Ballater would fit the bill, fantastic riding, quite a few pubs/restaurants/cafes (for a wee village). There’s a swimming pool at the local Hilton but as with the MacDonald in Aviemore I think it’s residents and members only still. No idea what staying there would be like for being ‘bike friendly’.

Aboyne also a good shout, great riding, only one pub/restaurant (the boat inn, which is great). There’s a 25m pool at the community centre/Secondary School (great for actual swimming but not sure if you want the relaxing spa holiday vibe rather than 90’s PE lesson?)

These two are the next couple of (big) villages up the valley from Banchory as Tracey alludes to. Scolty is still pretty blighted by fallen trees I believe, I’ve not been in since the storms, I see folk riding there on Strava but i think there’s not much clear.

I’ve run chkdsk/f

The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checcked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

I hit Y then called a reboot, its just spent 5 mins scanning and repairing drive.

Edit: ok a little more than 5 mins, its been stuck on 100% complete for the last 10 mins!

From a ‘run as administrator’ elevated command prompt:

sfc /scannow

If it comes back with no errors, then chkdsk /f (this will require a reboot). If it doesn’t, stop and report back what it says instead.

This is what I get:
“Windows Resource protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file located at windir\logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\logs\CBS\CBS.log. For offline repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE file.”

I’ve taken a look at the CBS.log file and it’s 8000+ lines of stuff I don’t understand!

I’m just running sfc/scannow

I occured to me this morning that the times I’ve run the pre-boot system assessment it has then gone on to boot up normally (or that’s my working hypothesis until proven otherwise!). Not sure what that says in terms of diagnosis…

Is there any data on it that you’re concerned about keeping?

No I don’t think so, everything was run off onedrive

Oh, or did you mean “boot device” as in a pendrive?

Yeah, I was thinking something along the lines of this

I pressed F12 at the boot menu and had a poke around. One option was to run diagnostics which launches “Dell ePSA – Pre-boot System Assessment”. This seems to test all the hardware and suggests that everything is fine, it sees the SSD and identifies this as the boot path

There was also a “thing” a while back where a Windows/Dell update buggered up the uefi boot somehow on some dell laptops. It happened to my parents one – I had to go into the bios and turn some kind of secureboot off iirc, then it came to life at worked fine.

I’ve just checked and secure boot is off

I’ve opened it up (it’s all fairly straightforward, all the vids seem to be <3mins long and spend the first 2.5 mins telling you how to get the bottom of the case off…) I popped the mSATA in and out, it didn’t seem loose.

AND JUST NOW as I’m compiling all this it’s booted?!?! It seems to do this time to time – infuriating! Any idea of tests I can do while it is open? should I run all of mattyfez’s bootrec executables?

To add a bit of context for you all, it’s my wife’s old work machine, they have a policy of gifting them to staff once they get to a certain age. Hence I don’t know much about the build.

Thanks all,

Cougar, yeah it’s a 2015 machine, it seems to still be a much better spec than the desktop I bought in 2020 that serves all my needs fine! I’m in Aberdeenshire. Ok yeah, I’d imagine the OS is on the SSD, I’d miss understood, I thought that’s what the boot disk got round.

mattyfez and sobriety, I’ll give those suggestions a go.

I just bought a refurbished Humanscale Diffrient World, started out comfy but now seems like the mesh is sagging so that im touching the underlying chair frame and its quite uncomfortable. I’m ~77kg so not exactly a tank, that’s not ‘how they’re meant to be’ surely?

Perhaps not directly fitting your specs but I found The Prize a fascinating read. It tells a ~150 year history of the oil industry which is very strongly intertwined with global geopolitics. Quite a tome!

@nstpaul

JAFO*
Offshore North Sea.27 years, only another 15 to go….

*(Just Another F*****g Operator)
# user name, Ninian Southern?

Surely NST is North Sea Tiger?

Antonio Gueteres? (sp) I thought He’s made numerous pleas for peace since the invasion (and also been quite vocal about the climate crisis) I’ve largely heard that in radio news bulletins. I didn’t think he’d been any more or less high profile than his predecessors.

How about a bripe?

Glad to see their woman’s sizing is as mental as the rest of the woman’s cycling market! ::rolls eyes:: If Hannah is an XL…what happens to the rest of us?!

I’ve almost started a thread on this a few times, I’m always shocked when I compare sizing on my gear vs. my wifes*. She’s just an inch shorter than me and pretty much my weight, I’m a S/M where as she’s a XL/XXL. I didn’t think sexual dimorphomism was so pronounced in humans!

(*stop trying it on I hear you say!)

Also Ashat is now Tasha? did I miss the memo on changing to Tam?

Well weapon!

I donated to DEC, apparently UK Gov is matching UK donations £ for £ up to £20M.

Anyone know if the NATO AWACS sorties being flown over Romania and Poland will be close enough to provide early warning for the Ukranians against air raids? I’m guessing they’re getting satellite intelligence of Russian troop movements too?

My Sinuses/Eustachian Tubes are prone to issues. If I get a cold that is usually where it manifests/lingers, I also seem to get hayfever in the summer too. Genrally not as bad as muted hearing but often have drumming in my ear when it gets bad. As above I try to avoid using decongestants unless it’s really bad (and then don’t use them for prolonged periods). I also use saline irrigation with a neti-pot. It’s not a silver bullet but using that once or twice a day does seem to provide some relief.

Glentanar is very pleasant for this type of riding too, could ride from ballater and cutover at ballaterach to etnachnach or further down the valley at the dinnet bridge.

Glenmuick and balmoral estate are good shouts too

How much elevation is she up for? Could head up the east side of the river Gairn (dead end unclassified road) to morven lodge, ride due east past the south of morven and descend LRT towards raebush. Pop out on unclassified road and where it joins b9119 at lochhead follow LRT to climb back over to turnerhall (Forestry commission CP) ride back along the deeside way to ballater. Not too far but gives a bit of a wilderness feel on the morven lodge stretch

I’ve enjoyed the programmes you list (Brooklyn 99 is probable my favourite comfort programme), I really liked S1 of The Great, I think S1 is on All4, S1 & S2 are on Prime. We’ve just been trying to get through Sucession before starting on S2 of this.

This thread is not helping my bootzipper itch…

I’ve got a perfectly fine 26″ inbred for parental and tamer mtb rides but really like the idea of a rigid 29″

I agree with the article, the TowWhee has beeen fantastic for us with our wee ones. Really opens up riding options beyond what the kids can do solely under their own steam. We use a bit of climbing rope as a fast stem hook like this, which at least gives a chance of popping off in the event of a fall.

Really disagree that

a bit of string works almost as well

An adult towing a 18kg 4yo it really helps not yank them off the bike having a nice forgiving amount of stretch that doesn’t recoil quickly.

I’ve often wondered about something like that (micro-adjust calipers) but I agree, would probably get filled with crud. The caliper always seems to move slightly as you torque up the bolt!

I bought some of the metal sliver allignment tools but never seemed to get that great alligment with them.

I got these for my E4s though and they worked great – really quick to get fantastic alignment. Expesnsive for a little block of 3D printed plastic but worth every penny IMO!

I bloody hate the electric pump noise pollution .

No needin 90 % or more of cases.

I know, knockburn, lovely peaceful isolated loch, then constant ppaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhn of little 12v pumps trying to inflate paddleboards!

nickname – we’ve got a tbf paddleboard that comes with that bag, yeah it seems ok, I’m not sure if something thinner would be better for strapping to your board with the pump in though?, its quite stout material with a solid plastic base so could be a bit bulky on the end of your board

Came here to make sure Alphabeat, Fascination was on the list, surely the Zenith of upbeat 00’s pop.

As you were.

[EDIT – had to come back to throw in S-Club 7]

I feel your pain! we did Aberdeen to Devon coinciding with English half term, Bristol/Glouscester on the M5 was gridlock both ways, I think on the way back it was 6hrs to cover 60 miles!

Oooh that’s exciting! Shame it’s no spectators, they’ve just regraded a load of the tracks after the harvesting, it’s going to be a bit rougher on the gravel bike for a while I guess!

Is this a new event? I’ve not heard of it before.

this thread has reminded me I need to get some tick tweezers (or 2) for the family first aid kit. Is there a STW consesus on which tick tweezers to buy?

Disappointed, I thought the little ‘M’ (rather than chat or bike) referred to Mark rather than members forum…

Thanks very much everyone, loads there for me to look into! I’m definitely curious about the less vanilla seating options

b230ftw, I always like to be tucked right in to the desk so my forearms are resting on it (and have my chair high enough so that my arms aren’t pushing my shoulders up if that makes sense) is this wrong? My work just sends out CBT DSE assessments which just feel a bit tick boxy, having an actual human come round and do it feels like it’d be much more useful!

Ohhh! Took a look at the link at the top. Formula forks actually come that purple colour! I just assumed Joe Barnes had it done as a jokey nod to H&I Council 😲

A bit of an aside but how do DC forks account for a variation in Head tube lengths? Do you just and stack to the bars or do you adjust the clamping height of the top crown? (And have excess stanchion sticking out)

Came here to recommend alpkit tees, they do plain colours as well (no print) but seeing the recommendations for Stanley/Stella reminded me that’s who makes the tees for alpkit. I really like the fit, I wear a small (5’11” with a 38” chest), nicely fitted but not skin tight (maybe a slim fit?)

I see lots of references to Catholic/Protestant sectarianism in Scotalnd. Is this encountered anywhere in Scotland beyond Glasgow or the wider central belt? I’ve lived in Scotland most of my life (since Primary school) and I’ve never really been aware of it anywhere other than Glasgow (I stress I’m not implying this is evidence it doesn’t happen!).

Just checked the SUMPRODUCT solution I posted above, it should be…
=SUMPRODUCT((D3:D9>0)*B3:B9)
=SUMPRODUCT((D3:D9>0)*C3:C9)

I find sumproduct great for this sort of stuff…

In D12:

=SUMPRODUCT((D3:D9>0)*(B3:B9>0))

For d13 change b3:b9 to c3:c9

(I’ll mock it up in excel when I’m next on my pc to make sure I have the syntax right!)

WHY IS MY CELL PHONE RINGING INSIDE THE HAT?

The answer is: The signal around must be stronger than the hat is able to completely attenuate.

Signal-blocking hat is not a magic. It’s the pure physics. Special shielding fabric can shield only the particular spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. Generally, the shielding effect is up to ≈80db. If the signal around is more than this value, what is the very normal and common situation, your cell phone covered by hat will be ringing. But the received signal is reduced almost to the null. It’s the same with waterproof, windproof, bulletproof or other proof materials. If you start shooting from the machine gun to the bulletproof vest, it will fail. If you expose the waterproof jacket to the storm, it will fail. If you expose the windproof pants to the hurricane, it will fail. But you will still stay somehow more protected and comfortable than you would be without it. Signalproof feature is not 100% protection, but it’s worth having it.

🤣 – very Brass Eye

there’s no real evidence for it – but it is scientific fact…

EDIT: the whole FAQ is hilarious, I’m reading it to myself in an Adam Buxton voice:

If you are thinking about signals that come through other parts of body and hit the inside of the reflective side of apparel, then pass back through the body a second time or stay inside and multiply their power, then you have to know that it is ridiculous. The signal is not a bullet and the apparel / hat is not an amplifier. It’s like giving a question, “why do i feel cold in my winter jacket, it was supposed to protect me against cold and it comes through my sleeves, top and bottom parts.”

Re the plot of “house prices vs. average earnings” up there…

Is that average earnings per person or household? Would be interesting to see how much (if any) of that is driven by dual income families.

Ahh ok yeah, all of the other suggestions are probably better in terms of convenience and being more remote/amongst bigger hills if you’re coming in from the top of the Valley. I thought Glen Ey was a good shout too, I’ve never camped there, just cycled in on the way up to do a few munros. I seem to remember lots of flat grassy bits. Should be quite quite vs. Derry Lodge

Not sure if there’s a specific area you fancy or where you’re coming from? Dundee? A couple more Suggestions anyway:
– Big field at the bottom of Mt Keen (north side), top of Glentanar,
– Field outside Charr Bothy (Glen Dye)

cokie – can you tell me about your tool/tube setup on the seat tube? It looks nice and neat and maybe includes a dry bag?