Yup, I had this problem. ‘upgraded’ to a 4G iphone contract, which costs more per month than the previous 3G iphone contract, and burned through all my data allowance in a couple of days. My service provider doesnt offer unlimited data so thats not an option for me.
Previously I hardly used any of my allowance and being an old fogey I certainly don’t use facebook, youtube, instagram or any of these things out and about.
I learnt that iphone 4G is set to use cellular even when there is wifi available so it does all its back ups etc using cellular.
So I ended up disabling the ‘use 4G’ slider, and going through the cellular usage as described by previous posts and setting most apps to not use cellular data. Solved all the problems.

So I now have a 4G phone which I am paying extra for and which I cant get the benefits from.

Fantastic.

We go MTB’ing every year in Mallorca. Can thoroughly recommend it.

We bought this guide http://www.rockandride-mallorca.com/mtb-guide-fuhrer-rutas-tour/
You don’t need to buy a trail map (unless you want to) if you use the guide as the instructions are excellent. We actually bought it twice as some new rides were added this year!

The riding in Mallorca is definitely challenging, beautiful and fun. I found it knackering but it depends on your fitness I guess! Not much flat. Lots of rocks, switchbacks, forests, stunning scenery, secret beaches, remote villages.

The guide I linked to has one Palma ride, which I haven’t done. The rides in the north (starting from Soller, Esporles, or Lluc) are tremendous so I would say definitely worth hiring a car for.

Hope you have a lovely time!

I have had this. It was awful. I was in huge amounts of pain and sleeping was really hard. I couldn’t do any sport and even walking was hard. I was put on strong painkillers by the GP while waiting (3 months) for a scan.

I asked the GP if I could see a physio (at my own expense) but was told I had to wait until after the scan, to be safe.

At the scan, the lady performing it told me the was nothing wrong internally and to see a physio. She said that is almost always the case when presented with a non-elderly, non-obese, reasonably healthy and fit patient.

Saw a phsyio, she manipulated my diaphragm. Instant relief.

So perhaps you could try seeing a physio?

Why don’t you ask Cotic? They’re very friendly! And can probably supply you what you need…and it will definitely be right.

As I have an old fork but a new frame I needed half one headset and half another and they supplied it at very reasonable price 😀

I used to do a weekly circuit training session that my old bike/running club ran, along with riding mtb or running pretty much every day. I thought the circuits were just a laugh and didnt think much of it, until I moved away and didnt do it any more.
After a year of just riding and running, cue hideous stiffness and all sorts of issues.
I now run my own circuits session in the garden or living room with friends and I’m back to feeling good again. I feel strong on the bike and get up in the morning without pain.
I do mainly body-weight exercises but also use light weights and those big rubber bands. Most of the things I use cost less than a tenner.
I do love kettlebells though… I find them really fun and you don’t notice you’re essentially doing a full hour on non-stop squats.
I find exercises by reading articles in magazines (Outdoor fitness is good) and on-line. Anything you can find on strength training for running will most likely be good for riding. There is lots more info on running than riding.
Or go to a circuits class? They’re usually very good fun and all the equipment is provided.
I can certainly attest to the fact that you won’t put on bulk. Barely a visible muscle on me, but I feel stronger.

I have a PhD in Pharmacy.
I did it after 3 years working in the pharma industry and was made redundant and wasnt sure what to do.
For me, it was like having a really interesting job for three years. I was lucky enough to do it ‘in industry’ with fantastic resources.
Once back in the world of proper work, I have found that certain posts need a PhD as a pre-requisite, especially in my current company which is American. If I didnt have the PhD, I wouldnt have this job. I don’t necessarily agree that if I didn’t have the PhD I wouldnt be capable, but that’s the way it is.
Some other companies I have worked at don’t recognise PhDs at all and you come in on the same starting salary and grade as a new graduate. As far as they’re concerned both are ‘fresh from uni’.
I have never regretted my PhD but I feel that I was very lucky to have a great subject, great supervisors and sufficient resources. Choose carefully as you don’t always get this.

I went through this process a few weeks back!

Decided in the end as I already had an exposure joystick for nightriding, the best was to buy the Exposure headband for running. About 8 quid.

I had a similar problem once, I know how it affects your whole life, and if you can’t relax at home its awful.
I moved into a house I had bought to find I had neighbours who installed a tumble dryer in the cupboard under the stairs where the party wall is. Sounds like nothing doesnt it? But the thing was on every night from midnight til 4am (economy 7?) and every 90 seconds would change tumble direction. Every night lying awake waiting for the next ‘boooom’ as the direction changed. Earplugs, as you say, were useless.
After a few weeks of sleepless nights I had a calm word. They seemed a reasonable nice family until then.
From that point on I had loud music played continuously, the tumble dryer of course still on and abuse in the street/doorstep. When they noticed I would go in the garden when the music got too much, they put a stereo out there too.

3 months after I moved in, I moved out, back into a flatshare, and put the place up for sale.

I sold the house for 15K less than I paid for it, plus all the selling costs. It took another four years of flatshare to save up enough to buy somewhere again.

I have never regretted it. Best thing I ever did for my own sanity. And now I really understand the value of good neighbours!

I hope your situation gets resolved.

yeah I got this once. Lots of things happened all at once – moved house (heavy lifting) and massively strenuous singlespeed bike ride through thick clay trying to keep up with the guys and cycling up a huge hill to meet my boss for dinner wearing a corset. Not sure which was actually responsible but it was hell. I was in agony and couldnt do anything, and especially sleeping was really painful. Couldnt ride/run.

Went to the doctors after a couple of weeks with no relief, and got diagnosed with ‘costochondritis’ which translates as unidentified upper abdominal pain, and loads of painkillers. Went back after 4 weeks with still no improvement, asking if I should see a physio (happy to pay myself, didnt want a referral) and was given more painkillers, an appt in 3 months time for a scan, and strict instructions NOT to see a physio until the hospital scan.

A long painful wait, and the scan revealed nothing and the scanner told me to see a physio.

Went the next day to my favourite physio. She rammed her hand inside my ribcage and pulled out my diaphragm, which she said had got stuck up there, just like any tight muscle which you get manipulated free by a physio.

Instant relief! Soooo annoyed that the doctor told me not to go as I could have saved myself months of non-riding misery.

So that was my experience. Its never come back, but I do some simple diaphragm stretches (basically reaching up and to the side while deep breathing) every so often.

If you’re hoping to ride on more than one day of your holiday you might want to consider buying/downloading/printing off the local OS map.

The Sherwood Pines trail isn’t massive so if you want entertainment on more than one occasion you could explore some of the local bridleways too. It’s all really nice woodland riding around there, there are tons of trails, and there are a few lake/country park things which add a bit of interest as you ride. Your rigid Inbred will be fine for anything you might find around there.

This website has loads of Sherwood routes as the guy that runs it lives in Notts so he and all his mates (inc me!) use it a lot. http://www.justgoride.co.uk/

I have the Ryan Leech series. I think its really good. He has designed the stretches really carefully to avoid injuring a typical tight cyclist, whereas most yoga DVDs go quite intense which could injure a ‘normal’ person not used to yoga.

I also rate the following very highly:

Jill Miller Post-Athletic Stretch
Yoga for Cyclists (Andria Baldovin)
Yoga for Runners (by Tania, Yogaland) which is a phone app.

I tend to use one of each of those three in rotation after rides.

You could do worse while you’re waiting for GP/Physio appointments than trying Jill Miller’s ‘Kneehab’ DVD.

Sometimes stubborn knee problems can be caused by weak muscles either up or down the chain (e.g. ankles, calves, hips, glutes)

This DVD covers the whole lot and starts off super gently for people in a lot of pain.

It helped me!

I had some coaching from Mountain Bike Rock School who works at/near Pines. Very good!

+1 for Mark LG. Ladybower route (any variation) definitely would be my first choice and if you start from Bamford and go up the Aston way that is the next village to Hathersage.

I wouldnt recommend Sherwood Pines (flat, total mudfest, no view) over anything in the Peaks (not flat, pretty weatherproof, among best view in UK), but I guess it depends what sort of riding you like.

Enjoy!

Have stayed once in the lodge. Very good.

Have stayed several times as a group in a self catering ex-farmhouse called Hafod Grange. Very comfortable and well equipped. Ride through the forest trails approx 45-60 mins to the official Afan/Glyncorrig trails or drive. Not near any pubs tho…

KeithB – NATS dont officially organise any night rides but if you go on the forum people arrange them between themselves or if you turn up at a Sunday ride you’ll get chatting to people and will find someone who lives near you wanting to ride weekday nights.

Molgrips – an easy run would be along the canal towpath, coming up at the Magistrate’s court/train station, through the Meadows and onto the River Trent, along the Trent until you hit the canal again and follow the canal until you’re back where you started. 4.2 miles. How long are you here for? Want a guide? Could do tomorrow (Friday) any time after 11.30am. Night riding tonight so saving my energy today!

I have this at the moment and have had it for about 4 months now.

It came on really gradually and I thought it was ITB or quads too.

It got really severe, to the point where it was pulling my lower back and everything was very painful. I couldn’t lie flat or bend down (e.g. lifting toilet lid was embarrassingly impossible)

If any of these symptoms are also similar you may have what I have got – illiopsoas (hip flexor).

Mine is gradually recovering with the help of a corrective exercise specialist. It is a funny muscle. If you try stretching it too much or god forbid massaging it then it tenses up completely and is even worse.

Apparently its pretty common in cyclists because they get really strong psoas (hip flexor) muscles which then take over and lead to the glut muscles getting weak. So the solution is to do loads of squats!

Check your glute muscles by doing a one-legged squat – are they weak?

If you catch it early (unfortunately I didnt as I didnt realise what it was) I would say a combination of stretching (look up online) and strengthening your glutes will help you. Cant do any harm anyway!

But best off see an expert as any injury for a long time is not a good thing and your body is trying to tell you something!

Megatron – singlespeeders more than welcome. We have several. We even have a couple of fixed riders!

I live in Nottingham and always feel very safe here. I walk around the city centre alone at night, feel very safe. I live the other side of the Meadows and work in the centre so have to go through the Meadows every day, several times a week at night and also always feel very safe.
My running routes take me through all the ‘dodgy’ areas (Meadows, St Anns, Sneinton) but I have always found the scary-looking hoodies very polite when I actually say hello to them!

Hope you have a nice trip!

ste_t – have you checked out natsmtb? We ride every weekend (pretty good pace for a club) and if you come to a weekend ride you will most likely find a few peeps who live near you and can also show you the local night rides.

Have you checked that you haven’t got a gutter leaking onto that wall? We had a similar problem quickly fixed with the gutters repaired and aligned.

I’m going soon too. Never been before. Quite a few guys in my mtb club go pretty often and really rate it, so I’m looking forward to it. I downloaded loads of routes in the area from justgoride and will use them plus the OS map to plan 🙂

+1 for Mooly

The Approach is quite good – live band belting out dance-friendly anthems and most people dance but it is also a normal pub and free entry if you don’t fancy the full commitment of the Cookie Club.

Start this post by stating that this is my job, I develop medicines, so you may wish to ignore me if you think that makes me biased.

By the time the drug has got to the stage where it can be tested on people with the target condition i.e. your mum, it has been tested on humans several times, so side effects will hopefully be known and by this stage, minimal. However, the trials to-date will have tested in fairly small numbers so not every possible side-effect may have happened, NB thalidomide.

By partaking in the study, your mum will get the best care available, and far closer monitoring than usual, which can only be a good thing.

Also, it is unethical (i.e. strcitly forbidden by the government) to withdraw the current best treatment to properly test the new medicine’s effect on its own. This means that not only will your mum receive the best available treatment currently on the NHS, but she will also (if she is not given the placebo!!) receive this new medicine in addition. So in terms of treatment this also will hopefully be beneficial.

I hope this helps.

My mum has had cancer in several places for the past two years. I always hoped there might be a trial she could get on as I think it is a good thing. But sadly there has not been one offered yet.

This has happened to our wall 🙁

A damp meter reading didnt show anything but the house started to smell a bit musty.

After a bit of investigation found out that it is a solid wall (I assumed it was cavity as the house is 1950s) and that when the neighbours built their extension their builders broke our guttering off which is very hard for us to see due to the position of our house and their new extension.

So water was pouring straight out of the gutters onto the wall and coming through.

The gutter has since been fixed and the musty smell slowly has disappeared, so I’m hoping soon to be able to repair the enormous discoloured bumpy patches on the wall!

So in your case it is likely to be water coming through the wall for some reason. If its gutters, the same as us, its not an expensive repair. But you should definitely find out what is causing it before deciding if you are happy to proceed or not.

Hello LandCruiser

Yes I have some.

Can you wait a week for posting (going on hols!)or is it urgent?

The Whole Enchillada! Probably one of the best trails in the world! Get a lift up to the start, plenty of ppl in Moab offer it. Its pretty hot once you start descending off the mountain so make sure you start early.

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The Enchillada Awaits[/url] by LadyAlex mtb[/url], on Flickr

Slickrock is interesting but its more of a playground for a couple of hours entertainment than a full ride. And VERY hot! Had to get outta there by 9am!

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Slickrock[/url] by LadyAlex mtb[/url], on Flickr

White rim trail is stunning but I’d choose the Enchillada if I couldnt do both. Got a lift to the start and a jet boat pick-up at the end to travel back to Moab along the Colorado! Superb!

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Bikes in a Boat[/url] by LadyAlex mtb[/url], on Flickr

Not sure about the brakes… took my own bike out there, suffered a failure and the guys in the bike shop were flabbergasted that someone might run their brakes ‘the wrong way round’. Maybe drop an email to a few bike shops in Moab? They’re pretty friendly…

This thread needs some inspirational photos!

Fruita: For those concerned re heat this was about 9am on a September morning – phew!!
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Fruita Trailfest[/url] by LadyAlex mtb[/url], on Flickr

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Early morning Pinkbred[/url] by Simon J Taylor[/url], on Flickr

Edd – we went for two weeks and our intinerary was the following, with no. rides in brackets:

Denver-Breckenridge(1)-Fruita(1)-Gunnison(1)-Crested Butte(3)-Telluride(2)-Moab(4)-Denver

We had planned on adding another destination but due to storms decided to stay another night in Moab. It was a lot of driving, and it did feel like in some places there was still loads left to explore (Crested Butte and Moab in particular) but on the other hand as we had never been there before it was fantastic to see all those different places.

+1 for Ecky Thump, the riding is FANTASTIC!!

Something for everyone – tricky downhill trails (with uplifts available) or all-day XC riding on beautiful trails with ace views.

Pick yourself up one of the local 1:50,000 maps (available in nearly every tourist tat shop) which have all the trails on, graded by difficulty! And plan your route from there. All the trails are numbered (numbers painted on rocks, trees and signs) and its almost impossible to get lost.

Here are a few of the delights in store

Enjoy 🙂

[/url] Ponale Climb[/url] by LadyAlex mtb[/url], on Flickr[/img]

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Simon Rides the Legendary ‘601’[/url] by LadyAlex mtb[/url], on Flickr

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Alpine meadows on Dos Remit[/url] by Simon J Taylor[/url], on Flickr

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Monte Brione[/url] by Simon J Taylor[/url], on Flickr

The bunkhouse jd-boy is talking about is the Vagabond. Very good but does tend to get booked up.

Eagles bunkhouse at Penmachno is another option.

This weekend we stayed at the Bronaber cabins (holiday village) which is about 2 miles from Coed-y-brenin. Penmachno about 25 mins drive away. They were lovely! Choice of 6-person or 4-person.

I really enjoy ‘Yoga for Cyclists’ DVD by Andria Davies. Its made a massive difference to feeling good and reducing pain and niggly injuries.

Managed to get Mr LadyMTB into it too! He loves it 🙂

I am a total no-no for a washing up bowl.

It would be fine if I were the only one who ever used the sink.

But I find that when unsupervised, other sink users do not clean the washing up bowl after use and it ends up totally minging. Particularly the outside of it when it is left floating atop its emptied contents after use.

Grim grim grim.

To get over the problem described of late arrivals to the washing up scene, I suggest emptying dregs into the garden. Perfect!

+1 for Brown’s Mardley Heath bit. Mardley virtually connects to Harmergreen woods which are great, and from there you can go to Tewin, Bramcote, Hertford.

Over Benington and north of Ware also good.

The Ayots have some nice trails too.

A big weekend day riding or a very short drive can take you to Broxbourne woods, absolutely massive area which is fabulous riding.

Basically, there are soooo many good bridleways around there you cant go wrong!

Prairie dogs are ace tunnelers. They escape from zoos by tunneling and take over the local area. Used to live by a zoo which got them and then they went viral.

They’re ace!

All of your replies have made me feel so much better!

Some of the language you used made me choose some helpful google search terms too.

Found this online which looks good and agrees with what a lot of you are saying http://www.debtwizard.com/debt-help/guides-and-advice/350-gym-membership-fees

Brassneck I saw the Guardian stuff which is why I thought I might be OK if it went to court.

Cynic-al I believe it was 50 pounds (sorry my keyboard has no poundsign!) which is why I wanted to sort it out with the club.

Now I have no idea how much it will be courtesy of the debt collectors.

Cynic-al that’s really helpful that if I just tell the debt collectors I have a dispute I may be able to sort it out with the club?

I would be happy to sort it out. I was unaware there was anything to sort out until now.

Thanks for your replies so far!

I kept a copy of my cancellation letter so that’s not a problem. I gave it to them in person, so I know they got it!

Muppetwrangler the gym has always in the past contacted me by phone (several occassions) and I never heard from them. When I asked the manager why they didnt contact me by phone (as they usually did) the manager refused to discuss it. It is possible they sent a letter to my previous address which I didnt receive.

Fraid I cant join you any more 🙁 as last week’s cancelled Trailquest has been rearranged for that weekend 😀

Enjoy and hope to see you at another one!