When I went a couple of years ago it was my first ever riding trip to the Alps. I’m the cycling equivalent of Captain Slow, so I was quite nervous. My riding buddy was my 18 yo nephew who’d done very little riding at all, and was riding an old, knackered bike with steep angles and about 3 sizes to big for him.

We both survived and in fact I was a little disappointed with the riding as it seemed a bit tame (although it was funny riding past the “all the gear” euro riders mincing down any bit of wet roots on foot).

It did take us the full day, though that was partly because we got on the wrong lift at the bottom of the first descent and merrily set off in the wrong direction, so we had a fair bit of extra ground to cover! Complete muppetry, and generally it’s very well marked out.

Glad I did it, but like others have said, not sure I’d rush to do it again.

Bought mine new (ouch) on scrappage. Was the cheapest estate car I could get, but was still 50% of gross salary.

Now, 100,000+ miles later it’s probably worth about 10% of salary (which hasn’t changed in the intervening years!). Scarey depreciation, but then I’ve also spent about £10k on fuel in the same period…

11 jobs in 26 (ouch!) years. Strangely, longest of these was my first job (7 years).

The current job is up to 3 and a bit years now, though, and they haven’t rumbled me yet. Fingers crossed…

Hi Luke

Might be selling my 2012 18″ Orange Five. Marzocchi 55RC3 ti forks (150mm), Hope Pro wheels with Stans rims, Reverb, SLX brakes, otherwise pretty standard. In excellent (though well used) condition.

Only downsides are (a) it’s white, and (b) the old fashioned wheelsize will instantly kill you, as well as fundamentally undermining your sense of self worth.

Ace bike, though. Let me know if interested

As a different approach perhaps look beyond your feet.

As your core body temperature decreases your body reduces the amount of blood flow to its extremes, i.e. your hands and feet.

So you could try wrapping up else where to keep your overall body temperature up. Something on your head under your helmet might just be what you need to keep your feet a bit warmer.

Yeah, I thought about the whole connected-up-ness thing. But as my hands (and ears!) get really cold and then warm back up as the ride goes on, I figured my core temperature was ok. I’m certainly a hot, gasping wreck when I get home each night, just with freezing feet. That said, my feet start to get really cold about the same time as my hands warm up, so perhaps I just don’t have enough blood! Good job my brain isn’t using much, for most of the ride…

Tod – Interesting thought about the cleat being an effective heat sink. Hadn’t thought of that.

Rorschach – thanks for the link. I missed that one!

ETA: Don’t know if it’s relevant, but my feet are warmer pushing a high cadence at speed along the flat than when out of the saddle churning up hills, even with the extra wind-chill.

Great replies, folks – thanks.

The shoes’ sizing ought to be ok as I deliberately bought a size larger than I normally take (tried them on with my sealskins on, in fact). I agree they’re far from windproof though, although I was hoping the sealskins would negate the windchill.

Also glad I’m not alone…!

I would always say “buy on condition”, but you’ve said they’re much the same.

What are the service histories like? How many miles will you do? What are the service schedules like for these cars? Any big expenses scheduled at, say, 60k might influence you.

All else being equal I’d be more inclined to go for the newer one. It’s done around 20-25k per year, depending on when in 2012 is was first registered. To my mind this is preferable to one that’s just done around 5-6k a year, which makes me think of a lot of very short journeys where the engine and fluids haven’t got warmed through.

Clearly that’s based on internet assumptions, though, so I’d be trying to verify what kind of life each car has had to date.

Alternatively, which colour do you prefer…?

Depending on how little you want to spend, I need to sell either my 2012 Orange 5 (18inch) or my 1998 Rocky Mountain ETSX70 frame (Large – but with the carbon swing arm replaced with ally). Probably be selling in a month’s time or so.

The RM has a ding in the top tube but is otherwise in good nick. The orange is excellent. (Normal cable rubs, etc in both cases).

Will also have either a Marzocchi 55ti fork (150mm, tapered steerer) or a Rockshock Rev (150mm, 1.125 steerer), depending on which frame goes, if that’s any interest?

Let me know if you’re interested in either.

aka_Gilo – Member

My two daughters knew how to use they’re, there, their correctly from the age of 8 or 9. They are now (15 / 13) possibly even more pedantic than me about misuse. It can be done.

“…more pedantic than I…” 😉

Notter – Member
Somebody here at work had a combo for breakfast that opened my eyes…..

Poached eggs on Marmite toast….. Now I’m a Marmite fan, I’m a poached egg fan but have never tried this. I may have to give it a whirl at Christmas.

Anyone else have experience of this one?

A proper working breakfast here is Marmite on toast, topped with baked beans, topped with scrambled eggs. Ace!

I called across the office to a colleague: “Hey, Rachel, do you want the last doughnut?”. At least, that’s what I meant to say. I got as far as “Hey, Doughnut, do you …” and the whole room fell about laughing.

Another vote for the Fabia estate here.

dragon – Member
Skoda Fabia….estate…cavernous inside but small on the outside
Surely it is quite narrow? My VW Polo which is the same platform is noticeably narrower inside than the next platform up, the one used for the VW Golf, Audi A3, Skoda Octavia etc.

This narrowness is a bonus to me. Lots of narrow lanes round here, and being in something the same width as a Polo is brilliant. And it’s only 4239mm long (more than 1ft shorter than a Focus estate and 2ft shorter than a Mondeo hatch). I can get a 29-er in with wheels on ok. Three with the front wheel off. Truly, it’s uncanny!

£20RFL. 60mpg if you go steady (50mpg if you cane it). Cheap insurance and reliable, in my exerience…

ETA Have a look at Seat Ibiza etsate if you can’t face the Skoda badge. Same thing, more or less.

I’m quite pleased…. I got a camembert AND a camembert baker (no, I had no idea what that was, either). Result!

I’m not sure the OP gets the idea of Secret Santa. Dave Vanderspek’s idea is pure genius..!

somewhatslightlydazed – Member

Le Français d’Aujourd’hui?

The family were the Bertillons?

That’s the one we had at school. All I remember from it was their translation of “Zut alors” which was “Drat, etc.”

Not quite the same, but when bored in a meeting I’ll try to sneak as many mixed-metaphors under the basket as I can. So far I’ve managed:

Going for the fruit nearest the canoe
Keeping your eye on the carrot at the end of the tunnel (and separately, accusing everyone of ignoring the elephant at the end of the tunnel).
Barking up the wrong end of the stick
Run it up the flagpole and see what sticks
Getting all your crocodiles in a row
Putting all my eggs in one canoe

Either my boss is dim, or he thinks I am and isn’t letting on… (He likes to maximise the synergies from the triple bottom line, so I suspect it’s him).

I have a single front light, and two back lights (set up to flash out of synch with each other), together with all the high-vis that I own.

Colleagues who drive and have seen me have all said that it’s the high-vis they notice first. There are so many different lights for drivers to take in that sometimes they fail to identify cyclist from runner, from car.

Still, I’m glad my commute is pretty quite. Round here it’s the teenagers out for a night-time hoon on the lanes that worry me most…

FWIW I’ve got a 2009 Skoda Fabia estate (1.4TDi). Had it since new, now a few miles short of 100,000.

Apart from being serviced roughly when due it’s been appallingly abused (including being used as a working farm-vehicle) and it’s been great. OK the air-con doesn’t do much now, and the parking sensors gave up a couple of months ago – possibly because the sensors are permanently buried in mud (and worse), but that really is the entire list of faults in 5 years.

It’s also big enough for an Orange 5 and a Banshee Prime in at the same time (all wheels on) whilst still being narrow enough for the lanes round here. It’s carried me from Penzance to Aberdeen without batting an eyelid, and has averaged over 55mpg over my whole ownership.

Depressingly (for me), it’s probably only worth £3k tops now, and that would be after spending a couple of days deep cleaning it!

I’m very lucky with my commute. 13 miles along rural back-roads , or 15 if I fancy the coast road (and avoiding the one deeply unpleasant climb on a loaded bike). Thing is it’s relaxing to drive, too, so when the weather is a bit iffy there’s less incentive to ride.

Last night was lovely round here. About 5c and really starry. The alarm at work malfunctioned when I tried to set it, which meant that I spent an extra hour at work waiting for the engineer to dial in and sort it out.

I was a bit grumpy after a long day, but it meant that there was practically no traffic by the time I left and I was bouncing round like an endorphin-fueled Tigger when I got home!

This is why I don’t mind the low pay and lack of shops and transport links round here!

Still one of my favourite encounters went something like:

Nimby: “You can’t ride along here”
Me: “Oh I’m really sorry, I though it was a bridle path”
Nimby “It is – but not for bicycles”
Me: “Oh. Um. Ok. Sorry”.

Still makes me smile… (and I still ride that way, naturally).

Hi all,

Just a quick “Thanks for all the tips”. Went to FoD with my nephew, in the end, and did a couple of loops of Verderers. Feel I need to back on my tod and have a go at the red (Freeminers?). Great fun, though, and really impressed with the place.

Still looking forward to riding BPW and CwmCarn, too, and thanks for the tip about Bringewood, Molgrips. That wasn’t on my radar at all, so I’ll have to explore that. Maybe wait until a dry spell though, if it’s likely to be a mud-fest!

Thanks again, anyway. Steve

Any ideas where I can get route plans for FoD? Are there many waymarked trails? And where should I be aiming for to park up?

Great replies btw. Thanks!

If you can wait until after Christmas that’s usually the time when the rescue centres are overrun with dogs which dopey idiots thought would make good presents… Without thinking about the time, effort, hassle and money that they would take. And what a tie they are. And how tedious it is when they need a walk every day…..

I’m in a similar position and toying with a Galaxy / Sharan / Alhambra. Plenty about at reasonable prices (particularly for the Ford and Seat versions), should easily be able to get 3 x bikes and people in by removing seats as necessary, and decent economy from the 1.9 TDi.

Plus, I quite fancy doing this:

Bought my first car in 1989 (25 years ago – YIKES!), so a few of these were quite old when I got them. I’m largely happy with my list, though:

1974 Triumph Spitfire Mk IV
1978 Triumph Dolomite 1850HL
1971 Alfa Spider 1750
1983 Alfasud 105ti
1974 Mg Midget
1988 Alfa 33 Sportwagon 1.7
1985 Golf GTi Mk2 (8v)
1976 Alfa GT Junior
1989 Toyota Corolla GTi-16
1998 MX5 1.8i
1985 Toyota MR2 Mk1a
1989 Saab 9000 CSE 2.3
1985 Toyota MR2 Mk1a
1989 BMW 325i Touring
2002 MX5 1.8 Sport
2002 Peugeot 106 Independence
1994 MX5 1.8iS
1989 Toyota MR2 Mk1b
1988 BMW 325i Touring
2001 Peugeot 106 Independence
1998 BMW 325tdi Touring
2009 Skoda Fabia 1.4TDi Estate
1994 MX5 1.8i

I seem to be getting increasingly sucked into some kind of automotive Groundhog Day (and worryingly, there are a few on the list which I would quite happily revisit yet again)!

If you can find somewhere that sells “hotmax fuel logs” I’d recommend them… particularly for getting your stove / flue up to temp. But they burn really well and clean at any time and give off loads of heat.

Yeah, we’ve got loads of good ones down here in Cornwall. I live within a couple of miles of Grumbla, Tonkin Down, Georgia Bottom, Noon Diggery and Bay of Biscay (which ironically is about as far from the sea as you can get in Penwith). And the two industrial estates in Helston are called Water-ma-Trout and Gilly-Gabben.

Many of the old Cornish place names have a wonderful rhythm about them. “Higher Bologgas”, “Tremethick” or “Trezelah” anyone? (Stress on the second syllable).

“Bottoms” and “Ding Dong” are my favourites, though.

I’ve seen both Snowdon and The Isle of Arran from the top of Slieve Donard – each more than 100 miles away.

Actually, makes me wonder what are the two furthest apart places in the UK which can be seen from a single location (also in the UK). Arran and Snowdon must be in with a chance on that?

ETA Fairly sure you can see Sacfell Pike from Slieve Donard as well, which is also over 100 miles away. It’s quite a view!

Thanks Mr Ben. Don’t know what’s wrong with me, sounds worrying like my old friend Fergus the Bearded Collie. Except he was a barker. And would launch himself at runners, as well as bikes (his favourite trick was doing a full speed “fly past”, but grabbing your clothing at shoulder height and swinging himself round you that way). Also had the insane hairiness, but at least slobber wasn’t a problem.

I’ll bear in mind your advice. And thanks for the pics – they are such gorgeous dogs!

MrBen100 – is that a Spinone?

Always promised that when I get another dog it’ll be a Spinone. What are they like with a bike? (I’ve heard they make excellent runners’ companions, which makes me wonder if they might be a bit slow to go out on a ride).

And anything else I should know…?

As mentioned above, marquees can be flippin’ expensive. My father in law is a farmer so we could have a field for free, and it still worked out cheaper hiring the village hall than hiring a marquee & loos. Appreciate that the ambiance is different, and if a marquee fits your plans it’d be worth telling them you’re hiring it for a re-union, or a retirement party or anything – there’s often a significant surcharge just cos it’s a wedding (thieving sods)!

As for the booze side of it, we got a load of 20L boxes of Weston’s Cider and Perry (my local brew), and a few firkins of Skinners Ale (my OH’s local) – both direct from the makers. I expect most cider makers would be happy to deliver a couple of barrels if you’re buying in that kind of quantity…

Enjoy the day, sounds like a lot of fun!

ETA Village Hall with a skittle alley = good for giggles when the cider’s been flowing

Some great old gems there – Haven’t heard the “No tomatoes” joke from anyone apart from my old flatmate (circa 1989).

Can I add…:

You only get four fingers in a KitKat

Can you smell fish?

A carrot

“OK” said the Kiwi, as he turned round and stuck his head through the railings

“Aye, and it’ll grue some more if you keep your hand there”.

… on arrival at Les Crosets (hope the image works):

Should add that I did the return journey in one 21-hour hit (bar food/fuel/chunnel stops), and was remarkably fresh and non-achy at the end.

My daily commuter is a 1994 1.8i and my daily commute is 14 miles each way (mainly twisty, narrow b-roads).

Yes, when I’m tired it can be a bit crashy and bumpy, but I still can’t imagine changing it for anything else. I’m 6ft and whilst there’s masses of leg-room, I do find that I’m a bit short on head room with the hood up. I’ve fitted heated heated seats from a Mk 2.5, though, which are appreciable thicker in the cushion than the originals which doesn’t help. Just as well the roof is rarely up.

Otherwise it’s brilliant. Great fun on those roads (might be a little under-gunned on more open, A-road type drives), has a cracking heater, and it’s really reliable to boot. An evening drive home in winter, in the dark, with the roof down and the heater on full is joyous thing!

Also drove to the Alps for the Passportes du Soleil last year, 2-up with bikes and kit. Sure, you need to pack carefully, but the journey just added to a great holiday (Penzance to Les Crosets, via south Wales – 1,000 miles each way and the roof didn’t go up once).

Just do it….!!

I’ve got a 456ti frame for sale if you’re interested? 3 years old and a few marks but basically very nice. Email me if you want more info: sjbATcarrotDOTcom

WelshFarmer surely wins this thread with his Land Rover? I’m loving the Caterham and MX5, too, proof that you don’t have to compromise on a fun car if you want to carry a bike (or two).

My nephew and I did the PPS last year in my MX-5. Just over 2,000 miles with a couple of bikes and everything for a long weekend. Was a bit of a squeeze, but made it so much more of an event than if we’d gone in something “sensible”!

Mmmm, that’s what I thought (though not what I wanted to hear).

Thanks anyway – speedy replies!!

something you could actually kip in, take bikes, won’t break down and hold it’s value

Or how about a Saab 900? Reckon that ticks all avontyrell’s (and your) requirements

Cornwall’s a big old county (ok, a long old county) so you might want to pick one specific part. Penwith (far west) and the Lizard are both very different from the rest of Cornwall, and from each other but I love them. There aren’t especially full of “attractions” per se but if you’re happy just to be outside, the walking / swimming / beaches are fantastic.

People have mentioned the Minack, the open air theatre at Porthcurno. Really should be on your list, but check their website for opening times (or better yet, ring them when your down here). They have matinee performances on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as kids shows on Wednesday and Friday mornings in the season, so you can’t rely on just turning up and getting in. There’s also a real gem of a museum at the bottom of the hill, telling the story of how Porthcurno was the silicon valley of the earliest telecomms technology. Re-opening after a major refurb in June (www.porthcurno.org.uk).

The Penwith moors are also good for rambly walks, specially if you’re into you prehistoric stuff. There are loads of random stone circles, ancient sacred wells and the like – try googling Men-an-Tol.

Are you aiming to get any riding in, as that could influence what part of the county you aim for?

ETA: Roskilly’s Ice Cream farm (on the Lizard) is a fun half day out if your youngster is the right age – needless to say it’s got a great cafe too!

If you’re used to driving in Scotland, though, be prepared for a lot more traffic, most of it being driven very slowly and in a slightly lost, hazy fashion! All part of the experience, you just have to go with it, I’m afraid!

I’ve had loads of cars and a fair few classics, and have fond memories of almost all of them! I’ve finally worked out that you can’t identify a “great car” in isolation; the roads you’ll be driving on and the use you’ll be putting it to are key factors.

Of all the cars I’ve had the 105 series Alfas (1750 Spider and 2000GTV) were my favourites at the time. Now, though, if I were to revisit anything I’ve had before it would be a Mk1 MR2. Whether they’re a “classic” is moot, but I think it’s fair to call them a “future classic”.

I know they’re a bit marmite, but might be worth a punt? I was a bit “meh” about them until a mate let me drive his, after which I was smitten. They’re a sweet little thing and reasonably fast, with a really characterful engine (designed by Yamaha I think) which effectively runs as a torquey 12v up to 4750rpm and then switches to a 16v revver and goes on to a 7700 red line. The handling is genuinely superb and ride is a real eye-opener – superbly comfortable. Don’t know where you’re based but if really rough back-roads are a regular part of your life, it’s great having something which doesn’t have to make allowances.

They’re also very reliable, will do 30-35mpg all day long, won’t leave you knackered after a 700-mile drive and can carry plenty for a week away (unless you’re traveling with Imelda Marcos). And as you can tell, they can really get under your skin – in a good way!

Only downside is they rust like buggery and the looks (inside and out) haven’t aged well to all eyes.

Having had three I’d say go for the earliest, non T-bar you can find, but as ever with these things that’s just a matter of personal taste and condition should be the main decider. If I didn’t live within spray-range of the sea I’d have another like a shot!

ETA:
After all that, I think I’d be happy to live with pretty much anything mentioned above, too. Some really good shouts. There are so many good cars out there (so little time)….

No doubt about it, teaching is hard work (and I speak from experience).

I’m not a teacher any longer, but that was because the job wasn’t what I wanted. There was more crowd control and admin than teaching, which isn’t why I went into it.

However, I now work more hours in a year and for much less money than I did as a teacher, so I can understand why some people get a bit sniffy when the argument is put forward that teachers work longer hours than anyone else and for “not a lot” of money. Someone further up the thread worked out that they do something like 2335 hours a year, equivalent to 48.5 hrs/week with 28 holidays. I work 50hrs a week and get the statutory 28 days holiday (including 8 days bank holiday), and I gross comfortably under £20k per year. From where I’m standing, even an NQT’s salary is a lot of money, but for all that you won’t see me going back to it!

In the end, though, no matter what you do there’ll be someone who works fewer hours than you for more pay (and yet who still moans about it), and there’ll be people who work longer hours for less. Maybe we shouldn’t slag off other people’s jobs/workloads/pay until we’ve tried them, nor should we make comparable judgements about our own situation unless we’ve tried a whole load of other experiences.