Gear hanger?

Saw Johnny Marr in Leeds last night. He was absolutely excellent, playing from across his back catalogue. Supported by Gaz Coombes, who I wasn’t bothered about beforehand but was also very good. Made me want to investigate his recent solo stuff.

meandyuk – for groundscrews, have a look at stopdigging.co.uk.  I work for the Yorkshire installer.  They are great for a cost-effective base for a garden room, depending on ground conditions.

Just got a Siskin 12 from Sport Pursuit. It arrived today and very pleased with it.

I used to work in end of lease vehicle collections.  The key thing you need to check is the criteria in your lease and any guidance from the leasing company about acceptable damage.  The collection agent doesn’t have any discretion, they are just required to report any damage they see and it’s up to the company to decide whether or not they charge you.  For peace of mind, refer to the guidelines and get it sorted if the damage is outside what is allowable.  If I remember rightly, cracks up to 25mm tended to be acceptable for fair wear and tear if they were outside of Zone A on the windscreen, but it does depend on the different companies.

I am just about to change the Ultegra press fit BB on my road bike. Strava tells me it has done 22,500km. It has never made a noise in all those miles in all weather, it’s just a bit rough on one side. I have two more bikes with the same press fit BBs that are similarly problem free. 

Bob was full on! He makes an enormous noise for one man and his amp, and put enormous energy onto it, especially as he’d flown into Heathrow in the morning and travelled up. 

It made me want to see him with a full band again. 

Going to see Bob Mould tonight in Leeds. Heard good things about some of the European dates. 

I’ve done quite a few weeks in le Grand Massif, staying in Les Carroz rather than Flaine, but skiing across the whole area. The main uplift is either gondola or chairs, with little reliance on drags to access most of the good stuff. I wouldn’t be over concerned. 

Just got tickets to see Johnny Marr in Leeds in April.  Very happy!

New ski boots! 

I did L’Etape in 2019 from Albertville to Val Thorens.  A group of us stayed in an apartment  in Bourg St Maurice and booked transfers to the start.  This all worked well, but if I was doing it again, I would try to travel to arrive on the Thursday before if possible, just to allow some time to get over the travelling and get things sorted.

As crazy-legs says above, the weather is completely unpredictable.  The day we did L’Etape, it was 38 degrees and there were people cramming into any bit of shade on the final climb.  The climb was about 36km and 1,800m on its own and it was absolute carnage.  Cut to four days later, you may recall that the stage of the Tour had to be cut short due to hailstorms and a landslide, and the Tour did a shortened stage from Moutiers to Val Thorens.

I found the experience of riding over mountain passes on closed roads absolutely fantastic. I would love to do it again, but would want to make the whole thing as logistically straightforward as possible.

Our renewal quote from Direct Line was almost double last year’s premium for two cars.  Shopped around and sorted cover with another insurer for pretty much the same as we paid last year.  I phoned up to tell Direct Line I wouldn’t be renewing with them because their quote was utterly ridiculous.  The person on the other end of the phone sheepishly agreed with me, but they couldn’t do anything about the price.

I’ve been using Orange seal for the past four years or so and it seems to do the job and I see no reason to change.

I’m really hoping to get at least one trip in next season. I had a new hip last December and have just had an ankle operation to repair damage from being hit by a car, so it’s all going to be a bit of a test to see what’s possible. I’m going to need to get some new boots as well, to accommodate my ankles that are now a somewhat different shape to when my boots were fitted!

How come Campanaerts hasn’t got the red numbers today? There can’t have been anyone else who was more combative than him yesterday!

Really pleased to see Kwiato finish it off today after working so hard for their GC leaders in the past.

Just got a ticket to see Bob Mould at the Brudenell in November. Last time I saw him was a solo acoustic show in something like 1992.

Class act by Geraint Thomas. I didn’t think Cav was going to get the win. So pleased to see him finish it off.

I am about 5 10 and have a 2022 TCR in medium and find it a pretty spot on fit. I have short legs for my height so saddle drop is reasonable. If you have longer legs, the M/L might be a better fit. Both sizes could work.

I was also going to say Zaap.

Our GP has an e-reception system that works really well. If you need an appointment, this is all triaged online. Can also be used for repeat prescriptions, physio requests, checking for test results etc. I can’t remember the last time I had to phone in to them. It also helps to free up the phones for those who don’t have online access.

I have just bought a hydraulic hose cutter/barb insertion tool. Got it from Amazon, not expecting very much from it, but it’s a really nice CNCd piece of aluminium and really satisfying to use. I’ve been looking at the recommendations above for cable cutters, as the ones I have had for about 10 years are failing to give a reliable cut, but the crimping bit does still work well.

I was called a few years ago. If it is a case that is going to be a long one, they will ask if there are any reasons why you would be unable to sit beyond the normal period of jury service. For the first week, I wasn’t selected for any trials, so turned up Monday to Wednesday, then was told to come back on the following Monday. At this point, I was selected for a trial. It was a pretty horrible case which lasted two weeks. As others have said, the organisation/admin wasn’t great. However, the nature of the trial meant that the judge was very senior and experienced. He really impressed me in how he managed the trial and how he treated the jurors. He didn’t fit the old buffer stereotype. It was interesting to be involved, but I wouldn’t like to listen to the same type of evidence again.

It’s definitely legal to do it and there are a number of specialist insurers for young people that offer them free-standing insurance on a vehicle, with one of the conditions being that the vehicle is fully insured for a named main driver. We have one with Marmalade for my son to drive my wife’s car, the main condition being that he cannot do more than 50% of the mileage.

I did it for a couple of years, as something to give me a bit of breathing space. You’re not going to make good money doing it and it is a very random way of working. Very early starts and long days. You need to be able to cope with random occurrences, such as the car you were supposed to picking up from Cornwall to get back to the north being un-roadworthy, or it was picked up yesterday, or the customer decided to extend the lease etc. You get to drive some nice cars, but also absolute heaps of junk.

Have you tried freestanding young driver insurance. We are using Marmalade to insure my 17 year old.

Truss’s statements about Roundhay School and the surrounding area just show how wrong she is. The school skews house prices upwards in the catchment area and I know several people who moved at considerable expense to get their kids in there. She described Leeds North East as a Red Wall seat, despite it having only been held by Labour since 1997. It was held by the Tories when she was living there (Keith Joseph, that well-known socialist, was MP from 1956 to 1987!).

Lizzy Banks, pro road rider, has spoken about her experience of concussion on the Cycling Podcast, following an accident early last season (possibly at Strade Bianche). It’s certainly worth listening to this. I learnt a lot from it, and it helped me understand what I was experiencing following an accident late last year.

I don’t think there is a direct bike path from Cawood, but the Solar System route runs from Riccall into York. I rode part of it at the weekend and it was newly surfaced. It is part of Route 65 of the National Cycle Network.

Enjoy it! As others have said, the track coaches are brilliant. I would love to be able to do more on the track. It’s a bit addictive.

Just turned GCN+ on. They are absolutely smashing it from the start. MVDP already off the back!

Had a repair by Carbon Wasp last year on a broken seatstay on my road bike. Did a good functional repair for £100, with a turn round of less than a week. They don’t do paint, but given where the hole is you could touch it up quite easily without it being obvious.

I think I may have come across groups from the same London club when I did Ride London a few years back. As you say, they were clearly well used to riding as a fast group. However, they were taking no account of the general level of incompetence of the average sportive rider, so were passing far closer than I would have led a group when passing much slower/less experienced riders. We’ve had a number of “discussions” among ride leaders in my club about approaches to passing our own slower groups when our paths cross on rides!

My Prime Black Edition hubs are definitely Novatec, although the wheels are the previous model so they may have changed spec. The same hubs were used on previous Hunt wheels as well, just with different logos.

Thanks from me as well Hannah. I was hit by a car on New Year’s Eve. Knocked out for a bit, and my helmet was cracked through. I had lots of other injuries, so I only became aware of the concussion symptoms after I was out of hospital. I’m still not right – concentration is poor, I’m making some unusual errors at work, short temper and excessively tired, etc, etc. It’s reinforced the importance of looking after yourself after an injury, giving things time to heal and not pushing too hard. I’ll second the recommendation of checking out Lizzie Banks’ podcasts about her recovery from head injury last year.

I’ve been using a Ravemen 1200 for the last few years. The beam pattern is really good, decent battery life and it’s a solid-feeling unit. The only issue I have is that I would like to be able to mount it under my Garmin to tidy up the bars, but due to the beam pattern it can’t be turned upside down.

I don’t know about alternatives, but I have been using the Ravemen 1200 for the last couple of years. I have been really impressed with it and would recommend it.

A few people have mentioned footbeds or insoles. They can make a huge difference. If you don’t have sufficient support for your arches, your feet can spread over time, increasing any constriction. Many cycling shoes come with insoles that are not much better than cardboard.

I’ve really enjoyed his books and listening to the Cycling Podcast. It’s really sad to hear of his passing. RIP Richard and best wishes to his family and friends.