We have a huge cultural blind-spot when it comes to anything related to road safety – if anything else was killing 4 or 5 people per day in the UK there would be public outrage and something would need to be done about it, but because its cars we just accept it as part of life.

Approximately 3 people per YEAR are killed by cyclists, yet the mainstream media are trying to rile everyone up about it and there have been changes to the law, yet the death toll caused by driving is ignored and often excused as people don’t want to accept that in order to reduce it we all need to change our habits! The 20mph speed limit has been proven, multiple times, to reduce deaths, yet look at how much pushback there’s been about that.

The whole thing is bonkers!

Thanks All, we’ve now got two Lidl Mistral paddleboards, for less than we’d budgeted for one (even came with the seats to convert to a kayak) – I’ll spend the rest of the money on beer and cider and drink to your good health!

We stayed at https://bracelandscamping.co.uk/ in the Forest of Dean last Friday – nice clean and warm toilet block and well drained grass pitches. I imagine its pretty busy during the summer, but was nice and quiet last week (even with half-term). It’s close to a good mix of mountainbike trails at https://pedalabikeaway.co.uk/home-pedals/.

Not my Neighbour, but my neighbour’s neighbour is pretty weird…!

I had to laugh at the idea of using red diesel to power a generator to charge an electric car!

We started using Spond as the lock-downs eased and we were limited to group sizes (I set it up for the club and it’s really easy to use), we’re still using it and have regular club rides and ad-hoc club nights through it. I’m not sure if we’ve set it up optimally for our club setup, but I’m not sure how to improve it without losing functionality and the ability to easily swap between groups. It’s easy to share routes and send messages (although there is a limit to number of people you message so have to send multiple) – my main complaints would be the number of notifications received, it’s another app as people are still trying to use fb, watsapp etc and it’s a private group so non-members cannot see what we’re doing (we have approx 160 club members and 1000+ people on the fb  page so those who haven’t yet decided to join don’t see what we’re doing). If it were up to me we’d go back to the simple system we used to have and just use the fb group, but the majority of the club like it so it’s here to stay (for now anyway)!

I emailed Strava about changing the currency and this is their useless reply (it’s not really encouraging me to renew):

Unfortunately we won’t be able to adjust your currency on our end. I would suggest canceling/downgrading your subscription to prevent it from automatically renewing:

If you subscribed through our Strava Website you can cancel/downgrade by going to:
Strava account
Cancel subscription
Complete subscription cancelation request

When your subscription expires, you should be able to resubscribe with the correct currency. If you’re not seeing the correct currency when you subscribe through our website, I would suggest trying to subscribe through Google Play or iTunes depending on your device.

Just looked at mine and it says it’ll renew in July for $79.99 – my location is set as UK, does anyone know how I update so it’ll give me the price in GBP?

Not sure if I’ll renew or not!

…

Cheers stainypants

That would be brilliant, thank you

Do you know where the moisture is coming from that is condensing? Eg are bikes put away wet, or is there damp coming through walls or the floor? I would possibly look at addressing this if so

I think it’s moisture from the air – no other obvious source. How could we improve the ventilation?

Single skin brick?

Single skin brick/block, but walls are sealed and don’t seem damp.

Is it detached or part of the house?

It’s detached from the house, but attached to next door’s garage.

So much negativity today! It’s 3 nights away – even if it’s really rubbish it’s short enough to be an ‘adventure’! Please can we move on from all the it’s too small and you’ll die of claustrophobia comments and give some useful tips to make it more fun for (the kids won’t care about the size and will have fun anyway)?

VW transporters and the like are too small.

That’s why we’re hiring as a trial to see if it’s livable for very short trips!

Take wellington boots and eternal optimism.

I think this is applicable to most of lifes questions!

All of you, including the dog, need to live, sleep and cook in the living room for a week, just to start to get an understanding of it

Not a week, just 3 nights, but yes, this is why I think we need the awning too!

We stayed in the Forestholidays FoD while Mrs E was pregnant with our 1st sprog (nearly 7 years ago) and it was great for an off-season relaxing break, but the prices seem to have gone up loads since then. I’ve looked again a few times, but have ended up going to similar places in France for similar money (including ferry etc)!

I think this might be hotter:

Greater investment in alternatives to get people out of cars – I wouldn’t mind using public transport if it was affordable and would even cope with it being slightly slower, but I don’t because on my regular journeys it would take more than twice as long and costs a fortune (a week using public transport is almost as much as a month using a car).

@Tracey

Is that a portable compressor in your first pic? If so is it any good and would you recommend?

I don’t know of anywhere local that does cheap worktops, but there is a Howdens local so I’ll pop in there at some point, thanks.

It’s times like these when I think cases like this ought to be held behind closed doors…

Totally agree with this, the press should report on the outcome, not the process!

In regards to a garage beneath a bed – would laying bikes on their side (like you would in the back of a car) allow the bed to be lower while still transporting bikes with wheels on (a slide out tray like in the Singletrack Sampler van would make it relatively easy to access the bikes)?

EDIT: would probably only work with road bikes / narrow bars as wide bars on their side would be almost as tall as a bike stood up without front wheel!

I quite enjoy the Project Amber videos – its just a bloke and his dog converting and living in an old ambulance, but it’s strangely compelling!

In the hospital car park while my son was still in the special care baby unit! He was a couple of weeks old by this point, but still in hospital and the interview was with a new client rather than a new job!

My grandfather was an identical twin (they lived a few hours away from each other for most of their lives) and we didn’t realise how many people didn’t know until he went to his brother’s funeral and a few old dears nearly fainted!

Will anything really make a difference unless you heat it as well?

I’ve got a small heater which I don’t use much as heat just distastes out the roof and gap around the door! I also want to put the washing machine in there (once I’ve sorted the plumbing) so need to make sure the water supply doesn’t freeze!

Yes, looks a little like this (google image and not actual garage roof!):

Do I need to worry about air gaps etc if I just wedge slabs of Kingspan between the trusses?

Have a look at Yellow Jersey

I’ve looked at Yellow Jersey and it’s approx 60% more expensive than Monster Sports Insurance, it offers a few more bells and whistles, but the core items I want are included in both, is it really worth 60% more?

Cheeky bump for the evening forumites!

Also, whether or not you have any experience of Monster Sports Insurance can you recommend any bike insurance companies that are worth considering or that should be avoided (I specifically want the cover to include potential crash damage during racing)? Thanks

A lot depends on industry and specific role, but one thing you need to consider, as ‘thegeneralist’ alludes to, you will either be incompetent or spend half of your working life trying to prove that your not!

Got a Fizik saddle on it?

No, it’s frame only and both things were in a bag together, separate to the cable hole plugs etc.

Recumbent trike always gets people interested too, just wheel out odd bikes for people to “have a go”.

Need to try and avoid the have a go / odd bikes as there’s a local cycling charity who usually wheel out a fleet of weird and wonderful bikes, which is why I was thinking about something a little more competitive!

I’ll definately add sealant before I use them (going to wait so it’s not sat idle), but just wanted to know if it’s worth getting them perfect (or near enough) first or is there little/no benefit if the sealant will sort it out for me?

did they give you an idea of cost?

Sorry for the slow reply, but I was told it would be about £40 (with some uncertainty depending on the bearings)

I’m going to take it to a mavic service centre (I emailed and they confirmed they can change the bearings), but not yet got around to it as riding the winter bike now!

Quick bump to try and catch any Friday skivers who know the answer!!

Looks like I’ll play it safe and book with roofbox – Thanks all.

Top tip – avoid the croissants, they’re disgusting, as is the coffee!  How a French company can serve up such appalling food is beyond me.

I also find it bizarre that it’s cheaper if you pay in GBP rather than Euros on Brittany Ferries (due the weird exchange rate they use)

It may depend on the boat too. We went on the fast Portsmouth-Cherbourg ferry last month and all vehicles over 6ft were charged extra and most had to reverse on, even normal cars like a Scenic with a roofbox.

That’s the crossing I’m hoping to book, so likely to be more of an issue then!

Sorry, what I meant is should I book with a roofbox and try to cancel / get refund if we don’t need it or book without the roofbox and add it to the booking / pay the fee if we do?