just eating more betterer.

And inventing new words it appears :-)

Personally I have trouble sticking to iDave's plan or indeed any "similar high protein/low carb" plan on exercise days because I just don't have the energy when during the session. So I'll have maybe a banana or piece of bread with peanut butter/nutella 20 mins before, then head out > have my normal energy food > get home > eat spag/tuna/pesto and recover from there.

Has worked for me so far.

EDIT: I'm not condemning the plan for those of us trying to stick to it while exercising – it's just that I'd rather perform better because I have the energy than not because I don't.

+1 WordPress. Works fine out the box, but becomes seriously customisable when you get it hosted properly.

I'm tucking into my daily bowl of mixed nuts+raisins+salted peanuts+dessicated coconut – nom noms.

Sounds like you're doing plenty of exercise – are you eating anything you really shouldn't? Or eating late at night?

Your welcome to come to the Big Bike Bash. Not your typical bike race though

Thanks, but the good lady is expecting 1st Sep, so I'd best be in the vicinity. Also, it's not me who'll be taking the snaps – it's my friend Chris.[/url]

Sounds pretty much like common sense – something we should have a grasp of in MTBing terms at least. And I know Chris well enough to know he'll be fine when on the loose.

Nice one chaps – I'll check out the calendars and have a look at BBD.

Day five of week two and another 3lbs dropped this week. Will be riding tonight then looking forward to binge day on Saturday.

Similar food intake to last week although I've had less red wine but a couple of cheeky post-supper ice creams (snickers and lion bar).

Can't say I'm missing the bread, potatoes and rice which is good. Do have spag though (with tuna/pesto) as post-ride nosh.

All in all, a happy chappy – cheers iDave.

Good points – hadn't thought about the insurance. Tarp.

We were there last Sep when the weather was still decent. No opportunity to have taken my bike but I'd be back there with it given the choice. Awesome scenery – even just heading along some of the coastal trails will give you incredible views out to sea.

Good luck with whatever you choose (IMO, I'd avoid anything French).

One of my mates was 25 when he bought his first car (2 years ago) – brand new Porsche Cayman! Nice piece of kit, but way beyond his ability. Still, if you earned six figures in recruitment and owned 5 houses, you might well do the same.

Aye, micro-managing (or any form thereof) is a PITA. Smacks on insecurity, lack of trust and leadership, plus the usual pressure/stress, etc.

If you get on with him "outside of work stuff" then try getting the conversation onto your project and ask him how he sees things are ticking along etc – i.e get him to realise his own "errors" and motives for change.

Sandwiches with home-made egg/mayo and smoked bacon = the pigs figs of the sandwich world.

All comments taken on-board – I'm going to lessen my bike time and see things more from her perspective. However, if she encourages me to go out then I will – that's what she's done in the past.

Cheers all

IMO Vodafone customer service is far better than all the others – that, and the reason they tend to stock the phones I want, are why are stay with them.

Monkey Chutney and other such fine accompaniments courtesy of Borough Market.

Just heard back – I'll have a name and number for you tomorrow.

Hmm, unfortunately I don't directly know anyone who covers that area, but I reckon I know someone who knows someone. Will ask the question and report back if they do.

IMO, a correctly designed and installed solar thermal system can give you a return so long as you're using "all that free hot water." Great if you've a 200l tank running off a conventional (non-combi) boiler in a 3 bed south-facing property with a partner and two kids who shower every day etc. Take this example and scale up = fine. Scale down = not always nearly so good.

if you are about to have a baby, i think that you are going the wrong way with your training levels.

IMO you should be starting to cut back so that you do not experience such a big crash. Exercise and mental health are closely linked and if you have to STOP cycling and START being a father full time you may suffer.

Suggest you try to cut back to to a few hours one day a week, now, and hope you can maintain that level happily both before and after the kid is born.

I reckon you've a good point there – and not one I expected to hear. I can get "irritable" if I don't run or cycle anyway, so who knows how much of an ar5e I might turn into post-arrival.

She doesn't have an issue with the weekday/shorter rides.

In a way, her issue is partly to do with the fact she think I'm obsessed with trying to do more miles, hence going out for longer. She tends to feel I'm too competitive generally anyway – although my argument is that I like to get better at "stuff."

Shouldn't this post be moved to the Classifieds :D ?

One or two 2-3:30hr weekday evenings, and then a 3-5hr session at the weekend.

EDIT: the thing is that when you look at the amount of time you spend on a hobby, e.g. let's say 8-12hrs/week, you can pretty much equate it to one- to one-and-a-half working days. No wonder it doesn't go un-noticed and we have to find a way to fit everything in.

uphilla, where are you based?

I used to work in that field (until 2007) and still have contacts for various engineers/installers.

@hora, unfortunately I can't ride that early – I'm at my desk (upstairs :D ) by 7:00-7:30. Hence I tend to wrap up around 4:30-5:30 and head out. My natural weekday instinct is to get my work sorted first and foremost.

@joolsburger: I've tried the early Sat/Sun riding but get the same response. I think it's just the fact that I'm out/away for that period of time regardless. I'll reassure her again that I'll cut right back once the little fella appears.

@carriegold: that's a pretty good description.

@corroded: about 6-10hrs/week (2-3 rides inc the big one on the w/end)

@clubber and hora: agreed.

@littlegirlbunny: I'll have you know I am in no way domineering about what she does and with whom. Neither of us have an issue with attachment/jealousy/attention/etc. It's only the last few weeks where she's got a bit ranty at the amount of time I spend riding.

@philjunior: 1) I do when I can, 2) she'd go mental if I said "See you in 6 hours"!, 3) she understands why I do it – for the reasons you say

I'm seeing this a bit more from her side. I guess I am being a touch selfish in terms of riding time, especially at the weekend (even when I've got all my/our other jobs done). Will definitely have a chat and a re-think.

Cheers all

@joolsburger and TheBrick: I agree it's most likely the pregnancy vibe, particularly with her only have a few weeks to go. I guess this is something that us blokes can never fully appreciated. So I think I'll have a chat with her from a couple of different angles this week to offer more support and reassurance.

LOL @Zulu-Eleven

@Scienceoffice et al: she hardly watches TV – neither of us do really.

@hora: we're pretty cool in the listening/talking dept – but I get your gist.

@EVERYONE: I'm cool with her "attitude" and I don't have a problem with it. I think it's a combination of:

> latter stages of pregnancy
> she wants everything to be sorted ready for the new arrival (believe me, I (indeed, we) have done loads on this front recently
> there's been loads of sport on lately (WC, Wimbledon, Golf, TdF, etc) and she doesn't really get sport and she think it's obsessive

She's usually totally cool when I get back – it's just the pre-ride bit she stresses out.

@Junkyard: I'm not airing this here because it's an issue. I'm just mentioning it because lots of us have s/o's with different attitudes, hence just wondering out of curiosity …

Kids – our first is on the way, ETA Sep 1st. I understand this could be part of her newly adopted attitude – fair enough. She also understands I want to get more miles in now because our whole routine is going to change – and she knows I'll still want to go out but not as often.

I know a couple of guys who's partners also ride – they both say it's a nightmare because they can't get away from them. I guess it depends how much time you want to spend together/apart.

I don't ignore her comments – I reason with her for a minute or so and then just go out. She doesn't get ar5ey, she just seems to get herself a bit wound up when I want to go out for 4hrs+.

@PP: I spent most of my formative years down the pub so I don't "need" to do it these days. She's well aware I could be wasting time and money elsewhere.

I had my first blow-out on Sat (bacon+mushroom sarnie, home-made chicken+ham pie and scotch egg, cheese on toast, home-made pizza, home-made raspberry millefeuille (sp), 3 pints and half a bottle of red.

Had a few extra carbs yesterday too, but I did do a 60 mile MTB ride to justify it.

I reckon my weigh-in might be a tad heavier than Friday's.

Any one got any ideas of what else to do with spinach?

My missus made a spinach+feta cheese+raisin+filo pastry "bake" of some kind last week. I think it's north African? Recipe could be online – check out BBC food, etc.

Tasted great – very light but also kind of filling (well, after seconds and a bit of thirds it did :-))

Where's everyone gone?

Anyway, after a couple of false starts, I had another go starting last Sunday. Haven't been as strict as I should, but I've lost 4-5lbs already – although my "fill yer boots" is tomorrow, so they may change things.

Have had pasta (and tuna/pesto) immediately after a couple of rides, plus … the odd packet of crisps, a choccy biscuit, a fair few lentils, two tubs of humous, loads of veg and salad (including tomatoes), about 15 eggs, some salami, a fair amount of cheese, a cod fillet, some bacon, some veggie burgers, some nuts (and dried fruit), and loads of water.

Quite impressed thus far, even though like I say I haven't stuff rigidly to it. I guess avoiding the white carbs/starches and fresh fruit has helped. Intend to stick with it for another couple of weeks to see what happens, then probably do some mix n match.

How's everyone else doing?

+1 Steven Erikson and his Malazan series – pretty unconventional fantasy that you can get lost in, but full of invention and mayhem.

Joe Abercrombie's trilogy is good too – does slow down at times but the characters are interesting

I've used yearly's, monthly's, and daily's – all worked fine. Worth taking a spare pair just in case something weird happens.

Wearing shades is also helpful because it keeps (99% of the) crap out of your eyes – a muddy/sticky lense and muddy/sticky fingers isn't good.

Btw, are there any particularly special book shops that you know about?

As in Foyles (the famous tardis-like store in Londinium), Waterstones et al?

The iPhone has far more apps provided by the recognised software and service providers. E.g if you browse a few websites, it's likely you'll find far more offering "Download your iPhone app here" and far fewer offering the same for Android.

If it's true that many iPhone app developers are switching to Android becuase of politics, then this may well swing the other way in the next 12-24 months.

As has been said already, iPhone apps tend to be "better" and more polished.

"proper" internet browsing means iPhone, Android or Maemo. Nothing else comes close to their browsers.

Wrong. You're talking about OS – try including browsers, e.g. Opera 9.X and Skyfire.

HD2 – okay it's WinMo but it's highly customisable and has a surprisingly good 5mb camera and video recorder, plus the default MP3 app is excellent too.

Do a YouTube for HD2 reviews.

I've got mine set up how I want it and prefer it to my ex-Hero (mainly because it's super fast and just "better).

Ox – i can't do that, i'm using a 'controlled document' – created in Word, which means the quality office at work will cut my balls off if i start using openoffice.

This gave me the impression the document (in template format or whatever) exists in Word … perhaps I misunderstood …

As I said above, which version (of Word?) If it's 2007, you can download a free PDF plugin – works a treat (with no watermarks or formatting issues).