wetsuit might be out of place in that instance then – but think about the SPF protection ability :)

There is the thing that if you are in a big body of water it seems like you are not going anywhere. That’s just how it is not only because of wind/currents but because there are less references like in a pool. It is off putting. Slow because swimming IS slow. Don’t sweat it too much. I’m a good swimmer and I find open water way different in the way it feels like you are just not going anywhere.

I’m assuming you are in a wetsuit? They help lift your legs and arse up.

Can’t recommend anything else. Learnt when I was young at club level so it’s ingrained after all those hours plodding up and down at 6am in the morning. Find it difficult to tell people what to do. Read what Hannah wrote and do that, it’s a good description.

Speaking of anonymous / poor results, Michael Rasmussen (yes, the former doper chucked off the Tour for lying about his whereabouts) has popped up talking about Chris Froome basically saying that he’s another rider who’s wildly overpaid for a year of absolute nothingness.

Says most people, including his employer, but that is their mistaken strategy not Froome’s,  I hope that the person who got Froome the IPT gig for that money got their fair %age!

to be fair, the drama around this and other self made crisis are the most interesting thing Ineos have done in a few years

Only if 5-6 other riders are not there

True, but comparing him to TP for a grand tour GC, he’s got more chance

Going on UCI points for Ineos this year according to pro cycling stats

Rodriguez winning Romandie and 7th in the tour: 500 and 425 respectively

Thomas Giro podium: 750

Amstel win and tdf stage 2nd: 500 and 150

Which is interesting from 2 perspectives:

(1) Rodriguez is Ineos’ best change at GC, forget TP, if that’s what they want they should go all in for Carlos.

(2) Focusing on 1 day races pays in terms of points, if it pays in terms of TV time etc is another matter.

Or triathlon.

That’s a bit low :)

Ineos aren’t going to win a grand tour for a few years but they can’t get their heads around doing anything else

and

Pidcock is not an easy character

My kids learned to ride in that park. There’s been a tarmac play road bit there for ages, but this looks like another level, its great.

It’s not the youngsters that need to learn the rules of the road.

Obviously true. This is more about play and confidence building than rule learning.

new bike obviously

Why those 2?

Brutal as in remote and no shops/cafes? Or brutal as in mental steep gradients?

Planning a trip for next year in early/mid March. Roadie cycling trip, not a holiday with cycling on the side.

Want: OK weather as in shorts and jersey at some point; low traffic gpx routes with a bit of variety, 130k/3000m is OK but not every day; good food; good accommodation; don’t mind paying

Don’t want: big hotel / resorts / tourist urban overload; guiding or group rides; to see the same 30 cyclists at breakfast every day

Will bring bikes most likely

Gran Canaria?

Any bike friendly accommodation recs meeting the above?

I have also never been to Mallorca. No really. Should I suck it up and finally go? Any recs there?

Anywhere else short haul?

Cut the corner off Salisbury and add on a loop through Longleat. If clockwise: turn left at Sutton Veny, through the Deverills, then the 25/24 route through the estate. Nice climb, in one of the 100 climbs books.

I’d do it the other way around, my preferred direction in the Wyle valley, which is a highlight, but not that much in it

The track through the forest is doable if you are on 30+ tyres but will slow you down

There’s another off road bit nr Devizes, I’d just go through Potterne

Another very short off road bit south of Warminster but its OK

Amesbury is always horrid to ride through but you can’t avoid that really

Pensioners playing the game now..

I think the blink 182 one is actually better than the original

He came to notoriety in the late 70’s as the DJ that single handedly turned a whole generation of punks onto reggae. It was whilst as a d.j at the first punk club ‘The Roxy’ in 1977, that Don adopted the punk D.I.Y ethic and begun to make his first film ‘The Punk Rock Movie’. Shot on Super-8mm it is the only documentary on the U.K punk scene w/ Sex Pistols-The Clash and many others. This led to a period directing over 300 music videos for an eclectic mix of diverse artists ranging from Public Image to Bob Marley. He then moved into documentary work covering the likes of Gil Scot-Heron, The Jam, Sun Ra, George Clinton and most recently Paul McCartney. Dancehall Queen (co-directedby Rick Elgood) shot in location in Jamaica 1997 was his first feature film.

but I’m loosing my edge

Actually that’s unfair, I quite like his show, he can call himself whatever he wants

More experimental techno for me. It makes a break from the indie guitar generics which 6 is prone to promote.

Tracey always delivers

(I had trifle for afters)

kask do one

Arregh I knew I knew the glove one

@desperatebicycle gets it again

I can’t take credit for this image because I stole it from bluesky, but when I saw it a particular cover came to mind

I thought of that when I saw the colour on the Garbage one

Bandwagonesque by Teenage Fanclub (damn too slow)

@desperatebicycle you are too good …….

Harder one (hint: relatively recent)

ahhh too easy!

fat of the land one is class, even got the blurry bits

Rapha trail windblock jersey, often reduced, they had them in the sale for 40 last month,  sadly no longer. Light merino body with windproof front panel.

And their thermal base layers. Sadly seldom reduced. Stupid money for a base layer but they are amazing.

Did the 200k this year. I liked it, it’s a good event.  Third one I’ve done and by far the easiest but did a lot of training this year; dragon ride was our etape du tour practice ride. Climbs are long (for uk) but steady so easy to stay out of the red. Scenery is great. Lot’s of support in some of the towns.

Did it 10 years ago on no training and 1/2 bottle of wine the night before. It was a horrible slog. Lesson is do some sort of prep unless you regularly do something approaching that distance/elevation.

Bear hug?

Most definitely NOT Maurten they are rank

More SLIFT

And this

So good but the BBC keeps taking it down

As they do this:

‘the’ wife?

Thinking of getting a Hypervolt installed, any reasons why not ? Currently an Octopus customer

Hypervolt have only just started beta support for octopus. They seem to be pushing quite hard though. Anyway I’ve got one based on I think they look OK. It’s fine no problems. Use octopus but it’s a compatible car so charger is dumb.

No MTB itches right now, but a silly impractical ~7kg for a 58cm mamil carbon road bike is very scratchy

What don’t you like about Komoot?

Certainly does what you say you want, sometimes oddly, they all make odd choices though, you really need to review / modify.

monthly meeting

Monthly

Once a month

Suck it up mate

The KLF

but has to be full on stadium rave, not machine guns dead sheep and napalm death (could be the encore)

Say what you like, those first 2 albums were something else. If they play the hits it will be good. Bit of swagger, bit of singalong at the end, everyone will love it. I’ll give it a miss though, I’m more Blur lol.