I’ve noticed the “craft” beer creeping up in price over the last few years as it’s become more mainstream. There’s a correlation of price increase to mass production from Lidl Green Gecko £2.18/L to Brewdog Punk £4.55/L to local Deya craft brewer at £6.66/L. The Deya isn’t 3 times better than the LIDL, though it is nice, but the LIDL is very drinkable.

I’m amazed that the NCT course didn’t give you this information. Maybe it depends on the teacher, we got loads of detail like what you’re asking for (though it was 12 years ago!). Give them some feedback.

Thanks all for the advice. I’ll update this thread as the story develops.

@IHN the policy is the policy and is worded quite ambiguously!

@tomato there is no bicycle limit in the schedule only an outbuildings limit

@bails if you got the same answer it sounds like a general sales error rather than one agent. I suggest you call again, you may not be insured.

@Rich_s good info about the FOS

@thegeneralist I think the policy is badly written and this makes it hard for staff and customers to interpret

How are you going to deal with the payment side? What if it arrives and isn’t as you expected? I’d not want to sell a bike to someone who hasn’t seen it. Best check the seller’s happy with this before making any plans. It’s a seller’s market at the moment.

Are battery grinders really being used for street theft? I’d have thought the noise and sparks would make them less favourable to a theif compared to croppers.

I’ve got an email from them from 5 years ago indicating no issue with warranty when fitting an anchor.
Though looking at it now, it still looks brand new. I doubt they get many warranty claims. Maybe if you live next to the sea with frequent waves coming over it might rust, but otherwise the thing’s likely to be it top nick well into its 2nd decade.

Ten year warranty is not affected when fitting a ground anchor if you paint the holes with a rust inhibitor

From their warranty page:

If you choose to fit a ground anchor. You MUST treat the fixing point area with a rust inhibitor.

I asked them what product to use and they recommend kurust from hammerite.

I’ve never had condesation inside mine in 5 years. Save yourself the hassle.

Why install insulation, are you planning on sleeping in it? The bikes and shed need a bit of air. I’m not sure of the benefit of a floor either. I never bothered with one.

Remember to paint the holes for the ground anchor with an appropriate anti-rust treatment. It’s a requirement of the warranty.

Me too! Like, does the Solent area have 4 high waters each day, or two prolonged high tides?

This blew my mind when I first sailed into the Solent, made me question my understanding of the world.
Does anywhere else have this phenomenon?

Might be worth avoiding buying vouchers in this economic climate in case they go bust. Better to actually book via a credit card with a flexible booking. Or make a nice promise note.

lots of faff for a chain. I just use Squirt lube.
After a ride this time of year, I wash down with water in a chain bath scrubber thing. let the drips fall off, quick rub with a rag then let it air dry (might get a bit of surface rust) then reapply Squirt the next day. Takes 5 minutes max. The lube stays on longer than I can ride for in winter and the chain lasts long enough to make it an inconsequential expense when I replace it at .5%

Pip Hare’s video updates are brilliant. She’s so genuine, she opens up all the emotions she is experiencing as well as sharing her thoughts on sailing the boat. With Alex now out she’s the most interesting to follow for me.

bike security, then coffee.

I want the coffee to taste at least as good as making a French press at home with Lidl ground coffee (the Indian Arabica is surprisingly good!). Far too many cafes think it acceptable to serve weak pish. Nowt wrong with a good filter coffee, it doesn’t have to all be espresso.

Saying that they did donate £65k recently to refurb the Verderers descent

which is a piffling amount compared to what cyclists have paid.
So a conservative estimate:
200 cyclists’ parking cars a week (mostly weekends)
5 years of parking fees (since any serious trail investment)
£5 to park (average)

That’s over a quarter of a million quid. 20% to run the scheme, still leaves a lot left over.
there’s probably an FOI about the revenue online.

Latest update says Le Cam saw Escoffier and spoke with him but then lost him manoeuvring. Must mean he has no VHF or EPIRB on the raft. Explains why others have been asked to assist. Severity has escalated significantly.

It’s one problem after another with this race!
I wonder if Le Cam can keep racing with a passenger on board. It would seem a bit unfair for his race to be over due to someone else’s misfortune. Food might become a problem onboard, maybe they could arrange a drop for them, though they don’t get close to land other than Cape Horn.

Makes you wonder just how much UFO is floating about in the oceans. Gitana has just pulled out of the Jules Verne too after hitting something

Alex T posted a video yesterday saying that the repairs were over.

Poor progress from Hugo Boss over the last 4 hours, only 5.4 knots VMG at the 2030 UTC report, when others in the same breeze are doing double. I fear his repairs may not have worked.

I called a large development company when one of their 32 tonne 8 wheelers came within 30 cm of my 11yo son riding on a residential road. I got through to the transport manager and she looked up the truck’s tracker whilst I was on the phone and gave me a wholehearted reassurance that it would be taken up with the driver. It is worth reporting.

misery epitomised rather than personified #pedant

Alex T has slowed right down, I hope the structural issue is fixable, but a bit of epoxy glue won’t be much use out there. He went round last time with a broken foil, but a structural issue sounds like hull, keel or rig and you’d be mad to go into the Southern Ocean with problems like that. Fingers crossed for good news.

Alexa burp was my first thought, but then I re-read and you say it was the traditional manual “ceiling” switches which were on, which aren’t controlled by Alexa. Occam’s razor principle would say it was one of the kids either sleepwalking or having a laugh. Were ALL the ceiling lights on, or just those on a certain route through the house?

Many years ago I used to attach crocodile clips onto a boy’s blazer at school, and we all had a good laugh at him when he got angry.

I didn’t know it was bullying, but it was and I got my comeuppance from the head teacher. Claiming I didn’t know was no excuse.

Patel is a bully and should be sacked.

I see a few posts now on this thread saying that it was an emergency and we just had to get on and do it. I can see this argument too but it’s only when you look into things further that you start to see the massive incompetence (at best) or corruption (at worst).

– Avoiding existing UK PPE manufacturers and suppliers
– Significant contracts awarded to newly created companies without any PPE experience and links to the Conservative party
– Shady ‘Fast track’ procurement process for VIPs (friends of MPs)
– Government Procurement specialists side-lined in favour of Cabinet Office cronies
– Lack of transparency of awarded contracts
– Vastly overpaying, even above what the heightened market was paying at the time
– PPE purchased that is unusable
– Huge stock piles of excess inventory

I’m not one to knock the government at any opportunity, but this stinks.

Allowing it to go ahead is nuts, the government should move Christmas to February/March and let the lockdown do its job and bring down the R rate. It’s got F all to do with the religious festival these days, so move the bank holidays to a better time.

All foreign travel for leisure purposes is criminally forbidden for people in England this month. If you’re 100% sure it’s a holiday and not one of the exception reasons (visit dying family?) then call the police and report. Should be easy enough to find the local station number. Very small chance of the police doing anything.

Irritates me too. It needs to be legislated against: the price of any product or service to a consumer should be quoted/displayed inclusive of VAT.
B2B ex-VAT is ok.

which bread maker? Try different programmes. I’ve the Panasonic SD2500 and I find the sandwich white (5 hours) is closest to the supermarket loaf you are after. But remember that lots of supermarket bread is using the Chorleywood method and therefore is full of unnecessary junk whereas you have the satisfaction of using just the minimal ingredients.

@bentandbroken there’s an Alex Thomson Racing YouTube channel and it gets pushed out to Facebook and probably other social channels.
There’s also The Hub at https://www.alexthomsonracing.com/the-hub where you can get all sorts of stats including his heart rate if that interests you!
Plus lots on the official Vendee Globe website too.

AlexT has posted a short video saying he hit some fishing gear which caused a short delay. In the video he looks like he’s playing some fancy PlayStation game all tooled up with headset and arm mounted tablet linked to his cameras. The electronic tech has come on massively, I just hope it doesn’t become a liability in the Southern Ocean.

I’d go for a second hand Islabike for the price of a new carerra. Kids won’t notice the difference and you’ll get your money back when you sell it.

Islabikes have 2 new ebikes based on their senior bikes, so have features designed for the older rider.

I agree if MBA bothies are closed that should be respected, as respect and trust is what the whole system is built upon.
Not all bothies are part of the MBA.

So you met a stranger from one of Scotland’s covid hotspots, in one of the UK’s covid hotspots, with no handwashing facilities, indoors for several hours without face coverings, and with no idea who had coughed on the surfaces you were touching an hour before you were there, probably eating food with those hands and you felt “quite safe”. No wonder estates are locking them.

I made my own assessment of the risk and deemed it acceptable, which is what we have to be able to do to live our lives as best we can. This was 6 weeks ago, before any Scottish or Welsh lockdown and mid Wales has never been a hotspot (there are more sheep than people!). I didn’t get Covid.

The risk in a bothy is much less from surface contamination which can be mitigated if you’re careful it’s more risk from aerosol, so a busy bothy would see me sleeping in the tent.

I stayed in one in mid Wales last month. Just me and one other bloke from Glasgow. We kept a respectful distance. No masks, but I used some hand gel. Felt quite safe (other than the rat!) but I wouldn’t want to stay in a busy one, so always pack a tent.

Getting outdoors with them is achievable, so you don’t have to give that up!
Reminds me when we took our 13mo out on a short snow hike. He was in a backpack and double his size with all the layers. All went well and he was a happy chappy until we climbed a hill and the biting wind hit. He sure did let us know he wasn’t happy! We quickly descended and found a spot for mum to give him some warm milk (advantages of breastfeeding!)
My advice for an outdoors person is to spend your money on kit to make getting out easier and forget about all the other pointless stuff the baby products industry tries to tell you is essential.

I’ve been eyeing them for a while as they look really good spec. Reviews are good but mostly in foreign languages. Free returns so might be worth a punt. PSA they did big Black Friday discounts last year, so worth waiting a few weeks if you can.

On length, I’ve locked 4 bikes with a 2m chain to a ground anchor routing via the BBs. You want the chain to be as short as possible as it’s much harder to cut a chain when not on the ground.