bike shak in altrincham is the best shop in that area by far.

http://www.bikeshak.com/

i’ll be sticking ultra local, i.e. an hour or so up Rivi. got too much stuff to do with work and home so time is at a premium for me.

i… might be.

gotta do something or i’ll go insane. but it’s not easy, my legs and lungs are **** beyond belief. couple of local rides beforehand i think.

sorry guys. my head’s gone wrong. off work because of overnight stomach cramps that doc reckons are stress related. it’s daft that i know riding my bike will help with that, but i either struggle to make time for it or lose all motivation as soon as the weather takes a turn for the worse.

duncan- i’ll come out local tonight. don’t let me refuse. what time, would about 7.30 at yours work for you?

ouch.

that’s sub-optimal.

hi all, quick question (because i’m being somewhat lazy and haven’t trawled through the earlier posts much!), that I guess Jameso might know the answer to- 43mm panaracer gravel kings on stock rims on 2015 arkose 4, will they fit? anyone already got any on theirs? either tubeless or not…

all still dependent on whether i get my car back on monday evening though…

yeah, sorry. i chickened out too. early night instead as i’m working 7am-midnight tomorrow and wednesday.

should be. it’s been too long.

if you can find em (holland and barrett or morrison’s, or ocado are best bets), then Fry’s pies are better than the linda mccartney ones. the pepper steak ones in particular.

also, almond or oat milk makes better porridge too, in my experience.

but good on you! veggie chillies, curries and whatnot are so easy, nutritious and damn tasty too! my go-to curry is spinach, chickpea and mushroom. easy enough to wing it on the spice blends too.

the lack of headphone jack port isn’t a deal breaker for me, i already use bluetooth headphones with the nexus 5 anyway so don’t see it as a big thing.

i still have my 4.5 year old nexus 5, and whilst there’s nothing essentially wrong with it, it no longer gets OS updates. i’m looking at picking up either a pixel 2 or a oneplus 5T in the next couple of months…

it’s top of my list of bonkers grown-up (and some not so grown-up) animated shows, along with bob’s burgers, regular show, f is for family, adventure time and big mouth…

Best day yet. Feel great. Watching Cowspiracy with my son!

good stuff! tbh i’ve not watched any of the “new” documentaries, it’s not like i need convincing these days but yeah, pretty bonkers stuff.

pretty much bang on the money there Daz.

There will be some awkwardness when “people” find out about my withdrawal as it goes against their world view but I’m holding on to the thought that secretly some of them wish they could do the same.

i read somewhere recently that something we should try to do is to not care what others think of us. i try, but it’s bloody difficult.

anyway, had a decent day today, just mostly hanging out with my partner and our son (while her eldest was seeing his dad). now they’ve gone to pick older boy up and off to her sister’s house for a family shindig, while i stay at home, drink ginger beer, watch marvel films then go to bed by 11 most likely. planning on a pre-dawn ride incorporating al fresco breakfast on the trangia, no matter what the weather’s doing. due to my ridiculously bad allergies, we don’t live in the same house which probably (definitely?) makes things tougher, but i just have to keep telling myself its not forever. sounds weird, but i’d give just about anything to have sleepless nights due to the laddo keeping me up but if i tried to spend the night in their house i’d end up hospitalised and unable to breathe…

ah, yeah. why do some of you need to be arseholes about this? every single time, trying to pick holes. let people do what they want to do, eh? if the OP wants to take this on, then fine. if some of you others don’t, that’s fine too. no need to be dicks about it.

they’re definitely making them!

new big nights out…

gangs of the EPL is amazing. the introduction of newcastle into it had me crying laughing… “jonjon shelvey”- “he looks eastern european; what does a vampire talk like?” and rafa’s meatball tapas…

Did anyone fall, were the ponderers there and what was on the end of the stick?

bob fell (it was quite bad too, lots of chafing). no ponderers, no man with the stick. lister on novelty island though. lots missing, but there was bound to be considering it was only half an hour. no les, no uncle peter. no judge nutmeg either.

another recommendation for the athletico mince podcast here, it’s pretty much bob at his best for me. went to one of their live shows in manchester earlier in the year too and it was just as weird/great!

yeah, not the best of days. we were supposed to head off to see my parents and sister today, for a couple of days, but the weather meant we had to cancel (it’s more complicated than just getting into the car and driving up, we need to put a few other things in place that require planning0. anyway, i was somewhat relying on this change of scenery to help raise spirits, so it’s all a bit shit.

it’s weird, because i’m not blaming anyone else for my mental state, i know it’s down to me and my perception of the world around me, but sometimes i just wish that the people around who think they’re helping by fussing over me at family/social gatherings would just leave me alone and give me the space i need, it’s tough enough actually managing to be there at all without that making it worse but i have no idea how to voice my concerns without them taking it personally, so i just say nothing and get worse still.
the day i was dreading, the family do at partner’s parents house, was worse than i feared. it’s not their fault, not at all- they’re well meaning and far from being bad people in any way, but i just don’t do well in the situations that they all love and wish they’d be more accepting of that at times, instead of trying to force me to fit their idea of who i should be.
anyway, NYE is next up. worst night of the year. tomorrow i will be pressured and harrassed about going to some house or other to pretend i’m comfortable with a load of drunk folk singing and laughing at nothing when i just want to be anywhere most other people aren’t.

The dove from above ..
Don’t think Ulrikakaka will be on though..

nope, cos that was shooting stars.

anyway, pissy pat.

it was touted as a one-off, but they subsequently announced 4 more episodes will be made by bbc4 next year.
but yes, it’s starting NOW!

i was 48 when my son was born, partner was 45 (she had her first at 40). no problems at all, despite the experts warning us that they intended to induce a week before due date because we were high-risk (partner disputed, the only high risk factor was age but regular monitoring during pregnancy never gave any cause for concern at all). they didn’t induce, and he was born with minimal assistance (needed ventouse as he wasn’t at the right angle) after a 6 hour labour. both mother and baby were fine, and he’s such a brilliant little 15 month old now.
good luck, and enjoy it all!

it’s also just not as good as the paper filters, for me. unless i just have a shit one.

so much to type, but it’s sending my anxiety levels sky high even just trying to start so i’ll just summarise- the last couple of days have been way better than i feared they might have been, but it’s been a massive struggle to put a brave face on at times. and tomorrow is going to be a big test- family gathering at partner’s parents’ house. to say i’m dreading it is an understatement, but as much as she’s pretty understanding and supportive, i can’t say anything to her about my reservations. i’d much rather be out up a hill on a bike on my own, or outside somewhere with my little boy…

can’t even think about NYE. i suspect i’ll explode. just can’t face it at all.

a photobook diary of the first year of my son’s life. brought a tear to my eye.

not so closely followed by (but still very much appreciated) a wilfa svart coffee grinder.

Herbivore (or anyone else), I’m having a Christmas Day ride up rivington tomorrow late morning, anyone welcome to join

i’ll have to see how the morning pans out, gonna be over at the gf’s from first thing for the boys to open their presents but i can’t stay in their house for too long due to allergies (which is another thing contributing to my shaky mental health i think, i’m not handling not being able to live in the same house as them particularly well) but the other downside to that is that it screws my respiratory system up for hours too, also contributing to my lack of riding this past couple of years. there’s no easy solution to the situation, it’s so **** tough. very kind offer though, i genuinely appreciate it (although i’d slow you down to snail’s pace!)

feeling pretty emotionally fragile today, to be honest.
i just really don’t want to be doing christmas, it feels like its too much for me to cope with. i mean, i’m all set for it- presents for kids and close family all bought but i just don’t want to be here. i’m terrified of the potential for drama, the chaos, noise, over-indulgence that i’ll inevitably have to be present for but that’s the problem- family is all into that kind of thing. whereas i’m totally not. there’s going to have to be compromise somewhere, and that will no doubt be me just sucking it up because nobody gives a shit about how i’m feeling (until it gets to breaking point, as it has done many times previously but lessons are never learned.
i’d love to be able to just not care what anyone thinks about me, but that’s unlikely to happen- instead i just have to sit there, try to smile, bite my tongue and hope that i don’t expire somehow.
i appreciate that many people would love to have what i have too, though. it’s difficult, as i said in my previous post i feel like a total fraud because at least i have family/friends and, for the most part, they’re nice folk and a joy to be around. it’s nothing personal, it’s all down to me- i just don’t feel comfortable in very many social situations, but at this time of year there’s so much pressure to be involved, everyone expecting me to be someone i’m not. it wears me out.

i feel like a fraud, reading some of your stories. can’t offer much in the way of help, other than just to say that i hope you all find the strength to carry on through whatever you’re going through. life is **** hard.
there’s so much shite going on in/around my life these days, way too much to get into here, but my trouble is that i just try to bottle it up and at times i feel fit to burst. and on the times it does show itself, people saying “what do you have to be depressed about?” make it so much worse.
anyway, not really sure what my point is other than that i understand the stuggles many of us are facing daily, and empathise. and although i’ve barely ridden a bike at all this past year, if anyone’s around (or going to be around) rivi/north manchester over the next couple of weeks, i’ll do my best to either show you around or set up a sociable ride in the grim west pennine hills! i’ll even make cakes…

it’s threads like these that keep me going back to wondering just how binners and i are such good friends!

ad, i shall bring you some of my home made houmous soon. it goes really well with a packet of space raiders…

well they’ve stuck a 130bhp version in that new pug 3008 and it’s garnering rave reviews, but obviously unlikely to be many high mileage units around yet to give us any good info.

i’d just actually like to ride my bikes a bit. don’t care where really.

watching this with interest as i have the same question…

well i just bought my partner a pair of muck boots for christmas, she was fed up of wearing cheapo wellies for dog walking duties and having them split or puncture somehow. hopefully they’re as good as reviews suggest.

i’m in horwich too. ideal for riding from the door really; i’m near the crown roundabout not that far from dunc and from mine it’s a couple of minutes on small quiet residential roads to get to the same path his house backs onto, or the green lane that runs behind rivington school along to the barn.

if the roads are clear enough for me to get there, then i’m coming! the last snowmageddon was the best ride we ever had.

i have a 3 or 4 year old montane prism, blue size L for sale, £25 posted. only selling cos it’s too big for me now, i replaced it with a smaller one!

i’m headed to bed!