chopping boards on a worktop with a sloe-sized gap between them. Tip a load of sloes into the gap then run a sharp knife along your little row of sloes. Roll them into a waiting bag and repeat. Far quicker than trying to do anything individually!

Freezing doesn’t make them split, but the defrosting process causes the cells to rupture so they release more flavour.

Another advocate of Aldi London Gin, it’s cracking stuff for the money. 1lb sloes, half-lb of sugar and 1 litre gin is my standard recipe.

If it’s not sweet enough, make a syrup of a bit of sloe gin and some caster sugar in a saucepan and dribble it in until you’re happy with the taste.

I’ve got some on the go with cinnamon sticks and cloves for extra festive flavour.

Chinchin!

G

I was very happy with the Homebase ones, but the LEDHut ones are far far brighter for a little extra.

Can you remember which LEDHut ones you got Brassneck?

G

Crikey, those look good value… Thanks for the link!

G

Thanks for the pointers so far – I’d looked at the LED hut ones but I’ll have a look at the Osram ones too…

G

No it’s not. The attraction of Gizzy is the excellent technical gnadgery sections that need a bit of skill to ride.

I love a techy gnadgery section as much as the next man, but when you’re hammering down a swoopy, flowy bermy bit, and there’s what looks like a puddle in the bottom of a roller, and it turns out to be a 10″ deep squared-edged hole, then it needs a barrow-load of crush dropping in it.

I’m not in favour of “wheelchair friendly” trail centres per sé, I prefer natural rides or wild bridleways. But I think the groomed parts of trail centres should be maintained. They’re great fun when they’re in good condition, tedious when they’re not.

G

Streamline (owned by fasthosts) is down… PITA!!

G

I have a Caddy, can’t fault it but not sure how much van you’d get for £5k… I bought an ex-dem Hi-Line with all the toys and saved £3k off the window price of a new one. Had less than 2k on the clock and a 3 year service plan too.

I love it, it’s my everyday vehicle – not sure how I managed before I had it! It’s the SWB but it’s big enough to get changed in if it’s lashing down, and at 6’1″, I can just about lie corner to corner if I need to kip in it. Can’t recommend it highly enough.

G

She has a very dirty head… Can’t understand a word of it. Rubbish.

G

Saying that, puddles and the odd bit of trail that has got rough, isn’t that essentially mountain biking?

Hi Dan! In answer to your final comment – yes and no!

The attraction of trail centres like Gizzy are those swoopy, flowy man made sections. When you build a section (like the new bit from Cocklet down to the main car park) that has fast rollers, berms and jumpy bits, it’s imperative that it’s maintained in that way. If there are puddles in all the dips that in time get mashed up and become deep, square edged potholes, the trail is no longer fun to ride. At worst, it can become dangerous, because a man-made trail that begs to be ridden hard shouldn’t have hidden surprises!

Like I said, I think you’re all doing a great job, and I wish I had free time to come along on a dig day, but there are some areas that have been neglected for years that a minor bit of TLC would transform, and in turn would improve the whole Gizzy Experience.

Cheers!

G

The builds I’ve seen tend to have terrible tyres, cheap finishing kit. And a loooooong wait.

IME, their customer service often leaves a lot to be desired… Cheap though.

G

My wife was gang raped by a troupe of mime artists…

The committed unspeakable acts.

G

A lorry has shed it’s load of blue and red paint on the M4…

Thousands of motorists have been marooned.

G

Lorry has just shed it’s load of Alphabetti Spaghetti on the M6…

A police spokesman said it could have spelt disaster.

G

Rode it last night – it’s our go-to night ride when it’s wet as the trails drain better than the fells round here.

It is a cracking little place, but I can’t help thinking the trail builders should concentrate more on maintenance than expansion. I do feel a little guilty saying that, as I know it’s all volunteer-built, and they do an amazing job given the lack of money and manpower.

But a gripe I’ve had for years is that the first path from Cocklet carpark is so pot-holed that you’re piss-wet through before you even get on the single-track. Just filling those holes with a few barrows of crush would improve the experience for so many people.

And the northshore is lethal – I’m still suffering from a separated shoulder after slipping off it 4 years ago! It’s just unnecessarily dangerous.

G

I’d rather invest in a properly British made watch and movement

It was that crazy attitude that allowed British Leyland to carry on into the 1980s!

G

Charles Eames Soft Pad series…

Lots of good replicas at very reasonable prices too.

G

Lovely, but owning it won’t buy you any more time…

G

What the hell did indoor parachuting have to do with anything though?

Can’t help thinking last night’s episode was rather clumsy compared to some of the others, has the format run out of steam?

And I’ve said it before, but I can’t help thinking Guy Martin is now doing a bad impression of Guy Martin. Overused catchphrases, and I hate the way he has to repeat everything twice like a young Fred Elliott.

Other than that, mega program. I say mega program… Lass.

G

[1970s]Corrrrr… They’d both need sticks to get downstairs after I’d finished with them… Phooooarrrr, eh? Wa-hay! Giiiiirls…. Oooooooo… I could crush a grape…[1970s]

G

How on earth did you undo the much fiddlier zips involved with getting your erm… spare out?

I’m a lycra lout… Thumbs in hem, pull down bib front, and Robert’s-yer-mother’s-brother.

There was no unfurling of anything 66deg! :D

Mr Woppit, what was the problem with the Deluges?

I’ve used some sealskins for a few years and I like them, but if you’re doing a lot of lifting the bike over fences etc, they ‘wet out’ fairly quickly and get cold.

On dry frosty rides, I find them pretty good – just not dextrous enough for the road bike…

G

I’ve got the Assos neoprene rain gloves, similar sort of thing to the Castellis. They’re great up to a point, but in really cold conditions, they suddenly go from reasonably warm to so-frickin-cold-I-can’t-get-my-hands-out-of-them!

Wore them once on a snowy ride and I had to piss on my own fingers in order to be able to open the zip on my rucksack to get my spares out.

I’ve just ordered a pair of Endura Deluge which seem to tick a lot of boxes and get well reviewed. They’re a fairly reasonable 32 quid too.

Not sure if they’re robust enough for mountain biking (I’ve got them primarily for road) but I’ll report back when Ribble finally get their finger out and deliver them…

G

I watched this over the weekend, I’d never seen it but as a Radio1 listener and a fan of some of the artists involved, I was keen to give it a go.

The film was OK, I felt like the director was desperate to kindle some non-existent chemistry between the 2 leads.

Quite liked some of the other characters – the recently-released husband, Walter White, the hitman and the man with the face, but I found it too heavy on moody suspense scenes, and as mentioned above, a bit “Try Hard With A Vengeance”… Toothpick? Really?? :roll:

I thought some of the music was stunning – having heard a lot of it last week, I was disappointed that the Biffy Bloke’s track was so truncated, but loved the Chvches, 1975 and Bastille pieces.

Overall, very enjoyable and as a fan of the reimagined film poster movement that’s gathering so much momentum in the States, I thought it was a brilliant project with some brilliant talent involved.

I’ll probably watch the original at some point soon for comparison.

G

What if they’re only just breaking 30mins for a 10…..?

You’d still be at the top end of the sprocket – far better to have you’re most used gears in the middle of the spocket for a better chainline, and have room for manoeuvre up and down.

G

Yup, current trend is to go compact, bit easier on the legs..

It might be for new/born-again cyclists, but the 53/39 is still alive and well at club and race level.

And why on earth would you use a compact in a TT?? I use a 54 and have never even used my inner chainring…

G

I’m sure most of them understand the concept of “numbers” though Captain Slow. :roll:

G

most modern roadies wouldn’t know what a 39t chain ring was…

Why not?

G

yer but if you fit one, and find out after your ride, your average cadence was say 50 – probably indicates you should try changing gearing, no?

I ride by feel, but it can be useful to look at cadence, in conjunction with HR and power and work out where it might have been possible to push a higher gear.

I’m a fast spinner but there’s a “cadence sweetspot” which depends on far more than simply how fast you’re spinning your legs.

G

I’d ignore it, and all the comments above! The only time you can realistically use cadence of any sort of barometer of performance is in conjunction with a power meter, or on flat roads in ideal conditions.

You did nearly 1000m of climbing which is a decent amount in a short ride, and without knowing the profile of those climbs it would be impossible to even guess at whether your cadence is too fast or too slow.

I only pay any attention when I’m dissecting stats after time trials, and that’s purely to try and find the optimum cadence for parts of the course – but even then, I know exactly what gear I’m in, so the figures actually mean something.

G

Thanks for that Medoramas, does the liner come out when you take them off with clammy hands?

I had some Sealskinz that did that and it took twenty minutes to get them back on! Drove me up the wall…

G

The Enduras seem remarkably good value, are they warm? Good dexterity?

G

It was from a guy I met via Timetrialling forum. It’s a 4/5 year old frame, but still looks fairly contemporary due to the steerer/fork arrangement. You tend not to see traditional stems on higher end TT bikes now.

It’s also the frame Botty used to very good effect until 3 seasons ago.

I’ve not competed on it yet, but some initial testing has proved it to be pretty quick – I’ve gone top 5 Strava on a local 2-mile strip I used to test my set up.

You kind of expect a TT bike to feel fast… It doesn’t, it feels like a hard slog like it would on any bike. But when you look at your stats and you’ve held 36mph for 2 miles on the flat, you know it’s quicker than a standard road bike! 8O

G

Assos make lovely gloves, I have some of the neoprene rain gloves and the fit/quality is excellent.

The Fugus are about 80 quid though, lot of money… :(

G