The Retirement Thread

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Juan Kog

permanently grumpy
Inaugural ride on the Kinesis completed with much piss taking by the assembled company - I DO love my pensioner buddies.

Verdict? Yep, it's going to do all it was specced for. Good winter bike, gravel will be comfortable and controlled partly due to position but mainly tyres and wheels, will make a good tourer due to comfort and a huge array of locations to attach bags etc.

Climbing is different. Some climbs I got gear selection bang on but with others I made a mess of it and recovery is always difficult. Practice needed.

Might change the seat post to push me back by 0.5-1.00cm. Riding 35mm at 60psi is a revelation, so comfortable, I'll try 55psi on Sunday.

Christmas shopping next. :hello:
It’s nice to know your happy with the new bike . But I’m sorry , I think your both reckless and totally irresponsible taking that lovely new bike out on it’s first outing this time of year.:laugh:
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
My mum gets me sister to send it by special delivery. It always gets here without any trouble.
That sounds a bit safer, but a cheque would be safer still!

Old folk have their own ways though...

PS It is quite funny being in my mid-60s and referring to 'old folk'. When I was a child/teenager, I would definitely have considered someone of my age as being old. Now I think of 60-70ish as 'late middle age', 70ish-80ish as being 'oldish', 80ish-90ish as being 'old', and 90ish+ as being 'very old'. Anybody over 100 who can still move about under their own steam and talk sense, is ancient, but doing pretty well - Captain Tom being a classic example!
 

JPBoothy

Veteran
Location
Cheshire
I hope it was a cheque, not ten £20 notes! :eek:


I had a similar problem going up a 7% local hill on my singlespeed bike. Fortunately, I heard the ticking noise and got off before the chain came apart!

View attachment 563906

And this time on my best bike...

View attachment 563907

That was 4 years ago.

I think those are the only 2 chains that I have broken. I must be getting stronger with age... :whistle:
A snapped chain can be a horrible experience can't it. I have only had 1 go on me and I was on the flat but standing up to start a bit of a sprint. My man bits hit the top tube/stem (ouch!) and the bottom peddle shot around 'after my foot unclipped' and somehow struck the back of my thigh as I was falling leaving a long wide bruise resembling a map of Cyprus. I was right outside my childrens junior school at the time so could only manage a few mild phrases such as 'damn blast and oh deary me how unfortunate' :hyper:
 

welsh dragon

Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
That sounds a bit safer, but a cheque would be safer still!

Old folk have their own ways though...

PS It is quite funny being in my mid-60s and referring to 'old folk'. When I was a child/teenager, I would definitely have considered someone of my age as being old. Now I think of 60-70ish as 'late middle age', 70ish-80ish as being 'oldish', 80ish-90ish as being 'old', and 90ish+ as being 'very old'. Anybody over 100 who can still move about under their own steam and talk sense, is ancient, but doing pretty well - Captain Tom being a classic example!

I agree with you on the age thing totally, so I am middle aged. Perfect
 

Juan Kog

permanently grumpy
That sounds a bit safer, but a cheque would be safer still!

Old folk have their own ways though...

PS It is quite funny being in my mid-60s and referring to 'old folk'. When I was a child/teenager, I would definitely have considered someone of my age as being old. Now I think of 60-70ish as 'late middle age', 70ish-80ish as being 'oldish', 80ish-90ish as being 'old', and 90ish+ as being 'very old'. Anybody over 100 who can still move about under their own steam and talk sense, is ancient, but doing pretty well - Captain Tom being a classic example!
Like you I’m in the mid sixties . Sometimes when I’m out cycling, I do wonder if some people look and think
” look at that silly old fart he should dress and act his age”.
 

BoldonLad

Not part of the Elite
Location
South Tyneside
.....
I know the NHS is a very emotive subject and clearly in need of more funding so please don't jump down my throat as this is only my personal opinion but, the NHS 'like many industries' must just haemorrhage money through basic bad management rather than its problems being solely down to the lack of a sufficient budget. I work for a large global company and have done for a long time now (30yrs) so have no axe to grind with the company itself as it has paid my way but over the past 10yrs I can see that the trend is now more about image than efficiency and the policy is to recruit highly qualified Managers from externally rather than promoting the experienced people from within. I know that 'fresh eyes' can see things that 'the old hands' may be blinkered to but the high flyers from business school 'with more degrees than a thermometer' may improve a company image but in most cases they have a long term personal plan to 'better themselves' and will always have one eye on the next best thing and bigger salary which IMO is not displaying the characteristics of a person who is willing to roll up their sleeves and set about making improvements.

Oops sorry, that was a bit serious for this happy forum but phew I feel better now :laugh:

You will not get any argument from me on that view!

In the days I worked (sorry for mentioning that word), I was a self employed IT Contractor, I did several assignments in various NHS Trusts (or, whatever they were called at the time), the levels of waste and miss-management was unbelievable.

My youngest daughter was, until recently, a Phlebotomist in the NHS, They had a recruitment drive, and, recruited more Phlebotomists than they needed. She eventually left due to boredom.

Mrs @BoldonLad was a Nurse (SRN), in the NHS, again, experienced unbelievable levels of waste.

On of my nieces is a Junior Doctor, in Hampshire. During the "first wave", when the media had everyone "clapping for the NHS", she was bored stiff, and reading books to fill her time, because all "routine" treatment had been juts about stopped.

The NHS may be an excellent idea, but, we kid ourselves that it is "world beating".

All IMHO, of course.
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
Found this on the fettling thread .Another example of the power of Dave‘s track sprinter thighs . I agree a new chain needed , much cheaper than reconstructive dentistry .

I wish they were ^_^! New chain's been ordered, along with a new tyre, the condition of of the beading on the back tyre was cause for concern, it had already spent a year on the front and was getting near the end of its life, I was hoping it would last the winter but thats unlikely.
 
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ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Good point but I didn't take into consideration. :okay:
I run about 60 psi on my CX bike. I would prefer to go for 55psi on the road but I got a pinch puncture on a rock on this ride...

563915

563914

563916

563917

... so I added 5 psi after that.

55 psi would be more comfortable on the road, and 65 psi would give more protection on the rough stuff but is too uncomfortable. 60 psi is a good compromise for me.

A snapped chain can be a horrible experience can't it. I have only had 1 go on me and I was on the flat but standing up to start a bit of a sprint. My man bits hit the top tube/stem (ouch!) and the bottom peddle shot around 'after my foot unclipped' and somehow struck the back of my thigh as I was falling leaving a long wide bruise resembling a map of Cyprus. I was right outside my childrens junior school at the time so could only manage a few mild phrases such as 'damn blast and oh deary me how unfortunate' :hyper:
It was not a snapped chain, but a slipped chain that caused my worst ever crash...

My worst crash came during The Duncroft Avenue Sprint Time Trial in 1969. Don't bother trying to look it up though folks - it was only me and a bunch of teenage mates messing about...

We were bored of hanging about the local streets so someone suggested that we have a bike race. The trouble was, we only had one bike between us - my short-ars* mate's 5-speed/1-speed racer. It was 5-speed in the sense that it had 5 sprockets and a derailleur to change between them. 1-speed in the sense that the gear cable had broken and was wrapped round a seat stay and held in place by a clothes peg. Improvised British Engineering at its finest!

The race was on but since we only had one bike, it had to be a time trial. Duncroft Avenue is slightly uphill and there is line-of-sight for a couple of hundred yards. The start line was at a lamppost at one end of the road, the finish line in front of a lamppost at the other end where stood both the starter and timekeeper (a single spotty oik with a wristwatch).

Each competitor would line up at the start and wait for the starter to wave him off. The starter transmogrified into the timekeeper by the time each competitor got to the finish.

The first few rounds were close-fought and eventually it all came down to one last race. I think I should have been awarded the win there and then because the bike was far too small for me. I'm pretty much like Big Mig, Sean Yates, and Tom Boonen - in height, just minus the muscles and talent on a bike. But no, we had to have one final round didn't we... !

My mates put up PBs and I was last off. I hurtled from the start at the kind of speed that only an over-sized teenager on an under-sized bike can manage. Surely the win was on? Well it might have been, but a minor rut in the road surface had other ideas... I hit the rut while powering at full-speed out of the saddle and felt a shockwave judder through the frame of the bike. It was all too much for the temporary clothes-peg gear-repair...

My memory of events goes into Sam Peckinpah slow-mo mode here ! The clothes-peg fell off and there was a twanging noise as the severed gear cable came loose. The chain lost tension as the rear derailleur went walkabout. My body became weightless for a few moments as I launched forwards. In mid-trajectory I smacked my right knee into the handlebar stem but ignored the pain of that because I was rather more concerned with where my helmetless-head was going. In fact it was destined for a close-encounter-of-the-tarmac-kind but fortunately I seem to have a thick skull. Emergency braking was now required so I dug my left shoulder down hard onto the road surface and that eventually did the trick. I actually slid across the finish line but the damn timekeeper was distracted by my screams and forgot to look at his watch. Drat - I could have had 'em all !

I was helped to my feet my mates. They were all looking at my shoulder in a "So that's what they're made of!" way which I found distracting so I took a look myself. Once I came out of the faint, my mates were kind enough to help me to my feet again and then... a strange wailing sound erupted from my body. It was pretty scary, I can tell you!

Being a fickle teenager, I'd completely lost interest in the results of our race by then. Let's reduce a big strong 13 year old to a lanky little boy crying for his mummy - I was good at that!

So there I was with my shirt ripped off and covered in blood. It would be a major understatement to call my injuries road rash. I looked like a specimen from The World's Most Gruesome Autopsies - Ever! A big flap of flesh was lolling to one side of my shoulder and revealing some white bits with sort of gory red stuff on them. I've no idea what all that was but it seemed like a good idea to frighten my mother with it so I ran home and got her to take a look. She was so impressed that she wanted to show it off to people at the local hospital's A & E (or Casualty Department as they used to call them in those days) but I told her that it wasn't necessary. She tried to persuade me to go but I didn't want to so she cleaned the wound out with hot water and sterilised it by tipping a bottle of iodine into it - would the fun never stop!

My shoulder hurt for months after that and I had to wear an improvised sling. I'm now convinced that I had broken my collar bone but I won't ever know for sure since I didn't bother seeking medical advice at the time. I've got some nice scars to show for it.
 
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