Our lad had horrendous reflux for the first 12 months. Eventually we realised it was a dairy intolerance. He was breastfed and the wife switched her diet to completely non dairy and things improved almost immediately.

I can highly recommend the “Decaf Buenos Aires” beans from Pact. It’s probably my absolute all-time favourite which is impressive considering it’s a decaf!

I pull a regular shot of around 19g in and 36ish out then top up with a small amount of hot water. It tastes lovely as a straight expresso but I like my drinks to last a tad longer and the flavours really punch out when the cup begins to cool a little.

It has a lot of dark fruitiness going on (I’m not very creative with my description…) sometimes I wonder if I am even drinking coffee! Definitely a treat in a cup although being decaf means you can hammer it all day long which will cost ££!

I do feel sorry for my neighbours. A larger mortgage than us and their current fixed deal will expire next summer. We reckon they could need to find almost and extra £1k per month. She’s also pregnant and will be earning approx £1k per month less on maternity leave next year.

Neither of them particularly understands what’s just around the corner. Ignorance is bliss until it isn’t.

We up-sized 4 years ago and repayments were comfortably affordable at the low rates that were available at the time. We’re now nearing the end of our fix deal.

We factored in that rates will only go up but we didn’t expect them to go up so much so quickly. Whilst today’s rates aren’t causing too much of a squeeze, when you couple them with energy bills increasing £150 a month, fuel at nearly £2 a litre and inflation it quickly starts to spiral.

Fortunately we’ve managed to fix the mortgage for another 5 years at an affordable level but we’re approx. £500 a month down on where we were a few months ago.

The 30 free childcare hours we get in April can’t come soon enough!

When you load a route on the V2 it asks if you want to navigate to the start. Just select no. I also have auto re-routing turned off

If you want to stick to the ramp test then you could try what I used to do –

Just create a continuously increasing “ramp up” block at the same rate over the same duration. That way the watts are continuously increasing every few seconds by a tiny amount rather than by a sizable chunk every minute.

That being said, I think knowing your FTP is more important for intervals at threshold and below. I think perceived effort is more valuable for Vo2 and above stuff. With this in mind I reckon the longer the FTP test (20+ min) the better.

I love my v2 and have never had any issues with it crashing despite some multiday adventures.

One thing to be aware of though – if you turn it off mid ride it will “restore” it when you turn it back on HOWEVER you have to turn it on within something like 5-6 hours or it saves the previous ride and you need to start a new recording. Obviously you won’t loose any data and you can restart the route and join it at any point seamlessly again.

If you want a multiday trip in one file just stitch the GPX files together when you get home. Loads of free websites do this if you do a quick google search.

One option is to not turn the device off at all but you’ll probably want an external power source plugged into it.

I’ve also found ramp tests pretty generous and now only do 20 min tests (or longer).

GCN did a chat on FTP numbers recently which was interesting. I think they said something like the average pro can hold FTP for 51 mins and your average trained amateur can only hold it for something like 35 mins.

I now round my test results down a notch or two to the point where it feels right and I reckon I could hold it for a reasonable amount of time.

Generous FTP numbers are great for bragging but nobody really cares at the end of the day :)

I no longer have this light (I’ve replaced it with the PR2400) and from memory I think it rounds to the nearest 0.5 until it gets to 1.0. Then below that it rounds to the nearest 0.1.

One thing I like about the PR2400 is the better display showing hours and minutes remaining.

Great. Trying to budget for the next 12 months is impossible. Especially with my fixed rate mortgage coming to an end next year too. Bad times

I can’t remember the name of the plug-in but all my virtual rides are automatically muted. They still appear in my profile but are hidden from everyone’s public feed. Pretty sure you can do the same for commutes too but obviously you’re relying on people being bothered to set that up on their own account.

I guess like most folk I’m not really interested in repetitive commutes or virtual rides. I don’t know why Strava don’t just provide the feature to filter what you see. Surely it can’t be too difficult for them and I don’t know what the downside would be.

@neilnevill

Yep £450 received back in my bank account from Shell. Said it would take up to 10 days but came through almost immediately.

I think their calculations are all a bit random. App was recommending that we increase our DD but at the same time recommended a refund of £220 but instantly allowed a £450 refund.

The app currently says estimated usage £374 a month which I assume is just looking at the upcoming winter months. Despite this it’s recommending a DD of £435 😅 whilst at the same time giving an estimated annual usage value of £3,073 (which I agree is pretty accurate) which equates to £256 a month.

I give up. Glad I’ve got hold of my money now although I expect they’ll force an increased DD at some point soon. I’ll look forward to challenging that.

Has anyone actually had any experience of telling their energy provider that they can’t afford the newly suggested DD increases?

Well I guess I’m testing my theory! Took about 20 seconds via their automated chat service on the website to get a £450 refund. Balance is now nil but the current £256 a month DD should bring us to a nil balance next Sept. We can always chuck it back in the Shell account if needed but will be interesting if they now recommend / force an increase in the DD.

Can anyone see a flaw in this plan…?

Estimated usage over the next 12 months is approx £3,072 / £256 per month.

We’re currently up in credit heading into the winter. Could we withdraw that credit balance and peg the DD at £256? It’d mean we’d almost immediately be in debit but will obviously catch up by this time next year?

Il with Shell and they seem to manage your DD value based on the next 3 months rather than the longer term / 12 months.

@tonyf1 – that’s a good shout thank you.

@footflaps you appear to be out of touch with one of the most heavily regulated sectors in the UK.

If you were told you were unable to apply for a product because of a system limitation would you simply roll over and accept it? Pretty sure the FCA wouldn’t expect you to.

That’s pretty much it. They won’t allow me to lend new money today but the reason for this is because the deal on Part 1 hasn’t yet kicked in. They haven’t done any affordability checks against the new money. It’s purely a system limitation that won’t allow them to set up this new product without overwriting the rate that we agreed separately on part 1.

I was told to come back again in December once the new Part 1 deal has kicked in and then they’d explore what I was requesting. Obviously that puts us at risk of further interest rate rises in the next 2 months and it’s this that I’m not comfortable with.

Part 1 and Part 2 shouldn’t have any bearing on one another. They’re separate and should be treated as such?

@dangeourbrain – I don’t think you’ve understood.

Part 1 and Part 2 and two separate products.

Part 1 will be fixed on a rate agreed in August that kicks in on 1st December. I don’t want to touch this.

Part 2 is currently on 1.77% until December 2023.

I’m wanting to repay Part 2 today. Pay nearly £3,000 ERC and replace it with a new 5 year fixed at 5.6%.

Why would they be lending me new money at a loss when I want the rate they’re offering today? They’ll be quids in if they let me do what I’m asking. In return I get the peace of mind of a fixed rate for 5 years on Part 2.

@tonyd I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m not asking them to honour the same rate on part 2. I want to pay the ERC and agree a deal at todays rate on part 2 but they’re saying I can’t unless I forfeit the rate I agreed in August on Part 1.

I’ll remind them of the relevant regs when I speak to them again next week

Part 1 will definitely be staying with them as I won’t get near the rate I’ve already secured anywhere else. Part 2 may not be staying with them unless they align with my request.

What they’re basically saying is I can re-mortgage the whole lot at todays rate on the basis that I forfeit the rate I secured on Part 1 in August. Erm no thanks! They’re two different products! Crazy to think I may have to move Part 2 elsewhere because of a silly system restraint.

I’ve had a formal acknowledgement of my complaint via e-mail so I’ll see where it leads when they contact me for a chat next week. I can’t fault the lady I spoke to earlier today. Very empathetic but if the system wouldn’t let her it wouldn’t let her…. I’m certainly not someone who likes to kick up a fuss, at the end of the day they’re only doing their job and I respect that but sometimes somebody needs to challenge the red tape and by doing so I might save others from the same stress.

@footflaps – depends if they want a full blown system change or a simple workaround. The latter would probably suffice if it’s a relatively small number of impacted customers. All they need to do is retrospectively update part 2 of the mortgage after 1st Dec if their system restraints prevent them from doing it now.

@sharkbait – I’m well aware they are a business. Like I said, banking has paid my wages for the last 15 years.

I don’t think my expectations are unreasonable. If someone can explain why what they are saying is fair then Id be keen to know where I’m getting it wrong. Perhaps they don’t value fairness. In which case I’ll be better going somewhere that does.

Thanks guys,

@jekkl – I’ve already started that ball rolling and will be happy to take it to the ombudsman. I’ve worked in banking for 15+ years so fortunately I’m pretty familiar with that side of things. I was just shocked that a limitation of their system would potentially impact me financially. If my organisation had a limitation like that we’d be all over it.

In the meantime we’ve been put in contact with a recommended mortgage broker and have a meeting arranged early next week.

I just wanted to check it wasn’t me expecting something unreasonable. I guess if their fixed rates don’t increase between now and 1st Dec then we’ll be no worse off but that doesn’t stop us worrying about it for the next couple of months. Perhaps we just need to move the 2nd part to another Lender.

Well they should change their systems then as it’s giving a very poor customer outcome. “Computer says no” shouldn’t be a valid excuse

We intend to make no changes to the rate agreed for Part 1 back in August as that’s obviously better than todays rate.

We just want to end the current deal on part 2 (pay the ERC) and fix at todays rate.

Apparently their systems wont allow them to amend the deal on Part 2 whilst there is a new deal waiting to kick in from 1st Dec with Part 1.

Feels like a “computer says no” thing rather than something that has any logic.

I’m with Shell and after September’s bill I expect to be £350 or so in credit. My usage for the next 12 months should average about £256 a month but they’re wanting to adjust my DD to £299. I think this is because they review the DD every 6 months and are basing it on the next 6 months of winter use.

I’m inclined to set my DD at £256 and ask for my credit balance to be paid back to me. I’m not sure if they’ll allow this as it’ll basically mean i’ll quickly go into debit over the winter and only catch up by this time next year. Essentially i’ll be in debit all year.

Sounds like a few of us are with Shell and might be helpful if someone in the know could let us know how to go about getting credit balances paid back to us.

About 1kg a month which is probably 2 cups a day.

Occasionally I’ll do a week or two of decaf and my next cup of caffeinated coffee hits me like a bus. It’s crazy how abstaining from caffeine for a such a relatively short amount of time completely resets my tolerance.

Decaf kills my wallet though given I can drink it all day long and into the evening. I tend to drink more cups when I’ve got decaf beans in as there’s no risk of being awake all night. Just lots of deliciousness

Low traffic and easy access to good roads makes a big difference.

@theotherjonv – frustrating isn’t it. My sister and brother in law are extremely well off and they just don’t get what I’m fretting about. I’ve asked them how much they are budgeting for energy each month and basically they’re not as they’re comfortable enough to know they’ll be able to afford whatever increases are coming their way without making any other sacrifices. Some people just don’t get it

Pretty terrifying for us given it coincides with our fixed mortgage deal coming to and end in November which will result in a couple of hundred quid extra a month going in that direction also

Sorry to hear it. I constantly live in fear of mine being taken. There’s only so much you can do to deter / slow them down etc but where there’s a will there’s a way. I think the key is to not let them know you have bikes in the first place. Easier said than done if you’re a social media / strava user.

Hope you get some justice!

Josh Ibbett and Angus Young both use one and are at the top of the ultra endurance game. Probably a sponsor deal but they’re both convincingly positive about them

E-bike specific chain lube is just marketing rubbish imo. Are the top athletes running ebike lube? I suspect they’re stronger than the average ebike rider including the motors.

Oh and to answer the question, Putoline!

It will probably sort itself out but take some time. I did something similar recently and had numb fingers for a month

Just no. If you get caught out you’ll be stuffed in the long term. Not worth the risk

Carry as much water as you can and drink more than you think you’ll need. I’d imagine there will be a lot of people paying the price of not hydrating properly so I’d just make that you’re No1 priority.

You can train your body to tolerate increased calories but you’ve got to be smart with the types of food you eat. It’s very easy to develop stomach issues leading to no appetite no matter how much you need to eat.

Also ultra endurance athletes are extremely efficient. It’s possible to go a looong way on relatively little food (providing the intensity is low enough).

Just noticed there’s a chap that lives right near me in Chapel-en-le-Frith. Looks like he’s heading towards home but that’s only about 5km off route. Wonder how that stacks up against the rules? Unless he’s heading to the shop for some resupplies. Must be tempting for a nice warm shower at home… Although getting back out there afterwards would be tough!

I’d imagine there’s little benefit to drafting on terrain like they are riding over.

It wouldn’t be possible to enforce such a rule anyway. Just hope the riders respect and abide by it

I’m off on a 615km jaunt on the gravel bike this weekend. These guys are making me look lazy 🤣

Events like this are a 10% bike riding and 90% eating challenge.

I don’t think the estimated stopped time is right. Donnacha appears to have stopped every night for around 4 hours or so.