Anyway if that is too difficult, here’s a very easy win. Ban smoking and we’d save an estimated 80,000 excess deaths in the UK every year. And that’s without all the extra pressure on the NHS from smoking related health conditions. I mean why not? Surely better than banning people from going to work or school, or from seeing their relatives. If the government was really bothered about saving lives then why have they not done this already?

The tax revenue from tobacco per year is greater than the cost of treating smokers to the NHS.

Different enough from the original

You can catch carp on almost anything, they’re pigs with fins. Having said that I’m sure they’ll be far more effective baits.

Three years ago my mother fell down the stairs and cracked her head open, blood everywhere and she was out cold. Took the ambulance 90 minutes to get to her and she lives less than a 5 minute drive from the hospital and ambulance station.

Although the NHS is currently underfunded we have nothing to worry about as the Brexit dividend of 350 million a week for the NHS will sort out any funding problems.

Might be a stupid question, did you thoroughly shake\mix the sealant before pouring it in?. Catches a few people out if still new to tubeless.

Yep, well shaken bottle. The punctures due to thorns seal quickly but I’m getting a lot of wee cuts, only a couple of mm long, that struggle to seal. I’ve never known tyres to cut like the Gravelkings, last winter I rode the same sections on Challenge Grifo cx tyres and went puncture free.

Perhaps I’m just having an unlucky streak?

I’ve found that WTB tyres are also bad for punctures and have paper thin sidewalls. My mates have also had same results with GK SK and WTB’s

What width and tyre pressure are you using?

23 mm internal rim, 38mm tyre and most often 45/42 psi, a few psi either way depending upon conditions.

My grandad served in India during the war and since then all the bitches he owned where called Jaldi, which is Hindi for soon/haste/hurry. My mother carried on the tradition and in turn I have too.

I’ve had two male dogs, one called socks as he was a boxer with four white socks and the current boxer is called dash after his puppy habit of dashing clumsily around the place.

I’m not keen on people names for animals.

Cheers Tjagain, spent 10 minutes fiddling and it’s loads better.

Just in case

I knows what I like and I like what I knows.

With a new bike I’ll spend the first few rides getting everything set up how I like it and then it stays that way, about the only thing that gets regularly adjusted is tyre pressure and even then I have series of preferred pressures for differing conditions.

I’m meticulous with maintenance as I’d rather fix things in the comfort of the garage than 50km away from home, and tools, at the side of the road/trail. I generally don’t swapped part out until they need replacing and then I have preferred parts or brands as I tend to favour proven reliability.

I do like my bikes to have as much cross compatibility as possible as it means I need to hoard fewer parts, so all my bikes are 11 speed for example.

Do I need to bump?

Don’t know why you don’t like the freezer! Most things will happily stay frozen for three months allowing for rotation.

I tend to spend one or two days a month and make several dishes that contain 3-5 portions of fruit and veg and freezer, I then defrost a bag add a bulk carb and eat. Meat, veg and sauce all together tends to freeze well.

Thanks

I want something small enough to fit into a jersey pocket but waterproof enough to keep me dry for several hours. I’d love a shakedry but don’t like the idea of wearing black in dull conditions on the road.

The only time I’ve suffered from cycling related cramp it’s corresponded with a sudden uptick in effect and often pushing the climbing. So my cramp is caused by muscle fatigue

AstraZeneca jab for me, early 40’s.

1st jab – I was a little rough after 12hrs and it lasted for 48hrs or so.
2nd jab – basically nothing, not even a sore arm.

The only other thing I’ve had is insomnia but only for a couple of nights after both jabs. No tiredness or anything else I just woke up after 3-4 hours sleep feeling refreshed and unable to get back to sleep, I’m normally a good 8 hours a night fella.

I’ll echo buying the stiffest, best fitting shoe in budget. As fit is everything shoes aren’t something I’d buy online.

Pedal wise shimmy 520’s are cheap and work. Personally I’m a fan of look x-track pedals, they have a big platform for an XC pedal which makes them feel a lot more secure than the minimalist pedals which makes them feel, and it might well be all placebo, better for power transfer.

I have a small amount of spare parts but it’s not intentional hoarding, I’ve only bought extras when discounted or to get money off on orders etc. I have more than one bike with plenty of interchangeability so I’ll always be able to ride something so I’m not worried.

I lived in France for a while and searched out and ate lots of classic french dishes so things like veal head, calves brains, sweet breads etc.

I can eat anything but andouillette

Yes, hence buying a cross bike* as the everything local is super tame.

*Cross bike rather than gravel bike as didn’t want to spend 3x the amount to get the same thing.

I did the same thing and it’s been loads of fun

I didn’t weigh in last week as it was the middle of birthday season, there are 3 family birthdays in a 8 day period so once the BBQ and cakes where put away the diet was resumed. I’m down 400g over a two week period, it could have been a lot worse.

I’ve always thought on the road bike it needs to be a function of how often you puncture and how traumatic you find fixing it. I rarely puncture with tubes (latex) and don’t struggle to swap or patch tubes at roadside, so tubeless not worth it for me.

^^This

Position is everything on a road bike as you’re in a relatively fixed position for potentially hours. I have three bikes running drops bars, with three different shapes, two different widths and two different materials and I find them all comfortable.

Personally I don’t like double wrapped bars I find them uncomfortably thick, so I lay an extra strip of bar tape along the top of the bar and wrap over that. Having said that I spend the bulk of my time on the hoods.

Some of the local anti-vaxxers have took to wearing masks and social distancing! Apparently all us vaccinated folk are shedding vaccine spike proteins that can infect those who aren’t vaccinated, the vaccine spike proteins can alter their DNA and render them infertile.

The imagination that goes into conspiracy theories is genuinely impressive

I lost 1.1 kg this week.

Kind of surprised, there was a mid-week incident with a bar of lindt pointe de sel.

I’m with Kerley. I do a lot of road km’s and passes like that are fairly common, the sad fact is they barely register with me anymore.

If you have the footage and think the pass was too close report it, if nothing happens then all you’ve lost is five minutes.

I’m not exactly a racing snake either

muggo magic and Wheeliedirty that’s a massive result.

I got plenty to lose though

A loss of 1.5 kg, which I’m happy with. I put the effort in eating a very sensible diet and took plenty of exercise. Hopefully next week will be as good

Peanut butter and a snap trap, rats are territorial.

Big spiky tubes and fins next to your head in something designed to protect your head incase of a big impact?

I’ll play, I could do with loosing a few KG’s

I won a Christmas cake once, it was an incredibly substantial 4ft by 4ft.

I loved Speedplay frogs

I’ve been running a DMR conversion kit since the summer on a gravel bike and it ain’t chewed up my freehub yet. Maybe I’m just not pumping out enough watts

I’ve got the 1000 & 500 lumen lights. I’ve used both for riding round the local woods and down canal bank at night, so I’d suggest either would be fine for an unlit road. If you’ll be descending at speed and need to spot uneven surfaces I’d buy the 1000 lumen light.

I pick up our dogs poo 95%+ of the time. If it’s in the middle of nowhere and somewhere where people aren’t likely to go, like the middle of a bush on very steep slope, then it stays and degrades. If it anywhere likely to be stepped in then it’s picked up.

I buy bright dog poo bags and often leave them behind trees or signposts if I know I’m walking back down that path on my way home and there isn’t a bin in the direction I’m traveling in as I’d rather no carry a bag of poo around. I’ve never forgotten to pick up a used dog poo bag.

Posted on Monday, received and refunded on Wednesday and money in the bank by Friday. That was two weeks ago or so ago.

I’d try dropping them an email, I’ve found their customer service to be incredible slow at the moment.

Gravel bike and SS share a saddle bag with

Hexus X mini tool,
pair of tyre levers,
pair co2 canisters and inflator,
tubeless puncture kit,
spare tube,
quick links,
flypaper puncture kit,
strips of gaffer tape,
cable ties,
razor blade,
wee length of single speed chain and
two nurofen plus.

Mountain bike kit is pretty much the same but lives in a camelbak.

Pumps live on the bikes.

Bananas, malt loaf and Tesco’s own version of nutri-grain breakfast bars form the cornerstone of my on bike food. I also carry SIS caffeine gels as a get out of jail free card but rarely use them