When we were riding last weekend you came across as relatively normal*, but clearly you are deeply unhinged

* As normal as any of us who head out biving in the winter

...as I have nothing planned for the weekend for the first time in ages and able to do sod all if I fancy!

sean_iow wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 12:29 pm When we were riding last weekend you came across as relatively normal*, but clearly you are deeply unhinged

* As normal as any of us who head out biving in the winter

....says the man who goes bikepacking with a small monkey, and carries milk in you-know-what

My CF,. My car passed it MOT & found Red postie card on doorstep & said missing parcel under the hedge . A big card sleeve with Cranked in it . And a suitably cranky MTB reminise from a certain gentleman SW of Wales, who occasionally frequents this parish . He incidentally finds bike parts* a little odd.
Edit ..finds bike parks odd.

a certain gentleman SW of Wales, who occasionally frequents this parish .

Ooh good, I'm due another cheque in that case

Verena wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 11:41 am Forgot now where exactly I read last night something about the madness of winter swimmers....



received_535420595304523 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

Is that a Radisson Blu Berliner fisch?

Verena wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 11:41 am Forgot now where exactly I read last night something about the madness of winter swimmers....

My CF started like this this morning.

I would totally have gone for a proper swim (Yeah right....), but the ice was really quite thick, and we only just managed to smash a hole in it with my trustey rigger boots, big enough to have a bit of a stand and a short sit down to waist level... great fun!

I go in the sea every Friday morning. Rule is has to be head under. Today was unbelievably cold and I struggled to open the door with my frigid fingers. Well done!

Felt a long week, so just happy it’s Friday.

Early start tomorrow to catch some snow

And did jumping in an icey lake in a Friday morning - brrrrrr!!! Can’t even do a cold shower!

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 6:54 pm

Verena wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 11:41 am Forgot now where exactly I read last night something about the madness of winter swimmers....

My CF started like this this morning.

I would totally have gone for a proper swim (Yeah right....), but the ice was really quite thick, and we only just managed to smash a hole in it with my trustey rigger boots, big enough to have a bit of a stand and a short sit down to waist level... great fun!

I go in the sea every Friday morning. Rule is has to be head under. Today was unbelievably cold and I struggled to open the door with my frigid fingers. Well done!

That's impressive. I'm not good with the head under I must admit.... would've been a bit limbo down in that little ice hole we made, not that flexible

ledburner wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 4:36 pm
Is that a Radisson Blu Berliner fisch?

You'll have to explain that to me please, sorry....

Verena wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 7:08 pm

ledburner wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 4:36 pm
Is that a Radisson Blu Berliner fisch?

You'll have to explain that to me please, sorry....

Just seen the news, got it now....

CF here as I'm off to my LBS for the Christmas party. BYOB* and chip in for a takeaway, chat nonsense and play computer games**.

*I have a bulging sack*** of finest hipster craft beers
**I'll probably leave this to the youngsters
***Stop sniggering at the back

Quite cheery now. Meant to take the fat bike to work today but the Network Rail strike meant no trains and riding 25miles in the snow to work seemed a bit much...
So ended up taking the car as I had site meetings (all of which got cancelled) Of course a car is the worst possible vehicle to use in the snow but fortunately not too many muppets on the way in and everyone had gone home by the time I did. Took a scenic route to test winter tyres for good measure.

Exercise involved clearing white slush off mine and my two elderly neighbours drives in case it freezes over night.

Beer now, hopefully some fun in the snow tomorrow but could be a planks job!

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 8:14 pm Took a scenic route to test winter tyres for good measure.

Exercise involved clearing white slush off mine and my two elderly neighbours drives in case it freezes over night.

Beer now, hopefully some fun in the snow tomorrow but could be a planks job!

First time in snow in current car lost control.... As new euro standard tyres are lethal. Then bought winter tyres. A lot better but with temp fluctuations almost schredded them when it swung (-2c to +12c next day)... : : when my next tyre whe due changing near winter bought all season tyres (on steel rims) but change them back for summer. Best of both worlds and I don't pay kwickquid to change them twice a year..

ledburner wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 8:44 pm

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 8:14 pm Took a scenic route to test winter tyres for good measure.

Exercise involved clearing white slush off mine and my two elderly neighbours drives in case it freezes over night.

Beer now, hopefully some fun in the snow tomorrow but could be a planks job!

First time in snow in current car lost control.... As new euro standard tyres are lethal. Then bought winter tyres. A lot better but with temp fluctuations almost schredded them when it swung (-2c to +12c next day)... : : when my next tyre whe due changing near winter bought all season tyres (on steel rims) but change them back for summer. Best of both worlds and I don't pay kwickquid to change them twice a year..

Aye a spare set of steel wheels is the way to go. Mine are narrower and higher profile than standard alloy efforts so better all round. Better than 4WD (4x no grip = no grip) although my heap has that too when it feels like it. Made BA difference to be honest.

Verena wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 11:41 am
I would totally have gone for a proper swim (Yeah right....), but the ice was really quite thick, and we only just managed to smash a hole in it with my trustey rigger boots, big enough to have a bit of a stand and a short sit down to waist level...

I know I'm Upton Park, but missus you are three stops farther on! With reference to that other thread about Us Lot being talked about as "hardcore" in hushed whispers, that's not so much hardcore more like huge lumps of smashed up reinforced concrete.

Well, that was all rather strange. Was in a fairly desperate need for a quick half tonight and coincidentally got invited out for one by a mate. We're in Leighton Buzzard remember.

We're sitting there and Verena sends me a photo of a handpump with "Leighton Buzzard Brewery" on the clip. "???" thinks Reg. Transpires she's in the Brecon Brewery Tap for a girlies night out.

And Reg is concidentally sat in..... the Leighton Buzzard Brewery Tap for a blokies night out!!

We're 150 miles apart.

So I show this photo to the assembled throng and of course nobody susses where it is. Verena sends another photo of the bar area. I see a number of clues - Welsh brewery pump clips, even the word Wales in big letters. Still nobody at my end twigs it.

Bloke near me finally says "I know, it's Brecon!". Turns out the Leighton Brewery man had gone to Brecon to meet brewer Buster to find out how to keg up his beer here in LB, and had taken some LB beer to Brecon in exchange. Which Verena was duly quaffing!

Of course the best end to the story would have been if Reg had been knocking back a Brecon ale at exactly the same moment, but I guess that would have been a coincidence to far even for us .

That cheered me up no end.

So we've just agreed that we're both very naughty boy(s) and girl(s), being dirty stop-outs like this. But I did need that beer for family stressola reasons and also boiler failure reasons.

Anyway... I explained to Verena that at the Perrinery we have a rack of rolling pins mounted on the wall just inside the front door. Anybody else got those? Looks a bit out of place with all the Victoriana festooning the establishment.

The rolling pins are graded in different sizes. Rather unoriginally labelled 1 to 6, with 1 being the smallest and 6 being, yes you're ahead of me, the largest.

So of course the idea is that when Reg returns from a naughty-boys-night-out, he can tell what sort of punishment is going to be administered next morning by which rolling pin is missing.

Obviously pin number 1, and 2, are missing so often that they might as well not be there at all.

Tonight number 3 was absent. Not good. Not sure my sleep will be entirely restful.

But here's the thing. Number Six has never been missing. And gawd knows I've returned home in some entertaining states in my time. But Number Six has always been present. Like some malevolent teasing monolith.

So I can't quite work out its purpose. Do you think it's some sort of nuclear weapons style of deterrent? It can never be used but the threat is there? I have a vague memory of a Number 5 being deployed once, but I've blanked the occasion as being too traumatic.

Oohh... Number Six.... I've just made the connection.... The Prisoner! Maybe a connection there?

To go with Reg's story above:

IMG_20221216_193607 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

The Brecon Tap has quite a bewildering selection of beers, but when I saw this it made my decision easy...

Turned out to be quite a quirky and funny end to an already cheery Friday... after a couple of pints there we went for a wander and stumbled across the back end (quite literally in fact) of a Burlesque night at Brecon's most hipster alternative night spot (I know, I'm surprised myself that we have such a thing...), which was followed by dancing to the weirdest eclectic kind of music.... leaving me to wonder WTF just happened, and how strong was that beer?!?!

IMG_20221217_073716 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

IMG_20221216_214430 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

RIP wrote: ↑Sat Dec 17, 2022 1:20 am The rolling pins are graded in different sizes. Rather unoriginally labelled 1 to 6, with 1 being the smallest and 6 being, yes you're ahead of me, the largest.

So of course the idea is that when Reg returns from a naughty-boys-night-out, he can tell what sort of punishment is going to be administered next morning by which rolling pin is missing.

My wife has a police trucheon next to her home office desk. (It was her dad's.) I glad to say its not been missing- ever!
....But I haven't seen the hand cuffs for lately...

Or more importantly the key

Verena wrote: ↑Sat Dec 17, 2022 9:15 am To go with Reg's story above:

IMG_20221216_193607 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr


Turned out to be quite a quirky and funny end to an already cheery Friday... after a couple of pints there we went for a wander and stumbled across the back end (quite literally in fact) of a Burlesque night at Brecon's most hipster alternative night spot (I know, I'm surprised myself that we have such a thing...), which was followed by dancing to the weirdest eclectic kind of music.... leaving me to wonder WTF just happened, and how strong was that beer?!?!

Did you have a few pints of Tripster?
Always read the label

and it's a long weekend!!! Festive greetings to you all!! May Santa deliver many bike and bike packing related things to everyone!!!

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/dr- ... st-link

"It’s nice that as well as making chains last less long, they’ve also made them more expensive. To the extent that there are Audaxers and other varieties of long distance riders that have either gone back to 8/9 speed or 10-speed".

Aye I think I'll continue to stick to them there ways of the Ancients.

Full circle....

"You are the Weakest Link"

https://road.cc/content/review/great- ... -298147

"Gravelleurs".

Excuse me just one moment....