I’ve got a buddy who became obsessed with some of the short local segments & systematically went out to get them – the outcome was a broken collar bone as he went for one on a small road in the town & his route was blocked by an oncoming car – he shot up a dropped kerb, caught his front wheel & was sent across the pavement into a wall.

I use Strava & look at segment times – with interest – particularly those that are several minutes long or on particular climbs. I filter them to see how I’m doing against those in my club. I regularly do a 14mi loop that is set up as a Strava segment & that’s useful to look at over time. It’s all very variable though depending on the weather / wind direction etc.

ALDI do an excellent rear light multi LEDs and USB rechargeable – they can be used in flash or steady modes and each has 3 levels of brightness. The brightest is very bright & in flash mode lasts over 12 hours when fully charged.

I’ve had one for over a year & it’s been excellent AND the new winter stuff has just come out today so I have bought another for the princely sum of £12.99. You won’t want for anything else….

Tour of Cambridge was probably more of a race as it was a Gran Fondo endorsed by the UCI for the qualification for the armature World Champs – which was held in Albi, S of France this year. A Sportive – it was not……..

Yes I was expecting some indication that we had reached the summit of St Kenelms pass – but nothing – except a big crowd of spectators & a chorus of ‘well done’. As for food – I had a good supply of energy bars & gels & only planned to stop for a re-fill of water at 75mikes – as my 2 bottles should have been done by then.

As it happened I had to stop at the 40mi to repair a puncture – so re-filled one bottle there.

I did the Welsh Velo & the Tour of Cambridge (which was far more competitive) & now the Velo Birmingham – which are all on my calender for next year now (that is when the date for B’ham is out)!

Yep – most of the locals were brilliant – the streets were lined with cheering supporters in must towns. Children slapping the hands of passing cyclists, music playing, bells / cow horns going & people clapping & encouraging riders by their names (which were on the ride numbers). It was pretty well organised too – so qudos to the organisers.

One for the calender next year…….

Great ride today – what a blast! Lots of climbing – ups & downs – & my Garmin says 6942 feet of climbing. There was a 30min hold up at the start because of an ‘incident’ on the course. There was some oil spilled that had straw over it & was clearly controlled by marshals – which may have been the problem. Also some unfortunate hedge cutting (coincidence?) that gave me a puncture with a 1/2 thorn in my rear….

I put a 34T cassette on the rear which made the climbing much easier – a great ride & very enjoyable. Av speed 17.5mph – which I’m pleased with given the climbing…..

I’m off to Mallorca in 3 weeks for a cycling holiday – luckily the outward & return flights are NOT on their cancellation listings. Let’s hope it stays that way – but it doesn’t inspire confidence……

You should be able to pull on the inner cable whilst changing gear up & down to see how many positions it clicks into. Should be 2 for a double & 3 for a triple. Each position should be counted including the starting one.

From 4iiii they are £310.99 plus Vat & duty. Vat, by itself, I assume is @ 20% so another £62ish……..

This came up a few weeks ago too. I was very interested – BUT need a 175mm 105 crank arm & they only have a 172.5mm. Shame…..

Hi – I recently swapped a Shimano 105 medium cage (from a damaged mech) for a 105 short cage to increase the gear range. You may be able to swap a set of outer & inner cages – but it may be a big ask to swap in different outer & inner cages.

Ps – just checked – search the Wahoo site under ‘all products’. The mk1 factory reconditioned Kickr is £649.99 – if your interested.

I bought a Wahoo Kickr Mk1 in January when I broke my collarbone & was unable to ride out. I can’t compare it to any other smart turbo but it’s a brilliant bit of kit – as supported by DC Rainmakers review of smart turbo trainers. I did however buy a re-conditioned mk1 direct from Wahoo (it did come from somewhere in Europe so no additional import tax) for £600+ ish. The mk2 – is a bit more sophisticated with additional internal sensors to ensure accuracy to overcome some strain gauge issues – but the Mk1 is pretty accurate (+\- 2%?) with updated software. There is a pretty active FB group too which is good for peer advice & support. Zwift is pretty good – particularly on wet days like today…..

It was a great event – 3 friends & myself spent 2 nights in a Cardiff hotel & spent money in Restaurants, shops & pubs. It was really well organised & much easier moving than the Tour of Cambridge – I recently did too. I assume most of the hundreds (?) of stewards that were on every blocked road must have been recruited locally too. I understand 15000 riders entered plus all the support staff – which must have made a significant contribution to the local economy.

We’re 7.29 Pen D too so we’ll see u there – 4 of us from Hitchin Nomads. Hopefully we can get our car in the Hotels small car park – but there was several ‘Park on my Drive’ type of places around the centre. 100 miles of closed roads & 1800m of climbing – should be ‘fun’………

Broke mine in January coming off on the road. It was a little misaligned but just immobilised & not operated on. I used it an an excuse to buy a turbo (n+1 ish) and kept my legs working riding one handed & wearing a sling. I am 62 eat well & pretty fit & did my first ride 5 weeks after the break – an 82mi road sportive!

Now about 5 months later I have 99% movement but it’s still a bit stiff in some movements. Dr said it should be fully healed after 3 months – which it probably is. I do have a lump where the bone is misaligned – but it doesn’t really cause me any problems & they do say it heals up stronger.

Good luck with yours.

I’ve put a Westfalia on my T5 – although not a removable one. Look up PF Jones as they seemed the best on price & range. They are not difficult to fit- although it depends on the year as I believe later models need the canbus updating for the electrics & rear parking sensors etc. Mine is a 2004 so no problem.

Also You have to remove the rear reinforcement beam to fit the tow-bar beam which is shorter & left the outer parts of the rear bumper vulnerable in a crash. Ther rear beam can be fitted around the tow bar beam but does need to have some parts cut out to clear the tow bar beam & only fits on 2 of the 4 original fitting bolts – but this is still pretty substantial.

I have a T5 on 19″ Range Rover wheels dropped 40mm on HR springs. It’s a 2ton vehicle & I wouldn’t use a scissor or bottle jack because of instability. I carry a lightweight hydraulic racing jack capable of lifting 2 Tons. I carry it under the R&R bed at the rear. Suitable Jacks have been discussed on the T5 forum many times. You also you have a suitable spare with the correct bolts if it’s a steel wheel rather than alloy.
Good luck with your jack choice.

Chicksands is a pretty good place & Google ‘Sillygrin MTB’ who ride in the area.

Gore bike wear stuff is pretty good & well made & some Altura (which is cheaper) is quite well made & striking.

I’m doing it – a recent convert to the ‘dark side’ when it all got too mucky MTB-ing last year. Presently doing 50/60 mile weekly club runs & did the 82mi ‘No Excuses’ in Cambridge a few weeks ago should be OK – I hope. It’s my first 100 -and on closed roads so looking forward to it…….

I’ve got some 2XU compression bib-longs that are really good & have a small & effective pad. I don’t think they do them anymore, and you wouldn’t want longs anyway, but I would certainly look at their compression bib-shorts.

Hi All – I’ve been doing some gentle Zwifting for the past month (just paid up my subs!) nursing a broken collar bone sustained biking in the real world….. I’ve been following this thread too. I have been Zwifting as ‘J.Curtin HNCC’ in the mornings about 10-11 so have probably not seen any of you.

I’ve been learning a lot about FTPs & how to use Zwift – (much from http://www.titaniumgeek.com) and done the dance with sensors, spindowns etc – and have generally only ridden & done the odd work-out & not raced.

I’ve just got back on the bike, in the real world, and thankfully don’t seem to have lost any fitness after 6 weeks and possibly gained some………

Brilliant film – I understood every word as an East Londoner – no problem! Quite poignant in places and what a wacky engineer he is!!

First time of applying (as they don’t do an MTB one!) & didn’t get in. I have entered – non-lottery – the Welsh & Birmingham Velothons though……

I’ve run tubeless on my MTBs for years & recently took up road cycling. Bought schwalbe tubes (with removable cores) & use Stans fluid in them. Possibly a few grams heavier – but belt & braces – self sealing tubes!

Just got a reconditioned Kickr a few days ago as off road with injury. It arrived in ‘as new’ condition despite the listing saying it might have some marks on it. It came from the Netherlands so no additional tax & not too bad to return if there is a problem.
Everything seems good at the moment…….

Similar problem with our Audi 1.9TDI – now starts a dream with a new battery. GSF are always doing 40-50% off. We got an upgraded BOSCH 1/2 price for £60ish with a 4 year guarantee. Excellent bit of kit!!

Cheers Tanacious – on its way from the Netherlands! No VAT / import (at the mo!) and cheaper to send it back if it goes wrong. Perhaps I wasn’t too rash after all. Thanks.

Hi Tenacious – came off MTB-ing onto road recently to avoid all the wet & mud etc & managed to come off on the road on Sunday (diesel ?) breaking my collarbone so I’m looking for some cycling in the virtual world for a few months on a turbo.
After much research I’ve gone for a re-furbed Kickr mk1 as per your posting above. Looks a good deal – BUT have u bought one? And what might the import / VAT be? I hope it’ll still be good deal…….. fingers crossed!

Get yourself an electricians screwdriver with a test light in it & test the terminals / junctions in the ceiling rose / light switch for a live. Then the contacts in the bulb holder. You should be able to work out if/where there is a break.

GSF have been doing v good discounts too – 48/50% typically. I’ve recently bought a BOSCH car battery @ 1/2 the price with a 4 year guarantee – very good!

Just google ‘DC Raimmaker Garmin Maps’ for an excellent guide on downloading & installing free & excellent openstreetmaps for the Garmin. Much better than the Garmin maps!

After being a MTB-er for many years without any need of Strava I have turned to the dark side & done a fair bit on the road this year & see much more uses for Strava as my Garmin info is linked & it uploads automatically.

I’m a bit of a Strava novice & only have the free version & Premium may do more. Some of what you want seems unlikely but some may be.

A friend has set up a 12mi Strava section that we do on a regular basis & there is a ranking for this on Strava showing each riders best time. Individually you can look at your own position & look at the history times / ranking of all your previous rides (efforts). I can’t see how this can be seen by others though.

Outsiders could also do the same section (so it’s not closed) but if the section starts & stops in particular places they may not complete the exact route and therefore not the same section.

The only way I can think of to link others maybe to ‘follow’ them.

I hope this is of some help.

Checkout Trek Domane – broad range disk & non-disc & 105 – Ultegra groups sets depending on the spec. They take mudguards too. CX bikes also seem to be increasing in popularity too.

Watched it with great interest – very griping. But were all the threads tied up in the end? Why was the mini-cab driver shot? How did that fit in – unless Marcella shot him in one of her episodes as he saw her move the body……

And how did she move the body? They never mentioned she had super-powers.

And I must admit I kept thinking of Donald Duck as she pouter her way through – BUT very good though…..

OK – Xora thanks for looking. Mine only have .fit files too. On googling there does seem to be some conversion apps available. As Mapyx quo boasts it can import 103 different file formats – it seems odd that it can’t do .fit files – particularly as these must now be the standard Garmin ones…..

Hi Xora – thanks for that GPX would be fine – but all I can see in the Activities folder (810s history) is .fit files. How do I export out a GPX?

I used to wear DM (Dr Martin) Brogues in black for work – with a suit – everyday which would last me a year. Pretty comfortable & still pretty cool with the young ‘uns……. For an older geezer.

I can’t believe I’m 61 & 62 this year – but gave up looking in mirrors a long time ago.

I play squash – vigorously – 3-4 times a week with those 20+ years younger & go MTB-ing about twice a week too. I don’t feel much older than 40 and am told I look younger than my age – which Is good.

My dad died at 53yrs when I was in my 20s and I thought he was old then…..