He’s too big for a LOCT – he’s on a Cnoc 16.
I could bring the tandem with kiddy cranks, but that would limit my planned early morning solo rides!

Cool,
We live on a hill, so he can control his speed OK on the downs & we’re working on the best strategy for the ups at the moment.

We had cavity wall insulation installed a couple of years ago in our 1970s built house and it increased the “first thing in the morning after having the heating off all night” temp by 2 degrees C. It has also reduced the severity of a couple of small damp patches

I had to cut back on my alcohol comsumption last night to ensure I wasn’t over the limit to drive in today, because I still ache from hitting the deck on Wednesdays ice (road bike with slick tyres)

Indirectly, yes – that fact that the OP used Steve peat & Santa Cruz as an example means that they have brand recognition with him thanks to the sponsorship and so he is more likely to add Santa Cruz to his list of bikes to consider should he be in the market for a new DH bike.

Just like I’d now be more likely to consider a trek if I was after an XC whippet bike after I learned that this nice young lady rides one
http://www.singletrackworld.com/2010/12/willow-koerber-joins-trek-world-racing/

Once we have our lists we will then undertake a logical and analytical analysis of the various merits of each bike Vs our own riding requirements and buy the one that’s a nice colour 😉

didn’t think it was gonna be that expensive

I get my daily disposables from here
http://www.visiondirect.co.uk/

recommend you stick with the optician for the first few months at least just to make you’ve got the right ones. My missus has a lense plan that includes regular health checks & sight tests which she thinks is worth the extra cost

If you’re going proper riding outside of the park (compound) then fine.

If you’re solely using your bike as transport around the place then leave it at home. We had a baby in a pram when we visited and just walked around, it ain’t that big if you’re used to using your legs for transport.

I freaked myself out when I was there by pondering the question – is it car free and fenced in to keep them out or to keep us in?
Remember, big brother will be watching you….

Little trb will be trading up from a balance bike to his first pedal bike, so hopefully we’ll be riding, not a long one for me but an epic for him!

An associate (on the way to the rough ride) once closed the M6 by losing a bike rack + 3 bikes in the fast lane!

Finger foods?

Our 8 month old loves munching on a bit of toast between meals – most of it goes on the floor and into the dog, but it keeps her happy

I had a Mk1 225bhp soft top when they were still quite new (X plate). Very nice but too fast for me – I had to be doing 100+ before it got fun. I’d pootle down the motorway and then floor it to go round corners and wrecked the corners of all 4 tyres in no time.

As for being fun to drive, I preferred my old MK2 Golf

The main issues I had with it were my ex-wifes inability to avoid speed cameras, kerbs and lorries

This bike was dirty

LESSON #1 – clean your bike before you take it in – then he wouldn’t have had to use an air hose to clean it enough to work on and then he wouldn’t have removed the flaky paint

Nothing like having a lovely lil baby cwtched up to you and resting their head on your chest

aaaahhhhhhh, I remember those days well, missus in bed to catch some ZZZs before the all night feeding frenzy, Me & the baby doing laps of the town, until she eventually goes to sleep then into the pub for last orders (just don’t still beer on her head). Couple of pints before she wakes up then back home to hand her back to mum

all the good walks near me will require a bit of offroading.

What you need is a Baby Bjorn sling.

For little trb #1 we bought a travel system that did everything and was compromised in vitually all areas
For little trb #2 we bought a city jogger for trips on smooth ground and loading into the back of the car, plus one of these for proper country walks
http://www.babybjorn.com/us/products/baby-carriers/baby-carrier-active/active/

My MIL is OK, mad as a box of frogs, but OK. However if I gave you my opinion on the Father in law, I would get an instant lifetime ban from the mods!

I also happen to know that both of my sister’s husbands consider their MIL to be mental, which I can’t really argue with.

I distrust pubs with too many ales on – a lot don’t get through enough volume and you end up with stale beer euugh.

My favourite normally has 3 ales on, all serve from casks and all brewed on site. They also do 4 pint flagons to take home mmmm.
http://www.radnorarmscoleshill.co.uk/

My 2nd favourite pub has 6 on – 5 of which are guest ales, so you never get the same one twice, which is a bugger when you fancy a pint of that nice one they had last week!

When you get to the top of Gatescarth Pass, carry on down, past Haweswater and then pick up the back lanes to get to Shap, rather than trudge through a bog for hours

I still get reduced to a quivering wreck whenever I see a signpost for Shap after struggling through that bog 10 years ago.

I used to be married to a very successful wife – you will however note the past tense.

Now I’m married to an NHS failure of a mother to my 2 children.
I’m a failure as well.

On the bright side I have just spent so much money on my son’s bike for christmas that my more successful friend think I’m mad – but heh, I’m excited about going riding on christmas morning.

Any physicist will tell you that black absorbs heat where as silver will reflect it. Therefore if you ride on sunny days the black spokes will soak up more of the sun’s energy and be effectively quenched when you ride through a puddle. Repeat this and you will eventually make black spokes brittle and they will snap. The answer is only to ride a bike with black spokes at night.

My cheaper wheels have black spokes and when I’ve snapped a couple I’ve replaced them with silver – although come to think of it I was drunk when I ordered the spare spokes and I couldn’t remember what colour my wheels were and it was awfully dark and cold out in the shed and I couldn’t be bothered to go out and check.

So in conclusion you’ve probably got a poor wheel build.

When I rode in the US, (Moab, Colorado & California) I saw even more On-ones than I do here, they all stay off the trails unless it’s dry and without exception they made jokes about bringing their fenders when they came to visit the UK.

New Zealand on the other hand…….

That has no relevance to the OP, but someone has to agree with TJ, sometimes

We priced one up a few years ago and decided that a day van was best for lugging gear, sheltering from the rain and drinking tea while looking at the view. Money saved can be spent on B&Bs, rooms in pubs & hotels.

The reality? We bought a large estate car.

why do folks go out so early?

Reason 1) To get to work on time
Reason 2) So I can be back in time for lunch with the missus & kids before an actioned packed afternoon of family fun. I’ve been known to get back and get straight into playing with kids duty before I’ve had a chance to shower & change & will still be wearing cycling kit at tea time – 3 year olds don’t seem to mind that their dad’s a bit smelly!

I’ve got a lycra skull cap, can’t remember the brand. Normally OK, but the “frost sink” dip I ride through at about 30mph was at -8 this morning and I needed more!

No loan left on the car

So start saving those monthly payments and when you have enough saved up to buy a new car, buy one. Dip into them for the garage costs as appropriate.

Although I’m currently driving my newest & most expensive cars ever – 4 years old at a cost of 5k. My last 3 cars sold at £105 and £25 respectively, so I feel we exist at opposite ends of the market and you may feel free to ignore my advice 😉

No protection in maternity.
It’s the job that’s being made redundant, not her personally. Being on maternity leave should not count for or against said person.

It’s never been too cold around here, cold enough to freeze my water bottle a few times, but never too cold.
I’ve hit the deck once from black ice but just had a bit of a slide down the road before picking myself up and getting on with it.

WARNING
I switched to the MTB last year when the roads were snowy, which was fine until 2 weeks later when I discovered my drivetrain badly corroded from all the salt that I never washed off – Doh!

You’re probably over 35 and bought a Planet-X because they’re cheap (without thinking about fit) if you never touch the drops…

Have you been in my shed?

I’ve travelled a lot for work so I find airports & airplanes dull and tedious.

We’ve had some very good holidays in the past, road trips across the USA, 4 month cycle tours of NZ etc etc.

The missus wanted to go abroad this year for our annual 2 week holiday – by the time we’d priced everything up and factored in the hassle of travelling with 2 small kids……. We booked a cottage in Wales (close to Brechfa wooooohoooooo)

I spent 15+ years with just a mountain bike and rode thousands of winter road miles quite happily. Then I bought a winter trainer/CX for commuting duties and now I find riding the MTB on road slow and tedious.

So yes, a road bike lets you ride farther and faster and so is more enjoyable, which means you’re likely to do more and get fitter.

I used to only have geared bikes and had a “More gears than ears” sticker and poured scorn on those ridiculous singlespeeders.

Then I built a winter singlespeed to “save on maintenance” and put a “More ears than gears” sticker on it and poured scorn on all those weak geared riders

Then I built a touring tandem and everyone poured scorn onto me!

Then I had to fit a child seat and go on summer pootles to the park, stopping at the pub on the way home and I couldn’t give a F*ck anymore cause I’m too lardy and unfit to keep up.

This biking lark is great isn’t it?

Cool, cheers

My 3 yr old will happily do a 2 mile round trip to the shops & park most days on his balance bike. Especially as the alternative is for him to walk the same distance!

I think 4 miles is the biggest distance he’s done on a family walk

My direct route is about 10 miles down the A420, so I make a loop and do 12.5 miles through the lanes on the way in and 14 miles on the way home with options of up to 40 miles dependant on time & energy

Google for “spare car keys”.

There are blokes in vans who will come round and cut you a new key for much less than the dealerships

I used to have one particulary bad juntion for this where I’d signal right, take up correct road position and people would overtake me while signalling to turn left at the roundabout.

As this was on the way home from work at 5pm, I can only assume they were driving in fear of missing the start of Countdown or some such emergency

The key is to get into the correct/prime/assertive road position so that the they have to go around you, then the highway code says it’s encumbent on them to make sure it’s safe before they overtake (or words to that effect)

I’ve had 2, and I’d buy another tomorrow if I could have it as a weekend / sunny day / play car.

If I was single with no kids I’d get one for everyday use. But I’m not & I can only fit one toy car in the garage 🙁

I need a bigger garage and more disposable income

Buy it now.

A place called “Ideal Camping” down on the South of France. No grass, ground so hard that when you booked in the owner would lend you his lump hammer to get the pegs in. Tents packed so closely festival style that the guys overlapped. Then it all turned to mud when it rained & half the tents fell down due to a lack of straight pegs.

Then the owners called the cops & got all the english people arrested! OK we were a “little” bit young & noisey, but no more so than the Austrians & Swiss we were sitting & drinking with!
French cops “Are you english? get in the van”
Girls “Waaaah, we’ve been arrested”
Me “Well we’ll probably get a better nights sleep in the cells than we will in this sh1t hole!”

Character building so it was.

That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen all week!

To be fair that was a super gnarrrrly tree root there

All I know is that on my unlit country lane commute the car drivers give me lots more room in the dark as they think my HID light is a motorcycle and make room as appropriate. In daylight they can see I’m just a cyclist and ignore me, leaving me to play chicken between their wing mirrors and the hedge.

No help whatsoever to the OP, but the STW massive have never let that bother them in the past 😉

dont you trust your own parents?

No
Well specifically I don't trust the alcoholic father-in-law.

Grandparents on my side have declined the kind offer we gave them to look after our kids overnight as they are both deaf and will sleep through crying babies no problem

But if I had the chance I'd take it – do a trial run over a weekend first though.