Lateralus

Percussive maintenance, the best kind of maintenance.

Note to self: Must. Not. Blow. Budget. On. Amazing. Food.

Thanks, will have a look at that app, but think I'm going to give Copilot a go too - thought I'd seen a free trial option for it. As for the cities, I'm a little cautious about finding somewhere secure to park up overnight, which is a bit of the reason for wanting to keep out in the countryside. Also want to get out into the mountains quickly on the Thursday, and in a city I'm likely to get drawn into sight-seeing by foot!

Please can we change the Mr Green smilie to Mr Red?

Well I'm now only 6 weeks away from being on a ferry to Spain, and other than having booked that ferry, I've so far planned nothing! Started having a look around at potential accommodation options, but have decided I actually want to plan the route/roads I want to travel, and find accommodation to suit. Following other discussions, I'm also erring towards using my phone for satnav* and having some paper maps for at least the Pyrenees bits. Really struggling to justify the cost of of a Satnav at the moment! Are these 1:150k Michelin maps likely to be sufficient? The tiny sample map appears to show a decent level of detail, with scenic routes highlighted, so just wondered whether a couple of those in a tank-bag is likely to get me through a few days of exploring. [strikeout]Given that I arrive at 18.15 on the Weds evening, how far should I realistically aim to get that night? Want to avoid staying in cities, so as long as there's a bed and somewhere to eat that night I'll be happy, but the more scenic the better. Somewhere like Eugi seems to tick the box very nicely, but at 280km I'm wondering whether it might be a bit ambitious. However it looks like a great place to wake up, and right near some excellent-looking roads to get me straight into the mountains the day after.[/strikeout] In fact, as I'll have done nothing other than sit on a ferry the rest of the day, over the course of writing this paragraph I've now convinced myself that's what I'll do. *I've somehow ended up with a contract which gives me a slightly ridiculous 25GB of data a month, which I can use abroad, subject to a "fair use" restriction of a mere 15GB!

I had pre-existing arrangements (namely my sister's wedding!), whereas your "better offer" is clearly a recent invitation, long after the rally has been booked. Ergo you must come to the rally!

I think she's intimidated by just how red some of the bikes there will be.

Congrats!

Jay and I have each got one of these. We got ours off amazon for something like £30 and they're bloody marvelous! That looks like one I got from Decathalon. I also have a smaller one from Aldi. Between them I can charge the phone 4 times. Now one of those looks like a good idea. I currently have a puny 2200mAH one I was given for free. I am very much looking forward to the rally and meeting you all. Hope you can time your move accordingly [mention]Stu[/mention]!

For anyone happen to have a spare RST zip for attaching to jackets? Need another one of these - the actual zip bit is 30 inches long. Will swap for beer tokens, or actual beer.

I waited until I had my own bike before dropping it, despite learning on a fleet of very beat-up bikes! Happens to us all mate, don't let it put you off.

Do I have a stalker or do you just end up on all my threads haha... He'd just be annoyed if they are included, since he's already got a beard and a Costa loyalty card.

Condolences mate.

Barton Bike Night is next weekend, and I'm very probably going to head up and stay with some mates who happen to live there. Anyone from here going?

I'd been seriously looking at getting a dedicated satnav for my upcoming tour, but perhaps spending a quarter of the money on that app and a proper phone holder is a better option. Need to look into options for a weather-proof power point too - shame the current one is in the top-box!

My signature keeps getting altered, and it has sticky green fingerprints all over it. I NEED AN ADULT - SOMEONE IS ABUSING THEIR POWER.

*Squirrels this away for future reference*

I do have one thing to add: I've just spent the last 15 minutes humming this to myself, and it took me a moment to realise it was because of reading this! https://youtu.be/-Y4K0J3fPmw

I don't have anything new to add, other than another voice in support of you, and all that's been said by everyone else already. Life's too short to put up with that kind of crap.

That's one hell of a salad!

Good to have it quantified, I guess! Well that's definitely a new portable chain and lock on the shopping list then, ahead of the alarmed disc lock, and a lesson learned to only buy soft and fluffy things from Oxford.

I do already have a 16mm chain from Pragmasis, along with their Torc ground anchor, which is about as good as I'm going to get at home. The chain just, slightly awkwardly, fits through the frame trellis just behind/under the seat, so that's how it's locked up now. The noisy bit is more for my own peace of mind, and I now think a disc lock might be better than a bike alarm because it's then also a physical/visual deterrent. I have a decent disc lock already (thanks [mention]Gerontious[/mention]), but it won't scream if someone's trying to take it off. Unfortunately there's no way into my house without going up several steps, so the living-room storage solution is a non-starter! GPS tracker is a good idea. This whole train of thought started because a guy I know had his bike nicked from his office - the alarmed disc lock alerted him, and whilst being too far away to stop it being bundled into a van, he was able to grab a photo of it happening from the first floor, and the tracker meant it was recovered fairly quickly. Getting it back from the police is proving more problematic. His office has now had ground anchors installed in the car park too, after a mere 3 or 4 bike thefts. For no specific reason I'm slightly dubious about the Oxford chain and lock I currently use, so maybe an improvement there would be worthwhile too.

Now that I've acquired my new pride and joy, I'm thinking about beefing up the security a bit and adding something noisy - either a bike alarm or an alarmed disc lock. I know it won't deter a committed thief, but if I'm in earshot at least I'll know to go have a look, rather than when I was at the pub on Saturday night and I kept going to check, “just in case”! The bike lives outside, below my bedroom window, so it needs to be something on/attached to the bike itself, rather than the luxury of having a garage to stick an alarm on. I know nothing about bike alarms, but I've had the Oxford Boss Alarmed disc lock recommended (but am slightly dubious about the brand), and know that Abus have a range of alarmed locks too. What would you guys recommend?

Early nomination for a Saturday: the van driver who couldn't bare being behind a red light, so constantly shuffled forward, half out the other side of the pedestrian crossing. Shuffled so far, in fact, that he couldn't see the lights any more and required me to notify him that they'd turned green. He completed the exercise by then turning right on a no-right-turn junction. Chapeau, mon ami. You massive bell-end.