I’ve recently done the same thing, I’ve found watching Andy Guitar and Marty Schwartz good for tutorials and getting back into it. Otherwise searching for the song you like followed by tutorial on YouTube usually brings up a few results, or as Edukator says finding a video of the artist playing live is great.

I picked up a cheap tuner from Gear4music, one of their own brand ones. Think it was around a fiver and other than a little hesitation in picking up the top E string works pretty well. String wise (assuming steel) I like D’Addario Bronze Custom lights (11-52, Purple Packet), usually around £8.

I also found that just picking it up each day has helped me greatly, if I’ve just put something in the oven I’ll try take the time waiting for it to sit at the kitchen table and practice or if I’ve got a spare ten minutes I’ll just go through a couple of songs I know.

Pretty good county match, mixture of East Yorks/North Lincs, or Humberside as it would have been when I was growing up.

I’ve just got one of the 9.7″ iPads, for very similar uses. So far it’s been great, I’ve not yet tried anything from the Go Pro but can’t imagine it’ll struggle with it and it’ll certainly be faster than my iPad Mini 2!

For the sake of carrying around 1 extra cable and waiting a little longer for videos to render I’d save the money, although the new ones do look great :)

Should last a while too, my Mini was released 5 years ago and was supported by the latest updates from Apple, iOS 12 even made it faster (once it had started up) when using it.

The 9.7″ does support the 1st Gen Pencil too so could be handy for note taking/doodling.

I’ve not experienced any of the above but I’ve been looking for a new keyboard with similar requirements and have come across these that might also be worth looking at:

Microsoft Designer – claimed 12 month battery life but compact design
Microsoft Sculpt – claimed 6 – 12 months, split keyboard (if you like them) with separate numberpad

I’ve used the Surface which is supposedly like the Designer in key feel but a normal layout and really liked it. Only comes in grey from what I’ve seen so might not suit.

The best suggestion for “glitter alternative” on there was photocopier toner (possibly colour) :O)

Oooh, too far :)

Yes indeed I was, that was a reference to the Fast Show sketch where they try and outdo each other’s middle class credentials by talking increasing amounts of bollocks.

Apologies if it came across the wrong way!

Ahhhh, I definitely didn’t understand your comment! I’ve only ever seen the “suits you” sketch from the Fast Show so that definitely went over my head.

Perceived it as something else so it rubbed me up the wrong way. My apologies too!

Well our kids only ask for small stuff and their main excitement around Christmas is staying over at Nana and Gramps’ and eating the lovely food, so we are clearly far more middle class than you.

Not sure I actually understand your comment, what the **** has class go to do with anything and who actually gives a shit about it? I didn’t realise there was something wrong with remembering a feeling of elation at what I thought was an amazing gift and hoping my children can one day feel something like it when they get a bike of their own. I’ve always loved bikes and riding them (hence why I’m on a cycling forum) so getting a new bike was to me, as per the thread title, the ultimate Christmas gift and one I’ll never forget.

It was for me and as an “adult” I’d feel the same if I came downstairs on Christmas Day to find a nice shiny new one under the tree.

I still remember the feeling of seeing my first full size mountain bike (Green Raleigh Max with 18 gears) after riding an old 20″ Raleigh Mustang for far too long. I’ve just done a google image search and seeing one on there brings back that feeling. I can’t remember feeling that excited about any bike I’ve ever bought since.

I think people are a bit more wise to proper bike sizing now (I was definitely too small for that Raleigh) and some kids bikes are a bit cheaper so people are buying bikes outside of Christmas and Birthdays, I reckon this will take the shine of that “big” present when it does coincide with them. We definitely saw a change in buying habits when I worked in a bike shop which lead us to have this same discussion as we’d all got ours on special occasions rather than any old Saturday during the year.

I hope that when I have children they see their first bike under the tree and feel even half the excitement I did, I’d much rather be putting bikes together on Christmas Eve than updating games consoles too!

As mentioned by toby above, the Parker Jotter is a good one, or the Vector and can be had for around £10, slightly more for brushed alloy ones.

Lamy also make some nice ones, and the Safari range come in colours ranging from subtle to bright pink, yellow or green which might appeal. I had an Al-Star which is an aluminum version of a Safari but found it a bit top heavy with the cap posted on the top (which I do so I don’t loose it) so might not be the best for someone younger as it might put them off using it. You can also buy replacement nibs of differing widths or replace if worn or bent for a couple of quid.

Not sure about the warmth of TNF Thermoball mules but I’ve got a set of the older down ones and they’re plenty warm enough, these exact ones –

https://www.surfdome.com/the_north_face_slippers_-_the_north_face_nuptse_traction_mule_slippers_-_bolt_blue/leopard_yellow_-94719

I’ve had them since 2011ish and they’re still going strong. The cover over the inner foot bed is starting to come away under my big toe on one of the them but everything else is fine. The soles still have loads of grip on them and haven’t smoothed out, I wear them outside quite a lot when hanging out the washing/sorting the bins/grabbing something from the car and nipping to the facilities when camping. When they get a bit grubby they go through the washing machine.

The sole is also great for getting hair out of the carpet, a quick moonwalk over the spot where my other half dries her hair and it loosens up so the hoover can get it.

I’ll definitely be getting another pair when the time comes.

Not really eaten in Pickering but there’s a coffee shop called Caffe Stop just off the main carpark, that my other half sometimes goes to for lunch panini’s or cake and rates.

Slightly further afield,  the Fox and Rabbit out towards Whitby and the Buck Inn in Thornton Le Dale are good, both 5 mins or so by car. Nice food and both good about wet & muddy bike riders :) The Buck is also directly opposite the Pace Bike Shop

There’s also Newbridge Park in Pickering. It’s down behind the castle opposite the rail yard on the road leading away from the bottom of town.

It’s only a short loop but fun if you’ve got an hour or two to kill and just want to get out, there’s a couple of jump lines at the start too.  I’ve not had chance to go for a while but they used to ask riders to buy a pass from the Outdoor shop on the main drag (near Costa) for £10 a year to go toward the trail maintenance. Not sure if this is still the case.

There’s some good riding on the Moors but if it’s been very wet going over the tops can be hard work, especially when there’s a wind blowing!

Good job he has plenty of 510s available to him, they’ll take ages to dry out after riding in that stream :)

Welcome to Facebook marketplace

This, it’s just standard Faceache marketplace behaviour. Wait until you’ve sold it, marked it as sold and they all start asking you again.

Aviva covered me when I bent a few bits in the Alps, just had to get a quote for a replacement from a local shop and they paid out quite quickly. I think they have the same stipulation about competitive usage though.

They probably won’t be the cheapest though, the only reason I was with them is the 40% staff discount I had at the time!

I thought that was called bunny chow?

That’s how I know it. Also works well with a good chilli

Very much a thing. My old commy meta v3 had virtually sawn through the fork steerer tube due to the internal cabling when I took it apart to change the headset.

Remember that happening to a friends, we were a little surprised to see it when he’d taken his forks out!

Not sure this is the right one but it’s a nice one. http://ubertoolcomic.com/?comic=no-97

I seem to think the one you’re referring to had better illustration but couldn’t find the thread through the search.

OP I’d love to see what happens if you choose option 3, and just hand it back. The outfits running these schemes now really don’t want the things back, they’re basically just providing a finance product.

When I got my first bike through the scheme (2010) it felt like they tried to discourage this. I got the email about the market value payment and the cost of postage back to cyclescheme was much higher than the cost of keeping the bike (voucher of £800). A few people I knew at work that got vouchers around the same time felt the same way.

As well as all of the ones above, there’s Saba Thai and Indian if you’re after a curry. I know it’s wrong but I do enjoy mixing Thai starters with Indian curries :)

There’s also a Tapas bar called La Roca on one of the little side streets down to the beach, not been myself yet but my other half and her friends have been a few times and rave about it.

Think northentom has it, it’s listed on the Follow Me film

A couple more that I enjoy:

Radio 2’s Confessions Podcast

The Outside Podcast has some interesting stories

Desert Islands discs (but mainly when I’m interested in the guest).

A good one I’ve discovered recently is The Habitat, follows a group in the HI-Seas experiment (testing setups/data gathering to understand how we’d cope on Mars). I put off listening to it as I didn’t feel in the mood, but once I’d started I went through them all in an afternoon.

Can’t beat a bit of Jurassic 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeN9c2GYJkk

The Everley was good last time I went there (coming up to a year now) but I don’t imagine much will have changed. I very much enjoyed their Ploughmans, and it’s a great place to sit outside on a nice day, the views are lovely.

Other than that there’s not a massive amount out there, the Hackness Grange is more a sit down Sunday Lunch and Wedding Venue.

Depending on which way you’re going there are a couple of pubs and a chip shop in Ayton down the road.

it looks as though it might have Apple Play – or whatever it’s called to view and control the phone on the screen, so I might be able to use waze

This might have changed recently but as far as I’m aware you can only use Waze on the screen through Android Auto, CarPlay is locked to Apple Maps (a quick google this morning suggests there are workarounds but nothing supported on the screen). I think Spotify is one of the only non-Apple apps that they support through CarPlay’s OS.

I’d love to be wrong though, being able to use Waze on the car play screen would be great as it’s far superior to Apple Maps!

Unfortunately yes after someone decided to remodel my car whilst I was driving it.

I was in hospital for about 4 days but a lot of that was waiting for an appointment for heart ultrasound before they let me go home. My boss made me take 2 weeks off work before doing a week of half days as the pain killers I was on knocked me out a bit (which was useful as I was having to try sleep sitting up). I work at a desk though so not much moving around/lifting & shifting, if the painkillers hadn’t left me a bit foggy I could probably have gone back to full days after those couple of weeks.

I wasn’t able to do much for about 4 weeks before starting to go for gentle road rides, it was about 6 weeks before I started riding my MTB.

I did it in mid May and a quick look back on social media suggests I was back to normal activities (riding and climbing) around the beginning of August, albeit slower. Can’t quite remember when I would have said I was back to full fitness as it was a few years ago.

Hope you heal quickly, and don’t watch anything that will make you laugh for a while.

If you’re looking for trainer style rather than slipper Shimano AM5’s might suit. I use them on my MTB and CX Bike, they have a pretty wide toe. Picked them up for £50ish at Go Outdoors

After a particularly wet ride the original cable in mine seized in the outer.

I got a cheapy inner from the local Halfords (Clarkes?) as I needed to get up and running for the next day. Once I’d removed the old I stuck the TF2 straw into the outer and sprayed until it came out clear at the other end before I put the new inner in.

It’s been fine now for about 2 years, might be worth a shot in case there’s some gunk in the outer catching

Necessary used to be one that got me until someone told me to remember it with “Never Eat Cress, Eat Sausage Sandwiches And Remain Youthful”

A friend of mine has just upgraded to the X and a new TV with it, from his feedback Battlefield looked amazing as it was in 4K but some games (Destiny for example) have not yet launched a 4K patch (think he said Feb ’18) so he’s just got a slight upscale.

He’s sent TV back as it wasn’t as good as he thought and now he’s back on his old setup (still a 4K TV) he’s lamenting his purchase of the X. He had an Xbox One Elite which was faster than our standard models and he doesn’t think the update is worth it until more games patch for 4K.

I’m still happy with my original Xbox one, I might be tempted to upgrade to the S for slightly better performance and a bigger HDD but at the moment I feel like I’ll hang on and see what happens in the future.

Also

Not exactly a dance floor filler, just a song I like more than I should

How about a cover of a cover by Reel Big Fish?

Another vote here for Pipe Lagging, it does make the grips wider though.

Be careful at this time of year, leaves on the ground and wet drain covers are not your friend!

As P20 said the North Face ones are good, a little expensive (I think I paid £35 for mine) but last, mine are coming up 6 years old and are still going strong.

I have the traction version so I can go outside to put bins out etc, also good for scraping up hair from carpets so the hoover can get it.

https://www.thenorthface.co.uk/shop/en-gb/tnf-gb/nse-traction-mule-3fwm?variationId=KX7

It was four quid to park yesterday.

It goes down through the winter, November – March I think

I guess they will, it’s probably already out to tender.

This is complete speculation but I did wonder if they only offer short term lets on the Bike hire side of things. About 10 years ago I worked at a bike shop and we applied to run it, and were beaten by Purple Mountain who moved on eventually allowing someone else to come in.

I really hope it is the case, and they’ve not forced the bike barn guys out by hiking up rental prices etc. It will be a shame to loose the Bike Barn as I always found the crew in there friendly and helpful. I hope whoever moves in next is as good.

I’ve been playing Dune recently and find it a good way to pass 5 minutes, all you do it tap the screen to make a ball speed up. The idea is to jump over sand dunes as smoothly as possibly, like hitting take off and landings properly on a bike. Little bit of thought and timing involved.

I’ve been using a Ziplock sarnie back since I got my iPhone 5 as it wouldn’t fit into fold over cash bag I used for my previous phones and have had no problems. No shock protection though unless it’s wrapped in a spare layer on chilly days.

I recommend the small green Ikea ones, one for phone, one for Jelly Babies and you’re set.

but frustrated by Go-pros website and App which seems to serve very little function other than to prompt me to buy stuff.

I quite like the GoPro QUIK app. Not the most powerful editing tool but easy to use and lets you add in photos/videos from your phone as well.

I’ve created a few little clips from fun rides in summer, a weekend in Glentress and a couple of days in Bruges. The Bruges one I liked especially because I took loads of photos I’ll probably never look through again, but having a little 1.30 clip of the best ones starting from the Ferry out to the Ferry back lets me look back without cycling through hundreds of photos.

I’ve started tucking the loops in the top of my boots.

Also my preferred solution.