If your back problem allows it might be worth doing some core exercises. Hip pain sounds more like the position on the bike.Also,did you try a little bit too hard on your first ride out.After reading a review of bike fits I’m not entirely convinced.Tester had 5 different fits and all came back with different recommendations.A friend got a free bike fit with his new bike.Out on the road he got bad back pain so went back to his original set up.

I recently had a road bike for sale on gumtree.First 2 enquiries were both a Polish mobile.One of them said they’d send someone round to collect it and never mentioned how they’d pay.I didn’t give an address and said cash on collection only. Never heard from them again.

Renewal price for our 2 cars was £800. Multi car policy from LV was £380. It wasn’t worth phoning Saga back to haggle the price

The Caravan and Motorhome club do books that list campsites throughout Europe.The list really is made up from members visits including their views of the site and its facilities.You didn’t need to be member in order to purchase the books.

A lifetime ISA does have some serious restrictions and does not allow easy access to your cash.

I have to agree with the previous poster that an ISA would be the best option.
I prefer to self invest as my past experience of financial advisers has been very disappointing.Banks especially.
. If you fancy doing a bit of research the Hargreaves Landsdown site has plenty of info and fairly easy to use but may not be the best platform for investing.
I have investments through large companies such as Aviva down to smaller fund managers and what has consistently outperformed them all is my Fundsmith accumulation fund.You can invest directly with them saving a little bit on the yearly charge compared to going through H&L.This is for the long term so don’t panic if you get fall at some stage.Their philosophy is pretty simple and worth reading on the site.

A friend saw a ridiculously cheap motorhome on E bay.
As he was abroad he contacted the seller,before parting with any money,to ask if he could have it delivered to a relatives address in the UK.This gained the sellers my friends e mail address.
The seller agreed to the delivery and shortly afterwards a Paypal e mail appeared in my friends inbox.This contained a bank account number to transfer the money to,which my friend duly did.Then heard nothing.
Contacting Paypal they told him they never send this type of e mail and it was at this point he realised he had been scammed.
The police could do nothing,and they believed it had originated in Eastern Europe.
He lost £5300,and to add insult to injury it was the bit of money left after his house had been repossessed and auctioned.

If the landlord did not lodge the deposit in a third party account but kept it himself,then as punishment he can be made to return 4 times the amount back to the tenant.

Within a week of buying our property in Spain the ex mayor came down with a piece of string and sectioned off part of our land. He then asked us if we wanted to buy it.We thought ” old fool,he’s got it wrong “.
A couple of years later a woman turned up and told us to keep off her land.After much shouting and arguing we took our Escritura ( deeds) together with plans of the plot numbers registered to us,down to the Catastro( council land registry).
Turns out he had the section of land registered to him and then sold it.No explanation from the deeds office how he did it ,probably bribery,and it couldn’t be reversed unless 2 other neighbours took him to court.
He used to be the Mayor under the Franco regime and was despised by many people in the village as he stole land during that period.One of my neighbours was fearful of him.
The woman then fenced the land and said she would build smack in front of us.We had 2 visits from the Guardia after her complaints but eventually the ill feeling got too much and she abandoned the land.
The old guys son came to see us and said the woman will never return so we think that her money was returned.
The ex mayor is now in a nursing home and many in the village are glad to be rid of him.

A guy came out from our local council to look at a loft conversion that had been done without permission on a house we were looking to buy.
No cost,advice on how to rectify the situation and also had a look at some other work that had been done on the property.

sr0093193. Litter picking has not been ” outsourced ” at my centre. Volunteers and staff do it.In fact,only 2 out of the staff of 6,do actually any work on the ground. The others appear top be sat in the office in front of a computer most of the day.

” The FC is being cut to the bone “. Not at my centre. The waste in manpower and materials is huge.Nowhere do i see ” value for money ” decisions being made.
Somebody fly tipped an old vacuum cleaner.We couldn’t remove it,volunteers and the Forestry worker,but were told that a specialist hazardous waste ” team ” had to be brought in.Only one example but i could probably fill a page.

Had a meeting a few months ago with my financial adviser/personal bank manager.
Came out feeling i’d been talking to a used car salesman.The guy did not have a clue about investments.Turns out he later left to pursue a career well outside banking.
It was probably the push i needed to look at self investing and thats what i’ve done.

I work as a volunteer at a FoC site that has trails.
The parking charge is £5 ,and according to the staff ,95% of people pay it. When i walk around the car park i just don’t see that figure.The parking charges are not enforced unless the reg no comes up as a serial offender.
The majority of the trail building is done by volunteers with the FoC supplying some equipment and materials.
Its not just cycle trails that the volunteers work on but virtually everything else.
We are told all the time the Commission is short of money and car parking fees will rise year on year,currently £5.My centre has the funding for number plate recognition cameras for the parking and may come into place next year.

I believe that to re register a UK car in Spain,the owner has to have lived in Spain for less than 6 months. Also the purchase tax on the car may be based on the tax offices book value of the car and not what you paid.

After living for many years in Spain i’ve found that there never seems to be a ” right ” way to get through the red tape.The position constantly shifts depending on who you talk to.

Look at a copy of the lease and if there are things you are unsure of then , yes,get a solicitor to explain it. Also,don’t be scared to ask for alterations to it if its not suitable as is.Be aware of everything that you are liable to pay for.This is crucial.
I’ve let commercial properties for around 25 years,some with basic lease agreements and others more complex.
At the moment i have a tenant on a 15 year lease,which is around 40 pages long,and cost £1500 to draw up.

You can’t claim expenses,or a percentage of,anything that may add value to the property such as pvc windows.Upon letting the property it becomes commercial so is subject to capital gains tax and this is where you can add the value of stuff like pvc windows,new kitchen ,etc.It might be worth getting a valuation on it now in case of a future sale.
I claim for stuff like pointing,painting,boiler work,and a bit for travel and phone costs.

I’ve been volunteering with the Forestry for the last 2 years.
Normally two days a month,five to six hours each day.
It doesn’t involve trailbuilding as thats done by a local club,but we do at time undertake maintenance.
Over the time i’ve become a bit disillusioned with it.
Its so badly disorganised.Volunteers have turned up to work but you can spend half your time just standing about or going home early.
We’ve never had a manager turn up and say ” thanks for helping,we appreciate it ” In fact it seems to be the reverse ,as if you are a bit of a nuisance for them.
The different pay grades are made very apparent.We can’t use a certain vehicle,even when its stood doing nothing,because its used by someone on a higher grade.Its all very petty stuff and really frustrating.
I still enjoy turning up and working outside ,but myself,and other volunteers,see parts of the forestry organisation as just a jobs creation scheme.

I looked at a couple of road bikes on their site and it was June/July delivery.

I’ve always used Holiday Autos and had no problem finding a full to full hire.Been very cheap as well.

I’ve used the brokers Holiday Autos a few times and found the rates to be really low.I’ve always stayed away from the fuel pay up front and return empty rentals and had pick up full return full.Last time to Spain it was £23 for 23 days.

Spanish authorities will try any way they can to get import duties from you,even if it breaks EU rules. Try importing a UK registered car into Spain.Spain was breaking EU rules for donkeys years charging import tax until taken to court,so they changed the charge to a pollution tax !
Spekkie has done it the legal way by getting private health insurance,proof of savings,etc. Very few people do this.
A lot of ex pats living full time in Spain use the EU health card to get free treatment even though they are not entitled to it.This is why the authorities brought in the rules Spekkie has just adhered to.
I know a British guy with a business who has 8 Brits working for him.He is the only one paying any Spanish national insurance and minimal income tax.
The tax authorities never needed to chase up income tax as they were getting plenty of money in from property sales,but thats down the pan now.

I have 2sets of road wheels,more or less identical weights,but one with a part carbon rim. This wheelset does seem to accelerate better and i assume its due to the lighter rim. It also has cup and cone bearings compared to cartridge in the other and this seems to make a difference as well.Nothing scientific,its just how they feel.

A friend had one and something went wrong with the heater controls and was a £600 fix.Supposed to be a common problem.

Have a look at Rose bikes as well. They have some nice specced disc brake road bikes in the marathon category.

Years ago i was at a testing weekend for a manufacturers two new models.
It was in southern Europe and there were UK and European journalists present.
I’d had a chance to ride one of the new models for a few days and found the suspension not working at all on downhill runs.This was swapped out to non standard expensive parts for the journos as the manufacturer was concerned about receiving a bad review with the production parts.
One of the other models,a hardtail, was never ridden at all.It stayed in the van all weekend.A few months later i read a review of it written by one of the journalists that had attended the test.

Since the opening of Mcd’s and KFC’s drive throughs,together with the associated coffee shops,a few miles away,the roadside litter has become considerably worse.
My wife voluntarily litter picks the country roads but its impossible to keep up with the amount thrown out of vehicles. A couple of weeks ago 2 dead horses were dumped in a layby nearby,and during daylight.
The first time my wife went litter picking she collected a dozen bin bags full.The council said that she should have had permission from them to do it,take out insurance,hi viz vest,and that they would pick the bags up this time but next time she would be charged.
I volunteer with the Forestry and i don’t think its the mtb’ers that have been riding for years that litter,but people on hire bikes or visiting the forest only occasionally.

Talking to a friend who is a frame designer he said his company was looking to bring out a carbon full suss.
The weight difference between the alu and carbon frame was less than 300g but the investment costs to start producing carbon frames to their design were huge.He just couldn’t see the point and it was actually about marketing because they didn’t have a carbon bike in their range.

I have 2 road bikes,one a high end aluminium frame and the other a Scott carbon.I can’t tell any difference in ride quality and the alu bike seems to handle slightly better.The carbon frame weighs less ,but thats about it.
Buying again it would be an aluminium frame with a higher spec for me.

Why not think about putting the money in a stocks and shares isa. I know that you don’t get the initial tax relief like you do on pension contributions but it is tax free when you decide to draw some or all of it. The investment funds are going to be the same or pretty similar as offered for sipps.

Have a look at Fundsmith.Their fund tends to be big name companies with very little buying and selling which means less charges off your profit( if there is any).Website is really simple to follow.

How many people?
I’ll be out in Southern Spain at my house in the Sierra Espuna, Murcia region,at that time and am quite happy to put a couple of people up for a few days.No airport pick up but i can point you towards car hire that should be pretty cheap.Just over an hour to Murcia ( San Javier ) airport.

I had a Trigano one and to be honest never got on with it.Folding out the 2 double beds from the trailer body was easy but putting the awning up was a bind.You needed the awning up to put the kitchen unit in.Lots of pegging out to do.
The best ones are the Camplets but you won’t get a good one for your budget.
Personally i’d buy a s/h camping trailer like an Erde,then a good quality roomy tent.You would still need to buy some camping equipment but that would be the same as the trailer tent.

I’ve rented out shop properties for quite a number of years.
The longest lease i have is 15 years but this was asked for by the tenant.Very complex lease that cost around £2000 to draw up.Another lease is 5 years with 3 yearly rent reviews but is fairly basic. I believe longer leases have to be sent to the land registry.
I don’t take deposits but in the lease is the clause that the property has to be returned to its original condition when the tenant leaves.
The question is how long do you want to commit yourself to.If the tenants wanted to break the 15 year lease they would have to pay me a lot of compensation to allow it.
If the landlord provides a complex lease read through it thoroughly.

Is that £800 each or in total.
Friend has a great small hotel in the Sierra Espuna,Murcia region of Spain.He’s got some decent bikes he lets clients use and there are plenty of fire roads and quiet tarmac roads in the Espuna.Andres is a great guy and will give you all the info you need to get out and about.
Murcia San Javier is the best airport to fly into and car hire can be ridiculously cheap.The hotel does evening meals but are a bit pricey so the village bars are the best bet.Bajo el Cejo is the hotel.

Don’t eat the tinned stuff with the stones removed as they are pretty awful.The best are ones that are cracked with the stone left in.Normally on a market you can get different flavours with the olives being soaked in lemon,garlic,etc.
I have 2 old olive trees out in Spain and have prepared olives for eating with varying degrees of success.

Try Holiday Autos for the car hire.Had some cheap deals from them.£1 a day in December in southern Spain.

I had a 2007 Reign 0 from new and it was a great bike.Moved to it from single pivots and much preferred the multi back end.Not one problem from it apart from routine servicing.Changed the rear pivot bearings myself after about 5 years.Probably slightly underforked with a qr fork but only because the back end is so good.

It might help if you contact Friends of Chopwell,they have an internet site,and pass the info on to them.I go up there Wednesdays with the Forestry so its something we could regularly check.