Gerontious

I bought this house with a 97% mortgage. the deposit and legal fees.. plus a few bits of furniture were paid for by selling the bike I had at that time. (2000) my own strategy has been to make overpayments every month... every month since the last deal I had ended and overpayments were allowed without penalty. Overpayments and the occasional little lump sum... when other priorities allowed. I was raised with a phobia for debt... and although Ive had various loans and so on over the years every one of them has been paid off early. I pay my credit card off every month. and pile every spare penny into my mortgage. I have 9 years left to run.. its been quite a slog. 16 years now, but... worth it. its quite amazing how these overpayments and so on have mounted up.

Happy Birthday Paul. 226 days (not that Im counting!)

In london, it'll end up being like Japan, where mortgages with 40yr terms are normal. or perhaps Sweden, where last year mortgage terms were cut from an average 140yrs to 105. a mortgage lasting 105yrs... hard to believe. gives whole new meaning to the 'never never'.

Goretex comes with a lifetime guarantee. which is only made void by damage to the glove itself.. so thats stitching coming apart.. or maybe abrasion damage after a crash. or perhaps something more mundane like water running down the inside of the cuff. if the fault is none of these and it seems likely to be the goretex membrane itself.. then you're covered and goretex will either refund or replace. http://www.gore-tex.co.uk/en-gb/experience/our-promise

stories like this remind me of a short horror story by W.W. Jacobs. the monkeys paw. where a man wished for money and he got it.. but it was compensation for the awful death of his only son. coming into a large sum of unearned money can prove to be hugely destructive for the people involved.. those viewing it from 'outside' so to speak would do well to consider if they would do any better... or whether they would succumb to the insanity this kind of event can produce. a famous example... In modern terms they won more than £3,000,000 and inside of 7 years it was all gone. Her husband died and she was forced to fight for the bit of money he had left. and then promptly spent/lost that. If all that wasn't bad enough.. her photo ended up on the cover of a single by The Smiths. "heaven knows Im miserable now." appropriate. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of psychological description/name for this form of madness.

yes.. they're more usually called handguards and are pretty much standard on adventure style and off road bikes, meant to prevent stones and branches from hitting your hands.. they're also good wind deflectors. you can buy them for virtually any bike that has bar end weights. http://i.imgur.com/f4O6z7Tl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/j4U8tfTl.jpg These are called 'Barkbusters' and are available here in the UK. this assuming you want to spend.

Would it be fair to say that no gloves keep your digits warm after a half hour ride in 0 degrees? No... Because there are electrically heated gloves. And aside from that the warmth of your hands is directly governed by good circulation and maintained core body heat. Since I stopped smoking my hands (and feet) have got a lot warmer. Also... Who has tested all the winter gloves that are available? Like top of the range £200 Held twins or £230 Rukka R star. (as an example) My top tip, January isn't the ideal time to buy winter gear... Buy between April and June.

Best you can do is keep an eye on the Regina line website.. they did hope to start a new ferry service last year.. but something went wrong, I think the company they were set to charter a boat from pulled out... or the boat became unavailable. That might change this year.. or next. http://www.reginaline.dk as an alternative.. seems likely to me that you could have the bike shipped.. then fly and collect. Not a cheap way... but it may be the only way if time is a genuine issue. I know that in 2012 the cost of shipping a bike in both directions to Iceland was £708. from Immingham. I would imagine Norway would be similar... this 5yrs later. especially with the dire value of the £. I bet DFDS are a bit peeved.. the top-up of taken berths during the summer months must have helped their profit margins.

what size... at the time, these were highly rated for the money. http://tinyurl.com/zr4sf8j

any particular reason ? As I mentioned... I think it's good to have a goal. This one is the highest road in the Alps. The second highest paved road in Europe. Not far from it is the highest pass in Switzerland: the Umbrail. And the highest pass in Italy: the Stelvio. All within easy reach of our base. The Stelvio is just 50 miles away.

Immingham to Gothenburg Sweden This is a freight ferry that supposedly will carry bikers... It makes no-frills look like 5 star luxury. Operated by DFDS. Some risk to booking as they prioritise freight... So you might book... Turn up and be refused because a Lorry has arrived and the driver has snaffled your cabin

6 or 7 days. Does that include the 'getting there and back again' from Durham? If it doesn't... If this is the time you'll have on the continent or in the mountains, then start by choosing the area you want to explore.. Which country or countries, for instance France or France and Switzerland. Or... If you go down the other side, Austria or Austria and Italy. Or even Austria and Slovenia. Give yourself a goal or goals... And then the planning becomes much easier. As an example.. for my trip (with friends) this year the goal is to ride up the highest paved road in the Alps.. the second highest paved road in Europe. so.. all the planning has been geared towards that. its a dead end road in the western Austrian Tyrol.. just one of many attractions for that area.. but this is what is drawing me there. the Ötztal Glacier Road (circled)

Looks like a new road to me and the hump is possibly or likely a relic from its construction. maybe it simply got missed.. ie it should have been levelled prior to the road being fully opened. but.

Entirely suitable and will last for years.. good for your 125 and any subsequent 12v bike you buy.

I wasn't allowed to have a bike until I was 18.. and then only if I saved and paid for it myself.. the old man trying to instil a sense of responsibility. Test was round the block.. what i remember most about that day was the man who did the test looked like Harry Worth.. wearing a homburg hat and armed with a clipboard and stop watch. He seemed to be in a dreadful hurry to be finished for the day. The emergency stop was a bit daft.. a bus was pulling out so i had slowed right down. so an emergency stop from about 15mph. Bike was a 1976 KH250. a pretend hooligan 2 stroke triple. looked better than it went. cost me £280. I really wanted an X7.. but they were too new and too expensive. (and in hindsight.. too stupid) 2 weeks after that my best mate from school was killed on his brand spanking new Triumph. people did the test.. and passed. but actually had no real idea about how to ride. I think it must have been about that time that star rider came along. which someone once likened to learning how to swim in a classroom, from behind a desk. then being thrown into a river.

RS Bikepaint. You may be able to find the paint yourself on their website.. But if not, then contact them directly. http://www.rsbikepaint.com/en-gb/contact.php They normally reply pretty quickly Quick update.with time on my hands, searching has come up with the following. The code you list as a paint code seems to be the model year and country code. According to this site http://foc-u.co.uk/?topic=34.0 5DM4 = 1999 070 = UK The word Dourado means Gold or Golden in Portuguese. I would include all these codes and words in the email to RS and see what they come up with. They're very good.

Take a look at best biking roads.. there are some nice bits you can link in to any circular route around Charnwood.

I have socialised with members of this forum.. and my comment wasn't intended to be snooty.. just I thought it was amusing given the piss taking Ive suffered from discussing a 9 day alpine tour planned for September. If circumstances allow then i very well may turn up.. its just 20 miles away. even if its just to say hello.

Is that via Norwich.. or the scenic route round Bala lake?

You coming then? Sounds like you'd be a good laugh Weekend after easter.. I was thinking of going down to the Tirol for a practice run, check out campsites. depends on the snow if that happens.

Let me get this straight. this is a 2 hour ride (including stops for photos etc).. in 3 months time and its going to be so exhausting that people will need a hotel room to recover. does that about cover it?

The best security of all.. for a bike parked at home, is not advertising that its there. so as discreet as possible. if you have a drive.. keep it on the drive and covered.. not on the road. (uncovered) if you can possibly get it out of sight then do so. vary your route home and be aware of followers on the final approach. If you suspect that you are being followed then a quick lap round the block should soon prove that one way or the other without much inconvenience.. especially given where you live. this has been my strategy for the past 16 years. although I did have an advantage.. I was already a biker and the house was bought with security of the bike and my other possessions in mind.

Vale-Onslow in Brum, was a yearly ritual as a kid to be taken there by my old man. The fella who owned it died in 2004 aged 104.. 2 years after he was forced to give up riding. but aparently its still going strong run by the grandson I think.. whose worked there for almost 50 years. an amazing place.. heres one of his bikes.. a Super Onslow Special. (SOS ) So Obviously Superior.

I gave up smoking and managed to avoid swapping one addiction for another.. i have put on some weight.. gone from a 34 waist jean to 36... but I seem to be reversing the weight gain trend now.. its been some time... almost a year since i stopped. My method for stopping involved a private prescription for a full course of Varenicline (Champix) this cost me £220 for the 3 month course.. over 3 months I would normally spend about £320 on smokes, so the maths worked out. money well spent. even if the initial outlay was a little painful. I found that paying for the treatment was just an added incentive to making it work. I used an online prescription service. https://www.doctorfox.co.uk/stop-smoking/

You can easily check... the place has been extensively photographed by the google streetview car. most recently.. last summer.