@toby mc £1200……apart from anything else that is one reason to be on the veto list. 😯

The problem is finding one that will work and there seem to be precious few that do.

Thanks @ grantway. Will pass that on to the boss.

You haven’t seen my practical skills!

Mrs Slowjo has and she won’t even let me wield a paintbrush without close supervision.

I could look at the inside of one of these things all day and be none the wiser afterwards.

Our Glorious Leader says No!

@jambalaya

Dammit man, there you go talking sense again. Get a grip…. 😆

Who will be to blame if Scotland goes on its’ merry way and it all goes horribly wrong? Hitherto, it has been relatively easy to blame the Westminster Crew. AS will claim all the kudos if it works but if it bombs…is he going to hold his hands up and fess up that it was a bit of a bodge/back of an envelope fudge?

I may be wrong, not having been privy to the detailed (proposed) fiscal policies of the SNP but it does seem to me that AS is spending the same revenue time and time again.

As such, it all seems like a house of cards. The dodgy rhetoric of both sides is unconvincing and the only thing that seems to have emerged to me, is a rather unpleasant kind of nationalism.

OTOH I can’t say I don’t agree with the anti London-centric sentiments.

Haven’t seen the Lancs sadly but we do get lots of ‘warbirds’ over our house during the Duxford weekends as we seem to be in their stacking area.

You can always yell something special is on the way because of the engine note.

It isn’t the lights or the chargers I’m worried about….it is the mounts!

Nipper YGM

Phew….thanks. :o) Glad I asked.

It wasn’t going anywhere so the bullet has been bitten.

Original financial crisis weathered and it was build this up or buy another winter roadie.

This won…for the time being.

Lol…hence the hurried correction 😳

Didn’t that guy (with the pump/tyre/jizz) throw a right wobbly about the picture and the massive pi$$ take he had to endure for months afterwards? His sense of humour failure was epic iirc.

Ay….those were the days!

Had it. Pleased it was only covering a small patch. It went away, I never want it back!

Riding plans scuppered in one fell blow :o/

Berlingo died last night. We got it to the garage where they had it overnight and thought they had fixed it. Picked it up this morning and it died (on the forecourt fortunately). It seems the scan missed something. The fault is fixable but the parts can’t get here until Monday at the very earliest.

We can still get to Wales but three of us in a Mini is going to be tight enough and there will be less than no room for bikes.

Looks like we’ll be packing our walking boots then.

@slowoldgit….true. When they are particularly prevalent I combine with Skin so soft. Disgusting smell but it keeps crawly, bitey things off.

I forgot…rigid or HT?

I know I’m not going to die if I bring the rigid but if I get away for proper rides…I assume the HT would be a more comfortable tool for the job. (Around here, the rigid is best so…..)

Thanks everyone. Lots to think about and plan.

@trailhound – may well take you up on the offer if you don’t mind showing an old f@rt about. Fitness is fine but (dare I say it) my descending is not great…something to do with living in Suffolk I daresay!

So it is do-able then. The bit by the chapel looks more than a little daunting. Last time I tried, I had been riding for 8 hours already and failed dismally. I have always fancied a bash at it ‘fresh’.

I did a ride up there many years ago, past the ruined castle (the one on from Panorama, standing alone on a very steep hill) and up to the radio/tv tower, over some proto north shore (very low – not much penalty for failure) and down to the cafe (Windmill?) and over the other side.

We’ll be in Pen y Gaer Rd so a spin up Worlds End Road might be a plan for an evening ride. :o)

Only big fat fatties are allowed to wear polka dot jerseys, it’s the law.

Not a big fattie but I was given the Pru Tour polka dot jersey by some mates precisely because I am rubbish at climbing. I wear it with a huge dash of irony.

I have a 1985/86 Carrera shirt that still gets worn in the winter. It is looking a little grubby now but will not fall apart so I guess I’ll keep wearing it until it does.

Brilliant! Thanks very much.

@DavidB I’m sure they didn’t mind your arm/leg warmers! 🙂

A mate of mine ended up with one in a very intimate area as it crawled up inside his shorts. They are quite well adapted to getting in all sorts of places so shorts, arm warmers, leg warmers etc shouldn’t be too much trouble if they have hairs to cling to. The only ones I have picked up in recent years seem to have got onto my socks and no further.

I could be totally wrong on this but it seems to work.

Three years at uni back in 1980 to 1983. It was sort of fun then, the music scene was great and apart from inadvertently getting caught up in two riots, it was generally a bit of a laugh.

Once I had finished, I never wanted to return and apart from the odd trip for work (under great duress) I stay as far away as possible. Usual reasons for this, most of them listed above already.

I like to be able to see the sky without tilting my head back at 90 degrees!

One more reason for shaving your legs.

Ticks climb around your body using hairs etc iirc. Slippery legs = less ticks IME.

Loads of deer and sheep round here so billons of these pesky blighters. Mrs slowjo is very keen on us not having an extra partner in the bed/house so leg shaving is encouraged.

Singing….. Kate Rusby.

Never heard her speak but her singing…..

Ooh!

Better start saving then!

It seems to come with Ultegra wheels. I have never had Shimanowheels….are they any good?

This sort of challenge is a bit tough in Suffolk. Reckon I’d be riding non stop for days to get it all in. 😯

My wife likes to walk to work in the summer. It is a couple of miles or so to the next village.

About half way along is a path to get you to the top of a flyover (which has no pathways). It stopped being cleared a few years ago and the brambles and nettles too over. The tarmac path was invaded by moss and as it is in perma shade, is like a slippery carpet.

We contacted everyone we could think of in the council and witnessed a monumental example of buck passing, all the way down the line to the contractor who maintains the A14! They contacted us to say they ad diaried clearance for late October and until then we would sadly have to put up with it.

Cue a family Sunday outing to the footpath. Armed with garden implements we cut and hacked our way along the path, cleared a way through and then worked our way back cutting (more) well back from the edges.

The contractor never carried through with the ‘comprehensive clearing programme’ and the council just aren’t interested. As a client of mine explained (he used to be a Big Cheese in the local council) there just isn’t the money and like it or not, so few people actually walk anywhere any more, path clearance isn’t a priority.

DIY seems to be order of the day then.

I rode SS for many years. As I got stronger I found myself pushing bigger and bigger gears ending up fluctuating between 34:16 and 34:15 depending on how I felt (26 inch wheels btw).

The gears were too big quite honestly and translated into lower back pain (a lot).

I also tended to experience many near castration issues when my chain (frequently) snapped on short, sharp climbs. I eventually ended up with a track chain to save my gonads!

It didn’t make me fitter particularly, but it did teach me how to ride a singlespeed quite sharpish.

Another thing it did…..it made me love it when I got gears again. Haven’t ridden a SS off road for maybe 5 years now and don’t miss it a bit. Riding a fixie on the road in the winter, now there’s a different kettle of fish!

2.

If for any reason your main bike is out of action, you will still have something to ride.

Berlingo Multispace here….2.0 diesel. New in Jan 2001. We have had a few minor issues but nothing you wouldn’t expect after 150,000 miles or so. It just keeps on going. I think it is fair to say, it doesn’t owe us a penny.

My main criticism, and it is one I have experienced with Citroens since my folks got their first one in the late 1070s, is that the paintwork is pants. Look at it slightly angrily and it scratches.

Fine, but what if one rider in a team wants 140s on the front and someone else wants 160s and the next guy wants 180s?

Not such a rapid wheel change then. 👿

Still not sure if it was true or an April fools prank

It was posted in July so unless there is a massive time gap or Americans work on a different April Fool basis to us then probably not. Probably.

I’m surprised those tacky betting ads haven’t been posting odds of someone falling off, getting a puncture (front OR back wheel), the breakaway succeeding, first up a climb etc jut like they did on the World Cup.

They might have the same issues with the lawyer tabs surely. IIRC they used to file them off but UCI banned it.

Anyway, be careful. Someone will come along soon claiming this is a spoiler. They’ll have been watching coverage with great anticipation of seeing a front wheel change, and now you have gone and ruined it!

Beaten to it….damn!

Poke it with a stick first, just to make sure you get them all! ;o)

A pest controller I knew a while back simply sprayed them (i.e. emptied the tin) with bog standard fly spray – the cheapest he could get.

Worked for him.

I’d say wear long sleeves and trousers, glove etc just to make sure there is as little of you to sting as possible.

22.49 on the height adjusted one.

Easily within the healthy range but my wife says I look like a scarecrow and my mother (bless ‘er) says I look like someone from a WW2 Prison Camp!’You look just like so and so when he came back to the village after the war’ style.

BMI of 24.

I was like someone from Madagascar but I refreshed the screen using the same data and all of a sudden I’m like someone from China!

@johnnystorm I still have swifty. It is my main bike. Gryphon is going to be more of a winter bike when it gets properly dirty.

Going to out niche JD! 😉

Yes. What I meant was something along the lines of ‘what ratio is a good/best fit for SS gearing’.

You’re right…it does.

Mine won’t look quite so pretty I’m afraid.