There is some good sensible advice above, which you should follow (i.e. not letting him wind you up and ignoring him).

However, if he is a tool and you are immature (like me), then I would advocate such comedy classics as setting his stapler in a lump of jelly, as per a comedy episode of The Office. Even if he is not a tool, I would love to engage with such office high jinx if I could get away with it…

Thanks Scott. Could mot make it Sunday am, due to family stuff. Had a look around this after pin, very impressed. Going to be getting a membership. Chatted to some guy who gave me brief of what was where in terms of push up locations.

Seem a mix of stuff I can ride now as all as stuff to progress to.

I used to work on TVP. Free courtesy bus from the station, if not mentioned above. Relatively frequent service. I used to drive from Haslemere, relatively early in the morning, but traffic can be kak. Used to be 1hr at best. Trains are hellish busy coming into reading, took a bike on the train once (to see if cycle commuting was feasible), had to miss a train as it was so busy.

Would look at Oxford area maybe, but whatever somewhere away from Reading personally. I am not a lover of big towns, so not a slight on Reading itself, but just prefer the green fields.

Exeter is a cool city. Mix of history and some decent shops, nice places to eat. Really picturesque villages all around the city, definitely worth you going down for a weekend and driving about to see the local villages.

Good train link back into the London area, plus airport locally, if either matter to you. Probably 1hr to Bristol, so not too far from the M4 link back into Wales.

Riding at Darrmoor and Haldon Forrest, plus loads of other places I suspect.

As a child I spent a lot of time outside a small town half way between Exater and Plymouth. Exeter is the nicer city in my opinion and would happily be based there if I could ever get a job that way.

I am biased but I also find people in Devon very friendly and you can usually get the lovely Cornish ales on tap, which is important to a jumper wearing simple minded bloke like me.

Thanks all. No sky remote, only have freesat and freeview, but no sky. Just had a look on google and have ordered a newer Panasonic remote. They work with the old models and don’t look so dated. Went for this option having had bad experience with programable remote controls. I also have an Yamaha sound bar that has a Viera link, so wanted something that could work with that if possible.

Thanks for the help.

Clubber, good point.

What I don’t understand is why there is such a huge push against Obamacare in the US, considering the huge costs of health care. I am a fan of the NHS and in that respect we are very lucky to live in the UK.

Well, I can’t comment on NI, but from what I have seen, there are some very nice parts.

Just as an aside, I think if I had the opportunity to live in Colorado and legally work, I would jump at it. It does get more complicated with family, health care and availability of jobs.

Personally I have had it up to the eye balls with the cruddy weather, cramped housing, bad roads and huge cost of living in the UK. Having said all that, we have got a relatively stable economy and I think I am often guilty of thinking the grass is greener.

Above advice on location is spot on. You can’t move it, so make sure you are happy with the local (list in no order and not exhaustive) pubs, Iceland/Waitrose, noise at night, crime rates, schools, views, parking, neighbours, flood risk etc. good tip on visiting the area at night, in rush hour etc.

From experience, do not avoid getting a structural survey. We had one completed on a house that was less than 10 years old. Discovered major issues, we pulled out. Cost us £1k, but that is peanuts compared to repairing a home with major structural repair issues.

Speak to lots of agents and register. It is admittedly a pain when they ring up and introduce themselves by first name only, (like they are you best mate and your only search agent), which gets confusing once you have spoken to a few. The plus side is they know the market, can get new to the market stuff over to you before it is on Zoopla etc.

Watch Kirsty Allsop on tele (not for anything in particular apart from her lovely posh curves)! :wink:

Saw them a couple of years back. They did 2 albums back to back, 4 albums in total over 2 nights. Went to both, thought they were everything I could have ever hoped for.

Happy memories of the master butcher of Lea-on-sea.

Another reason I would be happy to emigrate. Small island, relatively stable economy and government, lots of people wanting to live and invest here and suddenly we can not afford to live in a half decent area in a half decent size home.

Interesting how in many countries in Europe a good number of people are happy to rent for life, where as here I would kind of feel I am chucking money into the landlord’s pocket.

Probably a good argument for buying a T5 camper and becoming a hippy, living off grid.

Thanks both, will measure up what I think the minimum length needed is. Seemed very cheap to get the one at £180… just checked and everything out of stock, apart from a 100mm drop. Rats.

Very jealous, would love to go. Bend is apparently where you need to be, but that is based an article I read a while back, so I am sure further research is a good plan.

Worth checking out mtbr.com – I have always found the forum helpful and full of useful information – scroll down on the forum pages to the state specific ones, here: Helpful Americans tell you about their local trails and probably other cool stuff[/url]

I posted prior to visits to Lake Tahoe and North Carolina on the relevant forums and got some good tips.

Thanks all. I am assuming the deck is strong enough – we don’t have anywhere else it can go, the garden is tiny and the deck takes up a good part.

It is a compromise, but our garden is quite well hidden and I am not sure there is a better option (for me). A normal shed would not fit (due to height issues), so a low bike shed is probably the best for me.

Thor may be a good option for bike defense – but perhaps a better option would be Chuck Norris hiding inside with an uzi?Chuck giving Bristol bike thieves the good news

Road CC article was helpful. Thank you dja.

I have measured up and it seems possible that the 4 bikes we have will fit, although I was thinking I could simply remove a wheel and turn the bars of my hard tail to make it all easier to fit in (thus reducing some handlebar width). Does anyone else do this to get all their bikes to fit?

Another bonus seems the ability to store helmets and other associated clobber on shelving, which can be installed at each end of the shed. Does anyone use their shed to store helmets etc – just had the condensation issue in the back of my mind, where I live is very wet.

Daffy’s solution seems very neat.

When I lived in a flat, was lucky enouh to have a garage. Now that we live in a house, we obviously have no garage and have to use the garden, hence my recent post regarding Asgard bike storage.

There are some very neat wall hanging storage solutions, worth having a look on google images. Some people have come up with some great ideas to keep bikes stored inside, off the ground. It can be as simple as wall hooks with a piece of Perspex to stop the rear tyre marking the wall, or a self supporting frame that will hold 2 bikes (1 high, 1 low).

Thanks for the input all. I will read the Road CC article when I have a pregnant pause with work.

I think three of the four bikes have wide bars (690, 685 and 710 from memory). Hybrid has skimpy little things, but at the moment all get wedged in to the bike cover in a sort of squashed in arrangement.

I also have a very heavy gauge chain and lock, which I would try and use at the same time. I would not secure it to the deck, as again I am of the opinion that it would be tough to shift.

Bought a card today, as I am so romantic it makes me sick:

I love you so much it hurts…can you rub it better? Unfortunately will be handing over this one on Friday morning, at her folks. They are very nosey, so there is no way this one won’t be seen by them 8)

I have one of the recent models, no optical drive. Great little machine and suits my needs as a music aand other media dumping ground. They are get expensive onvce you add a wireless keyboard and track pad though

Having said all that, they do have a decent sized hard drive (well, at least compared to my old macbook). My main priority was not to be restricted with the storage of video/photo/music files, so a very neat macbook air alternative would have left me with the same storage issues as before.

Integrates well with home cinema AV gear, as well as all the other mac products obviously.

I also have a 3 series estate and know the space is not huge. However, for the sake of cost alone I would live with it and spend the savings on beer.

The racks that sit on the roof rails should happily take all 4 bikes, but you could hang a rack off the back as well, if you preferred. The advantage with the roof option is that it avoids any issues with lights and needing a number plate board.

Get your friends to sing to you when you need to stay awake.

yes. I had an old (93) Passat and fitted Prestivo tyres (cheapo sub-brand of a bigger manufacturer).

They were pants. My barge like Passat handled like a barge on roller skates. I thought it would be better to get 4 decent (or at least new) tyres, rather than keep on with tyres that were 1mm above their limit, but actually I think in hindsight it would have been better to keep the old ones and waited until I could get 4 matching good quality tyres.

I think of all the cash I have spent on bike tyres and think there is no excuse to skimp on car tyres.

Thank you for the high level comedy above, of course it has made my day!

Rode Blue Scar in the pouring rain this evening, which was better than not riding at all. Was set to ride Penhydd, but the driving rain didn’t light my fire and I needed to go out and get some nuts. As Mr T was not available, I just did the short loop. Didn’t see any other riders out. Funny that.

On my second. Rode a few times and drastically reduces chain slap (3×9), but fell apart half way along South Downs way, which is mostly fields and bridle path, so not impressed.

Had to pay for a replacement as thus would not change under warranty (leisure lakes), but got it half price. Refitted and wil see how it goes. Probably cheapest option, apart from a home bodge.

Thanks for the above. Can not do wed on, due to work commitments. However, will be having a crack on a 26 er, despite this not being a suitable size of wheel to ride across a car park any more, according to the gospel of biking press.

I have a Mac mini and would buy another. Works well with HDTV. Was almost going to go for a MacBook Air, but wanted decent hard drive capacity for photos and music. If you got to John Lewis, the do a 2 year warranty. Although my MacBook from 2008 has lasted well compared to PC longevity, I would still go for a newer model as they update the specs almost as often as I change my under crackers.

I think the list price is £499, as above link is for education discount. Check Amazon prices, will be cheaper than apple direct (although I got mine direct from apple store).

Thanks both. Have got bar and helmet light now, which has made a massive difference.

I used to ride quite regularly at QE2 park, Surrey Hills, Swinley and locally at night and the combination of work commitment and being a parent has curbed my riding time, or maybe I have let it curb my mojo. And maybe the weather. I don’t mind the rain etc, as long as you can make progress. A lot of the local trails are very boggy.

Regardless of excuses, I want to be sort of sensible as now have a small child, so feel I should pretend to be responsible.

thanks titus. would be looking to buy new and note that this is only required for pre 60 plate cars. will keep in mind if we decide to go used though.

Will be looking at getting a Panda (hopefully 4×4) later in the year. I could not find one in any local showrooms and wanted to ask about the Blue &Me. Does this work with ipods (via USB), or only other MP3 non ipad formats?

Also, does anyone find the is affected by roof mounted bike racks when loaded – does this make the car feel unstable?

Sweet wheels. Great colour, am very jealous. Have a BMW (old man’s touring model) and prefer the look of MKV/VI/VII GTIs.

Osprey 40L Farpoint. Rucksack job, cabin bag size compliant and will take a lap top and enough stuff for a week. Straps fold up and can be covered by a zip up pouch, so works for check in too.

I look like a hobo though.

My mum has early onset as well. She is 63, but has now had it for 10 yrs at least. The DVLA wrote and told her she could not drive, which she almost seemed relieved about. My parents lived in a rural place (she is now in a home), so no license was a big PIA. However, it was the right thing.

My granddad also had dementia and on short journeys my grandmother used to give him directions, sort of like a copilot in a rally car. She was registered blind, even back then. It was long time past that the car should have gone and in both instances it would have been tragic if anything bad came from their poor driving.

Please see the support links above and definitely second the DVLA being first port of call, second power of attorney. Good luck, as above absolutely horrid disease.

I am no expert, but I wouldn’t move out. As above, get involved, decorate and get it sold ASAP. The sooner you sort out the sale between you, the sooner you can get the money and each to your separated ways. You both new to move on, so once you realise you need to change living arrangements, get on with it.

Hope everything works out for you, (which it will!)

Just bought a pack for my new SLR. This may not work for you, but I decided on a evoc camera bloc. They are expensive (12l one I have is £50). Very well made and will fit a larger ruck sack well. They also do smaller, more portable sizes. Just a thought.

I had mine as a present, but after all my Internet research I was then tempted by an evoc back pack as well. Kind of a Christmas present to myself.

I personally really fancy one of those. Fiat make great small cars and the Panda 4x4s have a good reputation. The new Fiat Pandas apparently come with all season tyres on both the trekking and 4×4, which in my opinion makes sense on a car like this.

Although I am a big fan of diesel cars, the petrol twin air has a 6 speed gear box, but multi jet diesel only has 5 speed. Given the amount of distance driving I do, I would go for the twin air engine (which is supposed to be very good) and save the additional outlay.

Have a 61 plate 320d SE auto, and generally it has been a good car (have had it 1 year exactly). You can see why it has been such a popular model for BMW for so long – great car.

Would caveat my recommendation in that I think the 320d (ours is 184 a bhp 2011 model) has had some problems (timing chain guides replaced twice – once at 6,500 miles and again recently at 23,000 miles). I think that is a bit rubbish for a newish car with an engine that has been used in BMWs for a while. I know it was well looked after, because I bought it from father in law, who is very anal about cars.

Also I would recommend getting the best spec possible, for your budget. I find it very frustrating not having a proper ipod connection (aux socket is available). To fit one now would cost £500 to £550 from BMW, which is frustrating. Bluetooth would also be useful. I was lucky in that ours came with DAB though, which I think not all models have.

I think the larger 325d/330d or 6 cylinder petrol engines are the way to go – personally am perfectly happy with an auto, our car definitely has enough grunt and is generally a relaxing drive.

The car still seems pretty economical with a bike rack on the roof, which is good as I have to leave our rack on the roof all the time.

Hi, I recommend posting on one of the state specific forums on mtbr. A Very active forum (like stw) and some very helpful answers from locals, in my experience. I found it helpful when planning trips to Lake Tahoe and North Carolina.

Very jealous – trip sounds awesome. Cool way to avoid the winter blues, having a trip like that to plan for in the new year.

I have just been given a Giro as a Christmas present (knew size was right, as had used same model before). Works for me, but might not suit your head shape.

Fit is the most important thing, as said above. I don’t use goggles (as I need my prescription sunglasses to see past my nose), but take anything like glasses/goggles when you go to try one on.

Thanks all for your advice. After much research, I have decided to go for a K50. Discounts available at SRS in Watford at the moment, went on sale today and hopefully will get the longer warranty as I believe they are a pro dealer.

The lenses I have are a mix of manual and autofocus – some are from a K1000 Asahi and the other are Pentax SMC A I believe. It is all frankly a massive learning curve for me, so your advice above is helpful.

Tijuana, offer would be gratefully accepted. Will email.

Conqueror, thanks for the advice. If I go for a K30, is there any recommended place to purchase and is there a particular configuration you suggest? It seems that you can get one with a 18-55mm lens for little more than the camera body only.

I see they sell them at Amazon, but not John Lewis, so not sure if there is any department store I can buy from that will offer better warranties/face to face service. (I am based in the South East).

I third Bad Santa. Best Christmas film I have seen and brings on a smile when you are getting stressed with relatives, family issues or just want a break from the whole thing.

I refer to my wife as ‘Mrs Santa’s sister’ quite regularly now…

If I was not married, with a 7 month year old sprog, would definitely be up for it. They seem good value and there are loads of companies that cater for different needs, so more xc/lift assisted etc.

One company that looks good is: http://www.bikevillage.co.uk/

Companies like the above, Saddle Skeddadle etc all usually make a specific point somewhere in their FAQs that they welcome solo customers with open arms.

Should be good fun, most people will hopefully be like minded and there to get the most out of the riding. Enjoy.