You could try a vest style pack, eg the Camelbak Chase range or something by USWE. They sit high and don’t have waist straps, so having a long torso shouldn’t be a problem.

I’m not sure I buy it, but this article argues that it’s better to have a smaller rotor on the front: https://enduro-mtb.com/en/rotor-size-myth/

The evidence in humans is lacking: https://examine.com/supplements/cbd/

For those above who’ve mentioned wanting to try the off-piste on the Risca side, you could include a trail as part of a loop of Twrch. When Twrch meets the road at the saddle between two hills ride up the road then take one of the trails on your left, which will all re-join Twrch. Busy Lizzie or Wacko Jacko would be good places to start (see Trailforks).

Looking at Trailforks I get the impression that they’ve marked everything as permanently closed until it’s checked. Once checked a comment is added and it’s either marked as open or left as permanently closed until (if) it’s cleared/rerouted. Some trails marked as permanently closed are being ridden though, and in times that look like the trail is clear. For example:

https://www.trailforks.com/trails/no-social–4/
https://www.strava.com/segments/7476587/leaderboard?date_range=this_year&filter=current_year

https://www.trailforks.com/trails/2nd-date/
https://www.strava.com/segments/15582405/leaderboard?date_range=this_year&filter=current_year

For bread in Oxford, Hamblin are excellent: https://hamblinbread.co.uk/

For beer anywhere, Verdant: https://verdantbrewing.co/

The chain tool on the Crankbrothers F15 is pretty good.

No. at D10 you’re free anyway.

You’re free on day 11. You have to isolate for 10 full days, assuming you can’t leave early with negative LFTs.

Post isolation my LFTs were clear from around day 14 or 15. I think it’s worth doing them regularly until you’re clear so that you can identify when they’re useful again. If you don’t do them for a while post infection and your first test is positive you don’t know if it’s from the previous infection or if you’ve been reinfected.

Marmite cashews. Should really try making them myself.

PCR tests don’t rely on people registering the result. This change will effect the total numbers of positives recorded.

True, but PCR tests do rely on people booking a test and travelling to have it. Or ordering it and posting it back. I would guess that there’s a large overlap between people who wouldn’t report a positive LFT and those who couldn’t be bothered to get a PCR.

If I tested positive I’m not sure I’d register that either, partly because I see no value in it

Worth considering if you might need to take a PCR test to travel in the next 90 days, and whether your destination will accept a record of you having had Covid en lieu of a PCR test after a recent infection.

Ah I’m not a subscriber to Trailforks and I’ve selected FOD as my free region. Will see how much it costs – I already pay for Strava and Trainer Road and STW Forum so a bit loathe to pay for another subscription app!

Not sure if you can switch your free region in Trailforks but I wouldn’t bother setting it to FoD as almost all the off piste trails have been removed. If you pay for Strava then the heatmaps are a great way of finding trails.

why not – would be same amount of positive stuff eluting up the chromatographic column, just more negative stuff as well?

Apologies, I’d misread that you said extracting all swabs in the same vial and had imagined they’d be extracted in separate vials with less from each vial being applied to the test. Assuming there is enough “stuff” in a single vial to extract whatever is needed then I can’t see a problem.

I asked yesterday but no-one responded, (theoretically speaking) could a household all swab but then extract say 4 swabs into one vial and run that as one test?

I think the problem with that is if there’s a mixture of positive and negative people being swabbed then there might not be enough of whatever is being tested for in the sample to generate a positive result.

The Gov make out that their decision to reduce isolation to 7 days (following 2 x -ve LFTs) will ease matters. I know from recent experience that even 11 days on, I am not fit or able to do a full days desk job. Can you imagine how those NHS staff being leant on to return to work when they aren’t well enough, are feeling?

It’s also at odds with their own guidance:

To further reduce the chance of passing COVID-19 on to others, if you end your self-isolation period before 10 full days you are strongly advised:

to limit close contact with other people outside your household, especially in crowded, enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces
to work from home if you are able to
in addition to venues where it is a legal requirement, to wear a face covering in crowded, enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces and where you are in close contact with other people
to limit contact with anyone who is at higher risk of severe illness if infected with COVID-19
to follow the guidance on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread
You should follow this advice until 10 full days from when your self-isolation period started.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

We’re both still testing positive via LFTs on day 9 of self isolation, so it’ll be the full 10 days for us. Quite frustrating to have the carrot of early release dangled, but for it not to work out like that.

I think Coticism is more fashionable round here.

21/12/20 vs 21/12/21

Virus tests – 453.903 vs 1,490,061

Positive results – 45,648 vs 24,461 (though it did peak at around 100k for a couple of days a week earlier)

You’re quoting the ‘Cases by specimen date’ for 21/12/21, which is currently incomplete. The number will rise as more of the tests performed on that date are processed. ‘Cases by reporting date’ is 33,364 vs 90,629.

A couple of other options within about an hour’s drive from Hungerford:
– Badbury Clump just outside Faringdon. Short DH tracks and jumps.
– Clanham/Birdlip. Lots of trails in the woods. Some official, some cheeky.
– 417 bike park

If BPW wasn’t too far then I’d consider Barry Sidings.

I’m wondering about the case where one starts doing lateral flow tests on day 6 of isolation and keeps getting a positive result each day up to and including day 10. If symptomless can they leave isolation on day 11? I can’t see anything on the government website to say they can’t, but it seems a bit inconsistent with the new approach.

While I was looking to see if there was anything about that I realised that I have one more day of isolation than I thought: I didn’t get symptoms until the day after my positive PCR test, and the onset of symptoms following a positive test where there have previously been none resets the counter.

Looks pretty clear but can you say for certain you haven’t had asymptomatic covid in the past 90 days or so, and aren’t getting a residual?

I don’t think anyone could claim that with absolute certainty, but I’ve been doing twice weekly LFTs for that period.

An anecdote about the effectiveness of using lateral flow tests as a green light to mix: 5 people, that I know of, have tested positive following a private Christmas party of about 80 people. Everyone was told to do an LFT prior to the event and all the staff were wearing masks. I had a negative LFT every morning for 4 days following the party, then tested positive via PCR on the 4th day (hours after my last negative LFT). The day after the PCR test I’m still symptom free. I only had the PCR test as impatientcow woke up with a cough and had a positive LFT.

How does this help though? Do you mean it just gives you the chance to cancel your holiday if you get a +ve LFT within the X months prior to travel? Urgh.

I guess it depends if the place you’re travelling too accepts recent prior infection as an exemption from their testing, and visa versa for testing on the way home. I don’t know if that is a thing. But if it’s not I’d rather be in a position to make an informed choice about whether to gabble my holiday on the required tests picking up a recent infection.

She could easily go weeks without doing a LFT.

Why not just do LFTs regardless? It’ll solve the potential problem you’re describing, with the added benefit of stopping you spreading it around if you get an asymptomatic infection.

I went for a week with Basque MTB in March 2019. Great trails, (mostly) uplifted, good food, great guiding. Would highly recommend. @doug_basqueMTB.com is the owner.

The only downside on to our trip was an abundance of caterpillars, which caused a mild allergic reaction in pretty much everyone.

While it can undoubtedly lead to very serious conditions, that is not always the case. I caught it while on holiday in America a few years ago. The bull’s eye rash developed a day or two after I found and removed the tick and I got a week (or perhaps two week) long course of antibiotics from the local doctor’s surgery a day later. No symptoms other than the bull’s eye rash and I’ve been fine since. When I got back from holiday I followed up with my GP who did a blood test.

But I don’t understand how an unstable surface is going to lessen the amount of force required to do a push up?

There’s a good summary of the research on unstable surface training here:

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/fulltext/2010/06000/is_unstable_surface_training_advisable_for_healthy.7.aspx

I have no expertise in the area, but have learnt enough to discount the vast majority of exercise video on Youtube. That said if your goal is to be more active and exercise more, rather than train towards something, and the novelty of the handle bar push up things motivates you then knock yourself out. Not literally, careful now, that looks unstable… :)

They add instability so will be making push/press ups more difficult. See also push ups on very low hanging gymnastics rings – very very difficult.

They undeniably make the movement harder, but that doesn’t necessarily make it better. You can exert less force on an unstable surface, which is the opposite of what you want if you’re doing press ups to improve your pressing strength.

I also clamber out of bed pretty early to make the time that I otherwise wouldn’t find once the day gets going and work/family commitments/guilt that I should be doing other stuff gets in the way.

I think this is the key to fitting more in. If you can make time first thing in the morning then other things get in the way far less frequently than if you try to schedule time later in the day.

Had a great day at Barry Sidings a couple of weeks ago.

Arriving shortly, an expensive indoor bike so I can ride in virtual circles and therefore become better/faster at riding in outdoor circles in the future.

That one will probably need plugging in to the mains too. Burn him! And by the same measure, me too.

Fro anyone else looking, the Instinct is currently down to £119 on Amazon in the sales.

Another vote for JTech. I’ve had exceptional service from them in the last year.

TF I’ve just always found a bit awkward, not to mention that they seem to assume everyone is an idiot

That is my experience too. I won’t be using them again.

It’s available from 7 December for £6.99 on Apple TV/iTunes.

I need gold rated for my insurance too and went with the Abus Ultimate 420. It’s small and quite cheap for a U-lock, but not particularly light.

I think the car park is shut overnight.

I was in a similar position around 15 years ago. I’m used the Total Immersion book to re-teach myself how to swim, along with attending a couple of beginners open water sessions run by a club at a local lake.

On a general note triathlon training can be pretty time consuming, which is why I stopped. There are free training plans on the 220 Triathlon website which would be a reasonable place to start. Don’t neglect the ‘brick’ sessions – running straight off the bike will feel really odd to start with.

The Crud XL does the best job of keep the mud off me, but as others have mentioned doesn’t protect the stanchions. I prefer a bolt on guard if I can, but if not I use the Crud XL.

Crud XL is by far the most effective mud guard I have ever used. However, it can rattle quite a lot if things get really rough or you hit a hard landing.

The rattling can be mostly fixed with a couple of bits of mastic tape.

Based on putting a slack set in the Firebird, how about the Transition Spire?

I’ve had one for a month. Only had one proper ride on it so far due to a crash at the start of the second one. Initial impressions are very good. Compared to the MY19 Bronson it’s replacing it has a more comfortable climbing position and feels a lot more stable downhill. I was surprised how easily it handled some tight, tricky corners, and it felt good in the air. I went for the complete GX build, but replaced the rear shock with an Ext Storia and moved AXS components over from the old bike. I have a large at 181cm tall. Not weighed it I’m afraid.

There’s a long thread on the Pink Bike forum about them if you’re looking for more opinions.

Gwahn, why is that? (As a habitual gaiters under wearer…)

If you’re walking through snow then snow going up your trousers is a bigger problem than it getting down your gaiters from the top.