Search found 894 matches

by Ellieb
14 Oct 2021, 10:14am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Route 74 has gone
Replies: 76
Views: 18573

Re: Route 74 has gone

been replaced by a new one, leaving the old as a wide, smooth, almost traffic free strip of tarmac for the enjoyment of cyclists
I take it you aren’t referring to the Lockerbie-Moffat route. Whilst it is a lot less busy than the M74 it’s hardly traffic free & the surface is rougher than a badger‘s backside. It isn’t terribly pleasant to ride on.
by Ellieb
11 Sep 2021, 4:28pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Deloitte Ride Across Britain ( 2011 - ongoing )
Replies: 107
Views: 39438

Re: Deloitte Ride Across Britain ( 2011 - ongoing )

cycleruk wrote: 26 Aug 2021, 4:34pm Day 5-
"Crowds of primary school children cheering you along the way"
Really ?
Yes
by Ellieb
10 Jul 2021, 5:12pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Ineos Grenadier has a cycle symbol on its horn control
Replies: 53
Views: 3450

Re: Ineos Grenadier has a cycle symbol on its horn control

Are hearing impaired cyclists unknown?
We have this question a lot:
Being able to hear wht is going on around you benefits your situational awareness.
Improved situtional awareness is a good thing.
Hearing impaired cyclists lose the benefit of this, BUT
They are probably used to dealing with their impairment so will have ways of compensating/allowing for for their deficit.
It is therefore pointless to compare a deaf person to someone with normal hearing in these sort of debates.
by Ellieb
9 Jul 2021, 3:47pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Ineos Grenadier has a cycle symbol on its horn control
Replies: 53
Views: 3450

Re: Ineos Grenadier has a cycle symbol on its horn control

Well, perhaps some people can always hear cars coming up behind. The fact is other people obviously can't, it's those people who might sometimes appreciate a warning from a carapproaching from the rear
by Ellieb
8 Jul 2021, 9:28pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Ineos Grenadier has a cycle symbol on its horn control
Replies: 53
Views: 3450

Re: Ineos Grenadier has a cycle symbol on its horn control

I believe that the car has two horns, the main one on the steering wheel centre and that button, which is meant to be a cheerful little 'toot'. My understanding is that the purpose of it is so that the driver can give a cyclist a friendly warning of the presence of the car without it appearing to be an aggressive get out of the way. Judging by the response on the internet, this isn't by & large how the cycling community in this country has interpreted it. I applaud them for trying it, but I think they did not appreciate how this would be received. (always try to understand that the message being given isn't always the one that is received)
(Personally I quite like the idea, but I don't think there is a receptive audience in this country, such is the slightly toxic nature of car/bike interactions)
by Ellieb
14 Apr 2021, 3:49pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Time required to train for (gentle) JOGLE
Replies: 50
Views: 6319

Re: Time required to train for (gentle) JOGLE

Re the wind direction. Clearly you cannot always predict what the weather will do. You do get long periods of N or NE winds associated with high pressure, but the fact is the prevailing winds in the UK are SW even in summer, so you are more likely to have headwinds on a JOGLE, but this us far from guaranteed. If you look at the stats you will see that the SW winds are also, on average, stronger than those from the North.
by Ellieb
28 Jan 2021, 11:23pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Everesting end of February...
Replies: 67
Views: 3276

Re: Everesting end of February...

I think they reckon a hill of about 7-8% is optimal.
by Ellieb
23 Dec 2020, 5:20pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Covid-19 : 2nd Lockdown 2020 : 3rd Lockdown 2021
Replies: 1005
Views: 36308

Re: WInter 2020 : Covid-19 : 2nd Lockdown

Marcus Aurelius wrote:
mikeymo wrote:
Marcus Aurelius wrote:...( that’s one big reason why there’s never been a successful vaccine for the ‘common cold’) which is ( are )a mutated relic(s) of the ‘Spanish flu’ pandemic, from circa 1918. ...


So does that mean there wasn't such a thing as "the common cold" before 1918?


As has been said, the ‘common cold’ can in fact be attributed to a big diverse melting pot of viruses, but having a human Coronavirus relic in there, certainly doesn’t help.

Spanish flu is not a coronavirus if that is what you are implying.
by Ellieb
23 Dec 2020, 4:46pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Are you an anti-baxxer?
Replies: 11
Views: 452

Re: Are you an anti-baxxer?

But if you do catch Covid19, it may be the case that a lifetime exposed to bugs might work in your favour - which I think was the point horizon was making.

Back in the day when personal hygiene was rudimentary, being exposed to bugs didn’t prevent people from dying in their millions from the various viral and bacterial diseases that have afflicted humanity throughout the ages. Whilst there are many innocent good bugs being killed by modern cleaning/sanitising products, that is the price you have to pay to get the bad guys. & at the moment there is one particular bad guy we could all do with seeing less of. There is a cost/benefit calculation to ge made here. Which is the point I’m making.
by Ellieb
23 Dec 2020, 4:11pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Are you an anti-baxxer?
Replies: 11
Views: 452

Re: Are you an anti-baxxer?

DevonDamo wrote:I get horizon's point. Destroying all bacteria in your environment isn't necessarily a good thing. I've got a GP buddy who's quite vociferous about the benefits of being exposed to general bugs in your environment - there's a theory that this is a big factor in developing and maintaining a healthy immune system. It may even be a factor in the development of allergies/intolerances. I haven't seen any of the research into this, but this guy is pretty knowledgeable on most medical matters and he's bought into the idea. One of the early indications about Covid19's lethality was that people's own immune systems were going into overdrive, exacerbating the inflammation - which if it's in your lungs can be bad news.

Of course, anything to destroy Covid19 on surfaces is a good thing to prevent infection. However, you don't need a super-effective bactericide to do this. Soap and water is as effective as anything else because surfactants destroy the virus' spike proteins.

But detergent and water also kill the good bacteria. In the current situation protecting yourself against covid necessarily means killing beneficial bugs as well. What horizon fails to realise is that by objecting to this sort of product he is effectively also objecting to the advertising of soap.
by Ellieb
23 Dec 2020, 3:42pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Are you an anti-baxxer?
Replies: 11
Views: 452

Re: Are you an anti-baxxer?

pwa wrote:I do use Carex liberally at work, because it is about all I can do to protect myself against Covid on surfaces, but I admit that I have no idea how effective a 70% alcohol product is against a virus which, after all, is not bacteria. I couldn't care less about bacteria.

I probably use more anti-bac hand gel in one shift now than I did in my whole life upto Covid.


70% alcohol destroys the virus by drying out the lipid coating surrounding it.
by Ellieb
23 Dec 2020, 3:40pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Are you an anti-baxxer?
Replies: 11
Views: 452

Re: Are you an anti-baxxer?

Sorry. Can I just confirm that we are in the midst of a global viral pandemic & you are complaining about someone advertising a disinfectant which kills said virus & is one of the few effective ways of limiting viral spread we have. At least until the vaccine is widespread. The ‘good’ bacteria won’t stop you catching Covid.
by Ellieb
15 Dec 2020, 11:18pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Jumping on a wheel...... musings....
Replies: 43
Views: 3490

Re: Jumping on a wheel...... musings....

alexnharvey wrote:Whoa. You overtake someone, fail to drop them and then accuse them of stalking you in a creepy manner. Seems quite odd to me.

If you do not want wheel hangers and drafters I suggest you do what everyone else does and put 50, 100 or 200m between you and them as you overtake then revert to your normal pace. If you do not then it is pretty likely that some will stay with you, especially if you are now shielding them from any headwind. Re co

If you don't like other cyclists sharing the road with you why not get an indoor trainer?

3/10. A bit too obvious.
by Ellieb
13 Dec 2020, 9:19am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Worst ride of the year
Replies: 21
Views: 2134

Re: Worst ride of the year

If you can find them these days, having a pair of nitrile/latex surgical gloves keeps your hands clean and slightly warmer while changing a tyre.
by Ellieb
3 Dec 2020, 5:42pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Covid-19 : 2nd Lockdown 2020 : 3rd Lockdown 2021
Replies: 1005
Views: 36308

Re: WInter 2020 : Covid-19 : 2nd Lockdown

We know a regular in there only as Geoff. He's older than I am and goes in nearly every day about 1.15pm for a quiet drink. Tier 3 means the pub is shut, but if it were in Tier 2, what difference would it make to the risk of transmission if somebody like Geoff had a meal with their drink?
Top

Because what we do know is that if you allow people in general to socialise in pubs, which includes behaviour like talking loudly into people's faces, getting drunk etc etc, then the virus infection rate increases dramatically. This isn't about whether one individual's behaviour is a problem.
EDIT I really don't think they could have a rule which says it's ok to have a quiet drink if you are sensible about it.