The Cult – She Sells Sanctuary
The Cult – The Rain

“There’s no li-mit!”

Well, that’s me signing that for the rest of the day.

When he was climbing down I had a brief moment of “at least he’s using a harness to be safe getting up and down”. Nope, just using it to carry his unicycle.

I went to see the new Bourne film the other day. What stuck me was the sounds coming from speeding vehicles all seemed to be created by 1970’s V8s. Fair enough for the scenes in Las Vegas, a bit odd in an Audi Q7 in Berlin and just plain bizarre in the Merc Sprinter when they get to London. Bwarrp!

The Transporter TV series was bad for this (and bad in general), big rumbling V8 noises coming from the car they used, no attempt made to hide the 3.0 TDi badge on the back.

Jimdubleyou, this process hasn’t changed, you’ve just taken me back to the nights in a PH takeaway store a couple of years ago, complete with the smell of that spray on oil :(

Still, it was an easy way to earn a bit of extra money of an evening.

Are you a fan of Driving games?

The new F1 game is rumoured to be very good and the new Dirt Rally Game? Well, you’ve really got to push it and listen to to your co-driver and make near inch perfect runs to get out on top. A little mistake can push you down the standings and make you want to throw the controller out the window. I’ve not played something so frustrating for ages, I love it.

If the lights are dipping I’d assume it’s trying to send power to the starter, but doesn’t have enough to turn it over, so hopefully just a dead battery rather than a problem in the chain.

I had a similar issue with an old car which came on suddenly and turned out to be a dead cell, came with a lovely smell of rotten eggs from under the bonnet.

In the US they just drive by your bin and a hydraulic arm reaches out to your bin, grabs it, lifts it up and dumps the rubbish in then places it back exactly where it found it. It’s quite something

It doesn’t always go to plan…

Are you using the white ADSL microfilters or does your phone socket have two ports on it? If you’re using the filters make sure you’ve got one the end of anything plugged into extensions.

I had an issue with speeds fluctuating. To check whether or not the house wiring was causing an issue I took the faceplate off the master socket and plugged the filter directly into the test socket underneath (stops all extensions working). My speeds went from around the 1/2mbps range up to a steady 5mbps.

Got a MK3 BT faceplate from Amazon rather than use the filters and it’s been fairly stable since (touch wood).

Isn’t the advice to walk around barefoot on a rug and make fists with your toes? Just keep your shoes in your hand in case someone smashes all your glass.

@mrblobby, a service desk I used to work on back in the day introduced a self-service password reset procedure, you could request one yourself or get your manager to do it if you’d locked out your network password.

Following it’s introduction c20% of the demand into the service desk went away, followed by another large chunk when we automated the request process for shared network storage. Obviously other service desk’s MMV but it sure made monday mornings a bit more less hectic.

There are usually deals available on Marzocchi, I bent my Fox forks in the Alps last year and needed a replacement set ASAP, due to fund limitations at the time I went for a pair of 350CRs (£329 new at the time) and they’re great.

Yes they’re a bit agricultural and heavyish (200g over Pikes), but they don’t flex and the simplicity makes them easy to service and change the travel if needs be.

As for trying forks, that’s a tricky one, bouncing a brand new pair up and down in a shop doesn’t really give you an idea of how they’d feel on the trails. As tomhoward says above, demo bikes or get chatting to friendly looking riders on the trails and ask if you can have a go :)

No telephone sanitisers?

Well if there isn’t there’s no point watching, might as well take a bath

When I was last up that way I visited the Treehouse Restaurant in Alnwick gardens. A little expensive maybe but the food was good and dining in a treehouse appealed to my inner 5 year old :)

Not sure about the games but get ready for some downloads. Lots and lots of downloads. The system updates will likely take a while, as well as using a chunk of any broadband limit you might have.

This was something I wasn’t prepared for. Those thoughts of “I’ll have a quick half hour on the Xbox” disappear when the game you want to play needs a 4GB update :(

I think that tongue eating louse is possibly the most hideous thing I’ve ever seen.

Agreed, it also looks very pleased with itself.

Love the Land of Confusion and Enjoy the Silence covers. A few from my playlist –

I couldn’t help being reminded of this scene last night.

I got this one for an Alps trip last year – http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/7-idp-m1-helmet/rp-prod128139

Really impressed with it, comfortable and not too warm. I got it in white but there are a few lurid colour options :)

Will be getting one of their M2’s when my Flux is done with

I’ve not tried any of the Pedal North site, didn’t know it existed. I will be though, looks like there’s some good routes on there.

I’ve done the Levisham loop from the MTB routes site, it does get very boggy up near Fylingdales which isn’t pleasant after the slog up the hill from Goathland. I have a vivid memory of repeatedly sinking up to my rotors up there once, I spat my dummy out and rode down the road to the pub instead :)

I received this as a secret santa present a few years ago http://www.sustrans.org.uk/shop/route-maps-guides/mountain-bike-trails-north-yorkshire it’s a great little book for ideas. The maps can be a little small for the bigger loops so I back them up with or mark them out on an OS map.

There’s some good routes on this site – http://www.mtb-routes.co.uk/northyorkmoors/ although I’m not sure when it was last updated, the maps don’t load for me but my computer is playing silly buggers, yours might be ok

Small warning, it might be quite muddy and boggy in places up there with the shoddy weather we’ve had recently.

The Jamie Oliver one is pretty far fetched. You can probably cook some of the dishes in 15 minutes if all the ingredients are pre-prepared and you have practiced them a few times.

This, I recently made Laksa following one of his recipes, the actually cooking only took around 15/20 minutes but the prep took about the same if not a little longer. That being said, a pretty tasty curry in not much over 30mins is still OK in my world.

I had the same dilemma when I smashed mine, I was looking at the cheap replacements on eBay and in the end went to one of those phone case shops that spring up everywhere and had it changed for £60. The replacement glass isn’t genuine and whilst it works it has started to discolour and has some bright spots about 8 months later, it has also lifted in the bottom right hand corner and doesn’t sit properly on the body of the phone.

My reasoning for getting someone else to do it? If they break anything doing the repair, it’s their problem not mine. I felt the extra cost over getting something off eBay and doing it myself was worth it for that piece of mind. However, if I was going to do it again I’d suck it up and get Apple or someone you trust to do a good job and pay a little more, Wysiwig from what I have seen has some really good feedback. I wouldn’t go to a random phone shop again (or Timpsons, they’re very expensive).

I can’t get mine re-done at Apple now because of the 3rd party screen so it’s a case of putting up with it. If I drop it again it’ll be insurance time.

I believe Apple use some form of bonding paste in the SE which could make things trickier, however I could be wrong.

Edit – I was wrong, no paste in the SE according to iFixit. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+SE+Teardown/60902

Is that really her fault, tho?

The device should have had an overcharge protection circuit, and only draw the power it needs like every other piece of consumer electronics.

True, the device should have, but you can still damage batteries by using incorrect chargers even if the device has protection. You can find stories of iPhones being damaged because people plug them into an iPad charger “because it charges faster”, I can damage my laptop battery by using a charger with a different output.

I would still say it was her fault. Protection doesn’t mean we should ignore the warnings on devices that state “Use only with the supplied charger”, to do so puts the onus on us should something happen.

E-Cig explodes in drivers face causing twenty car pile up on the M60…….

Yeah, maybe don’t use those things while driving.

Accidents like this are rare when the devices are used properly and people pay attention to what they are doing with the batteries. A couple of the recent headlines about battery explosions have all been down to the user. For Example:

The lady in the pub in North Yorkshire that made the news, device plugged into a iPad charger, more powerful than the standard USB chargers in use and consequently the battery failed explosively.

Lad in the US with exploding batteries in his pocket, he had 2 18650 Lithium batteries loose in his pocket with keys and change, I don’t really need to say much about that.

Slightly off topic, Aardman have just release some Creature Comforts videos to celebrate David Attenborough’s 90th, well worth a watch.

As uphill cursing said above a 26″ bike is going to make switching over a lot easier, trials bikes can feel really alien when you get on them. It can also be a frustrating sport when learning, so being able to pick up a few things quickly stops you getting disheartened, having to spend time feeling comfortable on the bike each ride won’t help.

I used to ride trials back in the day (Brisa B26, anyone remember those?) and bought an Onza Zoot recently to try get back into it. I thought with a background in trials it’d be childs play but found it really hard to get used to, it just felt weird and far too short. Of course these are my experiences and yours may differ.

There’s quite a few 26″ ones on ebay for not much, like this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Giant-Team-Series-Trials-Mountain-Bike-/152091698738?hash=item23695f2632:g:XW8AAOSwSgJXOJyE or look at the 26″ Inspired if they still have them, they’re worth looking into.

Oh, and look for the Dirty tricks and cunning stunts/the art of Biking on DVD, silly but informative :-)

Now ended thankfully, looks like the reports did the trick.

I alternate between a pair of Freeriders and Shimano Flat shoes (AM45) and have noticed some funny wear on sole of my lead foot, not chunks taken out but it looks like the rubber has been torn at.

I’ve been practicing jumps recently have worked out that I drag my foot across the pedal to make sure its in the right place and press down with the outside of my foot a lot in corners. It might be that you’re doing something like this without thinking about it.

Currently using Saint pedals, V12s before that.

I use the tool roll that comes with Osprey packs, which is ideal in pretty much every way, but I do wish it was waterproof, to stop my tools getting slightly rusty.

This, it’s a great idea but with it being in the bottom pocket it can get soggy.

Works well to keep all your tools together, if you’ve got two packs you use its great to just be able to throw everything in together, just remember to put it back in when you change bag. Otherwise I’ve heard *ahem* that your crank might come loose and everything you need will be miles away :oops:

Chop them and stick them in a casserole dish with a lump of beef, garlic, onions, apples and red wine and leave in the oven for a long time.

I use a Fibre flare on my road bike, despite me riding without mudguards for the last 2 and a bit years its holding up well. Never had an issue with it not working once its got a good soaking and it can easily be fitted to the seat stays if you really want it kept out of the way.

The length of it means its still visible in muddy conditions as it will take a lot to cover the entire thing.

The local shop where I used to live was popular with American tourists. The shop had an extensive cheese counter and I couldn’t help smile listening to them ordering chunks of “Swallydolly” (Swaledale) and “Lie ces ter” (Leicester).

The staff in the shop never did tell them how to pronounce them properly.

Rest days are needed to allow the muscles to recover, exercise effectively damages the muscle and it rebuilds itself to be bigger and stronger. Without rest you run the risk of over training the muscle and will reduce the benefit of the exercise.

Give yourself a rest day every couple of days and just stretch your legs out rather than doing the squats. If you’re feeling pain reduce the amount you’re doing (50 from nothing is quite a lot), pain is the body telling you something isn’t quite right, you will feel discomfort when exercising as it is hard work, but pain is bad. The phrase should really be “No mild discomfort, no gain”

Diet won’t help a great deal with the soreness, but ensuring you’re getting enough proteins, amino acids etc. will give you body the fuel it needs to rebuild and recover efficiently

Go Outdoors sell their tubes for £2.99, slightly above your target but worth bearing in mind if you’re struggling to get the price right down.

They’re obviously nothing special but I’ve had my rear one in for a year now and it’s survived Glentress, Dalby, Lee Quarry and the Alps underneath a Hutchinson Squale without a puncture.

Best take a spare this weekend, I’ve cursed myself now.

My mind went blank when signing up on another site so I used the Username I had at a previous job. It tends to be free on most sites so I stuck to it.

Not a bear but I got one of these (in the large size) for my friends son and he loves it.

http://www.jellycat.com/cordy-roy-fox-roy3fx/

Although i have a bodum travel press cup for on the move , great at coffee , shit at fitting in most cup holders.

They do however, fit perfectly in the bottle cages I’ve used :-)

The Italian just down the road from Bike Treks. Can’t remember the name but its about 4 doors down towards the traffic lights. Top notch!

Dodds? A little late now but it is excellent there.

I use something similar to this – https://www.incase.com/shop/products/cases/hardshells/

Getting them from the Apple Store is expensive, they can be found cheaper online, I think mine was about £10-12 from Amazon. I like it as it still protects the case when using the laptop and it will fit in a neoprene sleeve etc. if I need to take it somewhere.

Done