FTP is only 1 of 4 areas of cycling physiology (along with NM, AC and MAP).

Everyone is different across those aspects.
Apparently I’m an “attacker” (good at powering away and then recovering, but comparatively weak FTP and sprint).

Here’s how WahooX (new name for Sufferfest) explains it:

https://support.wahoofitness.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021387420-Learn-about-4DP

Race King Protection rear on my 29er xc hardtail. Fast rolling, strong, rubbish traction in mud but perfectly good elsewhere.

I ran it tubeless for a year until a puncture on a ride 6 months ago, fitted a tube to get me home and I’ve been too lazy to change it since then, not had another puncture.

Russell Howard… I’ll report back tomorrow.

Well he was bloomin’ excellent. He can read the crowd, is surprisingly at home and relaxed on stage and is incredibly smart when going off piste then bringing it back on topic.
He sometimes does the Billy Connolly thing where he suddenly thinks of something really funny but is laughing too much to say it out loud. :D

Dostoyevsky: The Brothers Karamazov
It’s meant to be about how 3 dysfunctional brothers deal with the murder of their father. But I’m over 400 pages in, and he’s not dead yet while the characters are being built. “Unnecessarily verbose” doesn’t even begin to describe it. I’m doing lots of skip-reading… The philosophical discourses are genuinely engrossing (and at times hugely funny), but there’s so much waffle between those episodes. Despite that, it’s still encouraging me to pick it up and continue reading.

Recently,
Flann O’Brien: The Third Policeman
A murder and its consequences; very Irish, very hilarious, very surreal, and by the end it’s properly harrowing. Amazing book, possibly in my top 10.

Stand-ups Ive seen locally that you may have heard of:

Katherine Ryan – (a few years ago) Her stand-up is a bit hit-and-miss, particularly when she ventures into political jokes. She’s much better when with others. I wouldn’t rush back.

Henning Wehn – (Nov 22) What you’d expect, playing on his accent and nationality, but very good when sailing close to the wind. Definitely worthwhile.

Ricky Gervais – (Feb 23) Loves pushing the boundaries and deliberately going over them “for academic purposes”, with some proper belly-aching laughs, made even betterer if you’re next to someone who doesn’t find it funny (why did they go?). 99% brilliant.

Russell Howard – (Mar 23) Don’t know yet, he’s often good on telly; I’ll report back tomorrow.

Very smart, must be a good giggle. Stick some light rims on and it’ll feel like an e-bike.

I achieved this with a WiiM Mini after asking on here. It’s perfect.

Pure Planet to Shell here.

No smart meter; the tech works fine for submitting readings, etc.

I feel for anyone with issues, it’s always a nightmare having to deal with big providers of anything.

Santa Clarita Diet :(

I received a WiiM Mini for Christmas and plugged it into the Aux of my ’90s hifi.

Brilliant piece of kit. As well as streaming from apps it automatically found my NAS containing all my ALAC-ripped CDs, all easy peasy.

RIP. Whilst keeping it civil out of respect to her massive cultural impact, convert’s post is just the tip of an iceberg; she wasn’t the most genial human being or inclusive employer.

Possibly a manhole lifter-upperer?

(Dean Martin voice)

When you swim in the sea
And an eel bites your knee
That’s a moray

I ran it at the start of June in a bit under 15 hours

This deserves more recognition. Chapeau!

Edwin Jagger DE89L has linear ridges along the shaft for decent grip and has good weight.

Fave lather is Truefitt & Hill 1805, I didn’t get on with No 10.

Fave blades are Personna Red, Feather or Rapira Swedish.

The saddle rail-ends could be moving around inside where they enter the seat. Squidging some araldite in there sorted it for me.

Roger Waters: Perfect Sense Part 2.

Volume up, it builds, then the stadium crowd does the trick.

If you want to go offroad you can hire mountain bikes from the refurbished Loch Rannoch hotel (it was only e-bikes until recently).

As an aside: They’re also looking at the feasibility of a bike park in the trees all the way up behind; there’s plenty of scope for some great trails with bermed bench turns, etc. Realistically something to engage with the 7 stanes team for 2024, as the overall resort renovation is still ongoing (climbing wall just opened, etc).

Likewise… “You know that bit between your testicles and your anus”

I did the 6hr solo vet, very hot and dusty, I drove home and my wife said “You look like a chimney sweep!”

Nice varied course, some awkward slow soft/loamy/rooty stuff, open areas, rutted descents, bombholes, and some fast flowing sections, a great mix. It was good to chat with a few friendly people, everyone was polite when overtaking and being overtaken.

The hands took a right pummelling… I struggled to put enough force into my knife to cut my toast this morning.

KS LEV here, still smooth and looks/feels like new after a year’s use.

I just use a Joe Blow which I bought in 2009.

On the one occasion when I could get a tyre to seal, I used a £1 CO2 cartridge and it worked instantly.

Are you looking for something like this?

Image not showing for some reason… full URL:
http://www.flatchat.co.uk/images/aerobars.jpg

I even have the aero bottle that goes between them – PM me if interested.

My 320g Aliexpress 29er XC rims have been excellent, but with no local support consider yourself an intrepid test pilot.

Perhaps a section the rear rim is slightly bent, allowing some momentary detach/reattachment of the bead?

What width? 40PSI seems rather high, you must bounce all over the place.

For the last 12 months I’ve been running Ralph Addix Speed 29 x 2.1 at the rear on 25mm internal, 25psi, tubeless, 85Kg kitted up, never had a burp.

Matterley has so much variety of terrain at the organiser’s disposal that for an XC course they could make it very fire-roady or very technical and rooty. But predominantly it’s quite a bumpy surface.

I rode a CX race there a few years ago (on a CX bike), and an Enduro last year (on a hardtail). I was underbiked in both instances.

In the CX event, the “open” race was won by someone on a hardtail. So for XC I’d go for short travel full suss.

Lovely location, you’ll enjoy it.

Bon Iver: Holocene

Smart Trainer (Wahoo kickr copy)
ZTTO cassette
29er Carbon wheels
Titanium handlebars
YBN chains
A few other odds and sods.

All fine so far, never had a dodgy product or anything going missing, no issues with customs.

I was scared initially, the smart trainer (Thinkrider X7) was a real punt in 2020 as the UK was all out of stock of Wahoo/Tacx/Elite. It arrived within a couple of weeks and I’ve used it at least twice a week since then on Suf/Zwift/RGT.

Look for deals, some are very generous indeed. You can get money-off tokens easily.

Then again, China is naughty so you might experience some moral dissonance. I then bought Hope brakes to make up for it ;)

I’d go for a DT Revolution or similar of the same dimensions. They aren’t fancy wheels, so just keep it sturdy and looking consistent.

The problem I had was finding a replacement freehub for them, got one in the end though!

You could try a knockoff Wahoo/Tacx copy, such as ThinkRider from Aliexpress. I went for the X7 Pro in October 2020 and it’s been perfect, using it a few times a week on Zwift/Suf/RGT.

They have a couple more models out now, plus a UK distributor, so perhaps less of a risk now?

As above, plus there are often interesting insights and stories in https://www.rouleur.cc/

Cyclingweekly is good, but can be a bit samey as others’ content.

Targeted workouts based on 4DP on Sufferfest / SYSTM have massively improved my mtb ability. I used to do triathlons, so it was all steady-rate FTP based. But over the past 12 months, whilst my FTP has only gone up by 8%, my 5-minute and 1-minute power have gone up over 20%, with a transformation in recovery from hard efforts, which means I can now do short sharp offroad climbs and keep going at the top, ready for another one.

85Kg kitted up

Hardtail tubeless
F – 29×2.25 – 21psi
R – 29×2.1 – 24psi

If you’re new to whisky, then drink a bit, get some other different ones, then alternate them over several months as the earlier ones start running out; ultimately you’ll have 4 or 5 on the go of different characters. This will be an ongoing pleasure of whisky discovery, especially when shared with visitors.

Keeping whisky in a sealed bottle is a waste, it’s not going to improve with age and you’ll never know if it’s any good. Where’s the fun in that, when you can have a headache instead?

10 years ago I had a C6 Audi RS6 Avant, which was a proper train (5.0 V10 twin turbo). Down to the Alps with 2 bikes in the back, masses of space and speed, it was a brilliant all-rounder for its time. Full bore gearchanges provided your ears with a most welcome thunderclap. But a rather heavy beast when trying to flick it through tight corners.

Shimano A530 might be OK, if you can find a new pair:

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-a530-spd-single-sided-touring-pedals

I have some used ones that I took off a bike that I bought, but have never tried them.

I ran a tribe on there in the early days, but even then it was hard to understand what it was all about. The image flows and stories were enjoyable in their own cocoon, but overall it didn’t do quite enough of what other platforms do much better (Insta / YT / FB / etc). I ditched it in around 2018.

“Better an empty house than an unruly tenant.”

red light, green light. WTF! I know the game is as old as the hills, but never heard it called that in the UK.

Back in my olden days (1970s) it was called “What’s the time, Mr Wolf?”