@kelvin

Bit of a long story. She is going to spend it with her parents in their own bubble. Her dad is very high risk, COPD and other respiratory issues. I’m happy enough with that. I’m not going as they don’t want my company. So I decided to stay here. However, she has decided that she is going for over a week. Fair enough, her choice, her family, but I’m disappointed.

Will certainly try and make the most of the quiet trials if I can. Planning either a 50km MTB ride or a 100km road bike ride.

@Bunnyhop

Well there are other things I need to talk through with my brother regarding my mum. But anyway, I’m here in Manchester and they are all at home in Belfast. That’s just how it has worked out. I’ll get in touch soon.

I spoke to my dad tonight. He is either having a quiet one with just my mum and her mum, or just Christmas day with my brother and his family. That seems okay, but my mum and dad will be seeing plenty of visits from my nephews as my brother works right up Christmas. That concerns me more I think. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’ll be on my own for a week over Christmas. Not looking forward to it one bit. It’s going to be so hard for many.

Think of it has the end of the third innings of a test series. The fourth innings will be global implementation

I’ve always hated cricket.

2022? Nah, I’m out.

I feel like we’re in a worse position now than we were in March when it all began :(

I’m 6ft 1″ with long arms and a 459mm reach on my Reign. 50mm stem. I’d like to try something a bit longer, but it really does come down to how it feels. The big numbers aren’t everything.

I’m not sure he’d have much fun in my Octavia anyway.

England and NI seeing rises now too, of course. Scotland doing well it seems.

Went for a walk at lunch time at the local water park. It is normally rammed. It was eerily quiet…very odd.

Given we are back to cases rising over the last 5 days, we are already well on the way. Will they change the Christmas rules?

I actually feel less optimistic now over the last few days. Not surprised that our cases have stopped falling now. Good that admissions and deaths are coming down, but it really wont last long.

I’m really pleased to say that I have about £100 in credit card debt. I spent the last 8 years of my life clearing over £10k in cc’s and over £20k in a personal loan. It was a hell of a life lesson. My advice, if you can get them cleared, get them cancelled and cut the cards up!

Had my Giant Reign almost 4 1/2 years now. Still going strong, still feels solid. Maybe still a bit short on reach, but I rarely think about it. Marley hardtail 2 3/4 years and still enjoying that too, although needs a few upgrades. No plans for a new MTB at the moment. Next bike might have an engine (not electric)

Tier 3 here in Manchester as feared. Utterly fed up with it now. Like, it can go **** itself.

Well my girlfriend has confirmed she is going to her parents for a few days, just the 3 of them. I’m not going home so it’s Christmas on my own. I don’t feel comfortable going with her, and her parents aren’t my biggest fans. At least I can go for a bike ride and not have to worry about burning the turkey.

Haven’t made it out on the road bike for the first proper autumn/winter ride. Mudguards and winter tyres are on. I usually average about 16mph in summer. From memory last winter, it dips below 15. Winter tyres are a real drag. I need some new routes though, I’m doing the same 2/3 every time and it’s getting boring. Don’t mind the cold, or the rain. Hate the wind.

Just been thinking about this recently as a forum I was a member of had their email and password hacked. I’ve changed as many as I could. So, say I have usernames and passwords on half a dozen forums, and then more passwords for things like PayPal etc, how do I go about changing them using a password manager? Is it an automatic thing every time I visit one of those websites?

Well if I do try hard to be optimistic, I’m hoping for a couple of UK trips next year, maybe something in Europe in the Autumn. Had a big group MTB long weekend with friends from home planned for April this year which we moved to next April. Really hope that can happen. Of course, I would like to get home to Belfast as soon as I safely can.

I’m certainly much less optimistic than 90% of people. Maybe something that resembles our previous social lives by 2022. Next year will be tough, I don’t think we will see light at the end of the tunnel until summer time and even then, we will only be starting to relax. The real truth is many of us wont make it to next year and beyond.

I’m like a broken record these days. I’ve been in bed all day so far. Cancelled a walk with a friend and currently lying here with the curtains closed.

I’m the same. L5/S1, twice. Never had surgery. Second time around the sciatica was worse. Was booked in for surgery and one day I woke up and most of the pain was gone. Went to see the surgeon and he told me that he wouldn’t proceed with surgery at that point. It all started in 2017 for me, so it’s taken me just over 3 years to return to almost normal with regards sciatic pain. Some days it will flare up but not last for long. Still have lower back stiffness, but that’s more down to me not doing enough stretching and strengthening.

Good luck.

Oh, let’s make no mistake. No matter what happens, I will be eating turkey.

Well, I live in England but from Northern Ireland. All my family is back there. I wont be going. My partners parents are both very high risk, so she will potentially have a Christmas get together with just them before the 25th. So, in summary for me, Christmas can do one. As for everyone else, well I just don’t know. I fully expect this current lockdown level to be extended. If I put my optimistic hat on, maybe back to the old teir system we had before. And hopefully my motorbike tests wont be cancelled again. Pretty sad when the only thing you have going on in your life is a bloody motorbike test! Will 4-6 days of freedom be deadly in the long run? Hard to tell. I’m sure PHE or whoever has been modelling all this.

Shameless video plug. This is the first time I rode the bash. I don’t know any of the place names anyone has mentioned. Can anyone identify them from my video? This was back in 2016.

Apologies for the old school GoPro shake, this was an old Hero 4!

The Bash. A tale of two halves. First half is great, the big descent down to the road/river/bridge is great. The rest is poor IMO.

So I got the ride done yesterday. Worked out really well with only the odd wrong turn. Paths out to Marple were fairly quiet in the morning but it was like a summers day on the way home. It was 41 miles in total, although I’m sure I could increase the loop around Marple if I wanted. It was a really wet day. The rain stayed away but the ground was soaked.

Thanks again to everyone who posted. I almost called it off but glad I made it out in the end.

Just watched the latest Sage report. Really hard to take any positives from it at all. It seems like schools are quite clearly a driver, but I think we have known that for some time. How this can be managed, I have no idea. I’m just going to try and have a chilled out weekend, before I end up hitting the wall again.

Thanks again everyone. Definitely have enough info to put together a couple of route. Yea, Mersey can be hit and miss with conditions.

Thanks everyone. Yes, this is just to get myself out and do some miles.

We’re f*~ked really, let’s be honest here.

Perhaps it is linked to the mass testing in Liverpool, but surely that would have shown up already?

33,470 new cases today. Wow. :(

Yes, it’s a first version 5.5 meta. I had a 2008 Meta 5, and yes…..it cracked. Got a 2010 replacement but sold it soon after. Great bikes, despite the issues.

My girlfriend has a Rhythm 34 on her Liv Pique. I have a 2016 RC Pike on my Reign. The Rhythm definitely has much better small bump sensitivity.

Love my Ragley Marley for winter duties. Maybe a bit more fun orientated on the geometry, and certainly not the lightest. But a great frame and decent spec for the money.

None of that meets your requirements though.

don’t think you’re in Wales?

No, I’m in Manchester. I was actually fairly okay with the tiered system. I got a little bit of freedom with that. I would feel okay if that was what we returned to on 3rd December. I can only hold onto a glimmer of hope for that.

I also had to make a call not to travel back home for Christmas, which is extra tough this year. I will have only got to see my friends and family once this year.

Oh, and regarding the Zwift thing, I don’t have any equipment that I can use to get involved. I tried to get a smart trainer over the summer but nowhere had stock.

Thanks also, Tired. I have welcomed your knowledge, although I confess to not really understanding the science and feel frightened by the numbers. I do get drawn into the news at times, but my own personal battle is very tough at the moment and I find that this virus is certainly the driving factor of it all since March. I’m so naturally pessimistic that I guess you can appreciate my current outlook. Add in the darkness of winter, and it easily overwhelms. I’m putting all my energy into coming across to others as being fine, but I must be honest with myself and admit I really am hanging by a thread.

I’m really sorry to derail the thread in the last 20 minutes, it wasn’t my intention.

Thanks Kelvin, I appreciate the offer. I’m not sure what I can say at the moment, or why I’ve vented here.

Somehow I manage to arrive at this thread when my anxiety about all this is at its worst. I genuinely struggle to see any point in hanging around to see what happens next. Make it to Christmas? Doubt it. I’d end up hating it more than I already do and then having to deal with the start of 2021 still locked down.

I went from clips to flats on my full sus about 4 years ago. Haven’t really regretted it. Still struggle with foot placement sometimes, and I initially had issues with not dropping my heels enough. I think this was just because I had become lazy with being clipped in. I’ve only had a couple of run ins with my pedal pins.

Thanks mate. I’m not sure about used wheels, although I haven’t really looked so far. Just buying new rims might be the cheapest option. Then I just need to decide on tyres….