I agree the category is a bit bonkers and that fun/ sport/expert/elite does the job from a racing perspective. However as I was focusing on racing master next yr it means I’ll have to reset my goals (obs not a huge issue).

However I do think age categories have some use… look at triathlon where the huge growth has been partly by the vast number of age categories (5yrs) and so lots more people feel competitive. .. which seems to be important.

To the OP I feel you frustration and exhaustion. Without sleep every aspect of life is less good.

I haven’t read all the posts, but see the general gist is that every child is different. To that I’d add every family is different… For us it took time to find a strategy that felt as though we were moving forward together, even if there weren’t instant results. We prepared the ground by explaining our plan to nipper then put him to bed. The plan was a) went in after 5 min crying, retucked nipper without making eye contact (which seemed important) or talking b) retreated, lay in bed mutually supporting each other (as we both felt awful listening to him cry we had to stop each other breaking the plan) b) after 10 min repeated c) after 15 min repeated etc.

At no point was it easy to listen to him cry, so I guess I’m saying I can understand how your partner feels ‘inflicting’ unhappiness on your child (even if that’s not how you see it).

Perhaps talking more about how hard your finding it coping without sleep and the effect it’s having on you (& her?). A neutral third person in the discussion might help, not to make any judgement but to help you talk about it.

Raising our nipper has been, without doubt, the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And getting through the sleeping part was the hardest part of the whole experience.

Good luck finding the solution that works for you.

Am a bit late to this, but no.

@ everyone. Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it.

@hels. :-) that’s something I worry about, not so much for grandchildren to see, but for me to re-watch the video of the first time Charlie (aka micro-LikeFood) rode his bike etc. microfiche it is, plus a huge fresco on the ceiling somewhere should do it.

@ thebunk. I think you are right, no more avoiding the issue. Normally I’m an ‘address the issue and learn how to overcome it’ type of person, time to stop avoiding the NAS in the corner!

@ cougar. I have fibre with unlimited uploads ( I live in ‘Fastershire’ no less) so am not too worried about upload speeds.

@ bamboo. No, he lives a long way away so it’s safe from that perspective. I guess it comes back to thebunks point about knowledge. I’m not sure I could get the files off his NAS if needed (he’s not the BIL who set everything up and he’s as clueless as me)

Brilliant. I post a question that’s been keeping me awake, go do a lap of Penmachno, come back and there’s lots of help. Once again, cheers :)

^^^ what Stoner said. Can’t see it as a winner I be honest.

Love it, great post.

@chunkymonkey. She must have the worlds strongest hands 8O

Got a Bosch one, is brilliant. As others have said get replacement sandpaper from the web (or fashion your own from sticky velcro stuff from ebay and sandpaper cut to size). Heaps of dust though, so wear a mask or clog your lungs/nose/eyes!

@Drac (waaaay back on page 1 of this thread), seeing that section of “Spy vs Spy” took me back to the hours my brother and I spent playing it on the Spectrum. Happy days. :D

Although I would have to say Target: Renegade is my vote. Anyone else remember that?

Thumbs up for a womens Sky team, if it happens.

Thumbs down (and a slightly disconcerted frown/nose wrinkle) at that Columbian kit… just wrong.

@shifter…. Given I haven’t swum seriously for about 4 years pretty much any pool, Olympic or not, will break me :). I just love swimming in them, something about having to turn less I guess.

Thanks for the replies everyone, and sorry for not thanking sooner. I thought if I ‘Favorited’ the thread I’d get emails when there were replies… so I assumed no one had.

Will check out Alp D’Huez, Grand Bornard and Les Arcs and also look into accommodation around Morzine that will fit the ‘very quiet’ bill.

Thanks again, I need to start dreaming about this to get me through the winter :)

They are so good we have two! Got the 1.9D (no turbo version) and the 2.0 HDi version. The 1.9 is slow but v. cheap and reliable. The 2.0HDi is faster but very cheap and reliable.

They are huge inside. Our record is 4 bikes (2 x road and 2 x mtb) and all the stuff for a two week holiday in the Alps… all with the rear seats still up (for sleeping on the overnight drive – the footwells in the rear were stuffed with clothes though). We cruised down at 80 mph all the way (HDi one!). We did do the same trip in the 1.9D once… we ‘cruised’ at 65mph!

We’re selling the 1.9D as we can’t fit our kiddyback tandem inside and still have one seat up in the back (see Classifieds, pm me if you’re interested). We’ve got a 1.9 Tdi T5 panel van which is bigger, faster than the 1.9D and slower than the 2.0Hdi.

Birdage – yes it’s possible to put a 2 bike rack on the back. No problem. We didn’t obscure the numberplate or lights.

We were so desperate we taped black bin bags to the window. Worked so well we didn’t take them down for ages. Without sleep nothing is possible. Good luck :)

Am v tempted by a set of rims to combine it with a home-build challenge but…

What is ‘hookless’. To my mind I’m thinking like a tubular road rim, but I know that’s not right.

Also widths… wider is better, or not always?

I’d be using them for XC racing, and I’m 75 kg (11.5 stone)

It’s got to be an Islabike, if you can afford it. With one of those in the garage you’re sorted, whenever I ask my 4-yr old what he want’t to do it’s either “BMX track!” or “Mountainbiking in the woods to ride singletrack and do “big jumps’!” Result.

Note – he started on a scooter bike at 2, a CNOC 14 at 3 and a CNOC 16 at 4 so there’s been a bit of progression, I didn’t just get him a bike and push him off

I used to have endless issues with Garmin connect and my 310XT. Since Garmin released Garmin Express everything has worked like a dream. I assume you can download it from the Garmin website?

The only downside to Garmin Express is that it can’t upload routes so I still occasionally still have to use Garmin Connect and Training Centre (and the associated faff).

I hate this thread (and all other campervan related threads)!

They all make the Want-monster scream inside my head and I then spend time I don’t have searching used van websites. :D

I’m late to this thread and also late for work so no time to read back, apologies if this has been mentioned.

Alastair Humphries[/url] cycled round the world (and wrote good books about it, ‘Thunder and Sunshine’ and ‘Mood of Future Joys’). He’s been promoting the idea of a ‘microadventure’ that fits the bill of what your looking for Cougar.

Info and videos to inspire are on his website and also here on the Howies [/url]website.

I booked him to speak at my school and he was excellent.

Assuming there are no trans-gender children in the class, if 18 are girls this represents 3/4 of the class (since the other 1/4 are boys).

18 divided by 3 is 6. So 1/4 of the class represents 6 kids.

So 6*4 gives 4 quarters or the whole. The class is 24 kids.

Swimsmooth is really good, esp the ‘Mr Smooth’ animated bloke that you can download and really helped me visualise a good stroke.

If you like reading then the Total Immersion book (here) gives a good insight into swimming technique (although not everyone agrees their approach is the way forward, and I don’t buy their ideas 100% it’s a good way to get you thinking about ‘good’ swimming).

Chase and Status? I thought it was Jason Saytus.

Obviously not as down with the kids as I thought. Or my hearing is going.

+ 1 for a Chariot.

We’ve used ours for running (on and off road, up to 20miles with breaks for snacks!) , rides on road and on fire roads and as our only buggy for town duties.

The biggest positive for us was how easy it was to ride to town, lock the bike up, convert it to a buggy and do the shopping.

Once nipper was big enough we also used a seat on the back (which was a bit more interactive for nipper and saved the hassle of locking the chariot up if we were going swimming etc).

Mrs Like_food and I rate it as our best baby purchase, it allowed us to maintain the active life we had pre-nipper and minimised the use of the car.

In a minute some muppet will come on and say ‘sauve’ isn’t pronounced ‘so-ve’! That would be an embarrassing thing to discover in your mid 30’s…

Fingerbike – ahhhhhhh so there is!

Was going to say the silence that’s amplified by a massive/epic view (grand canyon, Moab/canyonlands, alps etc) then read Earls post… The way I read it I think that’s a sign of possible improvement?

If that’s the case then You win – And I hope there’s progress from there.

Ps, yes – ‘amplifying silence’ is a huge oxymoron. It it works for me.

Don’t get angry, get even. Vote Tory and supersize that by emailing Mr Gove saying you support all his reforms as everything he’s doing is in the best interests of young people (he is an expert on education as he once went to a school).

That’ll sort them.

Happy days, I was all for live and let live but try and limit the damage…. But now I’m going to take it to them! It’ll be like Apocalypse Now :)

You reckon a flame-thrower-weed-killer thing would help? Or are they too deep?

I don’t have one of those ernie, can I borrow yours? :-)

Just read this thread. Wish I’d been able to post pre-viva.

Greg, I’ve been exactly where you are now. Utterly utterly fed up with the whole research thing (and in my case absolutely certain that a career in research wasn’t for me) and then facing minor-corrections in order to be done with something I had simply had enough of.

Although it was 12 years ago now some of the most vivid memories I have of my entire Uni career are of that 2 month period in the summer of 2003 when I just wanted desperately to be finished and be able to move on with the next phase of life.

I can only reiterate what others have written, that minor corrections, and 3 months to do them, are really par for the course and not an reflection on your work and effort. Just keep going, make a list of all the minor things and chip away at it every day. I did 6 hours a day, every day for a month and it was done. You may find that minor corrections only need to be approved by your internal and they will be keen to pass them off.

I look back now (from the perspective of being in a different career) and am convinced that it was worth it. I understand your concerns regarding potential a dip into depression and would only advise that you use every support network you have for this final push (and, if you can afford it, buy yourself a plane ticket for a weeks riding in the alps for when you do finish – worked for me!). You can do it and it is worth it.

Good luck!

ps I do use my Dr occasionally, but only on my CV or when I need to borrow money from the bank :) It power has been to always get me an interview when I’ve applied for jobs, to get an enhanced salary when I did start, and a degree of professional kudos that is difficult to quantify (and probably totally unjustified).

I know nothing about wood, but am loving this thread :) can’t wait to see the finished product..

Wow, must go on holiday more.

What a terrible tragedy. So very very sorry for you and your family, thinking of you all.

Piemonster that bike is a thing of beauty, bring back crazy Flouro paint & panaracer smoke tyres!

Thanks for all the help… I’ve just received the White Peak guide that was recommended and will look up the routes that have been suggested.

Here’s hoping for good weather!

Thanks Will, that would be great :)

Alex that’s a very generous offer. I just need to confirm that day that the weekend organiser wants the ride (Sat or SUn) and I’ll get back to you asap.

Thanks Martyn S. I’ll be there over the bank holiday weekend (so it’ll be quiet then!).

Esme – that is helpful! Thanks.

In lieu of anything good there could anyone follow up MartynS and suggest the closest ‘proper’ ride they would do?