Why go wider? As someone with the wingspan of an albatross I’m finding my 760 wide bars fine and dandy and occasionally stopping me getting through the occasional tree gap.
What do you think another 3cm is going to give you on those open moors?

Whilst his riding cannot be faulted, I thought it was a bit of a depressing backdrop. The drinking Red Bull bit made it feel like a really crass piece of product placement. I know Red Bull pay for it etc, but that shot was almost a turn-off moment.

Reduce consumption first, then go for an energy source that is the most reliant. There is no point in lashing loads of shiny things on the roof when any savings you might be making are just going out through the walls/roof/windows/cracks.
Shading will nack solar generation if it is not properly accounted for and designed around, if it can be.
As you said South Lakes, is it within the NP and subject to any restrictions?

Juicing? No way – my life is too short for that.
Putting fresh stuff in a blender with other stuff? Yup. Breakfast and / or post-ride smoothie with spinach and kale thrown in for extra greenery along side the bananas and frozen fruit.

You need better solar panels than you want to spend the money on to get a decent charge in the UK. Far cheaper to look at how many charges you think you need, add them up and look for a battery that roughly matches that.

Just get a bigger battery, not from Amazon if you can help it, but this is well rated, WAY bigger than you picked and rather better priced:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/10000mAh-Portable-Dual-Port-Thunderbolt-Incredible-Black/dp/B0063AAIRG

we know where this is going to end up, don’t we

A really detailed, graph-laden but energy efficient homebrew setup to be able to afford 12 pints a night? Win!

That’s the thing I’ve missed most this week. Pork pies. The ‘mericans just don’t understand them :cry:

Oy. Fatty.

I have also been avoiding riding etc with real life, comfy sofas and excuses. I rode with a much fitter friend on trails he knows backwards and got my arse handed to me on a plate. My lungs felt like rejected transplants and it was the wake up call I needed.
Ride, fatboy, ride!

I used blackcircles for the last 8 years and they were always cheaper than anyone else for the tyres I wanted (Volvo V50). I checked around every time and blackcircles were tens of pounds cheaper and the local garages in their network (I used several, moved a few times) were all excellent. I would have no loyalty if the tyres I wanted were cheaper elsewhere, but they never were.

My mates who surfed up there were in 5mm all year round.
Have a look at Snugg wetsuits. British made, great quality, fantastic service and generally tip top.

Find a dehydrator and make your own jerky. You need the dehydration for it to work properly and it is V easy once you have the right kit. I had one for years and made loads of beef jerky, dried fruits & veg when they were on sale etc.
Biltong is a different beast with the vinegar curing. As said above, a biltong box is pretty easy to make and use.

What they said. Skype from your own or free wifi and it is pence. I call transatlantic regularly and wouldn’t do it any other way.

There you go. Simple enough?

I sent my missus to stay in the Midland Hotel because she loves art deco and needed a break for a couple of nights. She loved it more than anywhere else she has stayed, so I’ll second the recommendation up there.

That is an untouched photo. Just very ‘LOOK AT ME’ and therefore good for advertising.

I now live in Richmond VA.

There’s more to energy than just volts and amps coming out of a plug socket.

Correct – so share your knowledge.

We do need to get towards more electrical energy to reduce carbon in energy. IIRC the Zero Carbon Britain report looked at de-carbonizing transport ie all electric vehicles (assuming the vehicle tech was there). It would require something like 3 times the electricity that the current grid carries. But the current grid probably won’t be the grid of the future.

In this context whatever we do is frankly p***ing into the gale.

So do we do nothing, or do we get on the high ground then sell them the more efficient tech we’ve developed?

Pumped storage is good, but there are not that many sites available in the UK any more.
Salt flow batteries are getting quite interesting. Cheaper materials than current chemistry, scaled up to the size of ISO containers to give really big dispersed storage. Couple that with dispersed generation and you start to get a grid of the future.

it would be smart to change our lives so they fit the resources that are available to us

That’s exactly what the energy companies have wanted for years and will achieve using smart metering. They want the morning and even ing peaks shaved because a nice steady base load that doesn’t fluctuate is far easier and cheaper to provide. The increased granularity of smart metering will take a fairly blunt style of Economy 7 and vary the cost of electricity down to a minute by minute basis. They will charge more for it between 6 and 9am and 5 and 8pm, driving consumers away from those times.

Boozed up? Was he drunk?
I reeeeeallly hate to be Mr Picky here, but drinking lager whilst driving does not equate to being drunk whilst driving. It might be a reasonable indicator, but I can drink alcohol and pass a breathalizer test after a can.

I’ve met him! We had The Rollins Band and the Beastie Boys touring together. My mate knew Henry’s tour manager and was asked to take Henry weight training before the gig. A very intense bloke but nice. I can recommend ‘Get in the van’ as a spoken word collection by him.

Oh. Look. An engineer has over-engineered a ring. I wonder which bicycle-related company will recruit him to design the next new thing?

twinw4ll – I cannot imagine the risks you perceive in the acts of riding a bike or crossing a road.

If it’s a workshop, why not just use the concrete slab as the floor?

I used to have a 5 mile commute, tried both and preferred the load on my back rather than on the bike. It’s a personal thing and you need to try it for yourself. If you want really waterproof, Ortlieb panniers or I have their messenger bag (it’s a rucsack). I sweat anyway, so a sweaty back was no issue.
I liked having my bike feel like my bike and gym kit won’t feel much different to a Camelbak with enough water for a long day.

At least he’ll get some nice views of the aircraft going in and out of the airport. They stop flying at about 10pm I think!

Have you got your house as well insulated and draught-free as possible? You should always get that as sorted as possible before going anywhere near any roof bling or the like. Max out your insulation, seal up the cracks and gaps that allow cold in and heat out. You’ll get more return for the money spent than anything else.

I won’t post a picture of my bike again, but it’s a good fit for me.

My point being that you shouldn’t get fixated on the idea of needing a huge frame. Try and see what works for you.

Most tall people have probably never ridden a bike that is actually too big for them, so most tall people don’t know what really fits them. They just go on what they can get and think it fits them. This thread is evidence. I thought my Scott Genius was an awesome bike and fitted well, until I got my OnOne Scandal and found out how much better a bike could be. My Turner Sultan was a further revelation.

The smaller frames and long stems and seatposts just add flex to your ride.

I’ve found I like the saddle far back so a bigger frame would have had that the same and I’d have had a different position along the bike

You need a bike with a different geometry then. You’re forcing that one to fit despite the geometry.

Lenovo are what were IBM Thinkpads – solid manufacturer.

I’d seriously recommend an external monitor over a bigger screen if that fits your needs. I have a 2 screen setup at home with the 23″ monitor at eye level above and behind the laptop. It is a delight to use and big monitors are getting so cheap now. I can use the laptop anywhere but the luxury of the big screen at home is well worth it.

I’ve just bought one of these as a small business laptop
http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/edge-series/e540/%5B/url%5D
Even if this were a ‘play’ laptop I’d be very happy. The keyboard is better than most all out there, build quality better than most things you’d get in PC World / Currys for the same price and just a good, well-priced machine. The move from 7 to 8 was a bit time consuming but no hassle. Going to 8.1 was a doddle.

I’d recommend everyone reading the link that waswaswas put up from the Cycling Embassy. It’s a pretty good summary of why the Sustrans guidance isn’t very good.

Remember to take both sizes of spare inner tubes.

As long as he has 26 he’ll be fine. They work in 29er tyres.

The cheap tat that some people buy in the US is amazing – it wouldn’t sell here.

I bet it would. If people had a shorter life expectancy of the house I reckon they would buy them at the price. I’m in the process of buying a house here in the US and, while it isn’t a UK house, it isn’t bad at all for what I’m paying and will see me out if we decide to stay in it.

this is just the entry level stuff…

Yup. Knew that website too :oops:

I got one from eBay. Just did my research on companies with good feedback, UK based and a long history. It’s been fine for 2 years so far.

airplane

Your search turned up nada because you used the wrong word.

The reason it’s cheaper to do it less well is that it takes less time, and you can employ less people do finish the houses, of course.

If the construction industry grasped prefab properly they could get far higher standards at the same cost and a lot less time on site.
It is a conservative industry and unfortunately, legislation largely supports it. Houses are given permission on how they look over how they perform is one example. Building is largely inward-looking and only meets the minimum standards rather than aspiring to better and making that a feature of the house.

They probably can’t, you know. Most people can’t, they just think they can and have been doing it wrong for years.

I don’t know what’s sadder. You posting that or me knowing exactly what you are talking about :cry:

I think state parks are forests with lakes by law! Pocahontas SP is only a few miles from Richmond.

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/pocahontas.shtml

The camping cabins are OK – bunks are narrow but they have electricity and ceiling fans to keep the air moving. The pool complex in the park is great, especially for little kids – my then 3 year old loved it last year and will love it again this year.
Douthat SP would be on your route to Richmond. We’ve not been yet but it is very well rated by all who have been. You are out in the hills there and it is far more remote than the likes of Pocahontas.

I don’t know what your interests as a family are. Richmond was voted Best River City in the USA last year for it’s river sports. It’s got a hip edge to it, a great state park on the edge. I think it’s the most tattooed city in the USA as well!

Do take the weather into your plans. The East coast gets hot and humid in the summer and that sticky heat can be unbearable and just saps your energy. I’m not a fan of the heat but the other 3 seasons make up for it here. There are plenty things to do in Richmond (mountain biking, white water rafting, SUP, kayaking etc) and that’s all downtown! There are festivals every weekend, Virginia Beach is 100 miles away, DC is 100 miles North of here (with viable trains as an option) and the mountains are 100 miles away.

http://www.visitrichmondva.com/%5B/url%5D

In summary – a great city to visit, loads to see and do, but I would not recommend that visit in the middle of summer.

It shows they haven’t got a girlfriend, much like the ability to trackstand demonstrates.

I live in Richmond.

As with everything in the USA, it depends on what you want but mostly on where you are. If you were in CA I’d say too far, but if you were in PA I’d say go for it.

VA is a big place. It depends where in VA your relative is and where you’d be wanting to go on to. Just looking at the map, Green Bay to Richmond would be 1000 miles and the first 700 of them would not be very exciting at all. Green Bay to Bounder CO would be 1100 miles through some of the least interesting parts of the USA.
Why do you want to do these trips?

Anti fatigue mat.

It’s what they are actually designed for. Or you could bodge something else as an answer, for that is the stw way.