Wiggo and Team Sky were in Adidas kit in 2012

Saw the consultant today, booked in for surgery on 23rd. That’s my pocket money used up for the next few years!

Currently age 55, will likely not be able to retire until state age 67. This makes me sad, I would chuck it now if I could afford to.

Kind of regret not putting more into pensions when I was younger, I thought  what I was doing was enough, clearly not. When I started working for my current employer 13 years ago, I transferred all the little pots in to their Scheme. Im currently paying 10% of salary, they pay in 12.5%, pot stands at £130k. Seems pretty small after 38 years of working.

We’re in the decent position of having no debt, fair amount of savings and only £44k on the mortgage.

The house has a decent amount of equity in it, so I suppose we’re in a fortunate position. Just look back on those early years of work with a wee bit of regret.

Rog just loves the Vuelta

I was diagnosed with a cataract in my right eye in July. At age 56 this is apparently unusual.

Currently on the NHS waiting list but the blurred vision in the that eye is annoying. I work at a laptop all day and actually feel I would be better off with an eye patch over that eye.

Given the length of NHS waiting lists, I’m considering asking the optician about going private. It would be a chunky outlay for us just now, so needs thought. Any pros and cons I should consider?

The vision in my left eye hasn’t changed much in 2 years but I’m told the the affected eye has had a big change.

We bought a Vauxhall Combo XL 1.5 Diesel in April. Traded a 5 door Mini for it.

Loving it so far. Plenty of space for our needs. We took the 3 rd row of seats out, even with the back seats up the boot is huge. Put the seats down and it’s enormous. We’ve had the rear windows tinted, added roof rails/bars and put a roof box on.

You won’t be disappointed.

My masterplan is failing miserably.

VC Siete Chi 555 entered

An all Spanish/Spanish speaking team for the Last Gasp GC Tour of the Year

Some absolutely fantastic advice guys and also thanks for the offers of parts, much appreciated.

Was having a chat with the wife last night and she said just get a new bike, I’ve not had a new bike in years. Result!

That was a good way of looking at it cookeaa, thanks.

Looking at around £400, wow! That’s put a whole new spin on it, I think I’d be better off looking at something new.

Thanks for the replies.

All good answers and make me lean towards maybe upgrading to something newer for off road.

Time. I like to think I’ve got plenty and it would be an interesting project, but do I want to? Probably not.

I don’t think it can work like you hope. You need a certain amount of electrolytes to function. Too much salt can increase your blood pressure. But if you have too much in your diet you don’t need to supplent it when riding. But if you don’t have too much, if you need to supplement, then your high blood pressure is caused by something else. You need to talk to a doctor who understands sports issues. Not all do.

The fun part being finding a doctor in my surgery that understands sport issues!

Any ideas how someone with high blood pressure and (possible) angina can replace electrolytes? The salt being the main issue.

Can you add me to the spreadsheet please?

5’7″ and 81.9kg.

Target is 76kg for now.

Thanks

You brought a tear to my eye with this comment, can actually hear him saying those words.

I’ve been a an avid listener of TCP for years and think i’ve got all the books he’s written. This really does feel like losing a friend. So sad.

Perfect, thank you.

Somethings holding me back on this, perhaps because I don’t see it as a “traditional” sports watch, like i’ve had in the past. Don’t want to make a mistake, looking at the 935 and 735 as well.

It’s been a long time since I posted on STW.

I’ve been looking to replace my trusty old Garmin 920XT and am drawn to the Instinct solar. Couple of questions. For cycling, does it display speed/distance/tine etc on screen when road cycling or mountain biking? Same for running, does it display the metrics on screen?

Reason for asking was that i read a review that said you needed to add a Speed/Cadence sensor to get this.

According to Stephen Park, Performance Director, the riders have changed over the last few years. The winning teams now field bigger stronger riders.

Don’t often post on here, more of a lurker.

I used to get through 5/6 bottles of wine and 8 cans of lager a week, every week. Must have done that for a good 10/15 years.

Decided in December it was getting/had got out of hand for numerous reasons, health and personal.

Stopped drinking on 29th December.

Have since lost 4 kg, am riding road and mtb up to 100 miles a week and am not losing any riding time at the weekends because of alcohol.

Nice to be able to get up at 5am and be able to feel normal/not hungover! I’m loving being out on the bike at 630/7am every weekend.

I just realised I had to stop to drinking, for me, my family, my health.

As I only live a few miles away, sounds good to me.

The facilities up there are really good. Only concern would be parking. Any time I’ve been there at the weekend it’s been rammed and that’s before this gets built.

Flying the flag, Froome for the win.

Purito as an outsider for the podium.

Good advice, cheers

Greetings.

170cm
78kgs
Target 68kgs

Trying to stick to a low carb diet, however, I’m wondering how healthy this is with all the meats and eggs being suggested?

Thanks again guys.

Guys, thanks for all the replies, you’ve been very helpful.

Yes, having a horizontal piece of pipe seems like a recipe for disaster, not very well thought out at all. Will see what the “expert” thinks tomorrow.

It is the condensate pipe that’s causing the problem. I’ve also heard of it being cut short, however, as a short term fix, surely replacing the cut section in the summer just causes the same problem next year?

On the British Gas website, they’re showing some sort of heater element that can be fitted and kicks in automatically to stop the pipe freezing. Anyone know of this being a success?

Briiliant, off to B&Q to get some lagging and will then have to MTFU as I hate ladders!

wwaswas- Loving the hairdryer idea!

Sorry buddy, didn't realise i had posted it on the bike forum. My apologies all.

The market's picking up and it's not all about the mortgages nowadays.

Firms that have survived the last few years are leaner and stronger than before.

It is something I enjoy. I love selling, hate managing people.

Superb guys, thanks for the help. Time to raid the piggy bank soon.

Note the comment on probably not in as tough a gear as SS. I'll need to try a higher gear for a couple of weeks as we live in a very hilly area.

Same again uplink, looking for deposits between 10 and 15%. Don't know many developers willing to pay that.

I'm a Sales Manager at a Mortgage Brokers. If you can find a 95% deal, snap their hand off. Very few lenders looking to lend above 90%, 85% at apush, below 80% the norm. Even at 80% you are looking at rates in excess of 5.5%.

Big deposits are what's required now and even then, the lending criteria is really tight. Trackers are offering the best rates and the base rate isn't going to go up by much in the next 1-2 years.

Sounds like I'll need to go and try a pair on. Thanks for all the comments guys.

Probably best go large to be on the safe side then. Cheers guys.

Sh*t. Never thought of that.Proves that I'm still pi**ed then.

NOt heard from the Mrs all day, however, the other party has been emailing and texting me all morning. Can't really ignore her as we work closely together. Oh dear oh dear oh dear, what a twunt

I'm dying. Lots of Guinness, red wine, shots and Jack Daniels. Managed to snog Business Development Manager from one of our providers, got home at 4.30am, wife woke me for work at 6am. Now thinking a hair of the dog may help.

Not all second chance offers are scams. I was selling an old xbox game last week. Auction ended, received a message from the winner saying that he tried to pay but didn't have any money in his bank account. As the game was for his son's birthday in 2 days, would I post it next day and he would square up with me at the end of the week and give a bit extra for his trouble. I declined and left it for a few days. Went back 2 days later and he has had about 10 feedbacks added saying avoid him for trying the same thing with loads of other sellers this week.

I second chanced the game and it has now sold for less than the scammer bid. Game sold, bit of cash for me and new buyer happy.

Great thread, lots of good advice. When it's tipping it down, I tend to get home and stick the bike straight into the shed, sometimes a quick dry off with a rag and a squirt of GT85 on the chain, but more often than not, don't bother. I usually give it a good once over at the weekend and relube the chain etc then.

Am I storing up problems by not drying the bike completely after every ride? I live in Glasgow, so dry rides are at a premium just now.

That’s exactly what we thought.

Here’s a question…..The exterior of that house, including the roof tiles, was entirely made of wood. He didn’t seem to treat or waterproof the wood at all.

Would it not retain damp over the winter and eventually rot? How come I’ve got to treat my shed and fence every year?

Puzzled