We’ve got, or had, mason bees living in the garden wall next to the kitchen. As a result last year the house was full of lost mason bees and I had to rescue several bees per day for around a month, this year I’ve rescued one

£2.80 from my local chippy.

Decathlon MTB jerseys often come, or at least used to, several pockets. Might be worth a look if you have one local??

I’ve covered 1000’s of km on my Apex equipped gravel bike in the 3+ years I’ve owned it and it still works perfectly.

B&Q sell cheap sets of short handled Allen keys, the B&Q local to me used to offer imperial and metric sizes too.

Started watching F1 during the Mansell era but no longer watch it as I don’t see the point, where’s the excitement in watching a parade of cars behind the pole sitter drive around a track for 70 laps?

But neither can he be defeated militarily as long as he has nuclear weapons and the possibility of using them

The Russians USSR where defeated in the Afghanistan war and at the time where a nuclear armed state.

1×11 for me. I’m happy over a wide cadence so don’t get bothered by gaps in the cassettes and running a 42 chainring gives me a speed of 45km/h at 90 rpm which is sufficient on the road, any quicker and I’ll likely be tucked because I’ll be going down hill!

I’m using an Elite direto wheel off turbo and I’m not a watt monster

Call me cynical but surely it’s advantageous if she’s seen to struggle and that the challenge is really challenging.

TBH I think most reasonably healthy people could knock out 100km in a day, the difficult bit is doing it 5 days in succession. I know my advice would be to take is slow and steady as all that’s important is finishing the challenge

Difficult to put into words but…

What helps a mini pump last, particular if mounted on the bike, is a wee cylinder of old inner tube placed over the handle and onto the barrel of the pump as it stops grit, mud etc from getting into the pump.

I was driving the previous generation Skoda Octavia and I had the brakes suddenly kind of fail with absolutely no warning. I was driving in France and approaching a duel carriage way off a national speed limit section, hit the brakes and probably had 10% of normally braking performance. Had a make a snap decision between flooring it or hoping I would stop for the junction. If it had been rush hour not late evening….. Very, very scary

I speak fairly good French but not fluent and certainly not technical terms, I believe the garage said it was a failure of the master cylinder

https://www.highnorth.co.uk/articles/critical-power-calculator

Is a good explanation and allows you to calculate ftp. I find it more accurate than the ramp test

Panaracer Gravelking sk are the most puncture prone tyre I’ve had the misfortune of using. Swapped to Pirelli Cinturato and been fairly happy, love the H for summer dry conditions less convinced by the M.

I did the Atkins diet for around 10 months and in all that time I’d eaten nothing but meat, eggs and green vegetables. After 10 months I picked and ate a perfectly ripe strawberry, it was exquisite

I came here to say that ^^

Kids were freaked out, and asking if it was Russians, and how they’d found them?

Damn

My Grandad served in India in the war and ever since all his dogs where called Juldi, it’s Hindi for hurry.

Whatever is comfortable

On the road bike I have the top of the hoods level with the top of the bars, so the hoods are almost an extension of the bars. On the gravel bike I prefer to hoods angled up slightly

Probably best to use google images to give you an idea

In a car I wouldn’t think twice. It’s basic common sense so stop often, travel overnight if it’s hot, take them for a long walk before you travel etc

This was Socks, quite possibly the most well travelled boxer dog

can’t add pics

Generally it’s trout fly fishing lakes that rent out tackle and then let you fish.

28mm in summer and 32mm in winter, more rubber on the road more grip.

Cinelli’s gel cork handle bar tape is comfortable, cheap and very easy to wrap,
Prime’s bar tape comes in a mix of thickness, is tacky and well priced,
and whilst not the thickest Fizik’s temps microtex bondcush soft bar tape has a nice feel if you don’t wear gloves,

^^ This

Lusso make, or at least they did make , bib tights with the option of buying them with or without a pad.

If you find riding on the hoods uncomfortable and that you prefer holding the bars just behind the hoods, on the curved section, and that you’re twisting your wrists in in an effort to keep them inline with your shoulders then your bar is probably too wide.

I’m broad shoulders and well built, I ride a 42cm bar off road and on road. I have tried wider bars but found them uncomfortable

Look x-track spd’s and Northwave XC shoes or artic boots depending upon the season

It’s a 13k petrol Skoda Octavia 4yrs old, it’s from a indy dealer that’s been in business since 2012 with the same directors that haven’t owned any companies since 2012.

My current car is also an Octavia that I owned for 13 yrs old with 180k on the clock and been faultless until this year when the heating developed gremlins and the boot started to leak, I suspect the faults are just going to keep coming. I really want an electric car but for my current situation the tech isn’t there, I make several long journeys a year to France, so I want something that isn’t going to break the bank for a few years until I can go electric.

Yep, Look cleats are Shimano compatible

3rd year on a set of Look pedals on the gravel bike, been faultless in all that time.

I’m sure I’ve seen an advert for ice cream on the cafe that’s between the upper and lower reservoirs on Horrobin lane, maybe somebody else can confirm?

Thank you all, I’ve gone and ordered the GravelKing SK 43mm

Makes sure you’ve stocked up on bacon strips and sealant, they’re a pretty puncture prone tyre

Another day another threat of nuclear war from Medvedev. When he talks about Russia he’s including the regions of Ukraine that ‘voted’ to join Russia

It isn’t acceptable that a brand new bike should need to be checked but sadly it does seem to be necessary. Infact I don’t think I’ve ever had a bike that’s good to go from the shop. I bought a hardtail in June and it came with non-indexed gears, rubbing brakes and air in the rear brake line. As a positive all the bolts where correctly torqued and greased/loctite-ed

I’d guess it all boils down to the amount of money the fishing industry generates, it claims to be the largest participation sport in the world

Off topic but

Have you ridden it yet? I’m interested to know what you think of the oval chain rings

The only trick I do is to warm the rim and tape before I wrap

I carry a rope emergency spoke on all day rides.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/spokes/fiber-fix-emergency-replacement-spoke/

I had a MK4 golf with a similar issue, turned out it was a snapped clutch cable.

I use squirt in the drier months as it works and very easy and quick to use. I’m tempted to try waxing but it seems like a lot of fuss

I tried rock and roll extreme lube this winter on a 9 spd bike and got less than 700km out of a chain so went back to a cheap wet lube.

I’ll second avoid MucOff

Depends, there is a big difference between doing a zone 2 ride and doing vo2 max stuff.

Generally I don’t really consider the heat if it’s below 30