Thanks all….have passed this on to Mrs S.

It seems there is another Executor so they are going to meet for a chat. The estate would appear to be quite small….single property, two equal beneficiaries, and not much else. I see a DIY job coming up.

I have been driving Citroens and Pugs pretty much since the early 1980s, with one or two breaks to try out other brands.

Currently we have a 51 plate Berlingo with 140k on the clock (had it from new). The one common theme with all of these cars is….no electrical faults. Other parts have failed because they wore out oh yes, and the paintwork on the last two cars has been shoddy (to say the least)…just give it a nasty look and it scratches!

Thanks, that is very helpful.

Think that stuff is as important as the specific tablet

Good point.

@jimfandisco

If you are planning on riding from Bury you will encounter (probably) fire road in Kings Forest, flinty hell up to New Zealand Cottages, deep sand in parts, normal field boundary stuff, some absolutely cracking trails around Knettishall Heath, some boarded sections, road, the odd bombhole, the A11 (mercifully only crossing it) and almost everything inbetween.

We usually take in Thetford on the way back for our singletrack fix but it is a bit of a detour and turns it (CA and back) into a 100 odd mile day. Anyway, the actual siingletrack %age up to CA is quite low.

My knowledge only really goes up to Castle Acre. I can say however, the return trip is far more fun than the outward leg.

@jimfandisco

If you are planning on riding from Bury you will encounter (probably) fire road in Kings Forest, flinty hell up to New Zealand Cottages, deep sand in parts, normal field boundary stuff, some absolutely cracking trails around Knettishall Heath, some boarded sections, road, the odd bombhole, the A11 (mercifully only crossing it) and almost everything inbetween.

We usually take in Thetford on the way back for our singletrack fix but it is a bit of a detour and turns it (CA and back) into a 100 odd mile day.

My knowledge only really goes up to Castle Acre. I can say however, the return trip is far more fun than the outward leg.

I usually get a bottle of beer and my son takes over my dishwasher filling duties for the day.

Works for me.

We ride from Bury to Castle Acre quite frequently, stop for a spot of lunch then back to Thetford for a play and home the long way round. My bike of choice has always been a rigid Swift. We did it one year on crossers and while it was well within the capability of the bikes, it wasn’t spectacularly comfortable. There were also a couple of big punctures, courtesy of the flints.

As johnnystorm mentioned above, any bike will do, some will let you arrive in more comfort than others.

Crabbing at Walberswick though the best place we ever found was Felixtowe Ferry – probably too far.

Orford + 1

Minsmere

Fish and Chips in Aldeburgh tend to be pretty good.

Entered the 6 hour but can’t do it. Some ‘family commitments’ (read massive ‘clan gathering’) seem to have manifested themselves. Originally, scheduled for Saturday, at the last minute they have been moved to Sunday.

Boo

35 miles or so off road last night. Was planning on a short roadie this evening but too much work to do and a funeral tomorrow (wife’s uncle). Mrs S has been volunteered to do the readings and needs a bit of support this evening cos she isn’t looking forward to it.

Saturday and Sunday though, gloves are off! :o)

Despite all and sundry having fibre all around us, we are stuck on copper and get nearly 3mps on a good day. Apparently the current work plan has us slated to upgrade to fibre in 2017 but it keeps getting put back further and further.

We use BT and have the old router which keeps dropping out and is a real PITA.

Other than that BT are fine. Just counting the days until we can catch up with the 21st Century.

I’m still waiting for my free water bottle from when I subscribed in 1846…..rotters!

Penny Farthings without water bottles are sooo 1845 you know!

I think it is a very underhand thing posting pictures of those Masons. I have just finished convincing myself that they are jolly nice but I really don’t need one and now you go and wave pictures about…..it is just not right!

@ OP if you live on the Suffolk/Essex border, there are lots of clubs around there that do road and mtb rides. Boxford Bike Club, Hadleigh Cycle Club etc. Worth a look IMO. Maybe what you need is to hook up with new people, and benefit from their local knowledge.

As for riding on the road…I find it much more sociable than mountain biking, probably because it is easier to chat when you are spinning along a country road, than when you are blatting in and out of trees on your mtb. I got to the stage some time ago, where I felt the whole mtb thing was getting very introspective/insular and I started to get bored. Dragging my roadie out again, gave cycling a whole new lease of life as my horizons (literally) expanded.

I still ride my MTB and enjoy it when I do. I find riding on the road equally if not more enjoyable, so I do both.

More road time means less maintenance time and that is a ‘good thing’ IMO.

@digga TBH a Manifesto is not worth the paper it is written on. It will be a list of aspirations designed to capture floating voters. They are political fairy stories and best treated as such.

Unless of course, you know better, in which case I stand corrected.

We were ‘shielded’ from view by the ballot box on one side and erm…..a cooker splashback on the other. To be fair, there wasn’t any room in the caravan for anyone to get past let alone sneak a peek from the right hand side.

In one respect we were hi tech….we didn’t have plywood to lean on but glass (over the gas hob).

Good stuff voting in caravans.

0.305!

@aracer – Little Saxham just outside Bury St Edmunds.

There is disabled access. It involves the two ladies inside the booth dismantling the table and creating a new polling booth as and when a disabled person arrives. We did ask about it, out of interest more than anything else and they confirmed they had ‘been trained’ so I guess they know what they are doing!

iirc there are almost 80 potential voters – hence the commodious accommodation! 🙂

Third voter in to our polling station.

First time I have cast my vote on a gas hob!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4bfv5y8c5jvz5qw/CameraZOOM-20150507094703510.jpg?dl=0

Can’t get the image link to work

We used to do them as much for getting ‘local knowledge’ walks away from the normal M25 paths and things. We stopped a while ago. It was however, a bit of fun and even if we never found all the caches, we went on some splendid walks!

He also said:

‘Don’t forget to register to vote” but it is too late for that pithy little epithet now!

Well….it was on the back of the Filmore East Album anyway…..

I should say so.

For an ‘on the doorstep’ event I would say it is expensive. From another perspective, if I were to travel from a long distance away then maybe it is a better deal. I wouldn’t have local knowledge so I would put a value on the fact that someone has thought it all out for me, marked the trail etc. Those are the criteria I apply to events, unless they are put on by local clubs (on my doorstep) to raise funds for themselves – and these are usually only a tenner to enter.

I can’t unread that now….ewwww

Wheelchair bound

Re the invitation to discuss the 705.

I have been thinking about replacing mine on the premise that it is old and tatty, the screen is covered in scratches etc.

Functionally it seems to be totally stable and the few issues I have had, have been easily resolved by a hard reest.

If push came to shove, and you could get them ‘re-glazed’ then I probably would. That, and a few, new handlebar mounts.

The 705 the Win XP of Garmins? I’d be inclined to agree.

Interesting…which brand?

Or to develop Drac’s theme…

It’s almost as bad as XC racers camping out on the start line two hours before the race starts, just to make sure they get to the first corner first……

Fine if it is the Nationals or it is an important race, less so for local grass roots affairs.

PW ones look classy. Ironic really, seeing as you would never see it once fitted!

^

What they said!

Temptation grows……

Bear in mind, unless you took out your policy after April 6th 2015 it is unlikely to support the new ‘pension freedoms’ and you will have to transfer the fund to a new Flexi Access Drawdown contract. Your existing company may be able to facilitate the transfer at very low cost. This is when you ask about continuing contributions. I am pretty sure the answer is yes but, only the fund derived from new contributions will be eligible for tax free cash in future. The rest of your fund will be deemed to have been ‘crystallised’ and while it can continue to grow, the PCLS facility will be lost.

No

My wife thinks I’m strange… 😯

I always have a bar of chocolate in my desk drawer at work. It can take me two weeks or more to finish it – when I can be bothered to start it. She reckons it should be a case of open it and eat it all there and then.

On this premise, I therefore recommend option ‘A’.

I thought our bodies were hard wired to process as much fat as we can throw at it. Not sure about sugar. I guess this makes the ‘stuff it all in your mouth now’ option something less of a viable option.

But what do I know….I’m strange….apparently!

EDIT: Linky to science stuff

Size?

As a comparative youngster (mid 50s) I find that a couple of really intense sessions every week sets me up nicely for a long ride at the weekend.

I think I rest a bit more but this allows me to give 100% when I ride. I have found that back to back to back sessions leave me knackered so I am a bit ‘smarter’ about when and how I ride.

FWIW a friend of mine celebrated his 65th birthday by riding all the big climbs in the TdF. I am sure it was Alpe d’Huez that he was timed up. It seems his time was in the region of what one would expect of a first year pro rider. You may be clocking up the years but it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to slow down (that much).

One of these:

Not mine….from retrobike

I also had a Massi full suspension bike…..what a pile of rubbish that was. It rode like a bag of junk and came apart in no time. Had a warranty repair and it looked as if someone had bodged it together with lumps of putty and chewing gum before painting it. Talk about agricultural.

I got the Tiagra level bike, stripped it down, replaced with a 105/Ultegra mix, carbon seat post and some decent wheels. It is a bit of a rocket ship.

The inaugural longer ride the other week (85 miles) was completed without any back ache, despite the lower front end.

I am a shade under 6ft 4 and a 58 did me fine.

Love it to bits.

Spoiled for choice! How about I just do a Pub (lunch) Crawl? I’m sure I could persuade myself! 🙂

Sounds just the thing! Thanks

There’s nothing like that first ride on a new bike…..saddle is too high/low or too far forward or back, bars are too low or high, gears go out in a few hours (if you are running mechanicals that is) and there’s always a funny noise you find to worry about. I find it is the second or third ride when you really appreciate it.

Went through this with a Super Six the other week. All the settings are spot on now and it flies.

Yet to be convinced by D12 (cos I’m a Luddite) but otherwise, looks good. 🙂