A well known frame builders damaged my frame after respraying it. It was an Alloy Colnago with fluted tubing, and they managed to crush the top tube fluting slightly.

I got a new frame from them.

The 2019 flypast was very impressive.

Fyi idlejohn

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi_Amigo_memorial

From Wikipedia

On 22 February 1944, the USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft Mi Amigo, from the 364th Bomber Squadron, based at Chelveston, Northamptonshire, was returning from a bombing mission over Aalborg, Denmark, during which it was heavily damaged by enemy fighter aircraft. Around 5 pm, engines faltering, it emerged out of low clouds and crashed in the park. The entire crew (pilot 1st Lt. John Kriegshauser, copilot 2nd Lt. Lyle Curtis, navigator 2nd Lt. John Humphrey, bombardier 2nd Lt. Melchor Hernandez, flight engineer/top turret gunner S/Sgt. Harry Estabrooks, radio operator S/Sgt. Bob Mayfield, ball turret gunner Sgt. Charles Tuttle, waist gunners T/Sgt. Malcolm Williams and Sgt. Vito Ambrosio, and tail gunner Sgt. Maurice Robbins) perished.

The pilot of Mi Amigo, John Kriegshauser, received a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross for his courage in sacrificing himself and his crew, rather than allowing the plane to hit children playing in the park. Among the children were Keith Peters, aged nine, who was interviewed by Forces Broadcast Network (British Forces Broadcasting) for a 2015 documentary also broadcast on Sky TV, and Tony Foulds, aged eight, whose dedicated care for the site of the crash the site drew media attention which helped publicise and improve the memorial, and inspired a flypast tribute to mark both the 75th, and 80th anniversaries of the 1944 tragedy.

The collision site is still visible from Rustlings Road and Ecclesall Road, which run past the park, due to a distinct decline in tree height on the hillside behind the cafe. This was due to the fact that twelve trees had to be cut down as a result of the crash’s impact. Some of the surviving trees still have burn marks on their tops, which are visible in the winter

DeLorean Bacall

If we can include tractors, Tom New Holland

Robin ‘Reliant’ Williams

Vangelina Jolie

Sorry to hear that you are feeling like this. I too over think things.

A few questions. Do you you need to work at home? Do you get a decent lunch break? Could you occasionally go out for lunch (proper sit down in a cafe with a friend/colleague; I try to do this at least once a month)?

I try to break my working day up by doing stuff at lunch. I went bird spotting today at the local river and gave my mum a ring. Tomorrow during lunch I’m going to play tennis against the wall at work for 15 minutes. Get away from your computer if you can and try to get some fresh air.

Your biking/racing seems very important to you. Have you got any other hobbies/ likes? Can you put less pressure on the yourself about racing & training? As the others have said I think walking and counseling may help.

Keep us posted. Will

Your trip sounds great, very jealous.

Post uni I went to Madrid on the train via Paris – sleeper to Nice (was nice) then Barcelona, Madrid, San Sebastian, Santiago, down through Portugal then back to Madrid. I think I went to Granada too.

The trains were great, but personally I wouldn’t go to central Spain in July or August again; it was too hot in the daytime to do much. Just checked and Seville can get up to early 40s.

Kimbers: We got some Airbricks from Screwfix £2.29 each.
We fitted 4, 2 at each end. Solved our damp garage issues. We eventually insulated the roof too (as it caused massive temperature swings throughout the year).

We went on a meter as it halved our bill. Yorkshire water wanted over £700 from us, on a meter it’s about £28 per month.

Another vote for Busch & Muller toplight line. Mine is 8 years old btw and on it’s 3rd bike. The brake light function is great. It’s really easy to wire up.

Another vote for maxxis ardents. When I commute on my MTB I don’t think it’s any slower than my hybrid.

Look up mini concrete posts or spur posts.

We have a wooden fence + panels, but used spur posts. We put them in the neighbours side so we don’t look at them. You then just bolt a wooden post to them (bolt the post 30 mm above ground level and they stay dry). Like this

Try these. We have them on a 20 inch Isla bike.
This stand should fit. I had to hacksaw a bit off the end as it was too tall. Pull the rubber foot off first.

Edit: the mudguards aren’t full length but do work well.

I had one molar pulled when I was about 30. Was offered treatments, but didn’t want lots of drilling etc.

Just lost my last milk tooth at 41; it cracked at Christmas, dentist tried to repair but the gum ended up infected so they pulled it. Tbh there wasnt much holding it in as it hardly had any roots. The next door neighbour (approx 55/60) still also has some milk teeth.

You get used to the gaps tbh, like above the occasional sharp crisp can dig into the gum, but it’s a very rare occurrence.

Swimming lessons sounds a good idea. I try to go swimming once a week, i find i can’t physically think about anything else whilst doing it, so its great to switch off.

Re biking: I miss road racing, but find with a family and work etc i can’t ride/train 5 days a week, so stopped doing it; its taken me 15 years to accept this ( i do the occasional sprint triathlon though). I have, however, started playing tennis again after a 25 year break and am loving it. Played my 2nd doubles match last night, we lost but still enjoyed it.

I also find gardening helps me too. We have 1/2 an allotment now. Have you tried growing your own food/flowers? Go mental and plant the verge up outside the house. That’ll sort the neighbour envy out….

Try something new. Mix up your training. Do some new events/ routes. Pick up a new hobby. You’re not on your own.

I have a quite dull (looking), but rather reliable Voodoo Marasa.

It now has bar ends, full mudguards, a rack and a dynamo front wheel and B+M lights, and a very good Abus lock.

I did change the original tyres, grips and bars (the original tyres were like anchors, but the new version has different tyres).

ps if you want a 2nd hand one, you can pick them up for £150/ £250 2nd hand on ebay/ gumtree etc.

Local chippy now takes card payment and the garage we use just uses bank transfer. Just need to get the Peak District car parks to take cards or an app. I’m getting to a point where businesses that ask for cash will start to lose my custom. Even the ice cream van in the new forest took cards.

We had problems with the tooth fairy recently. Maybe i.o.u’s will be the future.

On the technical specs it states ‘Cassette/Free wheel ATA, standard ISO thread, 18t, 4 prong removal, chrome plated/brown’ so it should be quite straight forward to change (i had to do similar on a ridgeback mx16).

We use Bosch and Makita at work, but I use Ryobi at home. For heavy use I’d go for Makita, but I’ve had no issues with Ryobi hedge cutter/ drill/ mini vac for 8 years at home.

ps Makita & Bosch batteries are generally cheaper than Ryobi, but you can get a converter to run Ryobi on Makita batteries. I think you can do this with a dewalt convertor too.

I’ll take your Merckx, and raise you a Freddy Maertens.

How about Cav vs Maertens, Abdoujaporov, Zabel and Cipollini?

The 2nd fastest sprinter still in the tour is probably his lead out.

Its great to see Cav winning but its a bit Alan Wells 1980 Olympics

Cav can only beat who is in the race. The 1980’s Olympics was a US led boycott against the USSR; Doesn’t really compare does it.

He’s beaten Sagan, Demare, Matthews, Ewan, Bouhanni, Cobrelli, WvA, Merlier, Philipsen etc etc. Who else should he be sprinting against?

The Top Ten Transformative Treatises of Tuk Tuk Tic-Tok whilst tucking into Tic Tacs & theorisng time-trialing

Tangerine surely?

Where have all of our odd socks gone?

Its the liberal use of gold that caught my eye. Especially the rims and mid frame support; they even match the ratchet strap buckle and fork top caps….

Hopefully the gold chainrings are in the post 🙂

At least the London stadium is being used by West Ham. Don valley, built for the the World student games in Sheffield (1991) was knocked down before the council has even finished paying for it. Ponds Forge (swimming/leisure facility) always seems to be running at a loss too. Very similar, on a smaller scale, to the Greek Olympic(s) tragedy. Sheffield also had the Arena built; this is also struggling now as Leeds recently built its arena. We also once had an airport, but that’s another story……

‘In 1991, the World Student Games were held in the city. In order to host such a major event, a massive building programme got under way, building venues such as the Sheffield Arena and the Don Valley Stadium. Twenty years on – and after refinancing – the initial cost of building works (£147 million) has risen to £650 million, with less than half (£296 million) having been paid off. The council currently spends £30 million a year to fulfill its financial obligations, and it is estimated this debt will not be paid off until 2024.’ Source

Done. Ta. The Guinea pigs of Sheffield are go.

Picking a jersey was tough. Nearly went for Carrera or Ti-Raleigh, but opted for Kelme in the end.

These are good for the price. Wellgo

Growing up near Ashbourne, we used to ride quite a bit at Dimmingsdale (we used to bike there from Mayfield area). You can ride there on the old railway line from Denstone easily, or just drive and park. The trails aren’t marked, but it good for an hour or two. You’ll probably find some loops on Strava. The Ramblers rest was always good for food too. TBH i’ve not been there for a while though.

I’d second the Vertebrate Peak book. There are a few trails nearer to Bakewell and Peak side of Chesterfield & Stoney Middleton etc if you don’t want to drive too far.

We had a rat rooting around in our old compost bin*. They apparently like egg shells and on corn on the cob. We stopped putting them in and the rat didn’t seem to visit as much (it’s now plaguing the neighbours bird feeders instead…;)

Our new compost bin is apparently rat proof, it has a mesh base, so we can now put anything in it. The old compost bin has gone to the allotment, where I spotted a rat the other day.

*one benefit of the rat was that it ‘turned’ the compost really regularly and saved me a job.

Pick it up please & bin it. Cleaning kids shoes with poo on them is not fun. Seeing it is pretty grim too. I’m fed up with lazy/inconsiderate people.

Here are the diseases linked to leaving dog poo in fields.

ps You can report full bins quite easily on fixmystreet

Some local rides

The Boylestone loop on this page is nice.

You can do a loop using the Tissington trail and link up with High Peak trail (come off at Parsley Hay, although you can cut across earlier if needed). Follow High Peak trail back towards Brassington (you come off the trail at Longcliffe) back roads to Bradbourne and Tissington then back on to the Tissington trail back to Ashbourne.
Ps the Tissington trail is up hill out of Ashbourne.
There is loads of good road riding around Ashbourne in virtually every direction. I agree with robbo though, avoid the a52.

Good point. Seems as they were pulled from UAE it’s up to the organisers and the UCI to use discretion.

I dont think Mvdp (or any alpecin fenix riders) would be allowed to ride Het Niewsblad as the UAE tour is still on until Saturday, and you can’t transfer to alternative uci races if the previous race hasn’t finished.
Technically he could ride KBK but seeing they’ve had covid cases I’d guess not.

Have you considered putting a tree in a big planter instead? Pergola + climbers is a good suggestion too.

How about a piece of slate or a granite offcut? You could even use a paving slab.
If you need to use wood Teak or iroko would both work well as they both are quite oily.

Slightly OT, this book about the elements is excellent. DK The Periodic table book

We are slowly collecting as many of the elements (or things containing the elements) as possible; i think we are up to 28 now.

I like Panasonic eneloops, but recently have bought these from ikea. For the price I’ve found them great. They do mail order too if you don’t have a store nearby.

Just found these. Any good?

Barrel connector

Male/ female connector

I sometimes rout clock backs, but often find it quicker to drill 4 overlapping holes with a forstner bit and chisel the excess out (assuming you access to a pillar drill).

We love the Sonic movie too. Donut Lord, Pretzel lady and Jim Carrey are excellent.

We spent half term studying Johnny English and Mr.Bean.