Namastebuzz. I’m sure you’re enjoying playing the likely lad on here, and are proud of your invention, (I like how you thought of using lipos and found a way to do it), but could you do me a favour and start trying to understand about our environment and shared space?
There are many people who enjoy spending peaceful time in the woods, ranging from walkers to people like me who ride out to enjoy the beauty and silence of nature.
Blasting round on a 750w hand throttle bike is fun for you but inconsiderate to others. When I’m off road I don’t want to have to keep checking over my shoulder like on the road. It’s my escape from the craziness and now being spoilt by the increasing motorisation of our hobby. Teaching others how to do it on the Internet increases the impact of your actions and just adds to the problem.

I’ve got a little knowledge of lipos from rc aircraft. Is there not a danger from crashing with them in your backpack resulting in a pretty fierce fire?

Have you tried listening to The Goon Show recently? Can’t believe that was ever considered good.

Recently have really enjoyed Man like Mobeen and Back to Life.
Both bittersweet comedy.

Yeah, good point. Oh well, I found it lacked excitement when it was obvious from about 40km out that no one was going to catch her. I prefer a good old ding dong right to the line.

When a bunch doesn’t catch a lone rider it’s because they don’t want to rather than can’t.
Appreciate it’s a different sort of race to normal but you can see when riders are drilling it and when they aren’t. The group of 10 chasers were going so slowly on the tarmac that it swelled again to around 20 at 20km out.
Nice to see lizzie win but I’d rather have seen some close racing.

Hmmmm. Does my head in seeing a big pack of chasers refusing to work properly together on the tarmac sections thus throwing away any chance of winning.
Sadly found that rather dull which considering the parcours and weather was extremely disappointing.

I’ve just finished reading the book again. Think this is for the third time. Utterly immersing if you’ll excuse the pun.

Actually, couldn’t you say that smoking, drinking and eating too much is running the NHS ragged so that it can’t cope with eventualities like covid?

I agree. I saw that story and thought what a resounding success.

😆

He’s got a coach btw.

My type-s has survived years on a cx race bike. Has been crashed a bazillion times, pressure washed repeatedly and subjected to all kinds of other abuse. It’s also done thousands of road miles in all weather including when the roads have been salted.
Have to change the battery about twice a year max.
Pretty thorough field test I’d say.

I appreciate that, but that’s why it was nice to put the phone down and go to work, chat to people and forget about the pandemic for huge tracts of time, because the world essentially looked the same as normal. I found being on the Internet the most worrying place to be, not out in the ‘plague zone’.
It’s clear everyone has different opinions and this is just my experience, but I feel it is a valid opinion and it should be noted how too much exposure to information could be as harmful as too little.

It’s been my go to thread for information as well throughout and in that way has been superb. It has been really reassuring at times.
However it often descended into periods where every post started or ended with ‘we’re f**ked or we’re doomed’ or into pages of bitter arguments about how stupid everybody was except us, and this got really soul destroying.

I must say that if most of your coronavirus experience comes from this thread then you’ll understandably be filled with anxiety and dread.
For me personally, having a teacher for a wife and doing a job myself that was not possible from home, I resigned myself to catching it at some point (actually took until this Christmas to get it), and thus I just got on with life and followed reasonable precautions (am vaccinated and still wearing a mask because I think these are only small inconveniences).
When I spent too long browsing this thread over the past 18 months I got anxious, angry and depressed. It’s very easy to get caught up in this bubble.
The reality is that the odds are very much in your favour and that life is not without risk. You and your family’s experience has illustrated that withdrawing from society is not without risk either.
Anyway, hope your daughter gets back to normal soon. Maybe some more trips out would be the lesser of two evils?
Take care mate.

I think there’s a club down in Eastbourne too.

Bewl is ok for learning but the wind is really shifty which can be frustrating. Bough Beech sailing club is an option with a sw wind blowing over the dam wall so is nice and smooth.

Bewl is probably your best bet. Rye watersports is a great place to sail when you have your own kit as the wind is steady and decent quite often.
If you get into wavesailing and jumping then it can be pretty hard on the ankles, but that’s a way down the line so not worth worrying about.
It’s a brilliant sport. Incredibly hard but utterly thrilling. The feeling of hanging from the harness under the sail with the board clattering across the surface of the water at 20mph is indescribably awesome.

Deleted because I can’t be arsed to get involved

I celebrated ‘Freedom Day’ this morning by crossing over the road to avoid passing close to an elderly lady. We smiled at each other across the street.

Kryton.
It’ll be rammed on the start straight then a slow procession up the first climb. There’ll be a bit of a sort out on the next flat bit then a procession down the descent. After that It’ll sort itself out and you’ll have hours and hours to find your true place in the pack.
Go on finish position percentage if you want to judge yourself. Doesn’t matter what the field size is then.
Most important is to ride well, enjoy the course and feel satisfied with your performance.

I raced Sport as I wanted a morning race. Was amused by how much less aggressive the start was compared to vets 😆.
I love this course. Full suss and dropper maximised the fun for me.
9th in Sport.

A local walker told me it was for a Netflix series called Citadel.

Ah. I met someone else who was attempting their first century then. Wonder how he got on.

Raceface. Just getting my bearings. Were you at the Bath end of the Bristol Bath cycleway at around 10am on Friday?

Rampant consumerism does accurately sum it up. Simple as that really. Maybe something less irritating will be along soon.

I do wish people would stop saying ‘I’ll need one at some point’ rather than saying ‘I accept that one day I won’t be able to ride as far and fast as I do now’.
There’s still a ton of pleasure to be had just pootling round your local area. Getting old is inevitable but there’s still good times to be had, just in different ways.

I find my 100mm both ends Trek Topfuel to be perfect for this area. Also enjoy riding my rigid 29er too.

Ahhh! As a proper cyclist 😉, it’s a real tonic to hear how much hassle these ebikes are causing people. Maybe they won’t take over the world as predicted? Maybe they’ll all end up as useless piles of junk, cluttering up sheds and garages? One can but hope.

Nice. Good to hear.

I think of my CDF frame as zingy and fast. The fork weighs more than the frame I reckon. 😆

I’ve just finished Neuromancer. Total headf**k but a beautifully created world.

Hey! My top two choices were written by women.

Oooo! Just read the previous post. One flew over the cuckoos nest is indeed a great story.

The Shipping News by Annie Prouxl
A Secret History by Donna Tart
The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck

It’s amazing how well a lawn will come back with some tlc.
Sandy soil will be lacking nutrition hence moss outcompeting them grass.

First thing to do is kill the moss. As mentioned, powdered iron sulphate is really cheap. A 25kg sack kept in a dry place will last you a lifetime. Apply as directed. Just take your time getting the dilution right then write it on the watering can in permanent marker. Sorted forever. You can do this now as you want cool, damp weather.
Leave it two weeks then hire a scarifier. Bribe friends to help rake up and get stuck in. Aim for at least 4 passes in different directions and don’t go deep into the soil.
Once it’s all piled up somewhere it’ll break down and reduce to pretty well nothing over the year.
Apply another dose of moss killer. This will properly get to all the little bits that remain.
If you moss kill once or twice a winter then you’ll never have to scarify again.

Next, learn how to feed your lawn. A rotary spreader is nice and buy fertiliser in 25kg sacks, it’s way more economical. Little and often is better than a load all at once.
Just buy the one called ‘spring and summer’ for now.
Once a year you can use a weed and feed granule. Around May is a good time. Never apply in drought conditions.

That should do it. Each individual blade of grass can spread around 6 inches over the summer. It’s rare to need to re seed.

I’m a professional gardener btw. Been doing this for decades.

I use a Wahoo Tickr armband. I really like it and it’s much less hassle than a chest strap when you inevitably forget to put it on before getting all dressed up to go out.

As a counter to all these percentages, can I add for anyone bamboozled by it all that this year I just did bikepacking weekends or long days out, with whole weeks off before and after. In September, with the prospect of a couple of cyclocross races, I spent a few evenings ragging around the woods with my mates.
Was flying come race day.

I’m only doing around 400tss a week at the moment with 90% of that strict z2 (Coggan). Included in that is about 80tss/wk of easy running.
Despite having trained to around 800tss/wk in the past, I’m finding 400/wk ample right now to make progress.
I’m on a mission to get fast without running myself down. I burnt out completely from too much training a few years ago. It took me two years to want to race again.
Am at 4-4.2 watts/kilo on 400tss. Hit 4.5 watts/kilo when I was doing 800tss weeks but I was in a state. My knees used to hurt too much to get out of the saddle, my ankle hurt badly and I was tired and irritable the whole time. I’ll take the 0.3watts loss and feel great thanks.🙂

I think there’s a fair few people who need a time out from this forum. If you’ve been in any way wound up recently then give yourself a week off for the sake of your mental health.
Speaking of which; see you next week!