RideWithGPS can do that. Download them all from Kamoot as it’s nice to have them saved locally anyway and then upload them to RideWithGPS. Select them all and they’ll all appear on a map. This can be really useful if you want to link up parts of routes aswell. It’s the most powerful route manipulation webapp that I know of and have used it for mapping both off-road and road routes around the world. You do need to pay for some of its features though, one being downloading a gpx file with POIs.

Another point…if you have a phone with optical zoom then I wouldn’t suggest mounting it to the bars. My new phone doesn’t have this but a lot of phones do nowadays. It’s a moving part within your phone and so will be prone to damage from excessive vibrations. These phones should go in a back pocket or check out SP Connects mounting system. They have an anti vibration mount which I looked at. It’s pretty good. The mount floats on a sort of flexible, rubberised cushion.

I’ve got a MTB with a rigid fork so about as vibey as it can get and I use Quad Lock on an Samsung S10e. Holds firm even on fast, washboardy type surfaces. They’re the strongest mounts in my opinion although SP Connects’ might not be far off. The Garmin mounts are not suitable for phones. They have less contact area than a Quad Lock and as they only have two plastic locks at which the phone is held on the weight of my old phone, a Sony Z3 compact, broke one when riding over a pot hole. Only reason it didn’t hit the ground at high speed is that it was tethered via a charging cable.
Get the Quad Lock universal mount and stick it on the back of a robust case, LifeProof or similar. For an MTB get the plastic mount, it’s made from a composite so still very strong, and mount it so the twist lock is over the stem, so in reverse. That way the phone doesn’t stick out the front of the bars and, if your stem is long enough, your knees won’t touch it either. My stem’s about 10cm from memory and the phone looks pretty flush. The downside is if you stand the bike upside down to fix a tyre, or it lands that way in a crash then yes the phone will be a point of contact with the ground and likely to break, but then so too would a Garmin.
The navigation software on a phone can be far better than a Garmin which is one of the reasons I prefer phones there. The one time I actually broke a phone in a crash was when it was in my pocket.

Any apps running in the background will consume battery power as the processor is continuously running and your phone might be connecting to remote servers and sending data to them so your phone will be hunting for a signal all the time.
The main battery hog is your screen so if it’s large and on full brightness then that’ll drain your battery significantly.
I uninstalled Strava in the end and used Locus Maps. It’s not free but it is inexpensive. It has a plethora of features, perhaps too complicated for some, but it takes advantage of the Strava API and can record the ride whilst in your back pocket and then you can crop the ride, if you so wish, then upload it to Strava as either ‘public’ or ‘private’. You’ll not be involved in the social aspect unles you log into the Strava web page but I can attest to Locus using very little power as I used it to navigate 390 mile audaxes amongst some other long international rides, charged via a dynamo.
If navigating using the screen then the Locus has a setting to turn the screen on only when a voice announcement is made so that conserves lots of power.
If you want to see what is connecting to the internet then download a free app called NetGuard. It is a firewall and tells you what is connecting to the net and where the app is connecting to.

Deer Fly?

I’m not a pro but that would take me about an hour and a half to do the backing up, implementation, testing and redeploying. I’m sure there’s a more complicated procedure they follow but I’ve got a couple of WordPress sites and play with webapps for fun…a keen amateur if you like. Obviously the risk to you is higher if it goes wrong through data loss and downtime so extra care needs to be taken but it’s a piss take what the digital pros get away with charging when there’s much harder physical work that people deride for overcharging…..like gardening for instance.
I’d be phoning around for quotes.

Samsung S10e is still a little bit too wide for smaller hands in my opinion. Sony Z3 Compact, although quite old in the tooth now and perhaps a bit fragile still has adequate technology within but I stick on custom ROMs which get rid of all the bloatware. Certainly makes old devices last much longer.
Anyway I’d advise going for a Sharp Aquos R2 Compact if you can find one.

Ooh it looks like that posh coffee from one of those online artisan coffee houses.

I recommend the Morakniv Companion
I have the green one although if I were to buy again it’d be a lairy colour as they’re too easy to mislay otherwise.

I’ve been using my phone for navigation for the past five years and for road it’s certainly better (in my opinion) than a dedicated unit. The reason it’s better is that the map detailing is better, there’s a wider array of customisations that can be carried out using the software and it’s one less item to carry. For instance to save power the software can have the screen only turn on when approaching turns. That’s with teh addition of voice instructions which again saves battery power. The screen is the main power hog.

I used my Z3 compact for the TransContinental Race five years ago. It is a great phone for that purpose as it has a very good battery life, it’s water resistant and the usp of that particular phone is that it has a magnetic charging port. There’s an inherent loss of efficiency when using wireless charging so direct charging is always better. I made a water proof case with a watertight DC socket screwed into it and the cable goes into a rectifier to be charged by the dynamo. I’ve adapted it since then with a three way switch to redirect or share power with the lights.

For off road it depends how rough the terrain is. For instance for something like cycling from one end of New Zealand to the other (Tour Aotearoa) it was fine since there was a variety of on road and off road sections.

For something like the Highland Trail Race perhaps not so since the average speed might not be enough to charge the phone.

South Downs Way end to end was fine too. I have a dynamo setup on the MTB too or at least I did have until I sold my Sinewave Beacon (there’s something better on its way).

As far as on the bar security goes I see no problem with it. If it’s hanging out the front then that could be an issue (though it hasn’t for me) but QuadLock will enable the phone to hang over the stem even using their out front mount, in reverse. The QuadLock system is very high quality (and expensive) but doesn’t have the range of items that SP Connect supply.

I’ve a new phone now (cracked the Z3 compact when it was in my pocket during a crash!) and so have ordered the SP Connect system to test. They have two mounts; one out-front and another for mountain biking which looks interesting as it has a kind of shock absorber on a shorter mount. I can’t tell you how the quality compares to QuadLock yet but I’ll soon find out.

I do also use a Garmin Oregon but only off road where the majority of riding is on very rough trails. Everything else then I use the phone leaving the Garmin at home.

Can highly recommend NOT getting bitten on anything in your groin

That’s a good tip!

I was once swarmed whilst carrying my bike up a very steep grassy incline in the Pentlands. Fortunately I had my Smidge with me which I pulled out and sprayed it directly at the flies and then all over me. It worked instantly. They all **** off and left me. If it’s a hot summers day I make a point of always carrying a can with me now. It’s a life saver.

My mum’s got a roller garage door fitted that whenever it opens it makes a series of loud cracking noises. This is due to the heat of the sun on the plastic slats and as they’re pulled up into a roll the slats unstick and drop slightly. The invoice for the work which she had carried out 4.5 years ago stated that the garage door was ‘aluminium foam filled’ so I’m wondering of she was supplied with a cheaper version than she’d paid for. Are these aluminium slats with a plastic coating does anyone know or will they be 100% plastic. It’s a Europa compact garage door.

They make/made some of their tops using a synthetic fabric called Meryl. I’ve never been able to afford Le Col stuff but the only other company that I know that uses it, is or was Etxeondo and when I tried a pair of their bibs that was made from that fabric I thought it was seriously nice quality. Not really sure why no one else uses it really. Very smooth to the touch.

@Kuco, just did some googling and apparently the runway’s being extended and modernised.

http://airportsbase.org/Algeria/all/Boussaada/Ain_Eddis

Some background info…

https://www.air-journal.fr/2011-02-15-l%E2%80%99algerie-met-pres-de-400-millions-d%E2%80%99euros-pour-renover-ses-aeroports-525487.html

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http://www.mtp.gov.dz/Aviation_civile_Algerie/index.php/535-2/

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I garden for a living currently andf have been for the past 2.5 years….doing a computer science degree too so not sure I’d classify as a pro gardener ‘cos I don’t do it all day, but I have some City & Guilds tickets so am kind of qualified.

Anyway I have been using a Stihl km131r kombi unit. Very heavy, has vibes but is a real beast. Definitely not only for domestic use which is fine for me as I do heavier duty work too. But If I were to buy a domestic machine then I’d seriously consider the Makita DUX60. The batteries will work with all the other Makita tools. My problem is the drive shaft is incompatible with the square tipped drive shaft of the Stihl unit so my Stihl attachments won’t fit the Makita unit. Stihl do a battery unit but it’s not completely wire free as it needs attaching to a backpack battery.

Ego get good reviews although how many of those are by people who sell the Ego products I couldn’t say. Not a brand I’d go for personally.

Echo are good quality and they do both a battery and a petrol split shaft unit. I’d definitley consider their kit.

Shindaiwa are like Echo…same company but slight variations on their kit. Still very good quality.

Ryobi are like a cheap Stihl so it might be worth looking at their expand-it range as I’m sure they’d be fine for domestic duties. Their attachments are meant to be compatible with Stihls too. Stihl are better quality though.

Honda’s versa tool is four stroke which is unusual. Good quality, heavier than two stroke and again probably ott for domestic use.

Husqvarna do good battery kit so well worth a look at.

I’d say go Makita. They’ve been in the battery game longer than most. Pricey but shouldn’t be a throw away item and yet still better value than a lot of the above brands.

Oof just seen the Q-factor on those Pinions. That’s enough to put me off them.

A C-17 flew over the house on the 8th May (VE Day but don’t know if it’s related). I only knew as it was at around 8 in the morning and sounded unusual. It made a sharp 180 degree turn shortly after flying over and did one of those rolling touch down and take off manoeuvres at Gatwick airport and then continued on to do a circuit of Jersey afterwhich I got bored tracking it. That tracking website is a compulsive addiction of mine.

I thought it was watchable but underwhelming. I’m also going to agree that based on how I felt when I watched the Hurtlocker last (when it was released) I thought that was much more gripping offering a whole new perspective to war.

You have pretty specific requirements, but I’ve literally just purchased and used a new chainset as I was fed up (after six years of ownership) of the high Q-Factor of my original chainset. Originally I had Sram X01 170mm length Q-factor of 168mm with a Hope BSA threaded bottom bracket and 24mm to GXP converter. The bearings had also worn on my bottom bracket.
So, I finally relinquished and forked out for the Sram X11 chainset 170mm with its 156mm Q-factor. I paired this with a new Praxis M24 BSA Threaded bottom bracket which needs no GXP adaptor as the bearings are the correct size. Firstly and most importantly the Praxis uses very high quality Enduro bearings that can be purchased from Bike24 for 16 euros for the pair plus p&p. These bearings are wider and higher quality than the Hope bearings which would have cost £40 for the pair. The entire Praxis bottom bracket cost £31.
So whilst not a 24mm chainset it might be worth considering that combo. The narrower Q-factor definitely makes a difference as I find my feet swivel and roll less. I ride a road bike too but these were for my mountain bike.
Quick postscript. The Praxis bb uses the same tool to install as the Hope and presumably the Shimano bb. It’s a standard bb tool so no additional cost there if you already have one.

These used to give me wet dreams when I was 7….

mostly as this is what I was racing around my bedroom floor…

@chiefgrooveguru In fairness I wasn’t recommending these tyres to you. The OP mentioned that he’d been using XR3 and XR2 Bontys which would suggest he was mostly bridleway bashing. They are XC oriented tyres after all. For riding off road around the Surrey bridleways you wouldn’t want to be dragging heavy, excessively grippy tyres. Perhaps if you drive to Pitch, Leith and Holmsbury, live in the middle or within a couple of miles of that area then downhill tyres are suitable. However, most of Surrey is not that area and even many of the steep (the steepest even) drops off the Downs are perfectly fine with XC tyres. The Racing Ralphs have more grip on the edges than the fastest XC tyres that are Conti Race Kings and even his Bontys. That would address some of his less washy criteria. I wouldn’t race on the Racing Ralphs on hardpack but for the changeable conditions we have now and for distance riding in Surrey the Racing Ralphs are a good choice. Still it’s a moot point. He’d made his choice even before I’d posted so good luck to him.

Surrey riding here too. You know what that means. Schwalbe Racing Ralphs 2.35 front and 2.2 rear just about do the job for all season use. However I’m after a few KOMs at the moment so am waiting for them to wear down and shall change them over to Conti Race Kings which would definitely have been faster before the rain. Preferred choice over the winter are Bonty Mud-Xs. Perhaps a tad fragile when up against flint but this year I haven’t changed the tyres over so have been running Racing Ralphs all year. Given the changeable conditions at the moment the Racing Ralphs will be staying on.

I added some molybdenum disulphide powder, some ptfe powder (from China), paraffin and used quite a bit of bees wax but found it was too brittle so to soften it up I added vaseline and that for me gives it the perfect softness and tackiness when dry without attracting dirt. I do find the outside if the chain still needs spraying with a light lubricant just as frequently but the big benefit is that the wax seeps into the internals of the chain and the release of bubbles as the chain is agitated in the chip fryer attest to that.

I’ve got a headless NAS that I built in 2013 using a Fractal Node case, Asus m/board, 6 x 4TB HDDs in a RAID config for the storage, 1 x 64GB SSD for the OS to be installed on, 32GB of RAM (way, way more than I need), a fanless PSU (silent) and running the free OS that is XigmaNAS. It’s great. Hasn’t missed a beat. Easily turned on and off remotely using an icon on my laptop and still loads of storage capacity left. So, I’d recommend you build your own. I was dreaming about having a QNAP back when I wanted one but couldn’t afford it. However, I personally think not being tied into a manufacturers ecosystem and really understanding how everything works has a lot of value in addition to the financial savings. The hard parts are choosing the components and setting up the permissions to shared areas once the OS is installed but, I overcame those hurdles so would have no doubt anyone else can too.

8 months self employed here – so no support at all. Many self employed and PAYE with salaries 2, 3 times the average income will be given up to £7500, some who have had no loss of income.

Why are the most vulnerable being forgotten about ?

Similar story here @g5604

I don’t understand why this couldn’t be based upon a flat rate for all based upon number of dependents for both self employed and PAYEers, rather than a percentage of earnings for PAYEers and a different methodology for the self employed.

It seems that everyone is subsidising the earnings of people that were on very high salaries and their extravagant lifestyles whilst the likes of you and me who are setting out to create a business, not turning any profit due to buying essential tools and barely any savings (which I have for a contingency such as this) get sweet fa. We’re all affected. I’ve had clients call to say they couldn’t afford me now with them being laid off and cancelled my work.

Basing this remuneration package on percentages is patently unfair in my opinion.

If your mower has a mulching blade on it then mulch all the waste. Then spread it at the base of a hedge. It soon breaks down providing nutrients for the hedge. It’s what I’ve done on a few hedge cutting jobs in the past as I have an old mulching lawnmower specifically for that task. Saves me having to lift the waste away consequently reducing the customer’s bill. Don’t burnt it. There’s no need.

The problem with a lot of these trades is that you need tools…they’re expensive, they’re bulky and in a lot of cases you need a base from which to work. With that in mind one of the most portable trades that I can think of is hair dressing. A briefcase containing the finest scissors is all you need and you can travel the world. Everyone (except for baldy over there) needs a haircut.

Not a jacket I know but I bought some Fjallraven trousers and, for the price, I can’t believe how weak they were. My ballbags managed to wear a hole through them which is pretty embarrassing so shows how thin and weak the material was and the zip packed up. Failed zips are one of my biggest bug bears with clothing as they’re expensive to replace. I honestly think my Dickies trousers are better at 1/4 of the price. Carhartt’s jackets look OK for a fashion/work brand but are about £200.

We’ve got a pet tortoise that roams freely around the garden once she’s out of hibernation. I’ve made a very simple shelter made out of a plastic storage container about four times the size of the tortoise with a square entrance hole cut out of one the ends. The base of the container has also been cut out. It’s then turned upside down and has a ply sheet that’s been wrapped in asphalt placed on top as a removable roof. This allows us to then pick up the tortoise and put her in the greenhouse if the weather turns really foul or freezing. Anyway the floor of the shelter is just earth as the tortoise likes to dig down into it but we fill the shelter with straw to provide additional cover for her. Last year, around early October, just before the tortoise was about to go back in her hibernation box, I noticed straw had been pulled out of the shelter and there was a line of vegetation outside the entrance. Lifting the lid off the shelter I saw more leaves and strange bits and bobs. Wondering what my tortoise had been up to I put my hand into the straw and instantly felt a sharp pain on my finger tip and withdrew my hand. Inside it was a hedgehog. First time this has happened in 30 odd years of tortoise ownership. The garden’s very tortoise proof which makes it hard for any hedgehogs to get in. There’s one slatted gate so it must have squeezed in through there. Anyway we left it alone in the box. Our tortoise slept outside not sure whether she’d been pushed out or just simply hadn’t returned to the shelter. Hedgehog didn’t stay there long though. I guess I disturbed it.

Woken up by a similarly loud jet noise. What was most unusual other than the time which was around 04:30 was the duration of the noise so I can only assume it was more than one aircraft. Then established it was at least one McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender flying over at 27,000 feet here.. https://www.radarbox24.com/data/flights/gold91

I once had an ashtray emptied into my face whilst cycling back from work.

It actually got me pretty distressed seeing the never ending and increasingly littered grass verges. Car accidents create a littering problem from the smashed up components left behind to the police cordoning tape left tied around trees. As someone said before you’re right up close and personal to it when riding on a bike. I thought parts of eastern Europe were bad but the UK is just as bad now.

I’d like to think we’d be able to drop plastic from all of our packaging and recycle every plastic component that is manufactured but it’s never going to happen.
What can we do about it? Everything is made of plastic these days.

This morning I was cutting down bracken in a church yard. This afternoon I was dead heading roses in a centuries old garden. Good riddance office life.

Had some wagtails nesting in the back garden for the first time up until a week ago. Fantastic little birds. The way they hover in the air is incredible.

There’s a group of cackling magpies here too. I was watching them irritate the local feline bird hunter this morning as she relaxed on top of the shed roof soaking up the sun.

Well said Bunnyhop, some more info here……
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/countryside-hedgerows-regulation-and-management

None of this appears to apply to private hedgerows in gardens though…

None of the hedgerow protection applies to domestic hedges, but with regards to nesting birds it states…

Check if you can work on a hedgerow

Find out what restrictions there may be to trimming, cutting, coppicing or laying a hedgerow before you start work.

Nesting birds

You must not do any work which might harm nesting birds or destroy their nests. You’ll usually find nesting birds during the main nesting and breeding season from 1 March to 31 August.

and then…

Report a suspected hedgerow offence

Nesting birds

Report a suspected offence against nesting wild birds or their eggs to your local police force. Ask for a wildlife crime officer to investigate for illegal activity.

Pretty clear really.

I do a lot of gardening work and advised one customer that I wouldn’t cut their hedge as there was a nest in it. It’s likely (hopefully) they’ll be asking me back in September to continue the work. I lost quite a lot of money over that too. But I do know there’s lots of maintenance guys out there who, even though they’re aware, have the attitude of, “If I don’t do it, somebody else will.” They’ll argue that they still have to pay the bills.

The customer’s just as much to blame. That is why both the person who’s carrying out the work and the person who’s paying for the work to be carried out are both subject to fines. Damn right too.

Where are you disposing that knotweed? It’ll spread vigorously and you could be had up by the council. If I were you I’d leave it well alone and contact your local council.

Are you sure it’s Japanese knotweed or was that a joke?

@lotto as far as I know the only criteria is max 15″ bar and this would be the max that I’d want. Although I know some chainsaws can fit a smaller bar to replace the original. That 550XP would be more like it but still spendy for a first chainsaw.

Will I die if I do the CS30 & CS31 and then use a chainsaw?

Nick, that’s a far too sensible suggestion. I just want to be a trained and qualified at ground-level chainsaw operator. Someday I’ll do the windfell course too but that is beyond reach of even my more money than sense attitude. Once I start doing commercial work that uses this skill then it’ll pay itself off.

Peppar, I completely understand how you feel about tool theft. It’s shit and is the bane of the trade industry. Really unfair. I’m paranoid of my tools, never let them out of my sight and have been fortunate so far. The maximum bar size will be 15″, I won’t be cutting more than 380mm until I can afford another training course. I’ve been looking at 14″ chainsaws. 36″ bar is a looooooooooooooooooooong way off lol.

@neilnevill I usually get my stuff from a shop which I’m sure you’ll know very well judging by your nickname ;)

Though I just realised there’s an extra ‘e’ on the road name in which it’s based.