For me personally and more recently:

High fibre, protein, ‘good fats’, and some carbs as they are needed. Very little processed or refined carbs.

Basically lots of vegetables, some meat, oily fish, some dairy (eggs,greek yoghurt, cottage cheese), a bit of fruit.

Supermarket frozen veg is a life hack. Cheap and always in the house for each meal.

Cook with spices more than sauces.

Supplement on: vitamin D, magnesium glycinate, Zinc picolinate, plant protein with a scoop of psyllium husk for fibre/ satiety

Eat well 90% of the time.

Some days I will happily drink black coffee and water till noon.

Very rarely drink now. 1-2 pints a month if I had to ball-point it.

Water: 3-4 pints a day

Sleep: 8+ hours.

Take away most weekends but I pick calorie conscious choices or budget for those treats.

Scales and knowing your foods seems to be golden for staying trim. Choosing low calorie dense foods help. I really enjoy my nutrition and don’t feel it’s limited at all. Habit becomes lifestyle I guess.

Felt unwell last Sunday before xc race (getting hot too easy etc, bit foggy headed). Raced it as I thought I was being soft. Congestion hit Monday.  Tested Wednesday past as wife got unwell and she tested positive. Low and behold I found out I had it too. Was back on the bike today. Felt a bit weak at the start but came fine after about 10km in. Very mild dose. Mainly throat and congestion.

Was potentially thinking of returning a bike with a change of heart. Think that’s a no go now lol.

The bikes I’m comparing are my current specialized chisel custom build (9.5kg xx1, dt swiss, sid ultimate SL) and a vitus rapide FS CRX that I’ve secured.

The chisel is pretty rowdy on the downs, and holds its own well. Perhaps thinking it just needs some more stopping power. Question is, will the rear travel really add more to my experience and capabilities? Or with the bikes I’m mentioning, would I just basically be doubling up and overlapping too much – money better saved and invested?

For the XC racing, I can imagine the big time gains are more on the riders fitness and during the climbs rather than the descents.

Back down to 2439 with the EXTRA10 code today. Wasted the afternoon debating to pull the trigger.Could afford it outright – really wanted it, but didn’t really ‘need’ it 🤣. Solution was to stick it on 0% for 12 months and pay it in small amounts

Too good of deal to pass it by. Such a heavy discount! Grabbed a medium. Good excuse to start doing some races!

Right…any feedback from people who recently bought the CRX? Is it worth the money? How’s it ride? How does it climb? Any annoying niggles?

Still toying at the idea. Don’t really need a new bike but I do want a full sus xc / down country bike.

Still going strong. Also switched to plant-based with meat once a week. Lost 5kg. Sleeping much better. Fitness coming on. Shaping up. More energy. More reasons to keep going than not. Not missing it.

There’s me being financially astute this year. Always fancied one for a few years but resisted. Haven’t bought any new bikes for 3 years. Have a road bike and a chisel. Stick it on finance and pay it off over 24 months? 🤔

The CRX is an amazing price. What weight do they come in at for this model? Electronic shifting? 

How much is a carbonda frame on its own? 

Flying Belfast to Gatwick early doors, first flight then train to Surrey for work. Not sure what to expect. Roaring over here currently. Tempted to say I won’t be in. Anyone experience of the railways around LDN during times like these? Is it going to be a day of delays?

Tough love. Crate and ignore the crying. After a few nights it will quite down. Ear plugs for sleep. If he’s fed, toileted etc there isn’t anything wrong with him asides from wanting attention.

Stick one of your old t shirts in with him to sleep with. Sometimes having a radio playing calm music helped.

Also tire him out with play. Tired dog is a happy dog.

Currently bidding as a FTB to move to NI after x years away. Since last week, one of our offers on a house keeps getting countered. Now sitting +17k above the original on a 3-bed semi. The other we are bidding on has gone up +13k. Starting to hit the limit of stopping. A lot of people moving across it seems.

All talk of the market slowing down, but it feels like madness at the moment. Not too worried about interest rates as a hike is in our affordability and everyone else will somewhat be subject to it. It’s more actually winning a bid at the moment that’s hard for us 🤷‍♂️

Your mother. Let her know you’re not well.

Lately my cravings have been ridiculous for food. This week I’ve gone to IF 16:8 then yesterday had a 24hr fast. In honesty I found yesterday doable despite spending 10 hours doing garden and a house deep-clean.

I reckon my relationship with food has been rather unhealthy lately. The reason I’ve gone down the fasting route is the hope that my cravings will die down.

I’m now focussing on 16:8 Mon to Fri. Getting more protein in my diet. Less refined carbs and sweet snacks. Black coffee. Lot more water. I’ll probably do a 24hr fast every few weeks.

Do a bit of reading on fasting. Not for weight loss but for insulin resistance, improved hormone regulation, longevity, mood, cognitive improvements, inflammation. Some of the research findings surprised me. It’s all quite easy. It also makes you mindful of what type of calories you want to eat ( protein, fats, carbs).

Best of luck.

Got 2x43mm gravelking SK+ tubeless tyres for sale. Used 4 times. PM me if you fancy a good deal. Tan wall.

For the people who bought these. What made you purchase these brakes over top of the range SRAM or Shimano? Curious, given the staggering cost, and from what I read, poor customer service and long waits.

I can’t be the only one thinking that purchasing a set of XTRs or ultimates is the logical choice. Keeping that spare 700 in your pocket for other enjoyments of life? Personal opinion, each to their own.

Cheers guys. I’ll see loads of SC at the local trailcentres. I’m usually top 5 for the day on Strava times on my chisel HT frame on the descents. Takes me to the point that a lot of people are also ‘over-biked’ for the UK unless they are riding somewhere like the Lakes or Wales, but i won’t even open that can of worms. Personal preference again.

I just feel people are being robbed blindly by following the crowd and getting the most popular brand, however mediocre the specs are. If I was honestly going to get another full-sus frame I’d actually give ICAN a go and skip paying for a name this time round. Using the spare change on top of the range components.

@dangeourbrain

Got the chisel ltd edition frame in water theme. It’s 1400g despite being alloy. It’s a fantastic frame. I’m not going to blow 4k for a few hundred grams with the epic. Can loose that for cheaper through exercise and fat loss.

Chisel ltd edition frame – 1.1k
Dt Swiss 391xr on bitex 211s – 550
AXS eagle mech/shifter with XX1 cassette and GX carbon crankset, hollowpinned xx1 chain – ~1.7k
Rockshox Sid ultimate race day 32mm -950
Specialized romano saddle ~ 80
Slx brakes (2pot) ~ 160
Rental fat boy lite bar ~ 100
Rotors – 80
Tyres ~ 100

Bought between sept and November ’21. Mate sourced and built my wheels. It was hard enough to source some stuff. Went with slx brakes as I couldn’t get xtr or xt at the time. Also got the only medium frame in stock in the UK in water edition.

Tom Howard, indeed, well spotted. Limited edition paint job. Not many around. All parts sourced by self.

Hungrymonkey,

For me, money isn’t an issue. I don’t know how you came to that conclusion mate. For what it’s worth, I’m in a well paid career earning significantly above the median salary. I’m grateful I can say that.

Santa Cruz have never interested me.I wouldn’t buy one simply because the components are average on most new models and they are too common for my liking. Reminds me of Burberry or G-Star raw in the fashion world.

For 4.7k I was able to build myself a 9.5kg xc rocket with Rockshox Sid worldcup ultimate race days, Sram XX1, AXS shifting etc. Narrative you ask? Shop around, you’ll get a lot more for your money.

If someone likes Santa Cruz and gets a Santa Cruz, that’s fine. Just not for me buddy. I prefer something custom built or not as common. Personally I like uniqueness.

I guess I’m not the only one thinking the bike industry is becoming absolutely sickening with prices and marketing ploys.

Santa Cruz are like assholes, everyone seems to have one now a days. Personally I don’t get their popularity as over on the west coast of the states, most people view them as mediocre.

The prices are ridiculous, more fool for the person who buys one. Better spec out there for a lot less money. Industry has gone completely bonkers.

Someone will probably be offended by my opinion 😏

2.1 Thunderburts. Rode the Dirty Reiver 200 with them

AXS with XX1 cassette and chain. 10-50t. Smooth, excellent shifting. Stuck 2000km on mine since November. Go for it.

Some people aren’t pleased with anything these days, don’t become a STW tech Timmy.

I appreciate that big granny on steep climbs and after riding for several hours. On fly adjustment is also great. Holding the shifter paddle you can drop or up 3 gears at a time. Works fine, although if you’re reading the trail you won’t need it much. Some people don’t understand that and constantly mash gears though.

P.s. I’d never go back to manual shifting. It’s also very easily serviceable, removable and cleaned without cables. Easy to set up. Such attributes have led to better bike maintenance. I tend to strip it all and clean it every few 100km.

Experience this with my left leg sometimes. I’m right dominant.

One leg squats
One leg presses
Bosu ball balance exercises on one leg

You won’t to imitate riding as much as possible so stay away from 1RM and heavy weight. You want to build the endurance in that leg. Go for 20-30 reps.

Switching legs also helps when less techy bits approach.

Might also find your tighter on your left. Stretch it band, hip flexor, glutes, hamstring. 60 sec holds. May also want to look up ‘muscle energy technique’ to get those stretches working well.

0-70km was nice and easy.
70km – 100km started to feel the legs and sick of eating normal food.
100-140km – that headwind! Felt sick, by this point I was using gels. Questioning why I was doing it. kept pushing on.
150km- 178km – positivity returns, feeling strong again.
178-200km – felt very strong, knew I was near done. Pushed the last climb and hammered out the lakeside. Exercise induced asthma started playing up a little at the end.

Very lonely and silent between 100-150km. I think everyone was in a dark place with that wind.

Tyre burped somewhere before feed stop 2, so I had to pump it a bit. Only bike issue of the day.

Moving time of 10hrs 1 minute. With feed stops I reckon about 10 hrs 40. That headwind will give me flashbacks for a while

Dirty Reiver 200. A few of the glorious gravel events. Haydon 140 skyride. Potentially an xc race or two.

Kielder is quite close for us. I’ve ridden kielder on my old gravel bike with 38s on and was more than fine. I had bought panaracer Gravelking 43s but decided last minute to go with 2.1 Thunderburts as they roll faster surprisingly. Had them at Hamsterley yesterday. Happy with them.

20km/HR is the goal. I’ve heard the fastest ride at 27-28km/HR average which is mind blowing. Was at kielder a few weekends ago and done a mid-range 70km as I was short of time. We held 21 without any issues, although it will likely drop off after 120-130km. I think the main challenge are eating every 15 mins while on the go and hoping the rain stays off!

Is anyone riding with a camel bak or just frame bags?

I’ve got a saddle bag for all my bike repair and spares. A top tube bag for food. 2* 750ml water bottles. Back pockets for some sandwhiches and more snacks.

Waterproof socks then 😂

Aiming for ten hours in an ideal world with an average of 20-21km/hr. Been riding plenty so far this year – about 2500km, half MTB at a guess 🙂.

Currently have tape for the inner bar, gonna double wrap tonight so I have a few positions. Not sure I can be assed removing the ESI silicone grips to put bull bars on though. Do you really rate them?

Done 140km on the Chisel recently which was fine. A few bigger roads rides recently. Looking forward to the day.

Sounds a tad annoying. Reading what you posted, it sounds like you’ve pushed the pistons the whole way back. Have you loosened the caliper bolts and held the brake on to realign? Might help if you haven’t. Otherwise, yes, I’d probably be willing to rough them up a bit with some rough sandpaper.

Double post

Man flu all week. Finally got back on the bike yesterday for a quick 55km @32km/HR average. Felt great and Portugal gains have been realized. Probably ride some MTB tomorrow at Hamsterley although keeping the km low. Perhaps 20km on Wednesday as a very light, easy ride. I reckon that’s it..ready to die on the 200km on Saturday 😂.

Saturday appears to be 5-10 degrees at this rate. Likely going to go for long bibs, endura baselayer and endura wind-chill jacket as my riding gear. What are others looking at?

Also thinking of skipping feed stop 1, asides from grabbing a quick water refill.

Primani.

Nature is freaky and amazing. All at once.

PhD in Marine / computational biology, transitioned to bioinformatics and algorithm development in industry. Lived the life abroad and loved it but coding and working with complex data is more fulfilling for me.

Only reason I know is because I studied/ was part of a sci.publication that discussed adhesion in invertebrates. Lepidopterans and arachnids formed one part of that paper. Bell spiders are another fascinating group, as are caddisfly larvae which form all crazy burrows/ protective casings in a sub-aquatic environment. They use silks and glues.

Yep Rusty tussock.

Moth/butterfly eggs. The silk also gives that away 😀

Out in the Algarve at the moment. Hilly 50km yest then a big 160km day in the hills today. Few more days left. Two smaller rides and another big one. I’ll probably do two more weeks training then start to taper back a bit. Good excuse to get fit for summer nevertheless.

Just to add another comment. Did have a gravel bike till the start of the year. My custom Chisel is faster in my opinion. That’s with sworks fasttraks on it. I also lock my sid SL ultimate out. I don’t see the point in a gravel bike anymore, the xc rocket is much more capable and spins fast on the roads. I also have a road bike. I sold my Fuel ex 9.8 trail bike. I feel with these two bikes I have more than enough with the xc rocket being highly versatile. Taken it on road rides, gravel, xc, trail centre, some off-piste blacks. Tyre choice, gearing, weight are prime to building something highly versatile.