Waze on a phone. As mentioned it’s owned by Google which might put some people off. It’s big strength is that users (and there are millions of them) input any problems, so it’s constantly updated with traffic problems and re-routes you accordingly.

I’ve used it commuting for a few years and it always picks the best route home.

When we moved into our current house things would get moved, usually from the kitchen to the dining room table, car keys, wifes handbag, that sort of thing. I got up one morning and the loft hatch was open, this means lifting the hatch four inches to clear the roof joists and sliding it back, we hadn’t been anywhere near the loft for days. This sort of random stuff happened for a few weeks then stopped.

I used to drink lots of coffee but gave up a few years ago. Splitting headache for 3 days and that was it. These days I drink lots of green tea, no problems giving that up.

GW4000

Or how about something from the Protrek range:

PRG-600

The digital Protreks generally have larger numbers than G Shocks.

I’ve got so pissed off with modern frames I test rode and ordered a Jones on Monday.

I think it’s great. There are several groups I follow that are extremely useful to me. If someone is posting endless amounts of rubbish either unfollow or unfriend them. If your phone keeps alerting you, learn how to use your phone.

I found British Cycling to be a waste of space following an accident, this was back in the early 90’s maybe they’ve improved.

It was tipping out time at the Old Bailey, I had about 10 Police witnesses. The driver said he’d seen me but thought he could beat me across the junction, he got done for dangerous driving. My bike was totalled and I had three broken ribs which put me off work as a self employed courier for a few weeks. I had to pursue the drivers insurance company myself as BC had bugger all interest.

£80 fine and no points last time I got caught.

mlbaker
Can someone (tazzy) tell me more about oval chainrings on an SS? I’ve ridden SS for a long time but never even considered oval rings

I love oval rings but haven’t tried one on my SS. I’ve used them on a fixed road bike so they will work if you want to give it a go.

Nice to watch but would be even better with subtitles. WTF are they saying?

I used to a fair bit of green laning before everything within a sensible distance got re-classified as permissive byways. If you’re lucky enough to have proper byways available then go for it, obviously using trials tyres. 😉

I’ve got a couple of paper OS maps of my local area that have a few years worth of work in them. Every byway, bridleway and rideable track is highlighted. They’re great for route planning but I hate wasting time standing on the side of a track looking at a map working out which route I meant to take. I tend to plot stuff on Basecamp and follow the GPS, it’s a lot easier.

Magpies raid the nests of other birds, blue tits and the like.

I’m running both. On one bike I’ve got a Shimano 12-36 with a 40t Hope and a 16t cog to replace the 15t, on the other I’ve got a Sunrace 12-40. The Sunrace is cheaper and shifts as well, if not better than the buggered about with Shimano.

I don’t see gambling as any more of a problem than drink or cigarettes. Bookies have ways of helping problem gamblers but they need to ask for that help. They’re legally obliged to have these measures in place, I don’t believe vendors of drink and fags have any sort legal obligation to help their customers.

My Caddy has a ply floor. Bolted to the ply I’ve got a pair of SeaSucker 15mm fork mounts (raised on some ply to give clearance for QR skewers). If I need to use the mounts with a 9mm QR I’ve got a couple of Nukeproof 15mm to QR conversion kits. This setup covers me for mountain and road bikes.

Take up MMA, next time it happens you can drop the lot of them. 😀

A few years ago I was coerced into going to Geilo in Norway, I really didn’t want to go but wifey insisted, it was family get together on her side. A back injury meant I wasn’t going anywhere near the downhill stuff so XC was the only option.

The transfer from the airport took us through small towns and villages, what was immediately noticeable was the lack of people, it was like Norway had gone on holiday. I commented on this to hotel reception, I was told it was too cold to go out and everyone was indoor. It had warmed up to -30 that day and the forecast for the rest of the week was the same.

I’ve never XC skied before so needed to hire some kit, no problem there are two hire shops in town. Go to the first shop and ask for skies and boots, they had a pair of boots in size 42 and another in 48 but not the 44 I needed. They did have some skies I could have but the binding on one was broken. A similar story in shop two. So no XC skiing unless I’m prepared to buy the stuff.

Feeling a bit pissed of I went for a beer. Two beers and £20 later I was in a very bad mood. Got up next morning and used the hotels internet PC, booked a train ticket to Oslo and Ryanair flight home.

This is first year wifey and I haven’t ridden it. Probably a good thing we didn’t register as I’ve got a bad back and she’s awaiting surgery on a wrist injury. Agreed it’s an excellent event and I’ll be there next year (providing he doesn’t skip a year again).

My current manager is a contractor. She’s very good at her job and popular both within the team and the department.

I’ve run 32mm CX tyres on Open Pro’s for years and haven’t died.

I got a warning about something I posted which I thought was fairly innocuous. The email said it was my second warning (I never received a first) and I would be banned if I committed a further offence.

I don’t have a problem with forum moderation, without it the place would descend into anarchy. If you do commit a sin in the eyes of a moderator their is no appeal process, you’re condemned on one persons opinion. The moderation on here is well below par.

This will probably constitute a third warning, so goodbye.

There’s plenty of stuff available to sort out Caddy’s even a Maxi Life.

I looked at pickups before buying my Caddy and would have bought one but, the load space is lot smaller than a small van.

With a Truckman on the back you won’t be able to stand a bike up. You might be able to lie a couple down with the wheels off but then you’ve got the problem of them rattling around with no useful tie down points. The other option is a tow bar mounted rack. But then you’ve got a truck as long as a ship and still have the security worry of the bikes on the outside.

If you do decide to get one make sure you try and load the bikes up before you buy.

Thetford.

You never said you wanted hills.

This is a music one

https://quiz.ifour.co.uk/

Mum successfully had a brain tumour removed about 10 years ago, she’s all clear. Dad successfully had an esophageal tumour removed about 5 years ago, he’s all clear. Little sister had her pancreatic tumours removed 2 weeks ago, she was told yesterday that the results from the biopsies etc taken at the op are good and it hasn’t spread. Check up for her in 6 months.

I managed to sit through last years thinking “it’s got to get better in a minute”. I was wrong it was dire. This looks worse.

Take a browse through the Casio collection. Prices are RRP so you’ll find a decent reduction on most stuff with a bit of searching.

https://www.casio.co.uk/products/timepieces/casio-collection/

VW do a 4×4 Caddy.

When you’re lying on on deathbed saying goodbye to loved ones are you thinking I’m glad I bought the sensible car with the frugal engine?

From a now 53 year old bloke, I’ve spent the last 20 year long distance (80 miles a day) commuting on the highest performance sports bikes I could afford to run. It’s not been cheap but it’s been amazing fun. Three years ago I started doing a car share, it went well using the Laguna estate I had at the time but wasn’t fun so I bought a Lotus Elise. Best car commuting ever.

Life’s too short, if you can afford it, do it.

Another Caddy owner.

A large hardtail 29er will need to go in at an angle. I use Seasucker mounts from Chainreaction bolted to the floor to hold the front forks. With these it’s no problem loading the van with 2 bikes and all the kit for a 2 week camping holiday.

A road bike goes in lengthways, as does my CX bike, both 56cm frames.

The Seasucker mount position for a mountain bike is different to a road bike. For road bikes I’ve got some cheap surface mount workstand things from Amazon.

At 6 feet tall I can sleep diagonally in the back, forget it if there’s a bike in there as well. But then it was never bought as something to sleep in.

P-Jay
39 years young

I’m 53 with a VW Caddy, lowered, bigger wheels and remapped to 180hp 😀 No pops and crackles though.

I’ll hopefully be made redundant in the new year, it’s looking like the end of April if it all goes according to plan. I’ve been there for 17 years and the payout will be reasonable. The plan at the moment is to do a big cycle tour with wifey in June (she’s happy to take a month off work), then a couple of months on the Great Divide route starting late July. I’ll start looking for work around October time which will probably be IT contracting unless I can come up with an alternative.

Apparently we had a poo incident at work yesterday. This is a busy office building so how they didn’t get seen I have no idea.

Someone, we assume it’s a woman, took a dump in the main women’s loo on the second floor then smeared some of it around the cubicle and the walls outside. They then left the toilet carrying a sizeable chunk of poo, walked into the finance department and dropped it on the floor.

When I was an apprentice I used to sneak into the directors toilet, do a shit in one trap then go to the next one to wipe. This was before email was invented though.

I use a Thermarest Neoair Dream for car camping, it wasn’t cheap and doesn’t pack small but it’s supremely comfortable. Not far behind for comfort is my Exped Synmat UL7, this definitely has a small pack size.

Get the X12 kit for 142mm. The one labelled as 12mm bolt thru is 135mm.

vickypea – Member
I’d recommend riding up the Gorge de la Nesque, visiting Sault for lunch (there are a few cyclist-friendly cafes there), and then riding around the back of Ventoux, the roads round the back are lovely and quiet- well they were both times I did that route!

That.

On the back road is a place called Brantes, it’ll be a climb up but the views above the village are well worth the effort. Back down afain it’s another climb out.Have a beer in Entrechaux on the way back, you’ll have earned it. Downhill all the way to Malaucene, the final climb over to Bedoin means you’ve earned more beer.

As mentioned, the heat can be fierce. If you have a few days and the mistral is blowing it might be worth saving Ventoux until it dies down.