I’m so looking forward to it. Doing the full marathon and throwing in a peddle up day at BPW on Saturday to make a weekend of it. Can’t wait.

Here’s something that helped me a little.
Lining up at a cx race, wishing I wasn’t there and feeling guilty for having such treacherous thoughts about something I felt so passionatly in love with before. I suddenly realised that out of my original cohort of vet 40 race buddies, only about 5 of the original 50 were there.
Sure enough, I checked the start lists. I’d say 60-80% of the guys I’d raced against in the past were no longer racing cross.
Made me realise I wasn’t alone in my doubts.

Blergh! At home I freshly grind beans and make really strong drip coffee. Then with a spoon of sugar and some milk or even better double cream, it’s a fantastic brew.
Instant is utter filth.

This is the nub of it. To make what I consider a decent cup of coffee requires so many items (I take milk and sugar), that it’s far too much faff.
For day rides I take a thermos and for longer trips I just leave it in the lap of the gods. I love the thrill of coming across a coffee shop that’s open.

Yeah, it says you have to book a peddle pass. It’s only £15 with total availability. I just couldn’t get through the login page. Endless loop of create new password, password not recognised…
I’ll try again sometime on the desktop rather than my phone, see if that makes a difference. Actually I’ll probably just do Cwmcarn. Was undecided which to do and this has probably tipped it.

I wait until I come across a cafe or petrol station with a Costa machine 😆

Anyway. This is going off topic.
Here’s another illustration of why not racing regularly is a good thing:
I woke up this morning feeling tired and a bit run down, so I did bugger all today. Ate lots, had a bit of booze, watched the women’s downhill.
Lovely, and no guilt.

I like a mixture during a race. I personally think a good course should have some real power sections, ideally a long, hard climb, then technical singletrack for the more skilled to bring their heart rate down a little.

Oh gawd! You’re not that Facebook nutter are you?

Eh?

Met a smashing lady at the top of BKB. We talked about how racing felt less important to us these days and at that moment I knew I’d done the right thing quitting the treadmill.

I spent the morning riding round the three hills of the Hurtwood. I cruised up the bridleway climb from Holmbury hill to Leith Hill Tower. I remembered how utterly broken I’ve felt on that climb in the past and realised that now I don’t race I’m so much fitter! Without targets I just ride everyday for the love of it. If I’m tired I go slow, if I’m not I look for climbs.
Brought me so much pleasure just feeling great, out on my bike, fit as a butchers dog.

I ride or run every single day now. I love bikes and exercise more than ever. With no pressure to perform or numbers to chase, I just seek out whatever floats my boat at the time. The last two weeks I’ve been out with the C group on the clubrun because I wanted to just cruise on a road bike. The week prior I did the A group because I wanted a smash fest.
So far this year I’ve ridden canals, bivied in bushes during storm Eunice, bikepacked the YD300 in February! There’s a whole world of adventures out there. Racing round in circles now seems rather small and pointless to me. However I will be doing the Builth Wells marathon because that’s point to point and fantastic.
You always loved a clubrun. You took pride in being strong and fast. That is enough you know?
Remember the feeling of riding round Swinley, chatting away? No targets or goals apart from having a good time.

Have a look at an alternative calendar. Check out Audax UK. You’re good over longer distances. Also look at touring. Doesn’t have to be sleeping in a hedge. The majority of touring cyclists use hotels. Imagine how amazing it’d feel to break new barriers in the distances you’ve achieved? Just you and the road.

Hey mate. You know I’m here to chat when you’re ready.
You remember how I burnt out? How after years of training and racing, my mind and body said no more? It was phrased in the same way as you’re describing; exhaustion, injury, resentment…
You remember how it took a few years to come to terms with it? But you know how happy I am these days doing bikepacking, clubruns, interesting mtb rides and even the occasional race.
It was a MASSIVE process. My whole identity was tied up in racing. It took so long to work through it all.
If I can help shorten that process for you then I’d be so happy to help do that.

Thanks. I’ll get on ridewithgps and try plot a route incorporating those climbs. Need some variety on my riding. My local hills are between Toys Hill and Ightham. It’s actually the Greensand ridge rather than the Downs. There’s bugger all on my section of the chalk ridge.

Oh and in answer to your original question. I usually choose to seed rather than turf if possible. I think each plantlet gets the best chance in life if it can put its roots down through fissures in the soil from the off. I’ve done a couple of trials too which support my theory.

I find reading these sort of threads interesting. I’ve been a professional horticulturalist my whole life so understand soils and plants pretty well.
I’m sure I exasperate my customers sometimes when I try to explain why their half-arsed ideas won’t work and insist that if they want a decent end product then they need to put in the initial work.
Plants need a suitable environment to grow in. Grass evolved to live on open plains where grazing kept competing species at bay. Thus it’s optimised for full sun. Yes there are genus such as fescues that will cope with less sun but they are more susceptible to damage.
Again the soil of a grassland is open and friable after centuries of decomposition of the old stems builds up a thick layer of well aerated material.
To create a nice lawn you need to create a decent environment for the roots and enough light for the leaves. If you can’t achieve that then a hard surface, bark chip or gravel can work.
I hate artificial grass with a passion. Plastic has no place in a garden.

I’ve had an old lady cross her walking poles, plant them firmly in the ground and defiantly shout NO at me! It was like f**king Gandalf.

Here’s an idea. When there’s a pause in new information or development of the situation, take some time away for yourselves. Skim reading some of these recent pages, it’s just drivel. You’re not important and no-one gives a sheet what you think.
Keep it to reporting on the facts would you? These threads can be a great resource where lots of media streams can be collated in one place. Leave it at that.

There are pros and cons to incorporating organic matter into a new lawn. The grass will love it but as it decomposes further the surface can get a bit lumpy. Also you’ll provide food for a lot of worms but that’ll result in more worm casts.
For this reason on a golf course or fine lawn the grounds person will avoid organic matter and grow the grass in a very sandy soil. Indeed greens can be 100% sand.
This gives fantastic drainage and good aeration for the roots of the grass but all nutrition will need to be supplied in the form of pelleted fertiliser.
Personally I’ve improved sticky lawns by adding vast amounts of very fine grit to the surface over a couple of consecutive years using a top dressing technique. It seems to then stay good for a long time.
P.S. hollow tine aeration should have the cores cleared up and sand backfilled into the holes to stop them closing up.

Where to start?
Brambles are easy to dig out with a spade. No problems there.
If you’ve got nettles then your soil is probably too nutritious for a classic meadow.
You will never beat ground elder. Even with spraying. OK you might with 2-3 years of regular application, but I bet some survives.
A regular mown lawn will solve 90% of all.your problems. The mowing favours the grass as it grows from the base whereas your weeds grow from the tips.
A proper meadow is a feature found on really impoverished soils like chalk uplands.
However a nice long grass meadow can be achieved anywhere but it’s hard to get flower species established.
Planting bulbs like snowdrops, daffs and camassia can create a nice effect.
Ox-eye daisy seem to be able to hold there own in vigorous grass, as can field buttercup.

Meh!

Oversized Lake mx303s with two insoles.

EVERYONE knows the spoiler rules that exist on all forums these days.
AA in future just says oops, I’m sorry. It’s so much less offensive.

Come on AA. Everyone knows the spoiler rules by now.

I’ve bought some Rapha cargo bibs about 3 years ago and wouldn’t be without them. So much so, I bought the winter tight version too last year.
Phone in plastic bag goes in one pocket and keys/snacks in the other. If I’m racing then it’s chunks of energy bar in one pocket, tyre dart in the other.
Love the convenience but even better it means I can ditch the cycling tops which I find a bit clammy sometimes and just wear a long sleeve merino base layer as my riding top. Find the temperature range of this garment massive and it doesn’t get manky on multi day rides.

At least you won’t have to isolate yourself from the rest of your family now.

Sorry, I’m afraid you’ve listed them all. I’m pretty close to you and don’t bother trail riding any more round here. I just tend to ride for fitness or do cyclocross for wild times.

Just wanted to say thank you everyone for your empathy and good humour. It’s all I needed to get back onto an even keel.

Yes thepodge, exactly those sort of people 😆

Don’t even think of getting me started on my opinion of BMW/Audi drivers. (Apart from my neighbour John, he’s nice, and Claire, she’s nice too, and my pal Andy, such a quiet and thoughtful bloke) but the rest of them, the ones I don’t know, they’re all c….

I listen to Adam Buxton and Off Menu.
Both completely take me away to their world for the hour.
First listened to Adam Buxton whilst riding the Kennet and Avon canal from Bristol to Reading in one hit on my way back from an adventure in Wales. Had been peddling for 8hrs when I put it on. It’s one of my fondest memories.

Thanks. That was a nice response.
I’ve been struggling with the state of the world today, I guess like a lot of people at the moment.

I know Weeksy. I just have a 1GB contract to try limit my usage. I also have a basic Nokia I could use, but my cycling club of which I’m a major part of the cyclocross training and racing group, uses WhatsApp and Facebook to communicate. Furthermore you have to be on Facebook to get information about races.
It’s a necessary evil, and yes I realise the irony of complaining about the Internet on the Internet.
It is actually really nice to occasionally reach out for a bit of help and like today, most people can see that and offer a bit of sympathy and support. Just to be nice, you know?
Unfortunately the 10% who decide to be rude spoil it somewhat.

Went for a run as the sun set to make peace with the world. Got bitten by a dog (I promise I’m not making this up), and the owners just watched, saying “sorry, your high vis top must have scared him!”
Later, I had a pleasant chat with an old lady about how lucky we were to live in such a beautiful area.
50/50.
I chose to focus on the nice chat which made me feel much better.
Came frighteningly close to punching a dog in the face though. That would have been awkward 😆

Thanks guys. Some genuinely helpful advice there.

I had a small sailing yacht in the past. Once away from land my phone lost reception. Bliss!

Is that a joke? Can’t tell.
Right, eff this. Best advice is to avoid the Internet. It’s a significant part of the problem.

Thanks guys. Already feel a bit better. Have had some lovely conversations with people in the last 24hrs too, including a dog walker I encountered whilst out riding. We chatted for ages!

Oh why do I ever bother get involved in this?
Do what you do and to hell with everyone else. It’s what we all do anyway. Like you say, to someone else, I’m the problem.

I know. But I ride so considerately, stop for walkers, say hello and try to spread good feeling amongst those I encounter enjoying the countryside.