I bought my 7  year old van from an rac approved garage and was offered the 2 year rac warranty at pretty much cost price. Seemed like a reasonable deal despite my eyes being open to limitations.
In the less than a year I’ve had the van the warranty has covered a new turbo , new alternator and new discs and pads. Didn’t include a wheel bearing or alternator harness but  I’m obviously more than happy I took it out. Repairs would have been twice what I paid.

Penmanshiel an hour or so away for enduro style riding. It’s on trail forks

Kielder a bit closer and I always enjoy riding round the res with some blue thrown in. Big views there.

I ended up having a try of Coombs wood near Carlisle. 2 levels above my pay grade that place.

Yeah I see that on the website but wasn’t sure how up to date it was. Thanks for the reply though. Ae or newcastleton then. Probably Ae. Done both before a few years ago.

I’ve had a van / camper itch for last few months. A dubster of some sort being top of the list but they are ridiculously priced as we all know. I’ve considered the JDM alternatives such as alphard / elgrand etc.
anyway I’m going to bide my time to see if prices do drop.
So my point / question : are there any price tracking services out there for cars / vans / campers.
Working in IT I can see there’s various web scraping (of auto trader) services and pieces of code around. GitHub etc. not exactly my area but i could get some code working myself to store in a db and run the reports from there. Even excel can scrape data out of websites. Just wondering what the best method to trend the prices would be.
Anyone doing similar?

Gotcha. No more ibuprofen.

Just done a test. Negative.
Just one of those bugs going round then.
Plenty fluids to flush it out and keep hydrated.

I was cursing myself for my bike choice at Alwinton today. I took the non e bike. ☹️

Ebikes rule where the climbs are so steep that they are in reality push up tracks for non e bikes.

Last few weeks I’ve been doing MAF training on the treadmill. Done about 6 sessions. Too early for any improvements but it’s quite a pleasant level of effort. Slight buzz without the tiredness. I tried it on the running track and found it hard to go slow enough. Much easier on treadmill. I’m a terrible runner though and have had a 6 month lay off with plantar fasciitis.

So I turned 50 this week and had my AZ first dose Friday lunch time. Felt fine until bed time when I started to feel very mildly feverish. So mild it was almost pleasant in a funny sort of way. Had a typical broken nights sleep you’d expect from that. Took some paracetamol in morning and felt ok. Went for a very gentle ride where I noticed mild joint pain in knees and elbows. Plus some discomfort in the family jewels. I have had this before one time when I’ve had flu. Plus the sort of vacant brain fog I get the next day after a 6 pint session. Pretty tired in the afternoon and had to resort to a snooze with with 2 hot water bottles and a blanket. Unsurprisingly woke up pretty hot but at least got rid of the chill. More paracetamol and went to bed feeling okish. Woke up this morning with sore arm but generally feeling fine. Better than fine. Energised even. So all in all very mild time limited flu like symptoms. Very reassuring that my immune system is doing something so happy with that.

I did this full Llandegla route earlier and really enjoyed it. I also ‘felt’ the first drops and berms. Nearly fell off leaning in. :) I was using an old 50” plasma display so hardly surprising. I’d definitely do it again and other off road routes if I start using FulGaz beyond the trial. I think the Kielder reservoir route would be great on here. Nothing technical but plenty great off road scenery. Maybe I’ll video it in the spring.

It would be interesting to see Zwift doing some decent long off road implementations. I suppose some long fireroad climbs would be best. It would have to be limited rider numbers though otherwise it would look ridiculous.

Thanks for that update Nic.
I’ve PM’d you.

Got the 16a charge point installed and working. It uses an untethered type 2 which came with the sale.
Getting 12 miles of range per hour of charging which is exactly what I expected so fairly pleased really. That will be fine for 90% of charges. After any long journeys I think I’ll have to pop to a 50kwh at Lidl or somewhere to get it up to 70 or 80%. Either that or 2 successive nights.
The car is superb by the way. So easy to drive.
Managed to find a free vend 50kwh charger in Alnwick on Saturday. Starbucks after Thrunton woods for me and a quick charge for the car.

Sometimes I think this forum takes feeds direct from The Matrix. By which I mean the topics quite often mirror exactly what’s going in my life.
Anyway Im in the same boat as the OP.
I’ve got a salary sacrificed E-2008 coming tomorrow morning. Mind it’s been on order since about May. It was going to have been an Etron but that’s another saga entirely.
So I was entitled to a free charge point as part of the deal but basically the survey revealed I’m on a 3 phase 4 way looped supply with my immediate neighbour and the next semi.
I was offered a price on a new supply but declined and to be fair the DNO contractor (Same as Nicks as I’m also in The N.E) were really helpful and suggested giving my neighbour a new supply FOC so a 3 phase for 3 houses would provide the required power. Sadly they couldn’t mole under their drive and the neighbours didn’t fancy their drive dig up just for my benefit. No problem with that but a lot of excavations took place prior to this.
They did say they could force the issue by issuing a disconnection notice but I didn’t want to go down that route.
My plan b was to do the 16a commando thing as I didn’t fancy the long term safety aspect of a 3 pin plug. Also when I get back to office I can charge there. Plus a 100kw rapid is 2 miles from me.
Anyhow yesterday I looking for commando cables and found a 2nd hand 16A chargemaster being sold along with type 2 cables. Managed to get them for under a hundred notes. My dads a sparky and we both did the recent rewire so I’m confident we can do this installation.
Once we get round to doing it I’ll update.

I was going to suggest beamish woods Will and add I’d once ridden round there on a CX on a night ride. One of the worst rides of my life. I nearly died from both the pace of the ride and the gnar.
Were you actually referring to me by the way?
Not fun on a single speed though.

Dozens of old railway lines round there. For ease of navigating head west up the coast to coast to the junction with the lanchester way near Consett at hownsgill tea rooms and back east along there to almost Durham and north back to Chester or street.
Or take a mtb and it’s a half hour drive to hamsterly.

If you haven’t done it before then be aware it’s very undulating. Not flat at all. A lot of the descents end on sharp corners so you often lose a lot of your energy just in braking.
Take more energy food and water than you think you need.
No idea on your sons fitness or cycling experience but I went round with a non cyclist once and it was character building for them from halfway round.

I’m fine with 6 sol. Not willing to risk a case of corona though.

I’ll get my coat.

I’ve mentioned my FTP just to gauge how it compares to others doing these rides. Just in the expectation that there’d be some novices who would be happy to know not all are super fit. I’m more than happy to huff and puff until the reins are off.
Anyway I’ve woke up today not sure if I’ve got a temperature or not. I’m taking no chances so I’ll drop out the next few rides.
Enjoy everyone.

For those with an ftp of around 200 like me I would recommend any of the general zwift group rides advertised at a max of 2 w/kg
Quite manageable.
Rather than set up a very niche group of STW @2 w/kg it may be an idea of to post notice to join the lower paced Zwift group rides. That’s if people want stw company.

Going to leave it at the break. Going to have 5 mins and go on the treadmill. Great ride though. I’m impressed at the low HRs of most.

Cheers for the invite Steve.
I like to think my stamina is pretty good but that goes out the window when I’m at threshold and some of you guys aren’t even in tempo. So I know it ain’t a race but I’ll no doubt end up at the back at some point and will be happy to bail when the time is right.
For any other slower riders my ftp is only about 210.

I use a cheap eBay male quarter turn adapter. I stuck a Velcro disk (£2 coin size) on it and the other disc stuck on the back of the phone case.
Yes you have a bit of Velcro more or less permanently attached to you phone case but it’s reasonably unobtrusive and can be removed when no longer using.
I even use this mounting system outside and find it more secure than other systems as the Velcro pairing gives it a natural flex and suspension.

I think I was with dr p and Alex for a bit. Coyne is my real life persona
My zumo wasn’t doing the resistance changes. I was in the big ring all the way round. I’m only a mid D so had to ease off after a bit.

In game text chat amongst our group appeared in green msg boxes. Not sure if non group riders could see that.

That was just the motivation to get me riding cheers Steve.
I was typically 5 secs late couldn’t see the green blob so shot off to catch you. I was with the front 3 for 10 mins then just eased off to a non Stw group. By the time I realised the main group where just behind I just kept the same pace as I’ve had bad experiences in the past with easing off and then getting dropped. So many people on right now it’s practically impossible not to find a wheel.

Cheers for the invite. I’ll be there. Looking forward to it.

My 49th tomorrow. Been WFH these last 2 weeks anyway so my treat to myself is to take a days holiday to watch box sets / play on the console without guilt. Might even zwift it and do some decorating.
To be fair that’s my idea of a good time anyway so nothing spoiling

Last nights was a bit rubbish I found. I’ll stick with it though as it’s like watching morecambe and wise in comparison to the 6 o clock news.
The robo dogs seem pretty slow and cumbersome. Whatever munitions they fire seem to be finite. Makes them pretty useless at that point.

Bell and book ordered. In these times use it or lose it has never been more relevant.

Happy to subscribe.
Best of luck.

I’m enjoying it also in a bleak “the road” type way.
Those robotic things could do with a drop of putoline though.
I also feel the whole thing could have been avoided with a song selection from the venga boys back catalogue.

Month or 2 ago I was passing a bike over to my dad and wanted to minimise any trouble with punctures for him as he’s in his 70s now although still active and capable.
Through research I came across the tannus armour and took the plunge.
Just for the back. It’s very early days but in principle they seem just the job. Got one for the rear only. Btw the tyre is 27.5 x 2.8 and it’s fits fine. Still sidewalk coverage although it may be slightly less than normal below the tread due to stretching.

As a gentle introduction to lakes walking how about walking up to Rydal caves and continuing on up to Loughrigg fell. Starting from Rydal water it’s only about 3 miles up and straight back down. The caves are impressive for kids and it’s only a 800ft ascent.

Hundreds of miles of old mineral lines around Durham. It is their birthplace after all. See recent ch 5 prog Britain’s lost railways.
A favourite of mine is a loop to Seaham. Or you could do a longer one going to South Shields. Even longer go through the cycle tunnel and turn right for Whitley bay or left to go along Newcastle riverside to Wylam and a nice pint.
Pick up NCN route 1 at Hetton which will take you as far as Hartlepool.
A great overnighter would be from Durham down to barnard castle on a sustran route then through bowes and up to tan hill pub for an overnight stop. It’s on my list to do sometime.
Gravel bike or XC rig will be well suited.
Dalby forest is a great xc loop if ridden at a good pace.
North York moors also excellent.
PM me if you want any Strava routes.

Another fan start to finish here.
It was always about the journey rather than the destination though.
The soundtrack was awesome. Really amplified the drama. Especially first season.
Liked the katecentric and lockecentric episodes best.

Hire 2 bike boxes or 1 large and take your own bikes?
Plenty of advantages doing that.

I hired from bike point Tenerife in the south for a day. Very friendly and professional. They had plenty of choice. Was staying in alcala halfway up the west coast so just took a taxi down in the morning. They are just opposite Siam mall so maybe combine a shopping trip with the pickup.
The climb up Teide will live long in my memory.

https://strava.app.link/ekzTm2W6R3

Here’s a ride I did on a monster electric hardtail from center Parcs. Through lowther and askham fell down into howtown. Lovely ride up to that point. Fine for a cx even. The lakeside way was an utter nightmare. It was a very wet day and the steep stone descents were treacherous. I’m a wuss when on my own as well so pushed a lot of it. Not easy with a 50 pound Ebike. It was great for the massive climb out of patterdale though. Nursed it back on eco and it went flat just after crossing the m6 on the way back. Managed to slowly ride back up the last hill into center parcs. Got 5000ft out of it though which I’ve not come close to since. Definitely type 2 fun.

I’ve got the Elite turbo muin semi smart fluid trainer. Was using it irregularly for 18 months or so until I recently upgraded to a powered elite zumo also used irregularly.
Anyway the muin does a good job. It overestimated my power by about 20% (no bad thing in events) but was at least consistent.
If you’re near the north east then i could be parted with it reasonably cheaply as it’s just gathering dust.

Extended Family holiday in the Brecons 4 years ago I’d heard good things about BPW so took my full suss around for a half day. Enjoyed it so much I convinced my nephew to come with me the next day. Only spare bike in the group was my Sister in laws rigid hybrid with rim brakes and 40mm slick tyres. I rode that most of the time. We only did blues but I was convinced I would flat at some point particularly on blue belle. Didn’t though and had a right hoot. Certainly made the trails come alive.

I sold a bike last week as collection only. Buyer arranged a Shipley courier and I popped into Halfords and asked for one of their old bike boxes which they kindly supplied me. Wasn’t much of a hassle.