Knock knock Penny, knock knock Penny…too right !!

Many many moons ago, like in 1981, The Strathallan Collection of historic aircraft was sold off by Coys.

The auctioneer flew himself in.

In his own Spitfire !

Pure class !

Still have my sale catalogue.

So, your doing say 15mph with a 15mph tailwind……ah, i forsee a problem.

Babel Fish of course.

By far the most amusing house name i pass on my local roads is…

http://www.geolocation.ws/v/W/4d5ab61d1d41c86ece070103/spunkie-cottage–roadside-cottage-near/en

Next weeks looks like a budget job.

Well like the budget for the Edinburgh Trams !

Personally i would welcome a bit more technical info during the builds. Used to be much more informative about innovative techniques or indeed traditional methods such as cob walls and such.

Keep meaning to go see some more of the houses from earlier series. So far only seen the Loch House at Killearn, the purple shingled one in Balfron and the oak framed longhouse at Innellan. Would not say no to any of them.

Use a longer hook that will reach the head tube. You will need something to prevent the front wheel from moving laterally.

Took today off for a darkside run down to Portencross.

Would have got back quite quickly ! But it is just silly windy. Tad damp too.

Bet it is quite exciting sea wise down there.

There is a programme called “Holmes on homes” which is Canadian based.

They frequently use a spray-on expanding foam (bright blue stuff) for the underside of roofs etc. Obviously it does need enough access for the lance but nails are not a problem.

Given Canadian winter temps it must be very effective.

Now the catch. I have not a clue if it’s available here or meets UK building regs.

TomB, The likes of B&Q do flooring boards with high density foam bonded to the underside. Or you could use something like kingspan or other rigid foam boards and re-lay the flooring boards over it.
The foam should be ok as the load where it sits on the beams is well distributed.

I too am in the damp west of Scotland. Have decided not to go for CWI despite the cheapness. The houses in my estate have frankly terrible roughcast so there is no chance the walls are completely watertight.

Neighbours who have had it done have not yet reported any dampness but also have noticed no decernible difference in internal heat levels or reduction in energy usage. Mind you, the last two winters have been brutal.

I reinsulated my attic. Usual story of hardly two inches of loose fill. Now at least 400mm deep cross laid rockwool. Made a huge difference, especially noticable upstairs.

B&Q are doing rolls of recycled plastic bottle insulation for £3 each. That’s so cheap you would have to be daft not to buy some.

I do think that having a good check for draughts on a windy day and doing someting about it makes a very worthwhile difference. Ok, your not going to achieve Passivhaus levels but it all adds up.

Riding into Glasgow one morning a lady in a corsa passed me and nearly shaved off my elbow hair. My exclamation appeared to not be noticed.

She turned up the next side street. Knowing she would almost certainly be stopped at the next set of lights i set off after her to “have a little chat”.

Just as she gets to the lights a Vectra pulls across in front of her and she stuffs the Corsa right into its flank !

I believe my words were “KARMA YA BI’ATCH !!”

Althepal, the bridge to nowhere in Glasgow is the one that crosses above the M8 at the Charing Cross underpass.It now has a brown office block built on it.

Apparently it was never meant to be a road bridge but was intended to be the base for an office development. It sat unused for over 20 years.

There is a footbridge, level with the Hilton, that is also known as the bridge to nowhere. Wiki says that Sustrans hope to finish the bridge as part of an easier access route to the west end of the city centre. Danny MacAskill jumped off it in the S1 jobs.com advert.

Get back up it with the bike pronto !

Pick a decent day. Slog up the hill ( i fully agree it’s a pain of a push up) and ride back down.

You will manage it. And you will feel good about it too.

Then move forwards.

p.s. If my 16st, 45 year old body can get 38lb of bike up it, with only one fall on the way down, then you will be fine.

The Tak ma Doon is a bit of a brake tester. Well on the way down ! More of a max heart rate job on the way up.

Using Ashima things myself just now. Got them free and they are not too bad. Do miss my 8″ rotors when out on the road bike !

“It’s only a cyclist, nothing important !”

Noticed two other cars were in a collision afterwards. One driven by a 74 year old. The cynical may speculate that someone stopped to assist and were rear-ended ?

Did it the other way round years ago on a touring bike. Piece of cake on a MTB.

Inversnaid north is another matter.

It was excellent. Just annoying it’s not on on-demand to watch it again. The final sequence was superb.

Had to do a wee bit of fileing of the splines when i removed the steel cassette i initially ran on my Pro2 hub.

Replaced it with an alloy bodied Sram PG990 cassette which solves the problem.

Stoner, its not the rain we are worried about up here.

According to Metcheck, the wind on wednesday will be from the southwest, blowing slightly strongly, at about 245 mph !

Ach well, its a good tail wind on the way home !

Just outside Uplawmoor near Glasgow is a house called….

SPUNKIE !!

Had to point it out to the dark side bunch the other night.

Think it is on an old map i have so at least a hundred years old.

It may come to drilling the head off the crank bolt to possibly get the crank off.

You may have to resort to something like a balljoint splitter (Fork style), to remove the crank. Of course you would have to protect the frame/crank with some scrap sheet metal etc.

I recently tried to remove BB cups with an 18″ breaker bar, the wrong way. (without breaking anything) so your excused a slagging from me.

Bunch of us doing a weekend there in Sept.

Road bike around the island then a trip up Goat Fell.

Really has to be done with the MTB’S.

Managed Ben Lomond fine so should be a doddle.

Molgrips, it’s a tricky question to say if the childs head will land in the correct area of the Airbag. Also the positioning of the diagonal strap will have a major bearing on where the head lands in the airbag.

Obviously, if the childs head lands on the edge of the airbag then it will be subject to a rotational force. Not something that is likely to have a good outcome.

The question of whether the childs head will actually move forwards enough to reach the airbag depends on several factors such as decelerative force, slack in the seatbelt and the individual design of the car etc.

From personal experience in motorsport i can say that even with 6 point harnesses, fully tightened, it is scary how far the head moves forwards in an impact.

Perhaps we need to fit all kids with a HANS system ? Not really practical though.

US airbags are generally larger than european ones. This is a tacit admission by US manufacturers/regulators that many of the owners don’t wear a belt at all !

Group of us were meant to do an ascent on friday night but cancelled due to pants weather.

We will have a go soon. I did it last August in daylight. Brilliant descent.

Bo-b !

Have read about 15 of the Discworld books and two weeks ago a colleague gave me all the rest of them on loan. Just as well i’m on holiday at the moment.

Favourites are Reaper Man, Going Postal and Guards! Guards!.

Like Commander Vimes, DEATH, Susan Sto Helit and any of the Igor’s. And of course Captain Carrot (who does’nt ?).

I like the idea of the little aerodynamic wing things to keep it pointing straight ahead.

New Mercs don’t have a dipstick either. The logic of this escapes me.

Overfilling is not a good idea. Can lead to all kinds of problems.

If in doubt then the drain it and refill with the correct amount is the safest way to be sure. It will also give confirmation that the sensor is reading correctly (or otherwise).

Same here. I always shake the bottle before use and nowadays it comes out all frothy and milky (titter ye not !!).

Maybe a formula change i think.

I stay just south of Glasgow and they are clearly visible from here.

Cheers for the heads-up.

A pair of Time ATAC pedals. With Cleats and bolts all safely tied inside a freezer bag.

Were in the hut, not there now. Searched everywhere.

Have a niggling feeling they may have fallen in the hut bin and been later dumped in the wheelie bin.

Very annoying as the set on the bike are now wearing out.

To have enough energy left it would really have to be the road bike unless your uber fit.

Planning a night ascent, see in the dawn and ride back down in the early morning. That will be two Saturdays from now if anyone is interested. About six of us going so far.

BoardingBob, did you not manage some of the flatter sections on the way up ? Usually about a third is ridable on the way up ( at best).

Can ride maybe 90-95% on the way down. Its a superb descent mostly, just some annoyingly narrow bits in places.

Used to work on Strathallan’s Lanc (KB976) which is now in bits at Fantasy of flight in Florida. Doubt i will live to see it fly again.

Would love to see the Two airworthy Lancs in formation. It was meant to happen a couple of years ago but fell through.

Or better yet….two Lancs and the Vulcan in formation….mmmmmm !

Kenda Nevegal Sick-E ??

Ahem.

What really gets on my wick is the geographical descriptions they use.

Like “The Great Pyramid, Giza, Egypt”.

Just as well they said that, i could have confused it with the one in Las Vegas.

Insular springs to mind.

I bought a Trek road bike on impulse. And i have regretted it ever since, every time i see a Bianchi.

Got to be in Celeste as far as i am concerned.

With Campag group set of course.

Roverman, don’t you mean 1 ton of steel and another ton of alloy ?

A nice set of sill bars are great for stopping door bangers in their tracks !

Sadly i have a eurobox, and every single dent in it was not caused by me. Oh i wish i had a landie.

Just about guaranteed to see Red’s when your going round Dalbeattie. Not many grey’s in that area at all.

Now Pine martins are a lot rarer. Only ever seen one and that was up at Rothiemurchas.

My ECU tells me not to buy an auto if you plan on towing !

It also says just get a Landy for your £1500 and job done !

Honestly, the manufacturers just ass cover and make things difficult in the name of advancement. I do hear Mercs don’t even have a dipstick these days. God help owners of one in ten years time.