Push-ups have been my standard exercise for years, easy to do anywhere and anytime. Lots of different ways of doing them. Recently started to do some kettlebell exercises, I am poor at doing static exercise for the sake of it though.

I used to have a hobby years ago that I enjoyed, became good at, trained hard, got sponsored. Became a job of work, didn’t enjoy, didn’t want to train, felt pressured to perform. Whilst I do ok racing bikes I am glad I can still enjoy it and whilst I am competitive I wouldn’t want that to take over. Back to the 40+ thing and harder to train I think it’s just harder to recover, I am probably as fast as I’ve ever been but wouldn’t fancy a multi stage race unless it was every other day !

Funny thing is we don’t ride to train or race we ride because we want to.
Riding everyday has just developed over the years as we are lucky and can commute to work, both enjoy riding together but just as important enjoy riding solo as well. The vet classes are normally one of the most subscribed and competitive and the grand vets are not too shabby either. We also like to annoy the youngsters on strava, was Kom at Dalby for a while.
Agree re hydration, I never used to drink enough but it was normal day to day lack that was my issue, now that’s sorted I can cope with little water riding if needed.

Both wife and I are mid 40’s and ride every day, race xc and do ok. Main thing we’ve found getting older is that we need to eat better and sleep more… Also don’t crash as well !

First ride on my oval ring and have to say it seems to suit me. Running two teeth lower at the front did mean that gearing is different than used to, but seated and stood low cadence climbing in slippy conditions did seem more controlled and certainly felt that could sprint well. High cadence and initial riding did feel odd at first but soon got used to the feeling, hard to describe but having used normal rings for over 25yrs it just didn’t feel right.
Will be ordering a 34 as soon as released, always wanted to use rotors but the cost and the unknown was holding me back. For £50 was worth the experiment, no dropped chain either.

Just got my absolute black 32 oval yesterday, not had chance to try other than a quick round the houses. Does feel odd, but I think in a good way. I normally race with a 34 so if this works will get one when they are released and then run the 32 singlespeed. I do ride slow cadence however so I think this will suit me, my best 1hr power when training on the road bike is circa 80 cadence. No power meter on the mtb so any improvements may be subjective but if feels better when low speed techy climbing I’ll be more than happy.

My wife has just got a Carbon Superfly, 27.5 as she’s only little, for xc racing next year. Only had it a month but seems to more than up to the job, been round Dalby Cup Course as fast as she’s ever done and comments on how well it handles and surprisingly comfy. Not had any issues on long day rides either, 5-6 hrs in the saddle with no problems. New bike syndrome I know but has a turner flux as well that hasn’t seen much use since.

Nr skipton.
Thanks for that, Mrs and I are full of cold so perfect trip out.

Nice one, brother had double bypass not long before you had your op and he is complaining in the same way.. Keep having to tell him he’s just unfit. Payback for all the years he destroyed me !

I would normally run circa 20-25% sag on my 100mm 29er dependant on where riding. If only first ride will take a bit of bedding in anyway. I generally use near in all the travel when on a fast lap of dalby.
Just play with pressures, the maestro system generally supports itself well anyway.

Used bonty r3’s in 25 mm great tyre, very grippy and fast. Using r2’s at the mo to see if any difference, not much if any I can tell, bit heavier and may last better. The r3’s did seem to get a few cuts in, never anything to affect tubeless.

From memory the rubber washers go at the bottom of the lowers ie dropped into the lowers while stanchions out.

Nutcracker is an xc series that my wife and I have done for the last few years, recommended. Well run and friendly.

Had an older endo with the slack head tube that whilst I loved the suspension and the idea behind the slack angle being that when dropped the bike “shrunk”. When at full extension I was too far back over the wheel, sizing issue as said above.
Now got a chilcotin, angles work far better for me and love it. But set up with coil lyrics, flows and coil cane creek, so no lightweight. The suspension for what they are designed for could not be better, climbs and descends without fault. Not the fastest climber but the traction is incredible. My other bike is a 24lb full sus 29er that I race a bit so the Knolly always feel a bit sofa like but certainly can be tuned to provide plenty of ‘pop’ if you mean by that less rebound.. It’s the bike that I pick if I just want to have fun.

Depends what you looking for and how much you just want to hammer round. Could park at visitors centre and do the first part of red to dixons hollow, have a play on the World Cup course then go along the forest drive and do the last third of the red. Need to look at the map for that to make sense.
Or could park up at the top and do the World Cup course, play in dixons hollow and do the little demo loop at the top following the yellow signs as many times as time allows.

Race with the non tubeless 2.0 size, run them tubeless no problems but can’t go too low pressure wise. Don’t expect huge amounts of grip but they roll well and are predictable.

Have a look at Treks, got a superfly FS that works well for me. Good luck for this week.funny re above, didn’t see that as didn’t post straight away..

Hope all goes well Tony
Brother went in for a angiogram as was getting chest pains, week after was getting a double heart bypass as was 90-95% blocked. He’d been cycling up till a few weeks before until pain was getting too bad, we’d all thought he was being a bit of a drama queen as didn’t look anything wrong with him and was fit.
You are not alone in being scared,when visiting hospital everyone I spoke to who was due an op was properly bricking it, but within the week he was at home and 6 weeks later is healing fast. NHS gets it’s detractors but when the s..t hits the fan they were fantastic.
All the best to you and your family and hope that this is the fix you need.
Peter

Not tried the red as wasn’t finished when we were there a few weeks ago, but don’t ignore the blue as is worth doing. If you don’t know the area ask in the bike shop as there are some nice natural stuff about as well.

Red doesn’t include any black, apart from couple of alternative lines, if all you are doing is chasing a time then just follow the red. However if want to do more it is worth adding the black in including the World Cup sections.
I use it for flat out training but need to remind myself that’s it’s not a race circuit.. Sub 2hrs is a respectable time

Soreen is your friend.. Get through one a day, do 30-40 miles a day on average. Helps me as a top up little and often.

Hi Ton, we’ve met a couple of times in the past at events. Good to hear that you are managing to get out more. Currently trying out one of my brothers that I have on loan, he has a few. I have always just had one quick go down the road and said no way, so have now borrowed for a while to try and get head round riding one.
When you look into them there is so much difference between each type is difficult to say but the one I have borrowed is a fast one rather than a comfy tourer but it is a comfy position to be in.
My brother has a number of ‘normal’ bikes as well but having just had a heart bypass his rehab plan involves recumbents for the comfort element.
If you need any pointers let me know I will have a word with him.
Peter

Regarding the crack, seems that in my case the insert was a little short. The new insert sits well below the weld now. Mine has seen a few thousand hard miles since with no issues. Don’t know if twisty tubes make it stiffer but the bike works for me and I like the look now.

Is it a new one ? I’ve got a 2 yr old pro29 sl, 27.2 seat tube. I had a hairline crack develop in the seat tube about a year ago, the insert didn’t appear long enough and was stressing the joint. Back within 3-4 weeks as good as new with new decals, all welds checked and a longer insert.
No issues since, this is used geared and SS. I weigh around 84kg and it’s been raced xc, been round Dalby red in 1:40 and generally used hard and whilst not the lightest frame it is strong and comfy. Wouldn’t be without it.

I’ve done the Nutcracker events for the last couple of years, always in vets and normally finish just in or out of the top 10. Ride in whatever your comfiest in and use whatever your happiest with, however in the main it will be Lycra and bottles. Agree with minimal tools, especially this next race at Sheffield, it’s not like you will be in stuck in the middle of nowhere !
Doesn’t look like will be a huge turnout as normally iro 50 vets, which can make for an interesting start but the courses generally allow plenty of overtaking opportunities. It is a very competitive category but also I would like to think a relaxed group of people. Enjoy and see you in a weeks time.

I didn’t really take the second impact thing seriously, so of course 2 wks later going stir crazy decided to ride my bike and fell over sideways virtually straight away. Seems I had no balance… Didn’t even hit my head again but the impact didn’t help recovery so I would strongly suggest taking it easy, I was supposed to not ride for a few months. Luckily the initial crash smacked my hand as I supposedly wouldn’t go to hospital as thought I was ok apart from my hand. Funny things brains.
4 yrs later fittest I’ve ever been as life is too short not too enjoy it, as that could been it for me quite easily. Try and push for an MRI, as no one really knows how bad or not until they can look. They do have a scale they use for concussion but that if I remember correctly was something they used at the time, think I was fairly high !

External screens, no condensation. One of the best things we did.

And yes, keep everything in van. We end up going to the van when run out of stuff in the house.

When I had a head injury a few years ago, spent an overnight in hospital having MRI etc being stuck on repeat asking same 3 q’s and losing a days memories. You need to see a docs as my symptoms, after being able to get out of the loop, included not getting sentences out etc. Mine was caused by a swelling of the brain, nearly needed drilling but luckily not… My wife was also told that if banged my head again in the next few weeks could be curtains.
Heads are funny things, mine was easy to spot as helmet was mullered numerous impacts and punctures from tree stumps, rocks etc
Could just be a mild concussion but needs checking out. I still have issues when tired but a lot better, it can take time.

Used to use a old shape mini for biking duties in the early 90’s, passenger seat came out easy enough. Made people laugh me getting a bike out, that was after seeing me at 6’2 getting out… Have put a removable tow bar on a new shape mini with a Thule rack on to good effect, but have crammed two bikes in the back before. Now onto a van..

Don’t rush it, it will suddenly become easier… But for me the most important things were bare feet, single leg balancing, focusing on a spot at eye level (knot on a tree), not rushing along the line and being very deliberate when placing feet. Not that this has made me an expert, far from it, but went on mine recently after a break of a more than a few months and can still balance and walk ok but turning is still an issue !

Practice, practice and more practice. I found 10 minutes on an eve built it up nicely without overdoing.

2nd the dhb bibs, my wife loves hers. Has a few pairs ranging from the top range ones to some ride london ones they were selling off cheap (for under mtb shorts)

Maxxis ikons have worked well for me, trying an ardent race at the mo. Heavier and not as fast but giving more confidence on rockier courses.

Using golden cheetah too and reading Friel training with power, main thing seems to be is to get FTP ie best ave for an hour and work with that.
There is also a page showing pedal force v pedal rotation speed, which shows how consistent your actual force is. Shows that I don’t change gear enough, just put more or less force through pedals. Years of singlespeeding through winters methinks.
Strava looks like will be good as well as wind etc doesn’t make a difference on segments, can see the ave power and compare own efforts.
Also for me riding to an average power is helping as speed becomes irrelevant.

I’ve had a stages for only a week and knew about the battery issues but they have now been resolved. Hopefully..

Re one leg reading, the only true left and right reading on the bike would be the Garmin Vector pedals and they are a lot more cash. The others seem to be estimators. I am only using power for me and not to compare with others so as long as it is consistent doesn’t matter how accurate the overall level is for training purposes. However my peak power does compare with a watt bike that I had a play on.

Really impressed with the ease of fitting, just a crank. The only issue is now making proper use of the figures 😀

Also didn’t mind what colour of crank or that it was ultegra so got one of the few left, otherwise would be June/July.

Peter

Been using maxxis ikons exo for general xc and racing last year, very fast rolling and plenty of grip. However they can be a bit fragile and sidewalls can wear but they are light. Also while there is a lot of grip it can feel odd cornering as they just roll and can be hard to tell where the edge is. Got a maxxis ardent race in the front at the mo and whilst heavier seems to work very well.
Not getting into a 29er debate but I have been able to use a lighter threaded tyre over the couple of years I’ve been using mine. Use maxxis as been tubeless for a few years and they were the best for me at the start and never needed to stray…
Enjoy your tallboy

Peter

Nice one on getting a van at last 😉 you won’t regret it. Insulate, ply and carpet the roof as well, second the comment re quality of carpet. Would give serious thought to losing the bulkhead, makes it feel a much bigger van and let’s loads more light in. It is easy enough to do. We had issues with condensation on the windscreen overnight using internal screens so got silverscreen externals that cured that issue, we always leave a window slightly open anyway.

May see you at some events this year. Good luck with the build.

Peter

Simon,
You’ve seen our vivaro at Malham last yr, we’ve had ours 5 yrs now and it’s a DIY. Used for race meetings and holidays (regular weeks and overnights with 2 bikes) I would be cautious buying someone else’s DIY unless very sure of the build, much better to buy a decent base vehicle and add to it yourself. Get it perfect for you, loads of ideas on the net. Doesn’t have to cost a fortune to self build. Wouldn’t be without it now.
Peter

I’ve had this in the past, was nothing to do with the valve. The tape was leaking, tear from a tight tyre fitting, and sealant was escaping from the valve hole. Presume path of least resistance.

Are you sure that the Knolly is the 2nd gen as they are very very different, I have got a first gen endo that cracked in the swing arm as a lot have. Knolly were awesome as it was out of warranty, took awhile due to manufacturing issues but ended up with a chilcotin at accident damage rates. Would have had an endo but weren’t out at that time, mates just in the process of building a new endo now so not ridden one as yet but the crazy seat angle has gone which was an issue for me at 6′ 2 on a large. Meant I was well over the back wheel. Wouldn’t hesitate recommending a knolly in any flavour, fantastic grip climbing, very stiff and a machine down hill. Have owned Horst link 5 spot and ridden various other 5’s and is a very different bike, not worse just different.

Pro 29 with the helix tubes, tiny fracture in a weld in the seat tube. 4 week turnaround from me giving it to the bike shop and me getting it back, from my limited knowledge appears insert not long enough and was stressing the weld. Now got a longer insert, new stickers and re polished. Also appears that all the other welds were checked. I would not hesitate getting another lynskey, this one has been very well used and raced and whilst heavy (ish) this gives me more confidence in its ability to last.