Just done the kindle sample on Ready Player One and although its 50 years in the future where people spent most of their day in a virtual world online it has got my attention enough to buy the rest of the book.

Ready Player One is great fun.

As you’re aiming for a sub 4 hour (which is exactly what I trained for), I’d strongly recommend following a Hal Higdon training guide
and reading his book

Back on topic, the watch: I found a non-GPS watch with 50 splits most useful. Timex Ironman watch was perfect.

have fun!

Alan Rickman (acting as Hans Gruber) playing Gruber

Take a look at the Gore Phantom 2 jacket. Sleeves are detachable, so you can turn it into a gillet.
It’s rated as a windstopper but holds up well in rain. (although i haven’t used it in really heavy rain)
It doesn’t pack down small.

Just put some decent duct tape over the mesh at the front of the shoes for the winter months.

this: http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51130/Half-Marathon-Training-Guide

mobi portable washer is good.

Judging from your list, I’d recommend The Girl With All The Gifts by M R Carey.

As a fun personal recommendation: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

they’ve cut out … his bloody whinging daughter!

Good. Will continue to watch this then. She was the Jar Jar Binks of the show.

take a look at the offerings in Decathlon.
They also stock spares for their scooters.

Actual Nespresso capsules: no they’re fixed price via Nespresso.

Other brands in compatible capsules, yes.
Quality is varying, so buy some and see how you get on.
Big Cup Little Cup are supposed to be good.
CafePod were bad but are now supposedly better.

Or you can buy a shed load of empty capsules and fill with coffee of your choice. (Too much faff for me)

A lot depend on two main things:
1) Are you going to be climbing Alps etc?
2) Do you prefer cycling with a high cadence on climbs? (lighter riders often do)

If its a yes to the above, then get the biggest cassette you can (32).

I’ve got a compact with a 28 cassette. It’s ok for england but a not great on alps as my cadence drops lower that i want.

in light rain & mist, actually giving your lenses a good soaking from your water bottle works pretty well. Stops misting and gives a coating of water for small droplets to merge into.

“He’s digging deep into his suitcase full of courage”
makes me chuckle every time i hear it 🙂

airhorn </thread>

the cycle superhighway from Tower Bridge to Canary Wharf has a lot of 2-way sections. Generally ok, although slow. Only crosses quiet road junctions without the assistance of traffic lights. This is just as well, as the right of way is either ambiguous or clearly not understood by all.
The only bad parts are
1) joining/leaving the cycle way at one end with is an uncontrolled cycleway/road/footpath mess.
2) the special bit where the 2 ways cycle way switches from one side of the road to the other, while also reversing the directions of the cycle lanes! It’s like road planning meets Scaletrix

Etherwood – Etherwood (late last year)
Melodic/chilled drum and base.

Nunn are great.

+1

Another vote for nesquick (strawberry preferred here).
Also try and grab some cheese on toast. Have plenty of veg with your evening meal.

Recovery drinks are totally over priced and only really worth it for convenience. Eg. You’re stuck in a car park after a ride and just need to grab something quick.

my household had it 6 weeks ago. grim but over pretty quickly.
having two young children throwing up everywhere didnt help!

To get rid of it quickly, make sure that you wash your hands a lot. Re-infection is very easy. Drink lots of water. Using dehydration tables (eg Nuun) is good. Avoid eating dairy or hard to digest foods.

Me and friends use our mtb armour for snowboarding and that works fine. BTW its mostly reasonably lightweight 661 stuff.

The PlanetX carbon bikes are excellent for about a grand.
As for gears: compact with 28 on the back will be ok for the uk.
If you’re planning on going to the alps etc then go for the SRAM climbing kit.
If you prefer to sit and spin up climbs then follow the above.
Most road bikes are over geared for most weekend, non-competitive riders.

42km each way. Redhill to Canary Wharf.

Only do it about once per week if the weather is dry.

Really quite enjoy it as it is an occasional commute and gets me away from the train. Nice quiet back roads until Coulsdon. Then into traffic. Not too bad as long as I remember not to get too angry and just flow along with the traffic.

Utterly tedious amount of traffic lights though.

While not the greatest training, it certainly lets me clock up some miles in an otherwise dead time on tube/train. Also frees up some weekend time as I feel less pressured to put some miles in.

OP: it depends on your level of riding. i.e. how competent you are and how hard you want to push it.
Personally, I’d go for arms, legs and normal/xc helmet.
While I’ve not ridden the actual PPDS I’ve ridden the area and done 80km+ self organised day trips in the area that follow similar routes to the PPDS.
I’d view PPDS as a lift assisted mountain tour ridden at a decent, but within yourself, pace. It’s a great way to learn the area. The flat out riding should really be left to another day when the trails are less crowded.

i’m liking that presley/damnbusters/tutankhamun clock thing. Much better than all of the genuine stuff on sale.

not a biography, but this is excellent:
The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro

Does anyone use a SAD lamp? Does it work?

Another yes and yes. Although some of the effect may well be a placebo. Quite frankly it’s hard to tell but it seems to work, so i’m happy with that.

And don’t bother with the daylight bulbs in a normal light fitting – completely useless and quite unpleasant light IMO.

These don’t help a great deal for SAD but i really like them when working at home (on a computer) on dark days/months. Seems to lessen eye strain.

Read Hal Hidgon’s Ultimate Marathon Book (it’s called something like that). Excellent and covers everything you need to know.
Then follow one of his training plans here: http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51135/Marathon-Training-Guide

That really is all you need to know.

I’ve got a HP Photosmart Plus. Works well. Uses an app on the iPad.

(Haven’t looked at the list on the Apple website)

Another vote for Nesquick (strawberry) and milk.

Klipsh s4i – were reduced to about £40 on amazon a month ago when i got some.
Come with 4 diff size ear buds and remote control buttons.

before you get rid of any bikes that you’d like to keep. Fit a shorter stem and put more air in the fork. This should take some pressure off your back.

I bought a new mtb from Evans about 10 years ago. The rear disc brake housing detached from the frame on its first ride. That was disappointing. I didn’t realise that i should’ve raise this potential “Gross Negligence Manslaughter” issue higher at the time.

Put it down to bad luck and bad quality of service.

Took bike back to Evans. They apologised, found some replacement bolts and refitted brake.

I left and resolved to never use Evans for any servicing/repairs in the future, and also to check the bolts on my bike more often.

Alternatively, my recommendation would be Highland Park – a little bit of smoke and lots of heathery stuff. I can’t stand Laphroaig, personally.

+1

Seeing your list, I’d also recommend the Glenkinchie (esp the Distiller’s edition if you can find one in your price range).

thanks all

Another RnR Extreme

I vaguely recall this being the case very rarely and a while ago. I think that it may have been for a champions league match. Seems ok for prem matches.
Worth checking further if this is a big issue for you. The SONOS forum and online support team are very good. Try asking on there.

BTW, a not so great work around is to plug a portable DAB into a SONOS box, it’ll autoplay an aux connection and spray it around the house (useful for podcasts stored on iphone).

Good idea. Signed and sent link to friends.

IMHO the CaféPods aren’t quite ready for primetime.

+1 I’ve tried two of the CafePod offerings. I will not be buying any more.

yep, it’s fine for topping air up. we dont own a foot pump