Keeping an eye on it. Good to see there is an update. I’m running a mid spec PC (5600X/3060) so I might be okay. I’m not a fan of the UE.

I pay 7.5p/kWh, compared to 32p/kWh on most standard tariffs

And what do you pay during the day? I’ve had trouble getting an EV tariff out of EON, but that’s not surprise given their track record on customer service. I’m debating getting one for my PHEV.

It’s this for me. Used in the Redbull ad back in 2013. Gets me every single time. Closely followed by Nimrod, Elgar.

I’m an Arsenal fan, but a very pragmatic one. The nonsense around Bruno/Havertz is just that, nonsense. We didn’t create anywhere near enough. I think we have a better team, slightly, than last year, but we aren’t getting the results. I’ve been slagged off by other Arsenal fans for suggesting we will struggle to finish top 4, but I honestly think that’s where we are at. Last season we had the wind in our sails but stumbled at the end. Look how many results we just about nicked last year. It’s not happening this year.

You boys are machines. I’ve just restarted Zwift. Did an hour last night, mostly Z2 and averaged about 130w. It was a random Watopia ride and the few sprints I did that lasted 30-40 seconds, I couldn’t manage anything more than 450w for that time. Going to be a long hard winter if I’m to get fitter and stronger.

I’ve known a few fellas like him. There’s no talking to them, just leave them be and hope nobody gets hurt. He’s in his own little bubble.

First comment reply on this one is interesting….

Another great video by Harry.

I’ve got a build date of my Octavia PHEV which is actually this week, so hopefully deivery is end of Nov/early Dec. Looking forward to using it and seeing what the benefits will be. It’s mostly for the tax benefits as it’s a company car but my average work journey is maybe around 80 mile round trip (not every day, visiting customers in different locations). It will be interesting to see what the overall running costs are. Has anyone here with a PHEV moved to an EV tariff at home?

sounds like he’s going faster now

Yea, but alpin says he’s a bimbler, so….

Yea, most days. And I’m still working. With about 25 years to go. Zero motivation. Zero enthusiasm. Sunday nights are a disaster, I know how my days will pan out in the coming week. I’d pack it all in tomorrow but I can’t afford too.

Interesting thread. I can’t tell much difference. I remember everyone talked about HR’s killing people. Can’t say I ever noticed. I didn’t die. The only time I felt a difference was my previous Giant Reign came with standard Hans Dampfs on it. They were brutal, zero grip on rock. They actually felt dangerous to me. Got rid. I can tell a little bit of difference in big enough pressure changes.

There’s some on the new-build estate they’re building near me at the moment. 4 bedroom, small garden, carport (not even a garage! although at least there’s 1 off-street space I guess) for £640k 😂 Meanwhile just down the road a 90s 4-bed detached in a quiet cul-de-sac with a big garden can be had for £125k less. Who said new-builds were cheap again??

Well it’s all relative isn’t it? I paid much less than your ‘£125k less’ house for 4 beds, garage, and a decent back garden. And looking on rightmove, there’s plenty of older 4 bed houses around here for not that much less than the equivalent new build, which is realistic to me. As all the above posts have stated, depends what you want.

Well believe it or not my knee has improved quite a bit over the last month or two. I’ve managed a couple of fairly gentle trail runs, 4 ish miles, 500-800ft of climbing. I’m still getting the odd tightness or sharp pain, but much more manageable.

On the flat, my natural pace is about 1 1/2 minutes per mile off what I used to be. So I have a very long way to go if I wanted to be as quick as I was. Not sure I feel the speed will ever return.

On the parking issues, our development is pretty good. We have a good sized drive, although not overly deep, but we could fit 3 cars side by side on ours. We’re currently waiting for the road to be finished, been notified it’s happening next month which should finish it off nicely.

We’ve struck lucky with great friendly neighbours too.

Yip. My last two have been new builds. First one was owned by my girlfriend. It was fine, but some of the quality of the finish was really poor. Was quite the snag list. Current house we have been in over a year now, much better. Built by Jones Homes. Okay, not perfect, but nothing jumped out as terrible other than the rear lawn. Ongoing issue, but it’s the only one. There some negatives. You don’t get much space around your home. It’s all about cramming in as many homes as they can.

There will be many many opinions on new builds, the chaos they cause to the local towns and environment, the awful quality overall. But hey, everyone’s home was new once. Of course there are horror stories out there. Due some research on the builder, go visit the site if possible. I certainly don’t regret it.

Used to live in Chorlton for 6 years. Didn’t like it much. Very much depends where you live. I was surrounded by scrotes and had bother. Also, cycling from the door is crap.

Been in Congleton over a year now, really like it. Hills to the east, flat to the west. Small enough place, and we live in a quiet area. Salford would be doable in 40 minutes.

I was very tempted to change my previous gen mmmbop (which I only bought in April this year) to a bluepig, but I’ll stick with my bop. At least I got it when everything was discounted first time around at £1k. I’m 6ft 1″ with a long reach and the 480mm on the XL is just perfect for me. It’s a very playful bike, if a touch harsh.

Anyone with a brand-x dropper, mine has a lot of side to side play, is this normal?

Ragley mmmbop by Colin[/url], on Flickr

I am also sh1t on a bike. I blame, er, me. I’m really good at cleaning them though.

Oof, shots fired.

Out on the roads yesterday around the Goyt Valley etc, so much run off from the surrounding hills, and so much of it in places I’ve never seen before. Lots of gravel and soil has been left on the roads, was a bit spicy on two wheels at times.

What’s that saying, life begins at 40? Lying bastards.

Hasn’t stopped raining.

This is what Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the nutters in Iran all want

I must admit, I know that this is very difficult and complex, but I don’t understand what they want exactly? My mind can’t comprehend what is going on, much like what has/is happening in Ukraine. The world really is in a very perilous state right now.

So, what is the worst case scenario here?

Interesting thread. I’m still learning. Born and raised in a protetsant estate in Belfast, only left 9 years ago to come to this kip. Only a protestant by the fact my family were. I’m not religious, I hate it. Granted, it was a war of occupation.

I have family members that were involved in the forces, in various ways. I recently learnt for example, that one of my grandas was forced out of thier family home for being a policeman in the RUC. A protestant removed from a protestant estate. I had an uncle who’s house was petrol bombed. My dad was almost murdered walking home from seeing my mum one night in the 70’s. It’s a very complex issue that I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand. Thankfully, I grew up without hatred. I even managed a 6 year relationship with a girl from West Belfast. Our families had no issues. I wonder sometimes if how I viewed it all has shaped me more than I think. I remember vividly thr Omagh Bombing, the Shankhill bombing. Gazelles constantly overhead, every day, every night. Sitting having your dinner watching a Army have a nosey down your alleyway, and the next day sitting in the back of a landrover looking through their rifle scope, as kids.

don’t have a house of my own

Well I only got a mortgage for the first time last year, when I was 40.

Somewhat comforting knowing that people are struggling with this mid life thing.

I had a chat with someone the other day who couldn’t believe I never ever look beyond today. I can never think about the future, or think about planning goals, or whatever. All that positive type behaviour has been suppressed for so many years it just doesn’t exist any more. All I see is a decline in health ahead of me, particularly when it comes to physical activity. And when all you could lean on were those things in early life, well, that leaves absolutely **** all squared left.

Maybe I need to buy myself something nice. Not a Porker.

The Stig’s favourite song.

If buying things, then my whole adult life has been a midlife crisis. Thankfully these days, it isn’t filling me with debt.

On the mental health thing, well, it’s been a crisis since my early 20’s and is getting worse. I turned 41 on Monday, and I remember once thinking I’d be dead by 40.

The real dread is setting in, I really struggle with the short amounts of daylight. I love an Autumn day in the sun, but outside of that I’m anxious over the approaching winter months.

Well I had my money on City putting 3 or 4 passed us, so I was pleasantly surprised.

I’m reading nothing into it at all, I still think we will finish outside the top 4. I’m sure Citeh will bounce back.

There’s nobody quite like you weeksy :)

Health to ride.

I’m going to restart my Zwift account after 18 months or so away. I’ve lost all my fitness as usual, so this should be fun. Even when I was on if fairly regularly, my FTP was only 215 or so. It’s going to be a long hard winter.

I think we got found out, not for the first time this season, against Lens last night.

I’ve slipped my bet on for this year, to finish 5th and no trophy. We lack squad depth and enough top class players.

I’m on the lookout for a new helmet light. My Mk8 Joystick isn’t lasting any longer.

I have a new Toro for the bar light. The Zenith looks like a beast of a helmet light, maybe the Axis is a nice in between.

Starting to think about another ski holiday next year. Last time, and the last holiday I’ve had, was back in early 2020 just before the pandemic kicked off. However, I’ve got a long term knee injury that needs checked out, so might need an hour on the slope at the chill factor to see if it holds up.

Ibis Ripmo AF: Niche brand, interesting spec (DVO), subtle colour, perfect geometry for me, decent deal from LBS. Right amount of travel, 160/145 29er.
Ragley mmmbop: Great value (-40% of RRP), decent spec

I’ve never bought a bike based on who is riding that brand. I don’t even know the names of any recent Ibis riders. Robin Wallner was the only name that’s rode for Ibis that I know. Sure, you can see that some brands gain traction based on who is riding. When I was starting out, Commencal had the Athertons everywhere.

I’ve not watched much this year, mainly due to not going looking for it, but also it seems that coverage wasn’t popping up in front of me. I still prefer Enduro over DH, simply like others have said, it’s closest to the format that most of us ride.

I caught part of the programme on Saturday night. Watched about half of it. Putting my thoughts on him aside, certainly an uncomfortable watch, but not so surprising.

It’s exploded on a Whatsapp group I’m in, and sitting back listening to mostly men have their opinions, I’m feeling a bit let down. Anyway, a few people I know have gone off on one about about Katherine Ryan, I guess there is a lot going on with her somewhere?

On the Peterson guy, I used to listen to him quite a bit, around 5/6 years ago and could get onboard with some of his methods (his 12 ways to live book sort of time), but since he went balls deep on Twitter/X, he’s lost the run of himself. Once watched an interview he did with Russell Howard where he broke down during it and talked a lot about his drug addiction.

Well, knee rehab V3.0 has been going quite well. I think next week I will start with some jogging/walking to see how the knee holds up with running loads on hard ground.

I can only imagine what my running fitness is like…..

Football. It’s a funny ole game.