Managed to run a 5k without stopping. Knee felt tight, but no pain. Fitness is awful. Took over 27 minutes. I feel like a different person now with running, a far cry from sub 20’s 5ks and sub 3:30 marathons.

Has anyone ever been about 30% slower after an injury and made it back faster and stronger?

@reluctantjumper

I know exactly how you feel about all that. My mum has been suffering with Alzhiemers for about 7 years now. With my parents back in Belfast and me here in Manchester it makes it even more difficult to manage from a personal level and a family one. All you can do is support and be as normal as possible. I am waiting for the call to say that my mum now needs more help. She currently goes to a day centre every other week which is not enough. Ny dad needs more support too. Frustratingly I get kept in the dark about all the little details. My dad tries to protect me I think. I spoke to him last week and he told me she is now talking to herself and people who aren’t there. She doesn’t really recognise me on the phone now. But all you can do is try and treat them as normal as possible.

Keep the head up, you’re doing all you can.

They offered my girlfriend a good bit more than the local Ford delaer for her 10 year old tatty Corsa. £1800 with WBAC and £1300 at the dealer. Dealer matched in the end.

Thought I would give a quick one ride review of the Trailcross mid boot that I got this week. First impression are good, lighter than my Freeriders, same grippy sole, narrower, and looks that will divide opinion.

I rode Llandegla and there had been a lot of rain before I got there. Thankfully the skies cleared so I was just left to dodge some big puddles. Didn’t take long before I got my boots drenched and whilst my feet got wet, they seemed to dry quickly. I was wearing some merino Endura socks. They felt quite loose. I bought an 11, my Freeridersn were also an 11. Quite a few reviews said to go up a size, very glad I didn’t. Before my second loop I tightened the main laces and they felt much better. I have quite narrow and very flat feet. I don’t fill shoes very well. Couple of other observations; the laces are long and it’s hard to keep them from being outside the boot. There is a gap between the inner ‘sock’ and the outer ankle cuff, a place where water and dirt will collect. Being a narrower shoe, it didn’t foul my crank arm like my Freeriders. Oh, and I got mine with the voucher code for 30% off.

7/10 so far.

I have an MTR shell. Nice jacket, but the taped seams gave up after about 3 washes. Not sure it makes much difference. I’m looking to get something a bit more heavy duty for winter duties at the moment.

Well that’s me on fumes now. 6 garages visited this morning, no fuel. I was on a site visit and tried every garage on the way home. Those included Shell, BP, and Texaco.

Looks like I wont be going anywhere for the next few days.

you crack on

Thanks, appreciate it.

I’ve noticed a notable increase in lifespan in using Enduro MAX bearings over the stock bearings that Giant used in my Reign. I tend to replace a full set every year at about £70, and some of them are still buttery smooth. I’m at the point were my next change wont be for all bearings.

Nice one molgrips, thanks for lumping us all into the same group. I’m well aware of the stats for deaths on our roads, thanks.

Why do you think this comment got the response it did?

Again, stop assuming everyone is the same. At least have a think about the person who is posted and perhaps side on them being a rational human being who isn’t out to be wreckless rather than shout out that everyone is not going to be responsible.

And as for people not doing things they think are unsafe, er, what? I know plenty of people who do things they know are unsafe, or dangerous, but do it anyway.

Well this escalated quickly, didn’t it?

The OP says ‘spirited driving’ and some of you wildly assume he is going to drive like a knob?

I’ve done lots of these ‘spirited drives’ back in the days of my hot hatches and I didn’t die, drive wrecklessly, or cause road rage. I also have a motorbike and the same can be said for that. I can ride fast in the right conditions and be very safe. And yes, riding a bike is a completely different type of ride/drive. So much more to take into account and the consequences are not worth thinking about.

Horseshoe pass would be a road I’d recommend OP, near Llangollen.

Went for a pair of the Five Ten Trailcross Mid Pro. Good bit lighter than the Freerider, much less stiff upper and looks that will grow on me I’m sure.

Now, I just need to actually ride my bike now!

The amount of hate towards Lewis is crazy. The F1 page on FB is a perfect example. I mean I don’t really have much to say about him really, but people calling him lucky his whole career and being given the best car is just mental. I thought football fans were the most hateful, but some F1 fans are worse than that.

Yesterday was the first race I’ve watched from start to finish, I really enjoyed it. I was really gutted for Lando, and also Sainz. I thought he made a great start, but that startegy was wrong and the Ferrari just didn’t have the outright pace. F1 will be very competitive at the front in 3-4 years, so many great young drivers starting to shine now.

Thanks. I remembered seeing a thread for something like that a while back, but my search missed it.

The queues at local petrol stations.

Contrast that to me ordering a new full suss back in November last year. Was expected to get it in January. I eventually picked it up in May, however, they called me every two weeks with an update, explained the situation and offered alternatives. I was totally happy to wait

Yip, the level of customer service is vital in these times. I spend my days with this type of comms to our customers. We’re running out of alternatives, fast.

I wanted to get a new bike, or at least a new frame/fork this year, but just going to wait another year now.

It will get worse. I work for a big German Automation company, and we were told in a sales meeting on Monday that they expect this to run well into 2022. That terrible communication you’re getting from the bike company, well we get that from our suppliers, some haven’t answered calls and emails for weeks and months. This applies to components, raw materials, packaging etc. It’s an absolute mess right now and there is no light at the end of the very long tunnel, yet.

@verses Feel your pain. Our 8 months old cocker is exactly the same. It’s a full time stressful job. I’m waiting for the nice parts of dog ownership.

I’ve already thought about how I’m going to get the bike into position. I’ll just have to lean the bike like I already do as I have a ground anchor pretty close to the wall. I also have bar end mirrors on the bike now, so it doesn’t sit as tall is it shows in the photo above. Reclaiming old materials is a good shout, I’ll have a look around.

Extending the shed is way beyond my capabilities. And the shed is currently full, no space for any of my bicycles never mind a motorbike.

Thanks! I’m up in Manchester, so quite a bit away. I’m sure I can scrounge a few tools of friends.

I’m preparing myself for the small amount of timber to be quite expensive!

Came here to see the comments about Northern Ireland. I’m not disappointed.

A fair statement

Perhaps, but maybe for a fairly decent rider who has the skillset. Believe me, I’ve ridden the golfie very slowly, and if I try to slow to a snails pace to get down a steep tight section for example, I’m going down. I had this exact experience on No Social. I spent 50% of it on my arse as it was so steep I was just trying to go as slow as I could.

Ridden all the Golfie trails last few years find them too tame/easy now !!

Are you Richie Rude?

I genuinely looked for our fixture in the Europa league and then promptly remembered we’re not in Europe. The joys of being an Arsenal fan. I’m glad I’m just a football fan and do like watching many other games!

I’m still recovering from my mostly unknown knee injury. Finally after 5/6 weeks the pain has gone and I can now start to strengthen again. Let’s see how it goes. I’ve said many times I’m done with running, but at times I do miss it, especially running in the hills.

I’m just so stressed about getting this injury back after never having knee injuries before. I still have to manage my back pain, but that is much less of issue these days thankfully.

QRA, most likely. Normal ops wouldn’t break the sound barrier.

Maybe take it as an opportunity to not use the internet?

I turned it off after 10 minutes, but then I knew the result at that point.

I keep trying to stick with F1 but keep getting easily distracted. I think Max will be world champion this year, he really has the right car under him now and Merc are lagging ever so slightly. Next year though….I’m very interested to see that goes with the new cars and regs.

it can really ruin your quality of life

Very much so. When you can’t relax in your own home, that really has an impact.

Really feel for you sharkattack. I am going though something similar, and have been for a few years since I got a bike stolen from this property. We have had lots of issues with youths, and it continues to this day. I hate where I live. I’m very close to moving out, just to help my mental health. I hope you can find some peace with it all in the end.

I thought Snowdon was a massive disappointment when I did it a few years ago. Views were nice though.

Having just gone through similar, it seems that a new valve (Rimpact MTB) has done the job. It has lost a very small amount of air, but all my tyres do as they live in a warm house. If you haven’t had any luck with valves, I’d say it is the tape.

My tape was 30mm on a 29mm internal width rim. There were plenty of very small air pockets (in the dip of the rim were it is curved) but it seems to have bonded really well. I overlapped by about 6 inches and started opposite the valve hole.

I’ve been awake since it happened and I’m absolutely shattered

When I got my bike stolen 5 years ago I didn’t sleep for 48 hours.

Hopefully you get a good outcome from this.

Less worry over the actual virus, and more reluctant due to not being social much over the last 18 months. Far too anxious to be in a big crowd these days.

I always find these ‘beginner’ videos extremely difficult. It expects a certain level of flexibility which some people like me, don’t have. I can’t do most of the stretches correctly or at all in that first video.

Final update, hopefully. Apologies, I know this is very boring.

Both wheels sorted and seem to be holding up. Replaced the valve in my Nukeproof wheel to one of the Rimpact type and haven’t lost any pressure over the weekend so it was definitely the valve. Doesn’t look to be any damage to the Nukeproof one, but either way it seems to be sorted now thankfully. Thanks for all the replies and advice.

Okay, so tyre now fitted. I discovered yesterday I’d ran out of co2 cartridges so had to get a couple. I didn’t use fairy liquid this time, I usually do. I used a small round fine file to do the valve hole, worked pretty well and have removed all the excess tape. So, it didn’t seat quite right the first time, but the co2 only gave me about 20psi, so an extra 15psi sorted it out. Now to leave it and see how it goes. Might go for a quick spin around the block later.

I’ve also ordered a pair of the Rimpact tubeless valves, they are due by the end of this week.

I’m perplexed as their vaccine rate is similar to ours I believe

Waning immunity? New variant?

Enjoy the last portion of summer while you can.

Ride a mountain bike.

Nooooooooooo! Whhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyy! Noooooooooooooo! AAAAhhhhhhhhhh!

I see what you did there.

This is really sad, I knew he had been ill over recent years. I’ve always liked him, his early days on 8 out of 10 cats are brilliant.

We’ve had 2 in 2 days. One was huge. I f*#king hate spiders.