I build my own maps for my Garmin 800 using the OSM data and the mkgmap application.

I’ve tried it, but haven’t got it to work properly as yet. I’ve used various TYP files- I’ve even got an old OS 1:50 lookalike one form Talkie Toaster which came with the Mapsource version download.

Cheers,
Jamie

Ours (a VailLant combi) has a nifty ambient temperature scale alongside the temp. dial.

Cheers,
Jamie

*Like. Lots!

Cheers,
Jamie

I use Talkie Toaster’s maps with my 810, unfortunately he’s stopped uploading the OS 1:50 lookalike maps for free as people kept selling them on ebay. However a £20 subscription to for his downloads is a lot cheaper than the Garmin ones!

EDIT- I suspect johnnystorm’s link above is exactly what TT got upset about 🙄

Cheers,
Jamie

I’m currently a ‘two-days-per-pair-with-a fresh-pair-for-Friday-treat’ kinda guy 😀 But my commute is going from 5 to 15 miles each way so I’m going to get a couple of more pairs in. Oh, and has already been said- Merino top all week FTW!

Cheers,
Jamie

Try here.

Edit- the download links don’t appear to work.

Cheers,
Jamie

I was lucky with my Cyclescheme bike (before the changes)- I got made redundant 1/2 way through the year and the firm didn’t ask for anything 8)

Cheers,
Jamie

Congrats! There appears to be shed loads of Engineering jobs out there at the moment, it’s like someone has turned a tap on! I start a new job after May Bank holiday 😀

Cheers,
Jamie

Shimano SPD’s last for ever.

+1

I’m using a pair of Shimanos for the daily commute I’ve had since 2003! Ok the cleats could do with replacing but I’m not sure I could get the off as they’re so worn!

Cheers,
Jamie

All I know is our daughter wants a Frog balance bike for her second birthday. We put her on one in a LBS and everytime she sees a bike says ‘Frog bike!’ 🙂

Cheers,
Jamie

Occasionally ride thru Leighton Bromswold. A small, not posh at all, hamlet but it does sport the Green Man; an unassuming pub with very well kept local beers and top notch, proper, home cooked fayre. Oh, and a proper skittles table too!

Cheers,
Jamie

Jamie, I would think the scales are a good indicator if you are going in the right direction or not. Even if they have their downsides.

I don’t need a pair of scales to work out if I’m getting fitter / healthier or not- I can feel it when out on the bike, oh and Strava let’s me know too 😉

Cheers,
Jamie

Except that being lighter makes the exercise easier and also less of a load on the body – running is easier on the knees/joints, etc.

Yep, agree on that. But my point is by doing more exercise and eating more heatherly you will become lighter, just try not to become fixated on it- let the body adjust without becoming obsessed by lossing X amount of grams per day.

Just this week my wife commented on my more muscular calves (I’ve been upping the road miles this year), she didn’t say, “oh my, you look lighter” 😉

Cheers,
Jamie

My top tip? Throw out the scales! Why the obsession with weight loss, if you need to shed a few kilos then look at the long term. Plan to do more exercise each week, try to eat more healthily (and perhaps less) and don’t become hung up on the short term fluctuations in weight.

Cheers,
Jamie

I’ve been to a few Ladies Days at Royal Ascot. Has to be said, you get a different “type” of Lady at that venue for sure.

I remember stopping at a motorway services en route to Glastonbury one year and saw a minibus full of Ascot ‘ladies’ day goers just about fall out of said vehicle swigging from bottles of fizz. At 9 in the morning 😯 😀

Cheers,
Jamie

The company I’m starting with next month: 2.2 / 5 from 6 ratings, CEO not rated. 😯 Most reviews mention poor management and a leadership team with little experience. Whoops!

Cheers,
Jamie

Are the everyday commuters carrying clothes in every day in panniers?

I’m a ‘leave shoes and trews at work; carry in kecks, socks and shirt each day’ kinda guy. One tip- spare socks and kecks in the drawer. Not fun wearing cycling shorts or wet socks around the office all day!

Oh, and if you take your shoes home to wear over the weekend, be sure to pop them in your panniers on Monday morning, again wearing wet SPDs all day is very uncool!

Cheers,
Jamie

I’m starting a new job next month, going up from a 10 mile / day commute 5 days a week to 30 miles 4 days a week. Looking forward to getting some more miles in!

Cheers,
Jamie

just done 690 miles for april.

You must be absolutely knackered today, Ton 😉

Cheers,
Jamie

Had a massive Mothers Day lunch with the in-laws and then did an expensive 40k on the road bike with the father-in-law; dodging an oncoming tractor, I snagged the front tyre at the edge of a shitty Fenland road.

EDIT- Balmy and calm here in Cambridgeshire 😀

Cheers,
Jamie

Approximately 0 seconds. Never have been able to 😥

Cheers,
Jamie

You could however be killed by a bus.

I could however be mown down by an old git joining a busy main road following a van and not looking. Oh, yes I was and spent 5 months on crutches and was off the bike for over a year. As previously stated, I am perfectly capable assessing the risks of the options open to me for my ride to work, as I see it riding on the left side track facing the buses is safe enough. On the return journey riding / pushing along the grassy bank adjacent to the track is the best option.

Cheers,
Jamie

Haven’t got a dog have you? Friends of ours had it laid and it absolutely stunk of dog piss! Not the most pleasant BBQ I’ve been to!

Cheers,
Jamie

Brilliant ninfan!

Cheers,
Jamie

All the council & bus companies need to do is have a bit of joined up thinking as to an integrated transport infrastructure and have bike racks on the back of the busses. That way the scores of commuters that use the BW each day could negotiate the affected sections safely and without threat of prosecution.

Cheers,
Jamie

If indeed the sign is referring to BW users then I can only assume there was a legal order extinguishing / diverting the BW, but there should be a notice saying “Bridleway closed please use the crossing over there –>” (or words to that effect).

Nope, there are no notices of any diversions.

You can get temporarily closures for either 5 days or 6 months (or 1 year if the Sec of State authorises it). It’s fairly rare to extinguish them completely, but for something of that size it’s possible (like a side roads order)

There are two main sections that flood badly, each 200 or 300 metres in length.

Cheers,
Jamie

I have a vague recollection of landowners only being able to close designated rights of way for 2 weeks at a time- did I just make that up? It was closed for at least 5 weeks during this winters floods.

Thanks for your enlightened input DBW 😆 – No I wouldn’t ride on a motorway, but in assessing the risks of the options of my commuting route I feel that riding on the tracks where I can see busses approaching from at least 500m away is better that riding on the road. A leg full of titanium is testament to the fact that there are plenty of knobs on the road around these parts.

Cheers,
Jamie

The sign doesn’t say that they have closed the bridleway. It tells you to keep off the busway (whatever that is).

The sign is on a gate the closes across the bridleway which also sports a ‘Track Closed’ sign. http://www.thebusway.info/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridgeshire_Guided_Busway

Cheers,
Jamie

Plenty of really good distilleries in Speyside (Glenfarclas were very generous with the samples on a wet February lunchtime!). Staying in Grantown and driving to the Cairngorms could work. Cairngorm Brewery beers are top notch.

Cheers,
Jamie

Just go camping in Wales FFS!

OK, not Wales but last year we booked a campsite in Lyme Regis for a week out of the school holidays. We then had to change to a week in the school holidays due to a date clash and they wanted to charge £27 a night for two adults and a 1 year old! Told them to stuff it and camped at Sidmouth instead.

EDIT- we’re paying the same for our half of a cottage with the parents-in-law in Keswick in June!

Cheers,
Jamie

Just go camping in Wales FFS!

OK, not Wales but last year we booked a campsite in Lyme Regis for a week out of the school holidays. We then had to change to a week in the school holidays due to a date clash and they wanted to charge £27 a night for two adults and a 1 year old! Told them to stuff it and camped at Sidmouth instead.

Cheers,
Jamie

We’ve got a Morphy Richards jobbie, does the job!

Oh, and thanks for the reminder to facilitate our toddler’s purchase of a pressie for Sunday 😳 A rotary cutter and cutting matt should hopefully land on my desk tomorrow! She had flowers on valentines, if she got them more than once every three years she’d think summuts up 😆

Cheers,
Jamie

Liking so far.

Me too. I do like a bit of chat and features on 6Music though, I’d soon get bored listening to it full time.

Cheers,
Jamie

Or is it that the landowner thinks he can get more money out of the council then when he’s been paid off the insurance problem ‘goes away’? Cynical, moi?!?

Cheers,
Jamie

Generally good in my experience, though I’ve had no data connection for the past couple of days at work and home. And there was a 3 day outage of voice and data earlier in the year. I wonder if they are putting more resources into rolling out 4G than managing the 3G network.

Cheers,
Jamie

Radio Paradise is worth a listen – no adverts (apart from asking people to donate to support the station) and the DJs mostly stick to playing music rather than talking shite.

On a similar tip, the guys in the workshop listen to Radio Caroline which is OK. Apart form the annoying git who does the morning show from LA.

Cheers,
Jamie

Got mine today too, all ready for road bike’s return trip from Bruges in May!

Cheers,
Jamie

How are you doing it- just bunging it in all together and hoping for the best?

I’m no cook but personally I’d slowly fry the chorizo in a dry pan (no oil) and when a lot of the fat has rendered out, add the onions (adding some olive oil) until starting to soften. Add the garlic (being careful not to burn the it as it catches easily) remove the onions, chorizo and garlic. Add more oil to the pan then add the chicken until browned. Bung in the wine to reduce a little and throw in everything else.

Or something like that!

Edit- jambalaya got there first!

Cheers,
Jamie

Conversely; me and my wife went into a shop looking at a road bike for her over the weekend. 3 people behind the counter with no-one else in the store and after 5 minutes the wife got the hump and walked out as no-one came over to help us out!

Can’t win eh? 😀

Cheers,
Jamie

Ultimately if you want easy of clipping in then get mtb style pedals

This +1

I use SPDs on the mountain bike, commuter and road bike with no problems.

, but they have the drawback of poor foot support.

I’ve not found it to be an issue, though I’ve not tried SPD SLs to compare! I’ve certainly not had any hot spots or owt even after 5 hours on the road bike.

Cheers,
Jamie